My First Build
Sitting there in my computer science class and I started thinking to myself "I can do that" so I went on a research run. Honestly, I spent a solid week spending as much time as I could online looking through forums, looking at spec sheets, checking reviews on newegg.com, etc. When it was time to order I charged everything to my credit card and haven't looked back since. I believe my main motivation for wanting to build one is because I know its something that 99% of the population will never do and is to scared to even try.
-build list-
CPU:::::::::AMD PhenomX4 9850 Black Edition 2.5ghz $100
Motherboard:::::ASUS M4A78 pro $100
RAM::::::::::Gskill 2x(2gb) ram $50
Case::::::Thermaltake armormx+ midtower $130
PSU::::::::Rocketfish 700Watt PSU $130
Fan/heatsink::Xigmatic hdt-s963 cpu heatsink/fan $25
Harddrive:::::Western Digital 'black' 1 TB harddrive/32mb cache $150
Optical:::::::liteon dvd/cdburner drive $30
Display::::::24"ACeR hd full 1080p monitor $270
OS:::::::::::Vista 64 bit-$99
When all the boxes arrived, I started the build. Had no problems attaching the cpu to MoBo, attaching fan to heatsink was a bit frustrating but satisfying once I figured it out, the rest was a breeze. I know this sound crazy, being my first build and all, but the rest was like clockwork. Mobo mounted easily, attached the optical and harddrive sata cables, hd sound cable attached, cpu fan attached, last I attached was power. Made sure all 3 case fans were attached to the power port(s) on the psu itself. Roughly took 2 hours for the build, I was expecting some disappointing setbacks but when I pressed that power button...... success! All case fans,cpu fan, and blue lights kicked on, and before I knew it I was getting asked for os disc. Cpu and drives recognized, included asus update software did it's thing. Oh I booted up with 1 stick of ram in, as soon as I could check I looked at 'my computer' to see how much ram it was reading, of course it said I had 2 gb. Shutdown then threw the 2nd stick in, boot up and... perfect it automatically read all 4 gb which turns out to be like 3.5 gb free for use no big deal. I didn't have to install any drivers online or flash bios, nothing. Went as smooth as your first build can go, it's funny how when I talk about this to friends or coworkers they think I'm crazy for 'spending all that money' when in there rooms sit $1500 dells with archaic,heavy,ugly cathode-ray computer monitors or whatever they are.the kind of monitors that should have stop being made at the turn of the new millinium.
Wish I had some exciting stuff to talk about, but nope..followed directions and used problem solving to accomplish my first build with no screwups. This is one of the coolest things I have done, and was also a right of passage to me. The satisfaction I have from this journey... a solid week of research online, forums/thread searching, reading newegg.com user reviews, specification data, etc... Then the buying online, the waiting game, 2nd guessing my choices.. I ran the gauntlet on myself, just like they say you do on your first build.
CPU is 32C at idle, haven't tested under load yet. Next step is to overclock, but I'm in no hurry.
-build list-
CPU:::::::::AMD PhenomX4 9850 Black Edition 2.5ghz $100
Motherboard:::::ASUS M4A78 pro $100
RAM::::::::::Gskill 2x(2gb) ram $50
Case::::::Thermaltake armormx+ midtower $130
PSU::::::::Rocketfish 700Watt PSU $130
Fan/heatsink::Xigmatic hdt-s963 cpu heatsink/fan $25
Harddrive:::::Western Digital 'black' 1 TB harddrive/32mb cache $150
Optical:::::::liteon dvd/cdburner drive $30
Display::::::24"ACeR hd full 1080p monitor $270
OS:::::::::::Vista 64 bit-$99
When all the boxes arrived, I started the build. Had no problems attaching the cpu to MoBo, attaching fan to heatsink was a bit frustrating but satisfying once I figured it out, the rest was a breeze. I know this sound crazy, being my first build and all, but the rest was like clockwork. Mobo mounted easily, attached the optical and harddrive sata cables, hd sound cable attached, cpu fan attached, last I attached was power. Made sure all 3 case fans were attached to the power port(s) on the psu itself. Roughly took 2 hours for the build, I was expecting some disappointing setbacks but when I pressed that power button...... success! All case fans,cpu fan, and blue lights kicked on, and before I knew it I was getting asked for os disc. Cpu and drives recognized, included asus update software did it's thing. Oh I booted up with 1 stick of ram in, as soon as I could check I looked at 'my computer' to see how much ram it was reading, of course it said I had 2 gb. Shutdown then threw the 2nd stick in, boot up and... perfect it automatically read all 4 gb which turns out to be like 3.5 gb free for use no big deal. I didn't have to install any drivers online or flash bios, nothing. Went as smooth as your first build can go, it's funny how when I talk about this to friends or coworkers they think I'm crazy for 'spending all that money' when in there rooms sit $1500 dells with archaic,heavy,ugly cathode-ray computer monitors or whatever they are.the kind of monitors that should have stop being made at the turn of the new millinium.
Wish I had some exciting stuff to talk about, but nope..followed directions and used problem solving to accomplish my first build with no screwups. This is one of the coolest things I have done, and was also a right of passage to me. The satisfaction I have from this journey... a solid week of research online, forums/thread searching, reading newegg.com user reviews, specification data, etc... Then the buying online, the waiting game, 2nd guessing my choices.. I ran the gauntlet on myself, just like they say you do on your first build.
CPU is 32C at idle, haven't tested under load yet. Next step is to overclock, but I'm in no hurry.
0
Comments
Did you have any problems with Vista 64? It is suposedley very picky about hardware and can be a real pain to get all the drivers set up correctly. Never tried myself and I was just wondering if you chose your hardware based on its compatability with the 64bit OS?
Congratulations on your build! Looks like a solid machine. Building is always the most fun.
If the pictures didn't upload when i tried, just click on my profile username and scroll down to albums, I threw in some good pics of the worksite.
{{{{{{also look for.... My First Photoshop haha}}}}}}}}
Thats handy to know. My understanding was that all drivers had to be microsoft certified to install but I guess they sorted that with SP1 or one of the other updates.
Do you notice any performance improvements or have any other software compatability issues with 64?
What are you running for a video card?
and When are you going to start folding?????????????????
Oh no, they still need to be WHQL-certified (at least unless you manually force off the check every time it boots), but drivers exist (either generic or the real manufacturer-created drivers) for nearly everything now.
As far as performance improvements, I don't have any hard numbers. I do enjoy running more than 4GB of RAM, though. I frankly see no reason why 99% of home users shouldn't run 64-bit when they have the option to.
You'll never be satisfied, and that's the point!
I think what you mean to say is...