First Home Build Pc

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Hi all , i've just built me first pc after putting it off for ages because
of nearves :-( system specs are as follow's

asrock K7S416X Motherboard
AMD Sempron 3000+ Cpu
2 x 512 gentric ram 2700 333
128mg NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 Graphics card
80gig Gentric Harddrive
Midi Tower with 2 usb 2.0 and mick/headphone/line in & firewire port
sony 16x dvd rom
Ibox 16x Dual layer DVD-RW
Standard Floppy Drive
17" tft Moniter (using dvi port instead of standard port)
O-Tec 480watt 2.1 speakers
wireless keyboard and mouse
windows XP Pro with SP2

I know the pc does me but trying to upgrade some of the hardware but havent
a clue what i should upgrade first. would i get better performace using
kingstom ram then using the gentic ram that i've alrady got? and also i've
been hearing a lot about the slim ie cables the ones what look like yellow
cables do they give better airflow then the normal ide cables that u get
with the motherboard?

i;ve installed all the drivers from the motherboard but the boot up beep
from the onboard speaker is doing my head in , i've been to asrock's website
and there is a bios update to the one i've got what will stop that , but i'm
neavours to flash it because the board is only 6 days old and dont want to
fu*k the machine up , how easy is it to flash the bios and what should i be
carefull of

TIA

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

You refering to a single post beep? that is a normal occurance on
boards that ive come across. On my machines the beep is turned off if
i select fast boot in bios.

And as for bios upgrade I suggest reading up on what the newer bios
actually does for your system and if it doesnt do anything you require
then dont flash your bios with newer one.


--
ASUS A8V/Athlon 64 FX-55
ATI RADEON X800XT PE
1GB OCZ Gold Edition Rev3 DDR PC-3700

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

You should only update a bios IF there`s a specific reason for doing so. If
the beep gets on your nerves, unplug the int. speaker. You don`t even say
whether the machine is working OK. best wishes..J

"Dj Toonz" <dj-toonz@thisgoesnowhere.com> wrote in message
news:4295aa0c_3@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Hi all , i've just built me first pc after putting it off for ages because
> of nearves :-( system specs are as follow's
>
> asrock K7S416X Motherboard
> AMD Sempron 3000+ Cpu
> 2 x 512 gentric ram 2700 333
> 128mg NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 Graphics card
> 80gig Gentric Harddrive
> Midi Tower with 2 usb 2.0 and mick/headphone/line in & firewire port
> sony 16x dvd rom
> Ibox 16x Dual layer DVD-RW
> Standard Floppy Drive
> 17" tft Moniter (using dvi port instead of standard port)
> O-Tec 480watt 2.1 speakers
> wireless keyboard and mouse
> windows XP Pro with SP2
>
> I know the pc does me but trying to upgrade some of the hardware but
> havent a clue what i should upgrade first. would i get better performace
> using kingstom ram then using the gentic ram that i've alrady got? and
> also i've been hearing a lot about the slim ie cables the ones what look
> like yellow cables do they give better airflow then the normal ide cables
> that u get with the motherboard?
>
> i;ve installed all the drivers from the motherboard but the boot up beep
> from the onboard speaker is doing my head in , i've been to asrock's
> website and there is a bios update to the one i've got what will stop that
> , but i'm neavours to flash it because the board is only 6 days old and
> dont want to fu*k the machine up , how easy is it to flash the bios and
> what should i be carefull of
>
> TIA
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Dj Toonz wrote:

> asrock K7S416X Motherboard
> AMD Sempron 3000+ Cpu
> 2 x 512 gentric ram 2700 333
> 128mg NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 Graphics card
> 80gig Gentric Harddrive
> sony 16x dvd rom
> Ibox 16x Dual layer DVD-RW
> O-Tec 480watt 2.1 speakers
> wireless keyboard and mouse
> windows XP Pro with SP2

> would i get better performace using kingstom ram then
> using the generic ram that i've alrady got?

No. Faster memory modules make only a slight difference because the
CPU relies so heavily on its internal cache memory. The biggest
improvement is usually gained with a faster video card, but only for
video-intensive applications, like games.

> and also i've been hearing a lot about the slim ie cables the
> ones what look like yellow cables do they give better airflow
> then the normal ide cables that u get with the motherboard?

Only if the installer intentionally blocks the air flow with them.
Round 80-wire cables offer only 1 advantage: They're easier to unplug
without damaging the cable ends. Unfortunately many are built wrong,
with straight wires that can degrade signal quality excessively instead
of with twisted pairs of wires that preserve the quality better.

> i;ve installed all the drivers from the motherboard but the
> boot up beep rom the onboard speaker is doing my head in ,
> i've been to asrock's website and there is a bios update to
> the one i've got what will stop that , but i'm neavours to
> flash it because the board is only 6 days

Never flash a BIOS unless the computer has been 100% stable for at
least a few weeks or else you could end up with a dead computer.

Q-tec power supplies are possibly the worst available, and expect their
480W model to be no more capable than an average quality 300-350W
supply, at best. I would replace it with something much better, like
an Antec or Fortron (Fortron is cheap but excellent), simply to prevent
damage to the computer in case of power supply failure.

When building a computer, first assemble just enough hardware to allow
basic operation to be verified -- motherboard, motherboard battery,
CPU, CPU fan/heatsink (with heatsink grease if the heatsink came with
no thermal pad, grease, or phase change layer already applied), power
switch, reset switch, power supply, memory module (just 1), keyboard,
power supply, video card, monitor, motherboard speaker. The reset
switch is useful when systems require multiple attempts to boot the
first time, and the speaker can provide diagnostic codes when almost
nothing shows life. If this barebones system works, go into the BIOS
setup and configure the alarm system (PC health) to protect the system
from overheating (65-70 Celcius is safe enough for the CPU for initial
testing). Then install either a floppy drive or optical drive and run
a memory diagnostic, such as Memtest86, for at least an hour. Don't go
further if any memory errors are reported because everything depends on
the memory. If errors can't be eliminated by changing the memory
settings in the BIOS, replace the memory. Next install and test one
new piece of hardware at a time until done. This will help you
pinpoint and resolve any troubles more easily, and less hardware will
be damaged if something goes wrong. Always install each hard drive
with at least 1/2" of air space on top and bottom.