Okay, Now I Need Your Help...

[adamp2p]

Okay, so as I mentioned...

I ordered some components from newegg.com.

After watching several go through 2500XP overclocking successfully, I felt compelled to buy one. But this one is not for myself. Well actually it is for my mechanic, who is one of my friends. And he does not have a good computer at all, so I felt it in his best interests to build him one. And yes I am being a little cheap with it. But all he wants is a system to play games on. And I felt like I owed him. Especially because my transmission totally broke down on me and I dropped it off to him a month ago and I called him a couple of days later and he told me there was nothing wrong with it. Trust me; there was something very wrong with it. I even told him that all I could spend was $700 to fix it. He fixed it and did not charge me for it.

I remember an anthropology teacher telling me that having a good mechanic is as important as having a good dentist--you don't want anybody messing around with something as important as your car...or your mouth, for that matter.

So I decided to buy some cheap components off of newegg (all of $200 USD). As a matter of fact I will list exactly what I purchased:

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?...tion=20-145-025 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=20-145-025)
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-131-468&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-468&depa=0)
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-379&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-379&depa=0)
Case and Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....-129-117&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-117&depa=0)

I asked him to pay for the memory ($100). I know the components are not all the highest quality. But I am just looking for components that will work at the specification. For one thing, I know that the memory I selected will run at CAS 2.5-3-3-8 or better at 400 MHz, which is all I need it to be stable at. Well actually I am going to give the system to him at stock, and show him how to overclock. And I am going to take off the heatsink heat pad that AMD affixes and apply some Artic Silver 5 on it (I have gobs of it).

Overall I am spending about $200 bucks on this stuff for him. I know that the power supply and case are not the best; but they do not have to be. They will do, that I know.

If you have any tips or pointers for me, let me know.

[tesco]

u got a case fan or two to ad into the case? if u overclock it expect it to get pretty hot and you will need good exhaust to get that hot air outta the case.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@26 March 2004 - 20:09
u got a case fan or two to ad into the case? if u overclock it expect it to get pretty hot and you will need good exhaust to get that hot air outta the case.
Yes, I have heard of 80mm fans...but really am unclear about what is a good one. Any available at newegg? Perhaps you can find a link to one and post it here?

Thanks!

like from around here:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?...=80%2Cmm%2Cfans (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=0&submit=Go&description=80%2Cmm%2Cfans)

[Virtualbody1234]

Looks like good choices to me. You should just try it at 3200+ speeds before giving it to him. Just up the FSB to 400 and watch the temps.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@26 March 2004 - 20:19
Looks like good choices to me. You should just try it at 3200+ speeds before giving it to him. Just up the FSB to 400 and watch the temps.
I definately will test the system at higher speeds. (heh, if I fall in love with the system, I might just stick him my dad's DELL and keep the 2500+ around) :smilie3:

[tesco]

yeah i think any of the fans are good, youll only noticew a difference between each one once u get up to the more expensive ones which are supposedly silent, or if u get one with a light (for obvious reasons).

btw, what vid card u putting in there? i think u said you were giving him a 9500 pro...

[adamp2p]

Yup, I am putting in a 9500 non pro.

Could anybody refer to some good 80 mm fans?

[bigdawgfoxx]

I like these (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-051&depa=0) coolermaster 80mm fans. 32CFM and 25Dba...also have a very nice blue color and not very loud.

[3RA1N1AC]

if you plan to overclock your pal's processor, it'd prolly be wise to make sure that he understands what it means (along with the risk involved, however small) and that it's acceptable to him. properly cooled and tested, an overclocked processor shouldn't cause any probs... but you never know, he may just prefer to play it safe and leave it at stock speed, or shell out for a higher rated chip so not to void the warranty.

edit:

Well actually I am going to give the system to him at stock, and show him how to overclock.
oh, sorry. went back and read your post again. i guess you should just make sure to inform him of stability and data corruption issues that can arise from OC-ing, so he knows what sort of things to watch out for.

[clocker]

I agree with 3rainiac.
In fact I'm not sure I would even discuss OCing the machine unless he expressly shows an interest.
A useful analogy for him might be the difference between a street car and a hot rod.
A hot rod may be cool as hell, but only if your willing to put out the effort to maintain it.
A street car will do most things OK and you can ignore them for a long time before they refuse to work.
How much diligence and work is your mechanic willing to invest in the PC?

[adamp2p]

Well I guess you could say that I am trying to "awaken" a PC enthusiast in him. He is a car repair expert, and I think there is a similar element in PC tweaking.

I mean, what is the "real" difference between the Barton @3200 MHz and the 2500? The fsb on the 3200 is 400 MHz, so all you do to the 2500 is set the fsb to 400 right, then it "becomes a 3200," right? The only thing you need is the proper ram and a mobo that can handle it, right?

[tesco]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 12:08
I mean, what is the "real" difference between the Barton @3200 MHz and the 2500? The fsb on the 3200 is 400 MHz, so all you do to the 2500 is set the fsb to 400 right, then it "becomes a 3200," right? The only thing you need is the proper ram and a mobo that can handle it, right?
right, but the 3200 isnt actually 3200mhz....
the Barton @3200 MHz and the 2500?

[3RA1N1AC]

well, adamp2p, it is honorable of you to repay your mechanic's kindness by getting him some new computer gear, and i'm sure he'll appreciate it. but if all he wants is to play some games without any hassle, a 2500 or 2600 athlon at stock speed runs plenty of new games just fine. may not be such a good idea to press the overclocking idea on him since, like clocker said, it's a fullblown hobby that requires all sorts of time, effort, and patience that a lot of people just aren't willing/able to devote in exchange for a few more cycles or frames per second.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by 3RA1N1AC@27 March 2004 - 09:42
well, adamp2p, it is honorable of you to repay your mechanic's kindness by getting him some new computer gear, and i'm sure he'll appreciate it. but if all he wants is to play some games without any hassle, a 2500 or 2600 athlon at stock speed runs plenty of new games just fine. may not be such a good idea to press the overclocking idea on him since, like clocker said, it's a fullblown hobby that requires all sorts of time, effort, and patience that a lot of people just aren't willing/able to devote in exchange for a few more cycles or frames per second.
Yeah, what I did was pdf this overclocking guide (http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/OCguide) and printed it, so he can have some backround on the simplicity of the act. :)

[bigdawgfoxx]

You find some good fans or what?

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@27 March 2004 - 10:15
You find some good fans or what?
Yup, thanks for the link, big dawg. I ordered 2 of the ones you linked. They costed $15.00 including shipping.

This whole thing is costing me a little more than I hoped, oh well...

[adamp2p]

Okay, now I have another question for you guys. It is really common sense, I guess, but I thought that I might as well ask anyways.

Once I get the components, I am going to install Windows, obviously. Now after that, what order do you guys suppose I should install other applications? Like the motherboard drivers, etc...nforce drivers, etc.

I usually use this as a reference:


1.  XP
2.  SP1
3.  IE 6, SP1
4.  DirectX 9.0b
5.  Chipset drivers
6.  Video Card Drivers. (run disk cleanup)
7.  NIC/Modem Drivers and ISP software
8. Windows Update, Internet Explorer service packs, updates
9.  Windows Update, Critical Updates (till there are no more)
10. Windows Update, Other Updates. (don't load unnecessary items)
11. Windows Update, Drivers.
12. Other Drivers (try to automatically update first) (run disk cleanup)
13. Major applications. Fully update each application before installing the next.
14. The rest of your apps. (run disk cleanup)
15.  Anti-Virus software and update it.
16.  Configure email, move My Documents to another drive
17. Cleanup System Tray, organize Start Menu.
18. Safe Mode, disk cleanup (advanced) and defragment.


Now, once everything is installed and stable, should I just bump right up to 2200 MHz? The RAM I bought should have no problem handling that. Now the 2500+ has a thermal pad, right? So, for better cooling, that should be removed and Arctic Silver #5 will replace it. Do you guys know of any online guides for this process? I want to give the computer to my mechanic with it saying "AMD Athlon 3200+" in system properties. So tell me if this is a good plan:

1. Overclock it, test it at 3200+ speeds for stability, and if it works, then give it to him preconfigured at that setting. That's simple, right?

[tesco]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 17:26
Okay, now I have another question for you guys.  It is really common sense, I guess, but I thought that I might as well ask anyways.

Once I get the components, I am going to install Windows, obviously.  Now after that, what order do you guys suppose I should install other applications?  Like the motherboard drivers, etc...nforce drivers, etc.

I usually use this as a reference:


1. XP
2. SP1
3. IE 6, SP1
4. DirectX 9.0b
5. Chipset drivers
6. Video Card Drivers. (run disk cleanup)
7. NIC/Modem Drivers and ISP software
8. Windows Update, Internet Explorer service packs, updates
9. Windows Update, Critical Updates (till there are no more)
10. Windows Update, Other Updates. (don't load unnecessary items)
11. Windows Update, Drivers.
12. Other Drivers (try to automatically update first) (run disk cleanup)
13. Major applications. Fully update each application before installing the next.
14. The rest of your apps. (run disk cleanup)
15. Anti-Virus software and update it.
16. Configure email, move My Documents to another drive
17. Cleanup System Tray, organize Start Menu.
18. Safe Mode, disk cleanup (advanced) and defragment.


Now, once everything is installed and stable, should I just bump right up to 2200 MHz? The RAM I bought should have no problem handling that. Now the 2500+ has a thermal pad, right? So, for better cooling, that should be removed and Arctic Silver #5 will replace it. Do you guys know of any online guides for this process? I want to give the computer to my mechanic with it saying "AMD Athlon 3200+" in system properties. So tell me if this is a good plan:

1. Overclock it, test it at 3200+ speeds for stability, and if it works, then give it to him preconfigured at that setting. That's simple, right?
the guide i used is at www.arcticsilver.com (http://www.arcticsilver.com) then find guide or application instructions somewhere on that site.

when i install this is the order i do it in:

1. windows xp pro clean install
2. install sp1 which i have on a cd
3. install all latest device drivers, graphics usually first
4. antivirus
5. This is when i connect my computer back onto my network for internet access as it is now safe from viruses\trojans\bugs\other threats.
6. all windows updates from www.windowsupdate.com (http://www.windowsupdate.com) except for driver updates (usually they are out of date)
7. msn messenger :lol:
8. i now install my important programs which i use daily which are kazaa lite, musicmatch, motherboard monitor 5, diskeeper, spysweeper, window washer, etc.
9. organise my desktop and startmenu (actually i delete everything from my desktop because i dont like icons, i use teh quicklaunch toolbar instead)
10. performance tweaks (msconfig, services.msc, regedit, tweakui) then i defragment and run spysweeper, antivirus and window washer.
11. now as i need other programs i install them.

none of this takes very long, i have pretty much everything already on my hard drive already, i keep all setup files and drivers that i download archived. ive got over 200mb just of graphics card drivers :lol:

hope that this helps you! why are you asking this though? havent you ever reinstalled your operating system before?

[adamp2p]

Yes, I have, but never on this type of configuration. As you can see from my sig, I have a Dell, so the whole process is quite simple.

[tesco]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 17:47
Yes, I have, but never on this type of configuration. As you can see from my sig, I have a Dell, so the whole process is quite simple.
o i c. ok, so u use the recovery cds still? id think since youve changed so many parts on it you would have stopped using those recovery disks\partitions.

[adamp2p]

Actually DELL gives a full install Disk that is full.

I have a corporate SP1 disk too, though...

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 17:53
Actually DELL gives a full install Disk that is full.

I have a corporate SP1 disk too, though...
Umm about the install list I saw, a few things stuck out.


For one, how are you going to install IE6, if you havnt installed Modem drivers yet........

As a general rule, My steps are.

1.XP
2.Motherboard Drivers as soon as I can boot into XP.
3.Vid card drivers.
4.Windows Update.




Also, as for the board, Umm, I think you can find a cheaperboard, that will do the same stuff you want it to do, at less than 80 dollars. That stupid ASUS AMD line is overpriced, its just that they flood the market most people come within interaction with them, when there are really better solutions.

Like this one,

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc....-138-227&depa=1 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=13-138-227&depa=1) 69 bucks, runs 200+ FSB, and has dual channel.

As for the case and powersupply, u got a Antec case and power supply, which means great quality, so I wouldnt be too concerened. The 300W, is a bit on the low side, but if he is just plugging in the usual stuff, for instance not 9 fans, and 2 CCF:s like I have, he should be fine.

What are you doing by way of Hard drive?

[adamp2p]

Thanks for the input, John. I really appreciate it.

I am sticking with the components I have ordered so far because I don't want to introduce more variables than I need to.

One thing that is good about the Asus brand is the fact that they have good market penetration--which means that when I give it to my mechanic he won't have trouble getting support for it.

About the hard drive--I actually have a 60 GB 2 MB cache WD 7200 RPM sitting on my floor collecting dust. I have an 80 GB HDD sitting inside of an enclosure that I use to back up my important music data.

I am hoping that tommorrow that I can find an 40-80 GB 8 MB cache hard drive on a rebate sale for relatively cheap so I can give him a decent hard drive. The 2 mb version will be fine, I guess, but I need more space to back up my personal data, as I have 80 GB+ of .mp3's alone. So I am probably heading over to best buy tommorrow, we will have to see.

[bigdawgfoxx]

I always install windows XP w/ SP1, then the chipset drivers, then video drivers, and then antivirus...really thats about it

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 18:15
Thanks for the input, John. I really appreciate it.

I am sticking with the components I have ordered so far because I don't want to introduce more variables than I need to.

One thing that is good about the Asus brand is the fact that they have good market penetration--which means that when I give it to my mechanic he won't have trouble getting support for it.

About the hard drive--I actually have a 60 GB 2 MB cache WD 7200 RPM sitting on my floor collecting dust. I have an 80 GB HDD sitting inside of an enclosure that I use to back up my important music data.

I am hoping that tommorrow that I can find an 40-80 GB 8 MB cache hard drive on a rebate sale for relatively cheap so I can give him a decent hard drive. The 2 mb version will be fine, I guess, but I need more space to back up my personal data, as I have 80 GB+ of .mp3's alone. So I am probably heading over to best buy tommorrow, we will have to see.
Haha, you mean your not providing him with 24/7 tech support?

lol, I see your angle on just giving him name brand stuff, np.

[adamp2p]

So that stock cooler is okay, right? For overclocking? I need to apply the Arctic Silver first, right?
Edit: thanks for all your help guys!

[tesco]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 23:34
So that stock cooler is okay, right? For overclocking? I need to apply the Arctic Silver first, right?
Edit: thanks for all your help guys!
yeah stock cooler is good. its easier to remove the thermal pad that comes with the stock heatsync BEFORE it has been heated and melted which is why id recomend you remove it right away and just apply some arctic silver 5.

[adamp2p]

Is this the right amount?:

Image Resized
[img]http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> ('http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg')

Image Resized
[img]http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> ('http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg')

[adamp2p]

Is this hard drive any good (the seagate) $79 after rebate

Image Resized
[img]http://bestbuy.dailyshopper.com/lib/bestbuy//168015_b.JPG' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> ('http://bestbuy.dailyshopper.com/lib/bestbuy//168015_b.JPG')

[tesco]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 23:40
Is this the right amount?:

Image Resized
Image Resized
<a href=&#39;http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg&#39; (http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg) target=&#39;image&#39;>Image Resized
[img]http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> ('http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg')</a>

Image Resized
Image Resized
<a href=&#39;http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg&#39; (http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg) target=&#39;image&#39;>Image Resized
[img]http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> ('http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg')</a>
hmm it looks ok, how thick is that? according to the website it should be thin enough that you can see the chip through the paste, but id be scared that i put too little on the chip and it overheats...id say that is a good amount though. it will definately get flattened out when the heatsync is applied. and be careful doing that, you dont want to put it on backwards lol, ive done that a few times and had to reapply my thermal paste.

[adamp2p]

Even better at Circuit City (they have &#036;50.00 off all WD HDDs)

http://weeklyad.circuitcity.com/circuitcit...15&clicksrc=01& (http://weeklyad.circuitcity.com/circuitcity/circular_browse_page_large.asp?storeid=2396870&rapid=50964&pagenumber=15&clicksrc=01&)

[Virtualbody1234]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 22:40
Is this the right amount?:

Image Resized
Image Resized
[img]http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> (http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_1.jpg)

Image Resized
Image Resized
[img]http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> (http://www.sirius.pl/html/testy/113/fotki/cpu_2.jpg)
Looks ok. I use a bit less than that on the CPU core.

I also put some on the Heatsink and work it in in a circular motion the wipe it off so that it only fills the tiny surface imperfections.

[tesco]

well the seagate looks like a better deal to me, 20 bucks more for 40 extra gigs plus it has those silent motors in it becuase they are seagates.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@27 March 2004 - 21:08
well the seagate looks like a better deal to me, 20 bucks more for 40 extra gigs plus it has those silent motors in it becuase they are seagates.
20 bucks is a lot, I am trying to be cheap but good. Plus he won&#39;t really have that much to put on his hard drive (except for the tons of .mp3&#39;s that I will copy)

[tesco]

Originally posted by adamp2p+28 March 2004 - 00:13--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (adamp2p @ 28 March 2004 - 00:13)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-ROSSCO_2004@27 March 2004 - 21:08
well the seagate looks like a better deal to me, 20 bucks more for 40 extra gigs plus it has those silent motors in it becuase they are seagates.
20 bucks is a lot, I am trying to be cheap but good. Plus he won&#39;t really have that much to put on his hard drive (except for the tons of .mp3&#39;s that I will copy) [/b][/quote]
true. so u get that heasync on? when you first turn on the computer, go straight to the bios right away and go right to hardware monitor, or wherever it says the temps. this is what i always do to make sure the chip isnt extremely hot already, like say if after 5 seconds it was at like 50 that would mean something is wrong.

[adamp2p]

The stuff has not even shipped yet. It probably won&#39;t be here until Wednesday.

[james_bond_rulez]

Originally posted by adamp2p@26 March 2004 - 18:56
Okay, so as I mentioned...

I ordered some components from newegg.com.

After watching several go through 2500XP overclocking successfully, I felt compelled to buy one. But this one is not for myself. Well actually it is for my mechanic, who is one of my friends. And he does not have a good computer at all, so I felt it in his best interests to build him one. And yes I am being a little cheap with it. But all he wants is a system to play games on. And I felt like I owed him. Especially because my transmission totally broke down on me and I dropped it off to him a month ago and I called him a couple of days later and he told me there was nothing wrong with it. Trust me; there was something very wrong with it. I even told him that all I could spend was &#036;700 to fix it. He fixed it and did not charge me for it.

I remember an anthropology teacher telling me that having a good mechanic is as important as having a good dentist--you don&#39;t want anybody messing around with something as important as your car...or your mouth, for that matter.

So I decided to buy some cheap components off of newegg (all of &#036;200 USD). As a matter of fact I will list exactly what I purchased:

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?...tion=20-145-025 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=20-145-025)
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-131-468&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-468&depa=0)
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-379&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-379&depa=0)
Case and Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....-129-117&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-117&depa=0)

I asked him to pay for the memory (&#036;100). I know the components are not all the highest quality. But I am just looking for components that will work at the specification. For one thing, I know that the memory I selected will run at CAS 2.5-3-3-8 or better at 400 MHz, which is all I need it to be stable at. Well actually I am going to give the system to him at stock, and show him how to overclock. And I am going to take off the heatsink heat pad that AMD affixes and apply some Artic Silver 5 on it (I have gobs of it).

Overall I am spending about &#036;200 bucks on this stuff for him. I know that the power supply and case are not the best; but they do not have to be. They will do, that I know.

If you have any tips or pointers for me, let me know.
wow that&#39;s nice of him. My mazda 626 broke down just a couple of months ago and I broght it back to Mazda for repairs. They said that I have completely burnt the transmission and it needs rebuilding (that&#39;s bs cuz I maintain my car at regular intervals and change transmission oil all the time) and that it&#39;ll cost 3 grand canadian to repair. I was like ok do what you have to, since I am not a mechnic and can&#39;t tell if you are really lying or not...

:(

good thing your friend fixed it for u....

my car had difficult climbing the hills when I apply the gas, it&#39;s like the gear is stuck at neutral but it&#39;s not at neutral. It just felt like it&#39;s partially on gear and the egine is really working hard but the force is not being transmitted to the tires... <_<

[3RA1N1AC]

Originally posted by adamp2p@27 March 2004 - 20:55
Is this hard drive any good (the seagate) &#036;79 after rebate

Image Resized
Image Resized
[img]http://bestbuy.dailyshopper.com/lib/bestbuy//168015_b.JPG' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'> (http://bestbuy.dailyshopper.com/lib/bestbuy//168015_b.JPG)
there are only a few major, mainstream brands (seagate, maxtor, western digital, ibm...). they&#39;re all just about the same, as far as quality goes. seems like no matter what brand you buy nowadays, you should expect to replace it after two or three years of heavy usage because they&#39;re not very well-constructed and they&#39;re prone to developing mechanical probs.

personally, the only HD brand i won&#39;t buy is ibm, &#39;cause they had really serious quality issues with entire product-lines a few years ago. my ibm drive went belly up after about a year, and i didn&#39;t keep the comp powered on nearly as much as i do with my current drives...

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by james_bond_rulez+27 March 2004 - 21:28--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (james_bond_rulez @ 27 March 2004 - 21:28)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-adamp2p@26 March 2004 - 18:56
Okay, so as I mentioned...

I ordered some components from newegg.com.&nbsp;

After watching several go through 2500XP overclocking successfully, I felt compelled to buy one.&nbsp; But this one is not for myself.&nbsp; Well actually it is for my mechanic, who is one of my friends.&nbsp; And he does not have a good computer at all, so I felt it in his best interests to build him one.&nbsp; And yes I am being a little cheap with it.&nbsp; But all he wants is a system to play games on.&nbsp; And I felt like I owed him.&nbsp; Especially because my transmission totally broke down on me and I dropped it off to him a month ago and I called him a couple of days later and he told me there was nothing wrong with it.&nbsp; Trust me; there was something very wrong with it.&nbsp; I even told him that all I could spend was &#036;700 to fix it.&nbsp; He fixed it and did not charge me for it.&nbsp;

I remember an anthropology teacher telling me that having a good mechanic is as important as having a good dentist--you don&#39;t want anybody messing around with something as important as your car...or your mouth, for that matter.&nbsp;

So I decided to buy some cheap components off of newegg (all of &#036;200 USD).&nbsp; As a matter of fact I will list exactly what I purchased:

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?...tion=20-145-025 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=20-145-025)
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-131-468&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-468&depa=0)
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-379&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-379&depa=0)
Case and Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....-129-117&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-117&depa=0)

I asked him to pay for the memory (&#036;100).&nbsp; I know the components are not all the highest quality.&nbsp; But I am just looking for components that will work at the specification.&nbsp; For one thing, I know that the memory I selected will run at CAS 2.5-3-3-8 or better at 400 MHz, which is all I need it to be stable at.&nbsp; Well actually I am going to give the system to him at stock, and show him how to overclock.&nbsp; And I am going to take off the heatsink heat pad that AMD affixes and apply some Artic Silver 5 on it (I have gobs of it).

Overall I am spending about &#036;200 bucks on this stuff for him.&nbsp; I know that the power supply and case are not the best; but they do not have to be.&nbsp; They will do, that I know.

If you have any tips or pointers for me, let me know.
wow that&#39;s nice of him. My mazda 626 broke down just a couple of months ago and I broght it back to Mazda for repairs. They said that I have completely burnt the transmission and it needs rebuilding (that&#39;s bs cuz I maintain my car at regular intervals and change transmission oil all the time) and that it&#39;ll cost 3 grand canadian to repair. I was like ok do what you have to, since I am not a mechnic and can&#39;t tell if you are really lying or not...

:(

good thing your friend fixed it for u....

my car had difficult climbing the hills when I apply the gas, it&#39;s like the gear is stuck at neutral but it&#39;s not at neutral. It just felt like it&#39;s partially on gear and the egine is really working hard but the force is not being transmitted to the tires... <_< [/b][/quote]
Yeah, here, let me tell you a little story of my life.

When I was a kid I started selling weed, and I was quite good at it. I made a bunch of money and bought a 1974 BMW 2002 tii (fuel injected). I was still in high school. I bought it for &#036;5,000 from my dealer. The motor quickly broke and I had the entire engine rebuilt from scratch by a guy who races 2002s. I must have spend &#036;25,000 over the course of two years on that car. It had a turbo racing clutch (which basically means that you have to raise the RPMs up to at least 2.5 before even beginning to raise your foot off of the clutch). It took 3 months to build this motor and let me tell you, it was a monster. I used 100 octane racing gas and it went 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds. I will scan a pic of it for you guys later.

Anyways, that was great and all, and to make a long story short, I ended up in the mental hosptial for 3 months after becoming a crackhead, and in the process lost all of my money and possessions (including the car, which went right back to my dealer because he fronted my a pound of weed and I could not repay him with anything else but my car).

Somehow, I got my shit together. I went back to school, started getting good grades, and called my old mechanic, who I won&#39;t name out of respect. I told him, hey, do you know anyone who can fix Toyotas? He said yes, and referred me to my new mechanic. Ever since I&#39;ve known him, I have done little but maintence to my car and its running great.

Just thought I would let &#39;yall in on a bit of my life story.

[james_bond_rulez]

ya anyways i feel stupid for paying 3 grands on repairs when the car is only worth 10 (i bought it for 20)

damn those dealers&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :angry:

I have to add:

although i could&#39;ve brought my car to any mechanic for significantly less amount (1grand, 2 at most) I felt compelled to bring it back to my original manuf. cuz i thought they could do a professional job and not rip me off. but I feel like i got ripped off and the car doesn&#39;t drive that well anymore..

i am still pissed... :angry:

[clocker]

Adam,
As far as HDDs go, if possible I recommend using Seagate.
Of the three major brands I have found them to be the quietest by far.
Can&#39;t really speak to their durability as my history with PCs is fairly short.

After you install Windows check this site out. (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm) Very cool ways to tighten up and optimise your installation. I have just finished my fifth complete install of XP in less than two weeks ( different comps, natch) and BV hasn&#39;t let me down yet.

Your stock AMD HS should work fine...especially if you mod it with an adaptor and a 80mm fan. This is how I set up my sister&#39;s new comp and the temps are very good and stable.


I want to give the computer to my mechanic with it saying "AMD Athlon 3200+" in system properties
I&#39;m not sure this will happen. It sure doesn&#39;t with my OCed 2600+.

[lynx]

Originally posted by clocker@28 March 2004 - 16:25

I want to give the computer to my mechanic with it saying "AMD Athlon 3200+" in system properties
I&#39;m not sure this will happen. It sure doesn&#39;t with my OCed 2600+.
It does with XP2500&#39;s though. :blink:

[clocker]

Originally posted by lynx+28 March 2004 - 08:53--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lynx @ 28 March 2004 - 08:53)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-clocker@28 March 2004 - 16:25

I want to give the computer to my mechanic with it saying "AMD Athlon 3200+" in system properties
I&#39;m not sure this will happen. It sure doesn&#39;t with my OCed 2600+.
It does with XP2500&#39;s though. :blink: [/b][/quote]
But only if you are running at the default 3200 speed, right?
I&#39;m at 200x11.5, so my System Properties just reads "AMD Athlon XP"....I guess it just doesn&#39;t know what to call my chip.

[Virtualbody1234]

If you set the FSB to 400MHz with the 2500+ then it will show up as a 3200+ at startup on the black screen, in system properties and even in programs such as Aida32.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by clocker@28 March 2004 - 08:25
Adam,
As far as HDDs go, if possible I recommend using Seagate.
Of the three major brands I have found them to be the quietest by far.
Can&#39;t really speak to their durability as my history with PCs is fairly short.

After you install Windows check this site out. (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm) Very cool ways to tighten up and optimise your installation. I have just finished my fifth complete install of XP in less than two weeks ( different comps, natch) and BV hasn&#39;t let me down yet.

Your stock AMD HS should work fine...especially if you mod it with an adaptor and a 80mm fan. This is how I set up my sister&#39;s new comp and the temps are very good and stable.


I want to give the computer to my mechanic with it saying "AMD Athlon 3200+" in system properties
I&#39;m not sure this will happen. It sure doesn&#39;t with my OCed 2600+.
Man, I have lived by Black Viper&#39;s guide forever now...

[bigdawgfoxx]

On the service settings thing he does...which one do you use? I used gamer once and it messed it up pretty bad lol

[clocker]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@28 March 2004 - 11:24
On the service settings thing he does...which one do you use? I used gamer once and it messed it up pretty bad lol
What did it "mess up" Dawg?
For my sister&#39;s PC and the three up here at my brother&#39;s I am using the "safe" reg settings...mostly because they run all sorts of printers, scanners and the like.

At home, on my comp I use the "supertweak" package with just enough extra stuff enabled to let my cable connection work.
When I was still on AOL I couldn&#39;t use "gamer" because it disabled something that AOL required to function and I was too lazy to track down the specific service required.

[adamp2p]

I disable the stuff myself manually...

or follow this (http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm)

[bigdawgfoxx]

It messed up my DSL connection....I will use the Safe ones I guess

[adamp2p]

Okay, I have a question for you guys: which of the following downloads should I grab to install? I need a floppy to flash the BIOS, right?

I can find all I need Here (http://www.asus.com/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=A7N8X-X) ? Please tell me if there is anything special I should know about (weird stuff that I should know)...

[clocker]

Originally posted by adamp2p@28 March 2004 - 15:02
I need a floppy to flash the BIOS, right?


No, you don&#39;t.

Using the Asus bios flashing tool couldn&#39;t be simpler and I can&#39;t think of any special tricks/tips you need to know.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by clocker+28 March 2004 - 15:34--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (clocker @ 28 March 2004 - 15:34)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-adamp2p@28 March 2004 - 15:02
I need a floppy to flash the BIOS, right?


No, you don&#39;t.

Using the Asus bios flashing tool couldn&#39;t be simpler and I can&#39;t think of any special tricks/tips you need to know. [/b][/quote]
Thanks, clock.

[lynx]

Originally posted by adamp2p@28 March 2004 - 21:05
I disable the stuff myself manually...

or follow this (http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm)
If you follow that guide, DO NOT DISABLE WebClient - guess what, if you disable it you won&#39;t be able to get on the web.

So you won&#39;t be able to get back to the guide and may not be able to work out what you did wrong&#33;&#33;&#33;

[tesco]

ice found a much easier way of disabling the services.

open a few programs that you use on a dialy basis and open the net(probably one u use on a daily basis anyway) then go to services.msc and look at all of the services that are in the started status. there will only be about 33% of them started, so find just those services on the guide, read about them, and set it to the one you want. its a lot easier than going through every single service, and its safer than using the reg tweaks.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by lynx+29 March 2004 - 03:20--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lynx @ 29 March 2004 - 03:20)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-adamp2p@28 March 2004 - 21:05
I disable the stuff myself manually...

or follow this (http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm)
If you follow that guide, DO NOT DISABLE WebClient - guess what, if you disable it you won&#39;t be able to get on the web.

So you won&#39;t be able to get back to the guide and may not be able to work out what you did wrong&#33;&#33;&#33; [/b][/quote]
WRONG&#33; I disable webclient and never have a problem connecting.

[adamp2p]

CRAP&#33; The board that I ordered does not support dual channel memory&#33;

I thought it did&#33; That sucks&#33; I think I will return it&#33;

So I am going to return it. So I just ordered the real thing:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-131-455&depa=0 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-455&depa=0)

That costed a bit more, but that&#39;s okay, I guess. A slightly better board, though. The thing that sucks is the fact that I live in California, so I have to pay tax...

...and now I will have to pay to return the item to newegg...

[lynx]

Originally posted by adamp2p+29 March 2004 - 16:17--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (adamp2p @ 29 March 2004 - 16:17)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by lynx@29 March 2004 - 03:20
<!--QuoteBegin-adamp2p@28 March 2004 - 21:05
I disable the stuff myself manually...

or follow this (http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm)
If you follow that guide, DO NOT DISABLE WebClient - guess what, if you disable it you won&#39;t be able to get on the web.

So you won&#39;t be able to get back to the guide and may not be able to work out what you did wrong&#33;&#33;&#33;
WRONG&#33; I disable webclient and never have a problem connecting. [/b][/quote]
Hmmm, look like you are right on that.

Strange thing is, when it was disabled I couldn&#39;t connect to the internet.
As soon as I changed the startup back to manual everything was OK.
But now that I&#39;ve looked again that service hasn&#39;t started anyway.

Confusing. :blink:


CRAP&#33; The board that I ordered does not support dual channel memory&#33;
I thought you would have realised that, I&#39;ve posted it enough times. I would have posted it again but you had already ordered it, and you said you wanted to keep the cost below &#036;200 anyway.

Hope you don&#39;t have any problems returning it.

[adamp2p]

Yeah, I did not know.

There is one important reason for buying that particular board: the dual channel memory controller. One thing is the fact that I ordered 2X256 MB modules, and if I purchased the -X board then I would only really need one stick I could have more money.

However, I have read on the Internet that the extra channel of memory really does not help that much at all. What do you guys think of that claim?