# Need some help building a system



## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I'm looking to build my own computer and need help with some aspects of it.

I've picked out this for the memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227290

this for the cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115055
or this, not really sure
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018

hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

I need help with the case, motherboard, power supply, and video card. I don't know what I'm supposed to be getting for those. For the video card, I don't really game except for the occasional command & conquer or roller coaster tycoon session and I'm thinking about running dual monitors.

I can pick out the dvd drives, monitors, mouse & keyboard.

For a budget, let's say between $700-$900ish.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Normally you would pick a motherboard and then the ram that is compatible to the board.

Go with the Q8400 the faster FSB will out perform the end of life Q6600.
One of these for a motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16813128358,N82E16813128343

For the Dual monitors are you planning on using 2 DVI, 2 VGA or HDMI for the interface?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

wrench97 said:


> Normally you would pick a motherboard and then the ram that is compatible to the board.


See, that's why I need help. I don't understand all of the compatibility stuff.



wrench97 said:


> One of these for a motherboard


Those 2 are about $70 different...what benefit would the more expensive one give me? After a quick glance at the specs nothing that makes sense, to me at least, pops out as a big difference for $70 more.



wrench97 said:


> For the Dual monitors are you planning on using 2 DVI, 2 VGA or HDMI for the interface?


I was thinking about 2 of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009157
which have hdmi but a video card with two hdmi inputs may be a tad expensive right? So maybe DVI then.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

For the video card you can use one with 1 DVI and 1 HDMI like this one> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102820
This to power the rig> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

The difference between the 2 motherboards is in the power circuits the DQ6 will Overclock better, if that is not important the UD3P or UC3L would be more what your looking for, I'm thinking the UD3L may fit your needs, your not gaming what is the primary use?> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372&Tpk=GA EP45 UD3L The UD3L drops a PCIe x16 slot from 2 to 1 and does not have Raid.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

The primary use is for doing a lot of stuff at once. Photoshopping, burning movies, a ton of tabs open in firefox, itunes running, a chat client, Azureus, etc. My current computer isn't a fan of trying to do all of that at once. I do do a little gaming but just some basic Command & Conquer.

So here's what I have so far:

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372&Tpk=GA EP45 UD3L

Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115057

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227290 If this is compatible

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102820

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004


So all of that meshes ok? And now I just need a case?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

A case, DVD burner, do you need a camera card reader?
I use a lot of these for cases if you're not looking for neon lights and windows> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16811119104,N82E16811119106,N82E16811119068


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I have dvd drives already and I have a card reader in my current computer and I don't think I've ever used it so I'll just skip that for now or if they're cheap I might as well throw one in. No, I don't need a fancy case so I can just pick one of those 4?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes they are 2 basic models in different color trim, This one is $10 cheaper in Blue the other is Alum. They were the same price previously.> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119047

I've used a lot of this reader> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300608

What are you planning on using for a OS?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I'm going to put 64 bit Vista. And then Windows 7 when it comes out.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

They will work 7 should be out soon, I'm running the RC1 one now it's a lot less intrusive then Vista easier on system resources and a little faster I think.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Yea I was thinking about just skipping Vista and installing the Windows 7 RC onto this system but is that possible?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It's possible the public D/L is Tuesday I believe but it will expire before or on the official release probably (guessing) late August.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I read on engadget that the RC won't expire until June 1, 2010.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/01/windows-7-rc-and-xp-given-extensions-on-life-well-into-2010/

But with the expiration date aside, I could build this system, download the Windows 7 RC and set my computer up with that? Because that seems like a better option then bothering with Vista for the 4, 5, or 6 months until Windows 7 drops.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

You could just remember it is Beta software so far everything I tried works but I'm dual booting so if it breaks it's not a big deal XP is still there.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I'm probably just going to do that then. So this is all correct?
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9985685


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes that looks good, last comment I have is that while 1tb drives are nice for storage they are pain to back up.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I have an external drive right now that I copy my important stuff to, which I don't have a whole lot of.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

That will work out, I Image a drive when replacing or upgrading a system after doing a couple of 1t or larger I go for dinner and come back to find it's not done yet.


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## shiftytech (Jul 9, 2008)

Check these out for monitors...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8448584&type=product&id=1188438406684

^^Best Buy has a 22" Acer for $149


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

The email from MS says that the RC will be available for public download till at least June 30th. Seems like a lot longer than the beta release was available. Didn't say how long the RC can be used though.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Does anyone know of a good wireless & rechargeable mouse? I had a wireless before that used batteries and I went through batteries so fast that I went back to my wired. I've been looking but I'm having trouble finding a good reviewed one that's also moderately priced.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

OK, I got everything and hooked it up but it doesn't work. I have lights on the motherboard but the cpu fan isn't running.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Do you have the 24pin main and the 8 pin cpu power plug connected to the MB?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Yea, those were fine. I took the cpu out and put it back in and re-did some other stuff as well and now it boots up but it doesn't go into POST. The motherboard manual says if it beeps once then everything is fine and it beeps once but it goes to the gigabyte logo screen and at the bottom says post-tab, bios-delete, etc and I hit tab but it just restarts back to the logo screen.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Clear the CMOS.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

OK, the manual said to use a jumper cap (which I don't have) or a screwdriver so I did the screwdriver but still no luck. It goes to the logo screen and about 5-10 seconds later restarts


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Pull out all but 1 stick of ram, disconnect all drives, card reader then see if you can get into the bios. The PC was unplugged when you cleared the Cmos correct?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

OK, I unplugged 3 sticks of ram and left one and unplugged the dvd drive and now it works, well kind of. I'm now looking at a black screen that says Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

reboot hit delete to enter the bios.
That screen is what you should see without a disk hooked up or with out a os loaded.
in the bios load optimized defaults, save and reboot, then shut down rehook the drives and load windows stay with 1 stick for now.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Well Windows was installing but now I have a black screen that says...The file is possibly corrupt. The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Alright well when I got that error I just restarted it and then it finished installing so Windows is good to go. Can I put the rest of the memory in now?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I eventually put all of the ram back in and same thing, doesn't boot. So I took the last one out and it boots. Does that mean I have a bad stick? 

And of course my wireless network card doesn't work either.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Most likely you need to bump the voltage up in the bios to the rated voltage of the sticks which is 2.1v. 
For now run on 1 or 2 sticks and finish installing the motherboard drivers from the disk and then the video and wireless drivers.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

The motherboard drivers and video drivers are installed. I can't do the wireless card though. I didn't really think that one through and was planning on using the one from my previous computer which is a Netgear WG311v2 but it's apparently not supported for 64-bit by Netgear. I've googled and googled about it and people have claimed to find a driver for it to work in 64-bit Vista but I haven't gotten anything to work. 

For the RAM, I need to bump the voltage in the BIOS to see if all 4 will work?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes the ram is rated at 2.1v default is 1.8v set the voltage to 2.0v to start if all goes well leave it, if not go to 2.1v.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I tried 2.0 and 2.1 and it still only loads with 3 sticks max


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Use Memtest and test one stick at a time> http://www.memtest.org/#downiso


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Two down, both good so far. If all 4 come back with no errors then it's the motherboards fault?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I put the final stick in to test it and the comp just reboots itself at the gigabyte logo screen like it was doing when I had all 4 in. So am I going to have to RMA these back to newegg?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yep send them back.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Damn, I was hoping to avoid that. Well thanks for all your help.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Let us know how it goes.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

I got the new ram sticks back and all is well now with those, but I have a ton of freezing. It's not the new ram though because it was happening before I sent the other ones back. I think it may relate to the wireless internet drivers I installed because when I was using it without internet it was working fine. I also updated the drivers for the motherboard and video card so the wireless card is all that is left. There is no official driver for it though. I read deep into the internet to find a driver that worked for it so now I have internet but freezing about every 10 minutes to go with it. If there's no official driver how can I fix this? I can't not use the driver because the computer is basically useless without an internet connection and wired is not an option, but I can't deal with this freezing either.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

What wireless card are you using?
And the OS is win7 right? 32 or 64 bit?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Windows 7 64-bit. I had a really old one that couldn't find any info on for 64-bit 7 so I went out and bought a Linksys WMP54G because people said they got it to work and sure enough it worked but they didn't mention all the freezing. And maybe it isn't the wireless card but I have no idea what else it could be.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Are you using the Vista 64bit drivers?


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

There aren't any 64-bit vista drivers for it


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I'm going to have to do some research.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I have confirmed this one to work> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127075.

But first have you contacted Linksys support? I"ve seen reports of Beta Vista 64 bit drivers given out through the support system but can't confirm.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Here is the product page for it with 32-bit vista driver
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WMP54G/download

and this is what I found to make it work
http://www.phishthis.com/2009/01/16...ers-on-windows-7-beta-64-bit-or-vista-64-bit/

It's bad now. Once I turn the computer on, it's frozen within about 5 minutes. It didn't used to be that bad.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Oops, didn't see your post. No, I haven't called them yet. Should I call and say I'm on 64-bit Vista or 64-bit 7?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Tell them your on Win7, from the what the article says it depends on which version card yours is as to whither or not that driver will work.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Ok. Is there anything else you can think of that would cause the freezing? It used to just be every so often and now it literally happens within 5 minutes of turning it on.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

Well that didn't work. She just kept going on and on about there aren't any 64-bit drivers for it.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Disable the wireless card and make sure that is the problem.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

About 10 minutes in and all is well so far. I'll give it a little bit longer but it has to be the driver. I've found a few more supposed solutions to getting it to work so I'll undo all of this and then try a couple more and see what happens.


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## Igloo_0440 (Apr 18, 2007)

With this new driver I'm trying, no freezes so far so at least I know now that it was the wireless adapter driver and not something else. We'll see how this goes.


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