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Fuck, nevermind. I don't want to go back on this, and I don't want a prefab. And that 8800GT deal is contingent upon a $30 rebate I can't wait for. I'm sticking to the order.

Sorry for all the second-guessing. I don't think I've ever spent $1100 at once before.

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Well, you have to understand that my only inclination towards SFF is aesthetic and due to the fact that I know myself well enough to predict an irrational sadness until I fill every slot and bay in a tower case if I've opened it even once. I've never been inside a computer case and my perspective is all hear-say, so I'm very easily influenced.

But I trust you guys a lot, and I'm not going to rethink the purchase anymore. Just have to get it processed tomorrow; I guess the debit card is a problem for some reason.

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I don't know what newegg's problem is, but it took them from Thursday until this evening (with way too many phone calls on my part) to successfully charge my damned bank account. And then they charged my account twice for the sound card! But a guy told me I'd definitely have my stuff Thursday, Friday at the latest though, so I'm on schedule to have a great weekend.

I need to buy: A router, a mouse pad, and a static-killing wrist band. Or do I? I read the instructions here for putting everything together, and while it's more involved than I expected I think I'll be okay. But I'm worried about the static issue. I don't usually give/get static shocks except when it's cold and I get out of my car. Around the house? Never. So, what do you think: do I really need an anti-static wrist band? Are there alternative (free) precautions that I can take? (I live in New Jersey, not a particularly dry climate.) I'm going to get the router (somewhat) locally through Craigslist, and I figure it can't be too hard to find a mouse pad nearby.

Got my new headphones today! Plugged them in and listened to the soundtracks for Battlestar Galactica while working. The percussion is immediately impressive, and of course instrument differentiation and texture are far improved compared to the shite I was using earlier. But the overall tonality feels somewhat cold--sweeping, thick orchestral movements don't feel as much like they envelop me. I suspect that this may be because my crappy headphones blended so much together, leading me to develop that as a false standard for bigness. In any case, I'm sure I'll get used to the Grados. I'll try a wider variety of music tomorrow. I'm also looking forward to hearing the difference my sound card will make; this initial impression is based on just a discman.

Since I spent most of my money on hardware, I've been thinking that my best bet for mileage with games will be to go with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and EVE-Online initially. I tried to get into EVE once and liked it, but it didn't take--largely because I was put off by the time requirements for learning skills and the thought that I'd always be "behind" everyone else. After reading a lot of online literature, I see now that skills are not necessary for effective action; the game is far more tactical than I had given it credit for. I'm pretty excited to try again and dedicate myself to the game more fully; I've already planned the general scope of each of my three characters.

But all this stuff is being packed for shipping right now, and that's pretty exciting too!

o 1 x EVGA 512-P3-N862-AR GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
o 1 x APEVIA X-QPACK2-NW-BK/500 Black Aluminum Body/ Front Mask MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
o 1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail
o 1 x GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
o 1 x Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail
o 1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
o 1 x Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support - Retail
o 1 x SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM
o 1 x Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
o 1 x Turtle Beach RIVIERA 5.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

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I know that's true in general, but these were refurbished, so I'd expected them to be broken in by whomever had and returned them before me. Maybe not, though.

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FUCK. Newegg canceled the order for my sound card because they "discovered" that it's out of stock. After all that hassle! I'm getting really annoyed. What am I going to do for a sound card now?

I don't suppose it's fairly simply to add a sound card to an already-built computer?

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I'm going to drop the sound card. It'd cost $50-$60 to get one locally, I figure I can add one anytime later, and reviews say my motherboard has really good onboard sound. So maybe I just saved $35 and won't feel that anything is missing when I plug in those headphones.

This is a great deal if you're a COSTCO member (my dad is, so I'll use his card). $2.95 mouse pad, shipping included, 2-3 days from time of order.

I still don't know what to do about static grounding. Fucking nobody carries these wrist straps, including non-franchised local computer hardware stores.

All my stuff just shipped from newegg! I can finally relax a little. I just have to worry about the static and a router.

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Okay. This really nice guy at a local electronics store told me I can find a wrist strap at Best Buy. He even pegged the price -- $12 "for no reason" -- and I called Best Buy to confirm. Yes. I don't mind the cost; it's about the same as newegg + shipping, and I was starting to feel desperate.

It was so nice to talk to a reasonable human being for once at that electronics store. When I said that I couldn't find one at Radio Shack, he said "of course. Radio Shack doesn't have anything."

So everything should be fine for me now. I just need to sort out getting a router locally through craigslist, and then every single thing will be accounted for, at last.

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Yeah! Right on! Okay! Phew. I've never bought anything from Craigslist, so I didn't know what this would be like. So I called this guy who is around 45 minutes away from me by car. He seemed pretty nice, he says he's still got the router, he confirmed that it's a router and not a switch (his ad says "router switch"), and we've agreed to meet halfway-ish Thursday evening.

PRICE IS $10.

Even if I had to drive all the way down to him, I'd be happy with that.

The router, by the way, is a Netgear MR314 Wireless Router. Though a router's a router, as I understand it. Edit: Hey, this sounds like a pretty good router.

So everything's in order now, as long as nothing else goes wrong.

I'm basically going to be following this guide when I go to build on Friday. If anyone has a problem with those instructions, can recommend better ones, or wants to suggest specific procedure, I'm all ears. This journey is nearing its destination--which itself is the start of a brand new adventure.

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I would like to clarify one thing that's not in those instructions: about the thermal compound stuff.

I'll slot the processor into the motherboard, then drip three dabs of the compound directly onto the top surface of the processor, and then apply the heat sink. Is that correct?

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Is the CPU's "heat spreader" simply the top surface of the processor?

I guess my main worry is whether the stuff can be harmful if it comes into contact with anything it's not supposed to. Like, what if I put a little too much on and it drips down the side a bit? What if some gets onto the surface of the motherboard?

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Okay, I can do that. I'll use whatever (probably antistatic) bag that the processor comes in to apply the stuff. So it goes on the top of the chip, and then the door closes over that, and then the heatsink goes on top of the door.

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Okay, I've got my antistatic wrist strap. So if I work on a (clean) wood floor and attach myself to my case, everything will be safe? It just seems weird that the case, in which I will be putting computer chips throughout, is safe to use for grounding.

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I got a whole bunch of stuff from NewEgg today. The 9600 says right on the box that it requires 26 amps on the +12 rail, and since I don't have that, I'm a little worried.

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Well, what worries me is rather that the card explicitly has a stated requirement of 26A on the +12V rail independent of other factors, including total available wattage. On the other hand, it does claim to need 400W, and people who have been having problems with the card seem to have figured out that PSUs aren't the issue:

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Oh, man. You're right, I'm acting like a complete tit. Toptube explained that it's a new format, but I didn't fully understand because I failed to note the second designated 12V rail in this picture:



And combined, that's 34A. So as long as I can connect things such that the video card can make use of both rails, it should be fine. Sorry; I'm going to leave this stuff alone for the next two days.

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Well, alright then. I'll just cross my fingers that I got one of the 9600s that doesn't consistently shut down the computer after an hour of gaming.

I haven't opened the C2D inner packaging--the plastic housing--but it's totally not what I expected. I can't even see a chip in there! There's a big, tall, fan-like thing. I dunno what's going on. I think I'll read the manual.

The motherboard is so cool. It's the kind of thing I've always entertained as the imagined ideal appearance for a computer chip. Lots of small but discernible and recognizable parts/areas.

Hard drive is wrapped up tight with the thermal stuff and the DVD drive, and they're going to stay that way for the time being. Sure seems nice and sturdy through the three inches of bubble wrap, though.

RAM is cute.

The case is a case. It has a power unit. There are things that move around freely inside. One of these things is the instruction manual. They put the instruction manual inside the case. I think this is really quite funny.

I'm not opening the box with the monitor. If I do, I won't be able to get my mind off the fact that I have these computer parts sitting here waiting for me over the next two days.

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I just got done acquiring Win XP Pro w/ integrated SP2. The instructions state:

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Well, the thing did come with a key in addition to having this WGA crack on the disc. Dunno what white-listed means.

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Are distinct keys tied to individual program copies?

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This is kind of funny. The guy I was buying the router from couldn't find his power adapter, and as a result I stumbled upon an ancient router lying around the house. So I have a router. But it's old. It's a Linksys EtherFast 10/100 LH100HS. I dunno what that means.

I would like to test the router's speed. We have a DSL connection here, and it's not the fastest internet in the world. I compared similar tasks with the router and with just the modem, and they seem basically the same. I worry that adding my computer will halve the speed or something, and I wonder if I'll be able to play EVE-Online or Team Fortress 2 at all.

At the very least, I'd like to test the speed. Is there a program I can use to do this?

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lol =(


okay well, good

i just thought i saw 10/100/1000 once somewhere maybe

also i wish my internet was faster


So I'm probably beyond the point of annoyance here, but I wound up putting this off (to finish work) until tomorrow, Sunday, and I just have one question remaining: I'm currently downloading the most recent drivers for my hardware so I can put them on a CD (Processors apparently don't have drivers and Intel's website makes you feel stupid for looking). I just want to know: should I start with this CD, or should I go with packaged CDs and just install these drivers first thing once I've got everything running? Like, I put them on CD just in case, not to run them from the get-go?

Edit: Ok, two questions. Gigabyte says I shouldn't update ("flash") my BIOS if I don't have problems with what I already have. But I'd think I would want the latest version? Also, they fixed a problem where 1TB hard drives are detected with the wrong size, and I might care about that someday not too far away, I hope. So should I update my BIOS? Ever?

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OH NO EMERGENCY HELP

I'm right in the middle of building. I applied thermal goo using an inside-out plastic baggie (I started with a cotton ball but panicked because the cotton was getting pulled apart and stuck to the CPU; the paste is much thicker than I expected and took careful work to spread, so I hope it's a good thickness and all.)

I installed the heat sink, and the fourth pin was REALLY hard to get down. I read that it takes some force, so I pushed really hard. I looked from the bottom and the side and saw that, I think, one of the two outer prong parts of the fourth push pin was outside the hole while I was pushing, and it's bent away from the middle now. I'm panicked about this! I think I should remove the other three push pins and try to unbend the last one.

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Okay, I managed to take it off, and I applied first thumb and forefinger and then needle-nosed pliers to the bent prong. When I used the pliers, there was a click and I thought I had snapped it off, but I looked and it was almost good as new.

I examined the thermal paste on both the sink and processor surface, saw that it was in a circle rather than a square and sort of thin-looking, and applied some more. I did not remove what was already there, even though I have rubbing alcohol here with me. I hope that's alright.

I reinstalled the heat sink, keeping a careful eye on the bent prong. It went in smoothly and clicked into place. Got two more in. Now, once again, the last one is a problem. It's down, it looks basically the same as the others from below the motherboard, but from a side view the male and female aren't meeting as snugly as the other three. I pressed so hard my thumb's about to bleed, and I can't believe the motherboard hasn't broken in two. It'll be a miracle if it's undamaged. (I have the soft pad from its box underneath the static-proof bag it came in, atop which I'm working on the board. Thank god for that soft pad.)

I read that, if you don't secure the fourth push pin adequately, the heat sink basically won't cool the CPU nearly as well as it should. How do I determine whether that fourth pin is down well enough? It just won't fucking click.

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I just double-checked myself. I'm sure. From the bottom of the mobo, all four pin sets seem to be locked down the same length past the board. However, that fourth pin definitely isn't flush from the plastic to the metal foot of the sink from a side view as the others are. However, the sink feels very secure, good and tight. It also doesn't appear unevenly balanced or anything.

Note as well that this case has a temperature readout screen on its front panel. I don't want the heat sink to be ineffectual, but I feel extremely lucky that nothing had been permanently damaged in my efforts with this thing so far. I want to move on. What do you think?

Also, when I was locking in the CPU, it kind of freaked me out how tight that lock-bar makes it. This experience is utterly bizarre; I'm applying a lot of force to a lot of very tiny, fragile things.

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Would it be sci-fi in a cool way if I held a cigarette in the alligator clip of my antistatic wrist band while wearing it?

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I might try turn-unlocking the pins but I'm not taking the sink off again. I think it's fine as-is, though. It seems perfectly secure except for the side view of the fourth pin. I'm going to move on.

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This is going really well! Assuming the heat sink is okay, which I'm pretty sure it is. I've got my motherboard screwed onto the removable tray (those I/O Shield prongs are stupid; I couldn't figure out what to do with them. Found out they're for grounding or EMI or something, bent them back, pressed the mobo's I/O stuff into them, and screwed it all down. Most prongs are touching something or other, so). I've got RAM (another thing that I had to push down pretty hard on) and my video card is installed. I tested placing the whole tray back in the case; it went okay, though a part of the metal takes some work to fit back with the main chassis. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to go about connecting things; there's not a lot of room to work inside the case.

So I'll do that, test that it boots, and then move onto the hard and optical drives. This is really fun!

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Well, first thing when I get running is to check CPU temp in BIOS. If it's stable, then I'm okay. Right?

I'm not worried about securing my cables. I'll probably make some effort, but there's barely any room in this thing for stuff to move around. Case came with plenty of rubber bands and such, so I can secure things additionally. Also, I used the bottom optical drive slot. Had trouble getting the metal plate out for the top one and didn't see any reason to prefer one over the other at the time. Hell if I'm going to switch now!

Right now all that's left is to connect all the small things on the motherboard to the case's wires and front USB and LEDs and audio and everything. There are some things I don't have, it turns out, like anywhere to put the two case fans on the motherboard, so they won't be regulated. Also, I don't have an audio cable to go from optical to the motherboard's dedicated line in for CD play, but maybe the SATA data cable incorporates that.

I've really enjoyed the SFF thing. It's been very tight, but I like things that way, and while I've had to undo some moves, Things Fit Together is extremely appealing. However, at this point, as I'm about to do those little things, I barely have any access to the motherboard anymore, and I'm worried about whether I'll be able to see and access what I'll need to. Hopefully, I'l under an hour from booting this sucker!

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No, it means I was working =(

I finally finally finished up (though why do I have more screws left over than when I started), connected my monitor, mouse, and keyboard, and booted up. The fans sound kind of sickly, though maybe that's just how they come these days. I can feel them working plenty. I guess they'll be on all the time since they aren't connected to my motherboard. I have CPU and HDD temps starting at 68 F and climbing to 70 on the CPU after a couple of minutes. The machine emits a short beep, signaling a problem-free boot.

Everything seems fine. Only... why does my monitor have no signal?

OH GOD THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GO BACK AND TAKE THIS THING APART NOW

seriously there has to be some reason why i don't get a monitor signal. i mean i didn't even connect anything related to VGA-output. Don't tell me that installing a video card overrides the mobo out? Should I try the DVI out of my videocard?

btw no dead pixels on my monitor unless they're black ones lol 'cos i wouldn't know it yet get it haha




also i wish somebody had told me what might be a good way to connect the chassis to the motherboard before having everything in the case i mean the videocard is a giant wall, i had poor lighting, and i even wound up taking the power unit out so i could get my hands in there. i don't even know what i would have done differently! and i never did find the power LED header lol

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The DVD drive works, too. Keyboard lights up to say hello Mr. ComputerPants. I just don't have a signal. I tried DVI, too.

SAVE ME FROM MY DESPAIR

btw the fans sound fine. i just wasn't used to them. it's kind of a clean. plastic sound.

CPU is at 76 F, fans getting louder OMG

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Now I've tried an older monitor I can vouch for, and that doesn't work either. So for some reason, I'm getting no video output of any kind from this computer. I can't think of any reason for that to happen!

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when the fans aren't busy the computer is actually super quiet, it's great


i want to play with it but why is there no picture it's not fair

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Onboard VGA was my default attempt. Second was the first of two DVI outs on my PCI video card.

GUESS WHAT

The second DVI out worked all along! I'm looking through BIOS right now; everything's fine! This is great! Sorry for the false alarm. I assumed that both DVI outs on the video card were the same; that there were two only to take advantage of some of the card's features.

I'll be installing Windows any minute now, and I'll post again once I'm online and set up nicely.

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or maybe I'll post now

Windows setup is formatting my hard drive, which takes forever. Wish it would take longer, though (because I want a larger drive).

Let me just take a moment to emphasize how incredibly relieved I am that after eight hours of working hunched over a small case on a hard floor I do not in fact have a mysterious and unsolvable problem. And I'm kind of pleased with myself for having everything work (except the power LED lol) on my first try putting it all together! Though obviously that's to the credit of Things Fit Together, having a case where the motherboard doesn't/can't rest directly on the tray, and all of the advice I've received.

Let's talk software! I've been hankering badly to watch Battlestar Galactica recently, so I'll need a torrent client very quickly. However, my past experience with the bittorrent.com client is that it decimates your internet connection for everything else even when it's barely transferring anything. Is there a better client?

What do people use for download managers (just general downloads)?

Actually, I can't think of anything else. The bittorrent client is my main priority because there's stuff I want. But you can tell me to load up whatever else you like and I'll do it!

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Oh, most definitely!

Can/Should I actually get rid of media player? Internet Explorer? Etc.?

Oh! Important! How and to what extent can I customize Windows? Aren't there programs that let me change its aesthetics and add various utilities, like, I dunno, apps that are embedded in the desktop or something?

And I've always hated the file structure Windows uses, with "My Documents" and "My Music" and everything. Gross. Don't suppose I can do something about that, can I?