# Watch me build my Frankenstein



## Detah (Jun 30, 2004)

This is my first from-scratch build. 
Ive read thousands of threads, reviews and how-tos. Ive ordered the parts. 
They arrived. Now, its building time. Follow my progress. 

The first 10 pics are up. I will upload about 10 more tonight. I will be adding DOs and DONTs as I progress. 

http://home.earthlink.net/~detah/index.html

PS. Thank you for all the input. You know who you are.


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Earthlink is slow ;.;

I noticed an XP Home CD but you listed XP Pro/Ubuntu in the specs. Izzat right?


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## Detah (Jun 30, 2004)

Yes. Great eyes. That is correct. I made a huge oversight. I fully intended to buy the Pro version. Then ordered the Home version. I really do not know what all the differences are, but I have never had a BSOD with my Pro version at work and I find it to be a very complete OS. It is stable and recognizes every piece of hardware I throw at it, even obscure ext hds.

It will still be a dual boot XPHome/Ubuntu when I am done. 

My second oversight / miscalculation was not buying a DVI cable. The Samsung 740b does NOT include one! Shame on you, Samsung. I had to run out the other night to CompUSA and buy one. The cheapest quality one I could find was a Monster 3 footer for 39.99. *sigh* Which put me over my $1400 limit. This disgust me more than you can know.

My third oversight was not buying a CD audio cable (the cable which hooks up the earphone support for the CD drive. My DVD/CDROM did not include one and the mobo did not include one. Shame on you LiteOn and Foxconn. This should be stock stuff. I picked one up at lunch today. The guy was apologetic for not calling me back yesterday when he said he would, so he gave it to me for free.


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## Joefireline (Apr 2, 2006)

That is a nice bunch of hardware you got there! Looking good! Good luck!


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## atvfreak19902 (May 15, 2006)

wow, great setup... wish i had that much to put towards mine... but good luck and i hope it comes out great can wait to see the finished product


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Detah said:


> Yes. Great eyes. That is correct. I made a huge oversight. I fully intended to buy the Pro version. Then ordered the Home version. I really do not know what all the differences are, but I have never had a BSOD with my Pro version at work and I find it to be a very complete OS. It is stable and recognizes every piece of hardware I throw at it, even obscure ext hds.
> I personally prefer the higher stability of Pro. Again, personal opinion.
> 
> It will still be a dual boot XPHome/Ubuntu when I am done. Awesome awesome!
> ...


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## Detah (Jun 30, 2004)

XPHome from ZipZoomFly cost me $89.99. All shipping from ZipZoomFly is Free. I ended up buying 8 of my 15 parts from them. The cheapest (OEM) Pro version I can find from a reputable online seller is $139.99 (at several sites). This too would have put me over my $1400 limit. If I had been paying closer attention, I would have had to make a decision there. It is $50 that I really DONT have. So I probably would have _had_ to get the Home version. I cant afford to return it. 

I noticed the rom drive has connections for analog and digital for the audio port. The analog is a standard 4 pin and the digital is a 3pin/2pin. My mobo does not have a digital port (audio is onboard). I even bought a digital cable ($4.95) when I was at CompUSA. Thats when I discovered my mobo had no digital support. Ill be returning that this weekend. 

I do have an earphone port on my case which is connected to the mobo directly. Can I just use the case port and get digital quality sound from that drive that way? So I can ignore the cd audio cable entirely?


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Digital audio goes over the ribbon cable, no other cables needed.


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## Detah (Jun 30, 2004)

I am stuck.

It seems that every now and then, no output is getting to the monitor. 
I have quadruple checked the DVI cable at the videocard and at the monitor. I have removed it and replaced it twice. I have reseated the videocard twice now. Now when I push the power button, the fans all spin and the hdd light flickers briefly (I cannot get the power led to work yet), but the monitor receives nothing. 

There may be some connection with the length of time the machine is off. When it has set off for over 30 min, then it seems to have better chances of working, than if you just turned it off and tried to restart it. I find it hard to believe it is a heat issue. I have touched the heatsink for the CPU and it is not even warm. The northbridge is a bit warm, but not hot. The videocard and hdd are not even warm. The ambient temp inside the case is a bit on the warm side, but not too bad. If I could get it running long enough I could install the mobo utilities to view the temps.

I am looking for tips and suggestions please.


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Does your video card have a digital DVI or analog DVI port?


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## Detah (Jun 30, 2004)

I assume its digital. It has two DVI cable ports on it. The monitor came with a serial to DVI converter, which I assume is to turn the monitor's DVI (digital) into a serial port for those folks who do not have a DVI port. 

This is the only DVI port I have ever seen. I wasnt aware that DVI came in two flavors. The video card, monitor and mobo came with poor or no instructions. Really sad for semi-high-end equipment. Is there some way to visually check if its digital or analog?


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## -d- (Jun 18, 2006)

The case has some nice wheels. Good luck


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/dvi/dvicabletypes.htm

GREAT information on the differences between DVI cables.


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## Detah (Jun 30, 2004)

Ok. Good information. Lets see if thats it.

specs direct from respective manufacturer's sites:
Samsung 740B monitor:
Input Video Signal=Analog RGB, DVI Digital link
Input connectors=15pin D-sub,DVI-D

BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600GT videocard:
Connectors=Dual Link DVI-I, Single Link DVI-I, HDTV.

Anyone know what Dual Link and Single Link mean? I havent seen these terms anywhere before.
Can I conclude from the "I" that the videocard does analog and digital also?
So now I just need to make sure that both the videocard and monitor are both using digital. I have no idea how or where to check that. Anyone?


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