Parts delivered in 2 days time - cpu/heatsink installation worries

[craig091]

Hi everyone

I've just joined the forum and must say after reading the threads that it seems a friendly place to be

Anyway..I've now ordered the parts for my new PC (on a relative budget). I have the new case already, the CPU arrived 15 mins ago and the rest arrives in 2 days time. These are:

Athlon 64 2.4GHz Dual Core 4600+
ASUS AM2 M2N32 SLI DELUXE
Corsair TWINX XMS2 1GB DDR2 PC6400 (800) CAS 5-5-5-15
256MB LEADTEK PX7600GT EXTREME
250GB SEAGATE SATA2 ST3250620AS 16MB 8ms
I-cute 0314TL-BB case with 350W power supply (which I'm going to replace with this 500W modular supply next week http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/101299)

I'll use my existing NEC and Pioneer DVD writers and my existing 120GB drive as a dedicated video editing drive.

The last PC I built was a top of the range Athlon 700 with GeForce 1 graphics card in 1999 (and still my current PC!) and I had a few problems as the chip blew (or was already blown) despite being grounded and putitng it together on a wooden surface etc. Anyway, it's been so long I'm just a little worried about installing the chip this time, heatsink and fan on this system. Any advice? I beleive the fittings on the new AM2 boards are different and how I've been warned about using too much compound and too little so what's the right amount? I'm using the HSF that comes with the chip.

[minsonngo]

Just make sure you follow the instructions in your motherboard manual. The processor will usually come with detailed installation instructions also.

Don't worry about the thermal compound amount, the retail processor heatsink/fan already should come with a thermal pad pre-applied.

Also just make sure you ground yourself to a metal surface from time to time to discharge any accumulated static electricity.


As for the PSU, you definately need to quality 24-pin ATX 2.x power supply. I'm not sure about the quality of the PSU you have listed at the link in your post. Maybe someone will know more about that brand. But I recommend you get one from this list: http://www.forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[glc]

I would not trust that house brand power supply. It's too cheap for what it claims. Modular units are also pretty iffy.

This is a much better bet:

http://www.ebuyer.com:80/UK/product/90614

[craig091]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes it does say in the CPU instructions that it comes with pre-applied thermal interface material. I''ve not unpacked it yet as I don't want to handle it until I really must but I'm assuming it has some sort of peel off strip at the bottom of the heatskink or is it just a case of sitting it on top of the chip as it is and attaching it?

I will look through the list. I'm only going for that because a friend of mine has a similar system to my new one and has no problems with it...I can't find much info on it, just a few places. There's a review here:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...rticleId=16418

I was going to go for an Antec or an Enermax but you are paying twice the price for them and I've already gone over budget. If someone can recommend a better supply for the same/similar price that is also very quiet then I'll welcome all suggestions.

[craig091]

Originally Posted by glc I would not trust that house brand power supply. It's too cheap for what it claims. Modular units are also pretty iffy. This is a much better bet: http://www.ebuyer.com:80/UK/product/90614

Too expensive. That's £70 I can't really go over £45-£50

[glc]

You are taking your chances.

[jayb1234]

I only see 3 reputable brands of PSU's on that site.

Antec, Enermax and Seasonic.

Your video card calls for 300W minimum, and if you plan on using sli in the future you would have to get another PSU.

The Antec that glc linked is about the best deal you will be able to find on an SLI certified PSU.

If you are not going to add a second video card, then a smaller unit from one of the makers I listed would be sufficient.

None of the other brands that they sell are from decent makers.

[minsonngo]

I would recommend getting a better PSU like all the others have said so far. If its not in your budget then downgrade your video card or memory and spend the extra money to get a reliable PSU.

Why spend money on good parts when your just going to overlook the PSU?

[craig091]

What do you think to this one? http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=442822

or this one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=375884

This one has 3 pic-e cables so may come in handy later perhaps.

[minsonngo]

Both of those aren't bad.

[craig091]

Thank you. I think I might go for the latter one, it sounds OK and quiet which is important to me as the computer is right next to my bed.. I'll have to use the existing one for a week though until I can afford the upgrade. It's killing me sat here wth my case and CPU waiting for the other stuff to arrive!

[minsonngo]

Be patience, the wait will pay off...

[freakitchen]

All I can say is DON'T use the I-cute bundled power supply. Their units are definitely the worst I've seen and provide some VERY dodgy voltages to your components. One unit I tried reported 16v on the 12v rail!!

FK

[craig091]

Hmm..that means waiting days till the psu arrives! Arrrghhh!!

[freakitchen]

Frustrating yeah, but I personally wouldn't be risking those expensive components to a unit like that, even for just a few days.

FK

[ztx]

AMD has some nice heatsink/cpu videos.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...5E6678,00.html

[craig091]

Now I can dream about how my chip will look in the slot until I actually get it in there next week! Thanks, you know how to torture a guy!

No, seriously that's helpful thanks

[craig091]

Oh dear, my head hurts now after spending hours looking for a decent power supply within my budget.

Narrowed it down to these, help! Does anyone know from experience if these are very quiet? If you had to choose one today which would you buy and why?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=160667

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=95194

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=442822

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/101299

I can't decide! Thanks for your help

[minsonngo]

I would go with the second Enermax one: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=95194

Its a pretty good PSU brand, good amount of power, it is SLI certifed unlike the first Enermax one you posted, has dual +12v rails, and it is pretty quiet.

The Hiper-Power one you have is not bad either.


***Don't even think about getting that last PSU you have listed: http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/101299

[jayb1234]

The fma535W Enermax, the other 3 are all modular, which decreases performance due to increased impedance and basically triples the possible connection failure points.

The last one looks like some generic house brand.

[craig091]

Thanks a lot for your opinions, I have read a little more about the supplies and have just ordered the enermax after reading more about it, seems good. It arrives on Wednesday

http://www.enermax.co.uk/products/ps...)fma/index.asp
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/...x535/index.htm

Thanks again
Craig

[minsonngo]

Glad you decided to go with a quality PSU. Have fun with your new build!

[joshrogoff]

If you need any tips on installing the heatsink just let me know. What you have heard is correct, its a pain in the arse to install AM2 heatsinks. All i can tell you is that its going to require a ton of force, much more than you would think. You will think that you're going to break the little plastic lever, but you won't.

[craig091]

The install went smoothly. I've not built a computer for years but it was straight forward enough and was up and running in no time. Formatted, installed windows..everything seemed fine. That was until I came to play a DVD. Every piece of DVD software just froze and then closed itself (no error message) - power dvd, winDVD...windows media player gave me a generic windows error "you have encountered an error...send report etc). I tried everything, all drivers were the latest..nothing mentioned about this on any forum.

I finally took it to where I got the part from and the technician there spent 4 hours trying to figure it out but couldn't either. He swapped out all the parts including new motherboard but still the same problem. The only thing he didn't change was the cpu because I bought it from somewhere else. Because my main purpose for this computer is for video editing and creating DVDs, it's no good to me if it can't even play a DVD so I got a refund on most of the parts. I'm trying to get a refund on the CPU and it has to be sent off to the manufacturer now for testing. I'm not sure what else it could be having changed the parts. The techie did say that AM2 are a nightmare on compatibility and he has had dozens in during the last 2 weeks. Anyway, the chip will be collected next tuesday and of course I have to pay postage etc if they send it back saying theres nothing wrong with it, otherwise it's free. I don't know what else it could be. This process can take upto 6 weeks and in the meantime I can't go and buy something else until I know what's happening with the chip, or if they will send it back.

Anyone have a clue why a DVD won't play? Everything changed so not hardware, 2 versions of windows xp installed - standard and media centre edition..old and new drivers installed...even tried installing nforce 5 drivers just to see if they made a difference, nope.

I'm so disapointed and sad

[Mr.Ferrari]

You sure your optical's are being reconized properly? Have tried swapping them out?

[craig091]

Yes 3 different drives were put in with the same problem