Guys,I'm buying a new PC part by part, and i need some help so i don't [censored] things up while assembling it.

These are the specs:
-Asus P8P67 pro LGA 1155
-Intel i5 2500k
-EVGA 560Ti 1GB
-Cooler Master HAF 912
-Ram G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB
-Power supply XFX 650W Core Edition
-And other useless things like DVD drives


So, can you guys give me some tips and help when the time comes?

I ahve a self-built PC w/ P8P67 PRO (R3) board.

Many people have problems w/ their Ram, check-out this ASUS forum.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?bo ... uage=en-us

I'd suggest that you definately use the QVL (qualified vendor list) for that board to make sure the sticks are on it.

Damn, I will take a look into that, Probably gonna change it for a normal P8P67 then.

Building a pc is very easy now. Put the processor + heatsink + RAM on the motherboard . Screw on the motherboard onto the case. Put in the power supply, make the connections. Then install the graphic card and hard disks , dvd drives , fans etc. You are done !!!!

Some stuff you probably already know:
1.you don't have to buy thermal paste the new core series processors already have it on.
2.your graphic card requires more power so make sure you put on the power cable

Have a look on Custom PC's bit-tech.net website, they have some very nice tips there.

Sort of.
The processor itself does not have the paste on it. Instead the stock Intel cooler has a very thin (and crappy) layer of TIM on it. With aftermarket coolers, grab a spot of Arctic Silver 5.
There's more to just putting a power connector in to a graphics card too you know. When building a machine, you need to make sure the PSU can supply enough ampage to the components. A 650W here seems overkill but I'd recommend it, nice headroom for upgrades in the future. My Corsair TX650W does about 52 amps on the 12v rails combined. Plenty of power to say the least

It's not that hard, just remember to take your time, don't push things too hard, and take your time.... be gentile with the CPU, make sure the socket is nice & open before you drop it into place & latch it. remember to take your time! check to make sure the cpu is nice and evenly in the socket if it isn't UNLATCH then push a bit ... I've seen what happens when people go wild there and they destroy the poor thing.. the latch matters!!

I like to stage mine outside the cast first, connect the powersupply, to the board, add CPU, sink & RAM the power switch & a speaker.. it should spin up and start beeping complaining about no video if you only have support for an external card, otherwise, bring it up first with the built in video... I find its a lot easier to check the board, jump if need be, and just get a good feel that it works while its outside of a case.. then of course get it in the case, and add one peripheral at a time, power and test to make sure there wasn't some issue, and you'll know what the tipping point was... I've also seen people just throw [censored] into a case power it on, and it not power, or they have issues, but lord only knows what component could be introducing a grounding issue, or just be plain defective screwing stuff up.

Did I mention take your time?

It's not a race... but it is super easy to do.

I've been assembling PC's since 1992 so.. I've done quite a few in my time... last one was a month ago!

Umm EVGA graphics? I would probably go for something from asus...

edit: also the RAM thing doesnt the new asus boards have this button so even if your computer doesn't post with RAM you can go to bios and configure the dimmings so it'll work?

Well it depends on how far your going since it took me about 4 hours to put together the rig I made.

However where the heatsink is concerned you guys are dead wrong if your using a factory heatsink which is a piece of junk then its easy however if you get one thats purpose built it could take some time as you have to apply the thermal stuff.

Now its rather simple to build the computer itself follow the instructions by first putting in the powersupply in the case you have then put in the Motherboard as well as hard drives. Then insert the video card as well as CPU at any time it will only go in one way.

I've built 5 rigs together before the only issue people eventually reach are space constraints inside the case. Best of luck.

Figure out how much heat the CPU and heat-sink can dissipate
Buy lots of thermal paste

Dude have you ever put a computer together?

I would say no you don't put tons of thermal paste you only need one freaking tube of it. You spread one thin coat onto the cpu as you don't want it the goop melting onto the mother board or surrounding surfaces. Every Custom Rig Builder worth his salt knows this. From the custom rig person use a razer or knife to spread said goop. Also research frosty tech for heat sinks shesh guys.

I used Arctic Silver thermal paste & also used one of these HDT (Heat-pipe Direct Touch) CPU coolers.

Here is a guide/comparison on installing the paste on a HDT cooler (I skipped the sanding part).

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?o ... mitstart=5

+1 - We're trying to fill any imperfections in, not waste an expensive syringe of TIM. With a 3.5g tube you can do about 10+ computers depending the on the size of the processing unit surface (last time I managed to hit about 10 Core2 CPUs).
Another easy way is to get a plastic bag, rip it to the size of a coin and stretch it gently over your finger.
Another good place to research your coolers is bit-tech.net (Custom PC's website, but I'd still buy Custom PC if you're in the UK, it's well worth a read and they do some nice reviews each month).

I'm going to use the stock cooler by now, How thin must the coat be?

If you're using the stock cooler, no need to apply any paste. If you need to apply paste, apply the size of about half a grain of rice and smooth it out carefully.

I would rather apply it, just to be sure. Later on i will overclock with an actually good cooler it and SLI it with another 560ti, it's going to be good.

If you're going to apply TIM on a stock cooler, remove the old TIM with isopropyl alcohol (don't use any other types) or get scrubbing with some kitchen roll.

The stock Intel coolers are... pretty average.
Be sure to monitor temps after a new build (always a good idea).

+1 on the thin speading of thermal compound. If it's too thick, it will have the opposite effect.

I did note some advice that said to mount the motherboad/CPU and then power supply. I usually do it this way so I have plenty of room inside the case to work. But... before you go ahead and mount the motherboard in the case, take note if you have room to fit the power supply afterwards. I once did a build and found out that I did not have the clearance past the fan/heatsink necessary to install the power supply and had to remove the motherboard (or CPU), which was an annoying waste of time.

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but make sure you are adequately grounded whilst working inside your PC (otherwise you risk damage by ESD).

Make sure you understand the meaning of the direction of the arrows on the 'locking' pins on the CPU cooler.

If removing thermal paste, isopropyl alcohol is really the best -- the aim is to remove as much surface contamination as possible to ensure optimum heat transfer, which you can't do brilliantly if just scraping or rubbing off the existing thermal paste. You clean both the heatsink and CPU heatspeader with isopropyl alcohol (to remove oils from fingerprints, etc)

If I'm thinking of what you mean, you mean those pushpins right?
I absolutely hate those things, waste of space in my opinion. I replaced mine with bolts a while back on a stock Intel cooler and the difference in temperature was astonishing. But yes, if correctly installed you'll have no issues at all.

Yes, I mean those pushpins -- I've always hated that design too.
As a matter of curiosity, what was the drop in temps after you modded it with bolts?

On my Celeron D about 10 degrees Celsius if I remember correctly. Around about the same on the P4HT. I used AS5 on both tests (i.e. with pushpins and bolts to the board).
All I did was use a couple of plastic washers and some bolts and made a makeshift cooler mounter (so the board doesn't twist under tension). Let me make a diagram.

Legend
o= washer
{}=nut
I=bolt
_=board
-=cooler

{}
{}
o
-
o
{}
{}
o
_
o
I

I can't remember the sizes of the nuts and bolts but they were pretty small, hence the doubling up on nuts. Plus the doubling up slows down any rogue turning of the nut if you use high tension (found out it was the tension why they became looser so I added an extra nut and it works perfectly now). I will admit it's difficult to take off but it's worth it for the effectiveness of the modification.

I highly advise you do what Soul man has done and trash the push pins they are a peace of junk.

As of now I use a Thermalright ultra 120 Rev c with two 3k rpm fans cooling is awesome on it with a Phenom X6 1090t @ 4.11 ghz is at 34C. A little advise if your gonna get into OC ditch the stock cooler and go with a nicer one later on its a must. As for tightening bolts and such most of the time this is a one time thing and it will be sometime before you have to take anything off. I'm gonna go out on a rope if you get a heat sink that needs a fan go with either a scythe or delta fan. I've always hated the push pin connectors they are made of such crap these days.

As for TIM removal any kind of Alcohol will do heck even goof off will do but be thorough so the cpu and heat sink are clean before putting on a different heatsink or cpu.

Isopropyl alcohol is really best practice - it has long been considered the standard for cleaning electronic equipment. Other types of alcohols/cleaners may damage or leave behind a film/residue, which impacts heat transfer from CPU to heatsink. I'm not familiar with Goof Off, so don't know if it's abraisive, but you would want to avoid anything that changes the surface finish on the CPU -- I imagine it may also leave behind a residue.



I was thinking more about this mod because I'm running the stock cooler on my i7 (I'll probably just get a better cooler though).

A few things occurred to me.
1st: risk of shorting by using metal bolts, but that's negated by use of plastic washers
2nd: metal bolts would get significantly hotter than the plastic pushpins, but given that the contact points on the motherboard are protected/insulated by the plastic washers, that would largely (although not completely) be negated.
3rd: massive pain to install/remove, but how often do you really need to do that.

Obviously you would want to be careful installing it so that you don't tension too tightly that you warp/snap the motherboard. That is, don't go eating any canned spinach before hand

Only thing I can think of that may be problmatic is that is the increased pressure on the motherboard, combined with ambient heat in the case, may result in longer term damage (stress fractures or warping). Any thoughts on that?

If you look at the design of how the bolts fasten, the board doesn't actually get any more tension that say a proper LGA775 boltable bracket.
If you want/need jjasper, I can get a few pictures of my testing rig that still has uses the tape on it (must get around to putting plastic washers on there). Cork washers should do just fine too. The mod cost me about £2 which was a lot better than spending (at least!) £20 on a decent cooler.

Da soulman be correct in this area as I had to replace a cooler which kept popping off when the push in was used. His setup matches almost perfectly with what I was doing since the pins are almost impossible to keep the heat sink on. Sadly I can't remember what I used in order to pull it off next time I'm going to water cooling though I've reached the limit with air coolers sadly.