$2800 Build For Call Center - Need Guidence

[Joker3655]

Aloha Everyone! This is Matt Campbell out in Honolulu. I'm in the Activities and Tours Business and we have put together a call center that utilizes skype and a plug-in called the Pretty May Call Center.

The program is great, however we have determined that my last build... done 4 years ago... is not sufficient to run 6 simultaneous instances of skype and so I'm stepping up to a much more powerful machine.

This will be my second build, but really my first, because I had alot of help with the first one. I really appreciate any and all guidance that I am given through this awesome forum.

All who contribute will get the major hookup on tours and activities when you make it out to the Hawaiian Islands!

Here's what I got:

1) I want to make sure that all of the components that I have ordered are compatible with one another. (i.e. Ram, PU Sufficient for system, all ATX Compatible)

By the way, what is ATX, what does it stand for?
Do I have any non-ATX components that will not work?
Are all of my system componets compatible?

I have purchased all of the parts from Newegg.com and have shared a public wish list that will show you all of the componets. You can view it here:

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/...Number=4472565


2) STEP 4: INSTALL POWER SUPPLY (QUESTIONS)

Is a 750W enough power to run ALL components of this machine?


3) STEP 5: INSTALL THE CPU (QUESTIONS)

Exactly how thin does the Heat Sink Compound layer need to be on my chip?

Pea Sized?
Peanut Sized?

If ANY compound comes out on the sides when I set the heat sink, Do I need to start over?


4) STEP 7: INSTALL MEMORY (QUESTIONS)

Is my memory compatible with the mobo? (A list of ALL of the components is found HERE)


5) STEP 8: CONFIGURE THE MOTHERBOARD (QUESTIONS)

The MOBO portion of this build is where I am going to need to rely on the collective experience of the forum.

Does my Mobo have CMOS settings or Do I need to manually configure this board with jumpers?

If so, are there still ANY manual configurations that I will need to perform in order to successfully configure the mobo?

6) STEP 9: INSTALL THE MOBO

I read a review where someone with my case shorted out there mobo.

Do you have any suggestions for ensuring that this does not happen?

7) STEP 10: CONNECT MOBO TO THE CASE (QUESTIONS)

Okay, here's where I really need you guys. I don't know a power switch from a molex or a 3 pin lead from a SATA plug.

Here is a picture of my Mobo with a Grid superimposed on top. If you guys gave my the alpha numeric correspondance to the relevant step, it would help me out to an unimaginable degree:




A) POWER

B) CPU FAN POWER

C) CASE CONNECTORS

D) POWER SWITCH

E) RESET SWITCH

F) POWER LED / KEYLOCK SWITCH

G) HARD DRIVE ACTIVITY LED

IF I GOT AN OEM HARDDRIVE, WILL IT COME WITH THE NECESSARY CONNECTIONS?

H) PC SPEAKER

I) IDE CHANNELS

J) VIDEO CARD SLOT

K) SATA PLUGS

L) ANY OTHER CRUCIAL CONNECTION POINTS THAT I LEFT OFF


8) STEP 12: CONFIGURE THE HARD DRIVE AND CD-ROM (QUESTIONS)

What are Jumpers? What do they do?

I'm going to have 1 hard drive and 1 optical. Does this mean that I do a "cable select" option on the hard drive?

IDE 1 - Hard drive? Or do I use the SATA connection?
IDE 2 - Optical drive? (My only optical drive is a DVD/RW. Am I going to need a secondary cd rom for any reason?

I purchased a OEM hard drive. Does this mean that it will not come with jumpers? Or do they come with the MOBO?


9) STEP 14: INSTALL THE CD-ROM (QUESTIONS)

Since I will be using an external sound card, will I need to connect the 3-wire audio cable from the Audio Plug on the CDRom to the Sound Card?

If not, what functionality will I loose?


10) STEP 18: CONFIGURE THE BIOS (QUESTIONS)

I have never done this before.

Will I have presets that I can use?
Is this process pretty straight forward or is it complicated?
Are there any setting that you can recommend?

Is this where I set up overclocking settings?
Should I overclock at all? I don't want to hurt the machine, but I want to run it at its peak. What do you recommend?

Advanced Bios Features, Advanced Chipset Features, Integrated Peripherals, PnP / PCI Config:

Should I bother with any of these? If so, which ones?

What is IRQ?
Does my Video Card require that one be assigned?


11) STEP 20: PREPARE THE HARD DRIVE (Questions)

I am getting an OEM hard drive.

Will I need to format and partition the old fashioned way? Can I get a software disk from a website and use it instead?

If I am to do this the old fashioned way, will I be using the old DOS black and white format?


12) STEP 21: INSTALL THE CDROM DRIVER (QUESTIONS)

Will I need to get my DVD/RW drive Manually recognized before installing my operating system?

Do you recommend that I transfer the OS setup files to the hard drive and boot from the hard drive, or go directly from CD?

If so, How do I transfer them from CD to HD?

Will I be able to install windows with a DVD/RW? Or am I out of luck because I don't have a CDROM drive?

Any tips or suggestions on installing XP professional SP2?


Guys, thank you in advanced for helping me with this project. I am SO glad that I found this forum. I know that I have asked alot of questions and I'm sure that my keyboard is about to run out of ink, but I read the sticky before my post and have tried to be as specific as possible.

I eagerly await your recommendations!!

Mahalo,

Matt Campbell
theactivitystore@gmail.com

[minsonngo]

1) I want to make sure that all of the components that I have ordered are compatible with one another. (i.e. Ram, PU Sufficient for system, all ATX Compatible) By the way, what is ATX, what does it stand for? Do I have any non-ATX components that will not work? Are all of my system componets compatible? I have purchased all of the parts from Newegg.com and have shared a public wish list that will show you all of the componets. You can view it here: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/...Number=4472565

I take it you already ordered the parts? If so... that is fine... everything looks to be compatible.

ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) is just the standard form factor for motherboards nowadays. The case you ordered fits ATX motherboards so you are good to go.

2) STEP 4: INSTALL POWER SUPPLY (QUESTIONS) Is a 750W enough power to run ALL components of this machine?

That is more than enough.

3) STEP 5: INSTALL THE CPU (QUESTIONS) Exactly how thin does the Heat Sink Compound layer need to be on my chip? Pea Sized? Peanut Sized? If ANY compound comes out on the sides when I set the heat sink, Do I need to start over?

You could just use the heatsink and fan included with the processor you bought. Using it will NOT void the warranty on the CPU and the thermal compound is already preapplied.

If you want to install the aftermarket heatsink and fan you bought and you plan to use Arctic Silver (one of the best thermal compounds out there)... here are the instructions: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

4) STEP 7: INSTALL MEMORY (QUESTIONS) Is my memory compatible with the mobo? (A list of ALL of the components is found HERE)

Yes the memory is compatible.

5) STEP 8: CONFIGURE THE MOTHERBOARD (QUESTIONS) The MOBO portion of this build is where I am going to need to rely on the collective experience of the forum. Does my Mobo have CMOS settings or Do I need to manually configure this board with jumpers? If so, are there still ANY manual configurations that I will need to perform in order to successfully configure the mobo?

With newer boards... you usually don't need to mess with any jumper settings. Everything should be detected and automatically set for you. All you may need to do is go into the BIOS setup and set the CD drive as the FIRST BOOT DEVICE so you can boot off the OS cd to install the OS.

6) STEP 9: INSTALL THE MOBO I read a review where someone with my case shorted out there mobo. Do you have any suggestions for ensuring that this does not happen?

Just make sure you install the brass standoffs included with the case between the case and the motherboard. That way the case will not short out the motherboard.

Also... install the processor and heatsink OUTSIDE of the case (this makes it much easier) before securing the motherboard inside of the case. Work on a non conductive surface like a wooden table or cardboard box.

7) STEP 10: CONNECT MOBO TO THE CASE (QUESTIONS) Okay, here's where I really need you guys. I don't know a power switch from a molex or a 3 pin lead from a SATA plug. Here is a picture of my Mobo with a Grid superimposed on top. If you guys gave my the alpha numeric correspondance to the relevant step, it would help me out to an unimaginable degree: A) POWER B) CPU FAN POWER C) CASE CONNECTORS D) POWER SWITCH E) RESET SWITCH F) POWER LED / KEYLOCK SWITCH G) HARD DRIVE ACTIVITY LED IF I GOT AN OEM HARDDRIVE, WILL IT COME WITH THE NECESSARY CONNECTIONS? H) PC SPEAKER I) IDE CHANNELS J) VIDEO CARD SLOT K) SATA PLUGS L) ANY OTHER CRUCIAL CONNECTION POINTS THAT I LEFT OFF

Look at your motherboard manual... it will tell you want to do. Just make sure you hook up the 24-pin connector and the 4(or 8)-pin connector from the PSU to the motherboard. And connect the 6 pin PCI-E connector from the PSU to the video card you have.

8) STEP 12: CONFIGURE THE HARD DRIVE AND CD-ROM (QUESTIONS) What are Jumpers? What do they do? I'm going to have 1 hard drive and 1 optical. Does this mean that I do a "cable select" option on the hard drive? IDE 1 - Hard drive? Or do I use the SATA connection? IDE 2 - Optical drive? (My only optical drive is a DVD/RW. Am I going to need a secondary cd rom for any reason? I purchased a OEM hard drive. Does this mean that it will not come with jumpers? Or do they come with the MOBO?

The HDD you bought is a SATA hard drive... so there are no jumpers needed. You just hook up the SATA cable to the HDD and the motherboard. And then hook up the power cable from the PSU to the HDD.

As for your optical drive... it is a ATA/IDE one. So you will need to jumper the optical drive as CABLE SELECT (CS) and then just connect the IDE cable (should be included with the motherboard) to it and the IDE/ATA connector on the motherboard. The jumper is usually included with the optical drive... most of the time the drive already comes jumpered as CS (CABLE SELECT). And you probably will not need a 2nd optical drive... most people don't.

9) STEP 14: INSTALL THE CD-ROM (QUESTIONS) Since I will be using an external sound card, will I need to connect the 3-wire audio cable from the Audio Plug on the CDRom to the Sound Card? If not, what functionality will I loose?

No... new optical drives don't require the 3-wire analog audio cable. The only cable you need is the IDE/ATA cable included with your motherboard.

10) STEP 18: CONFIGURE THE BIOS (QUESTIONS) I have never done this before. Will I have presets that I can use? Is this process pretty straight forward or is it complicated? Are there any setting that you can recommend? Is this where I set up overclocking settings? Should I overclock at all? I don't want to hurt the machine, but I want to run it at its peak. What do you recommend? Advanced Bios Features, Advanced Chipset Features, Integrated Peripherals, PnP / PCI Config: Should I bother with any of these? If so, which ones? What is IRQ? Does my Video Card require that one be assigned?

The default settings should be fine. The only thing you really need to change is make the CD drive as the FIRST boot device. Also you may want to disable the onboard sound since you are using a seperate sound card.

You don't need to overclock. I never do.

Don't worry about the IRQ.

Anything else about the settings can be answered by reading the motherboard manual usually also.

11) STEP 20: PREPARE THE HARD DRIVE (Questions) I am getting an OEM hard drive. Will I need to format and partition the old fashioned way? Can I get a software disk from a website and use it instead? If I am to do this the old fashioned way, will I be using the old DOS black and white format?

Nope... all you need to do is use the OS CD. Set the CD drive as the FIRST boot device. Save the changes... pop in the CD and restart. Then the computer will ask you if you want to boot from the CD press any key... press the spacebar to boot to the CD... it will allow you to partition and format the hard drive before installing the OS.

12) STEP 21: INSTALL THE CDROM DRIVER (QUESTIONS) Will I need to get my DVD/RW drive Manually recognized before installing my operating system? Do you recommend that I transfer the OS setup files to the hard drive and boot from the hard drive, or go directly from CD? If so, How do I transfer them from CD to HD? Will I be able to install windows with a DVD/RW? Or am I out of luck because I don't have a CDROM drive? Any tips or suggestions on installing XP professional SP2?

The DVD drive can play and write CDs too. You don't need to do anything for the OS to recognize the optical drive (it is just "Plug and Play"). See my above post about how to install the OS.




***After the OS is installed. Then you can install the drivers that come with your hardware (motherboard, video card, etc.) and any software you plan to use. Make sure you install Antivirus and AntiSpyware programs too. And don't forget to run Windows Update.

[minsonngo]

And make sure you read this guide before installing the heatsink and fan:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=176924


It is one of the most common problems for builders usually.

[Joker3655]

Minsonngo,

Thank you for all of your informative answers.

Do you recommend that I use the stock HSF or the Thermaltake version that I purchased?

-Matt

[Mr.Ferrari]

That thermaltake big typhoon is a great performer in terms of cooling efficiency. But it is very top heavy and will torque the motherboard, in the long run this is probably not best. Using anything besides the stock fan will also void the warranty.

My suggestion would be to use the stock fan first, as long as you have decent case cooling, overheating should be a non issue.

[blue60007]

Yeah, the stock cooler is designed to be sufficient for normal operation...and it's not like you'll be overclocking this machine.

[minsonngo]

+2


Use the stock heatsink and fan.