Putting it all together

[670bird]

I have been surfing the posts here off and on for the better part of the day and I have come to the conclusion that I am going to need some over the shoulder help in actually putting the components I have purchased inside my case and setting it all up. When I say over the shoulder I mean I will watch and learn lol. If there are any of you in the Long Beach, CA area or LA and you would like to make a few xtra $ helping me out I would appreciate it. I just do not want to hook all this stuff up, plug it in and roast marshmellows as my new system burns ooc. Thanks

[SPEEDO]

Take a look here there is a pretty good pictorial on the steps needed to build a machine........

[670bird]

Way to go Speedo! I am a lot less intimidated by putting this together now. I still have a few more pieces to gather but I have much more confidence in attempting the installation. Thanks

[Omardeth]

sorry man , but i am in norcal .hahah if you wanna drive up with all the stuff i will do it for ya . but like i said i am in sacatamato . i don't need no moneys to do it but you will have to feed me .... lol

but i am sure if you can install a video card you can do it on your own and i am sure people here will gradly help ya out . here is a like to a thread that was built by someone that was a firsttimer and you can see the kinda suppport that was given as he built it online

good luck

[670bird]

Oh man if you lived just a few hundred miles closer, you would have a 3 inch Porterhouse LOL! I told my wife that she is going to help me and she stared at the Motherboard layout and said: Goodnight lol! I was reading the link you sent and I hope it all goes well for him. I am Building an Athlon XP (Barton 2500) on an NVidia N force 2 board, with 2 Seagate Barracuda SATA 80 GB HD, 5.1 Ch audio is included on the board, I was looking at a Radeon 9500 but now I am thinking of an Radeon 9000 128 Graphics card since it is reliable and (Cheap) $88. I was told i should upgrade my Power Supply from 350 to 400+. So I am looking at that also. Thanks Omardeth.

[Omardeth]

dude u a must have read my mind ... poterhouse yummmmmm

hahah round trip southwest is cheap i am 15 min from airport hahahaha

but you are doing good with the xp 2500 and the nforce board . i am with ya there all the way . u lost me on the sata drives ... i no like that pick . for what 2 80 gig sata drive cost you can get 2 120 gig ide drives . and have change left over. and thats for the 7200rpm sata drive . there isn't much if any preoformance increase over ide in those drives . the only time u find a preformance increase is if you got to the 10k rpm drives but for 2 of those you could get 3 120 gig ide drives and have change left over . so youmight want to think about that idea . as for video card if you are talking about a radeon 9000 then i would go with the ti4200 you can find the for around 100 if you look and 120 easy . if you want good cheap power supply . and when i say cheap i mean cheap in price not quality . go with the one i linked . it is , least in my mind the BEST value in power supplies out there . if you follow me around the forum , don't be a stalker damnit ....., you will see me talk really highly about this power supply . for 23$ shipped .... i don't think it can be beat. but thats my opinion and we all know what saying goes with that but yes get a min 400 watt ps and you should be fine .

good luck

[ussenterprise]

Another option: See if you can find some old piece of shoe computer, and....take it apart. Look at how everything goes back together. It's what I did.

[goldenbuddha]

I have said this many times, the key to a great first time install is
1) Go REALLY REALLY Slow
2) If you have any doubts about anything at all, STOP, ASK and CONFIRM, before continuing

All in all its a great thing to learn. Enjoy and Good Luck!

[dragonb]

I'm with Buddha on this one...go slow

I remember my first build going on 2 years ago..I felt the same as you and was scared to fry something.
Just take it slow, follow any directions you can find, and come back here often.
And, after the first couple you'll feel like a pro.
One more thing, I have a radeon 8500, it's great. Was just looking at comparison over at xbitlabs and the 8500 was beating the 9000 and 9200 at most benchmarks. If the prices are the same or similar go for the 8500, or even better grab a 9500.
good luck, dragonb

[670bird]

I have an old Gateway I am going to use as a semi template + the links that Speedo gave me. I do not know if serial ATA drives have a master/slave function as I have heard they do not, but I will find out. Thanks for all the advice and help(I will be back for more lol)