So over six months after my first PC- an advent T11 bit the dust I have ordered my new gaming PC, for the time in between I have been using our Packard Bell d2317 which was only bought as an internet browsing pc and has not really been up to the job for playing WoW or SC2.
Firstly here is my new system (should hopefully be with me on Monday):
NZXT Lexa-S Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black
XFX Pro Series 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Single Rail
1TB Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive
Asrock P67 Pro3 P67 Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler
4GB Mushkin (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666 9-9-9-24 Silverline - 996768
PNY Geforce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini HDMI Out PCI-E Graphics card
I have never built a PC from scratch before but I do know how to put in the cpu and cpu cooler, HDD, graphics card, power supply etc but theres a few bits I have not done.
Anyway I have watched a few videos on youtube and read a few articles so here is my build list order, please tell me if I am going wrong anywhere
Take both sides off case
Route front panel connectors first
Screw in motherboard standoffs
Connect myself to case with anti static wrist strap (does this need to be connected to bare metel on the case or will any metal part do?)
Unpack motherboard
Put it on a cardboard box
Install Ram into first and third white slots
Fit and lock cpu into motherboard
Apply thermal grease on cpu and fit cpu cooler
(what is the best method to apply the paste? does the pea or rice grain method give enough contact? in the past I have always used the spread it with a card method but this can be messy I find)
Plug the power supply into the mobo and switch on, check everything is working.
Install the HDD and DVD drive into the case and then screw in the PSU, turn case on its side and put the motherboard in and screw it down.
Install the graphics card
Now connect the front panel bits (power button, reset button etc etc)
route the cables behind the motherboard tray, connect all the power connectors, connect case fans to fan headers on motherboard (do these supply the power to the fan aswell as the speed? or do I need to connect the fans directly to the PSU aswell?)
Connect sata cables from motherboard to HDD and DVD drive
Stand case up, connect to monitor, connect mouse and keyboard (will a USB keyboard work at this point or do I need an old style one?)
Turn it on and if it boots check HDD LED, Power LED etc is working, check all the fans are working including the one on the graphics card then check to see if the reset button is working.
Go to Bios and select primary boot device as DVD rom
Install CD that came with the motherboard to update the bios
(or should I just wait and do this once I am setup and online and get the latest ones?)
Shutdown and boot up with windows 7 dvd in the drive, install windows 7.
Check DXdiag to check ram and graphics card are showing up correctly.
Check CPU temperatures.
Insert the CD that came with the motherboard to install drivers.
Connect to the internet, get the latest bios update for motherboard and apply this (how do I do this?)
Download and install latest graphics card drivers.
That is all I can think of, did I miss anything?
Is that order ok or have you got any suggestions?
Sorry for all the questions!
Thanks for any help.
Einholt
Firstly here is my new system (should hopefully be with me on Monday):
NZXT Lexa-S Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black
XFX Pro Series 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Single Rail
1TB Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive
Asrock P67 Pro3 P67 Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler
4GB Mushkin (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666 9-9-9-24 Silverline - 996768
PNY Geforce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini HDMI Out PCI-E Graphics card
I have never built a PC from scratch before but I do know how to put in the cpu and cpu cooler, HDD, graphics card, power supply etc but theres a few bits I have not done.
Anyway I have watched a few videos on youtube and read a few articles so here is my build list order, please tell me if I am going wrong anywhere
Take both sides off case
Route front panel connectors first
Screw in motherboard standoffs
Connect myself to case with anti static wrist strap (does this need to be connected to bare metel on the case or will any metal part do?)
Unpack motherboard
Put it on a cardboard box
Install Ram into first and third white slots
Fit and lock cpu into motherboard
Apply thermal grease on cpu and fit cpu cooler
(what is the best method to apply the paste? does the pea or rice grain method give enough contact? in the past I have always used the spread it with a card method but this can be messy I find)
Plug the power supply into the mobo and switch on, check everything is working.
Install the HDD and DVD drive into the case and then screw in the PSU, turn case on its side and put the motherboard in and screw it down.
Install the graphics card
Now connect the front panel bits (power button, reset button etc etc)
route the cables behind the motherboard tray, connect all the power connectors, connect case fans to fan headers on motherboard (do these supply the power to the fan aswell as the speed? or do I need to connect the fans directly to the PSU aswell?)
Connect sata cables from motherboard to HDD and DVD drive
Stand case up, connect to monitor, connect mouse and keyboard (will a USB keyboard work at this point or do I need an old style one?)
Turn it on and if it boots check HDD LED, Power LED etc is working, check all the fans are working including the one on the graphics card then check to see if the reset button is working.
Go to Bios and select primary boot device as DVD rom
Install CD that came with the motherboard to update the bios
(or should I just wait and do this once I am setup and online and get the latest ones?)
Shutdown and boot up with windows 7 dvd in the drive, install windows 7.
Check DXdiag to check ram and graphics card are showing up correctly.
Check CPU temperatures.
Insert the CD that came with the motherboard to install drivers.
Connect to the internet, get the latest bios update for motherboard and apply this (how do I do this?)
Download and install latest graphics card drivers.
That is all I can think of, did I miss anything?
Is that order ok or have you got any suggestions?
Sorry for all the questions!
Thanks for any help.
Einholt
