Gripped by ignorance.

[TinkerTrouble]

Doing my first build. See attached list of h/w.

I have completed the installation of the hardware and am scratching my noddle over how to begin loading the software.

For example, I have never used SATA drives before - do I need to do anything other than go to the BIOS to set up the SATA RAID 1?

The only device on the EIDE ribbon is the DVD - and it is set up as the Primary Master. Am I correct in assuming this will be ok?

I have never used an Advanced Graphics card before either. Should I expect the system to just use it or do I need to do something else first, like load some drivers (not that I know how I would be able to do that...)?

Should I expect any problems with loading WinXP after I set up the BIOS?

Thank you, in advance, for your insight and help.

Rob G.

[telegramsam]

Just plug the SATA cables into the board. It will detect them. Unless you want to do RAID, you don't have to. With the SATA 3.0's, you don't really need RAID. They're pretty quick in standard format.

Set the DVD burner to CS or Cable Select. Plug it in to either terminal of the IDE cable--the cable will say which end plugs into the motherboard.

Look at your BIOS first, set the date and time, and set the boot order to CDROM first.

Make sure the graphics card has the power cable connected if it uses one, and start up with your system disk in the DVD burner.

The disc will guide you through the rest. Then load the drivers on the CD's that came with your motherboard and video card. I prefer to use the Windows hardware setup wizard with the disc in the machine, but those discs usually auto-run and set up themselves.

[TinkerTrouble]

When I first powered up, I tried hitting Del and F8 to get to the BIOS. The system powered itself off after about 15 seconds.

I reviewed more posts here and removed everything from the case. I hooked up only the CFan with power going to the 20 pin connector and the 4-pin square connector near the CPU. I did not hook up the Graphics card, but connected to the onboard monitor instead.

Power up displayed some data that looked about right and then the system dropped power again - after about 18 secs.

Tried hooking up the Graphics card. Display showed different numbers for RAM (?- only one 512MB stick in place) . The display did not show the empty IDE positions. The system dropped power again after about 20 seconds.

Removed the graphics card and rebooted. No Display at all. Tried numerous times to reboot and got only a partial display once and mostly no display at all. System drops power after anywhere from 14 to 30 secs.

Reset the CMOS. Booted with a display again. System dropped power after about 22 seconds.

So here's my latest ignorance. What am I trying to accomplish? I figured I should be trying to get to the BIOS so I hooked up the mouse and keyboard. I can not get F8 F9 or Del to respond and the system drops power after only 20+ seconds.

Is it normal for a system to drop power under these circumstances (no HDD, DVD/CD, Floppy, etc)?

What should I do next? Is it enough that I have been able to boot and get any display at all?

Thanks again for your insight and help.

[Stuey]

So you did a partial build? If the HD and DVD are not connected, you should connect them now.

After everything, you should eventually get a display saying "insert system disc" or something of the sort.

[TinkerTrouble]

Just to be sure I understand this:

Dropping power is normal (My inexperienced expectation would be for the display to show progress to a certain point and then just siit there until I powered off)?

Should I put the mobo back in the case and test again or do I hook up the SATA HDs and DVD/CD outside the case as well?

Thanks again for your help, guys.

Rob G.

[glc]

No, dropping power is NOT normal. You may not have the heatsink properly installed and it's overheating - Intels shut themselves down when they overheat to prevent damage.

[TinkerTrouble]

Well, knock me over with a feather! glc, you were spot on. I never imagined that a CPU would overheat in 30 seconds. Blows my mind....

I cleaned up the thermal grease a little (scraped it with a business card to make it level and thin) and re-set the fan (I now believe this fan will only work correctly if mounted one specific way, i.e., there is only one 'wide side', not two).

For you other noob's: Evidently a correctly functioning partial installation, such as described in this post, will result in the power on updating the display with the first page of info of the nature that you typically see when you power up a pc - the data about the memory being tested, what devices are on the IDE ribbons (none at this point), statements about no floppy, warnings that the CMOS data needs to be reset to match the cpu (because I reset the CMOS via pins 2&3 on the mobo while troubleshooting/exploring/testing), and which pf keys (or DEL) to press to gain access to the BIOS setup.

And most importantly, I note the fact that the display will present that info and it will just sit there. I let mine sit for about 40 mins to test it. I figure, if I have a cpu heat/cooling problem, it will surely show itself within 40 minutes...

Right or wrong, I then re-installed the mobo into the case and tested again. Still boots, displays appropriate data, and just sits there until I power it off.

Maybe this weekend I will get a chance to hook up the SATA drives and learn about RAID configurations the hard way.

Thanks again for all your help guys.

Rob G.