Irene Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 :D Irene,I am sure that andsome will continue as he always does ?You are absolutely correct, but Alan is the epitome of provocation! :DWhat's wrong with wind up merchant, or are you just showing off.Who me........ showing off??How on earth do you think I am showing off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted December 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 You are absolutely correct, but Alan is the epitome of provocation! :DHang on.....since when have I ever provoked anyone here. For epitome - read pity me............................ :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted December 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Back on topicThe rest of my goods arrived at the surprising time of 6.30 pm - the delivery guy explained they were working long hours because of the Christmas rush.Had dinner and then got back to work. It took me just 2 hours to fit all the drives and graphics - then make as good a job as possible of the cabling.So the build took a few minutes over 5 hours in total - but I have yet to switch it on. I am leaving that until tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackrat Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Pity everything has already arrived, I saw a cracking bargain on Aria.http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/newsle...ewsletter191207I see you have had two IDE DVD writers, at least that way you will not have problems booting the OS of a SATA DVDRW.You have done a good job Alan, when it boots up in the morning just bask in the satisfaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 That looks very impressive, Alan.Is that big red thing the after burner? What is its take-off speed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted December 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Pity everything has already arrived, I saw a cracking bargain on Aria.http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/newsle...ewsletter191207I paid £36 for 2GB of OCZ DDR2 800 MHz in two sticks. I am waiting for DDR3 to drop in price - I will then put in 4 GB even though I know that Vista 32 bit can only see 3.26 GB. Sometime in the future when software is more available I will upgrade to Vista 64 - then things will really fly hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrjr Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 The timing on that memory is really slow though, thats why its cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Back on topic...So the build took a few minutes over 5 hours in total - but I have yet to switch it on. I am leaving that until tomorrow. Congratulations Alan. That is fantastic!! It's unbelievable that it took you only 5 hours to build. I really wish I understood enough (and I don't) to build my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Irene, not wishing to denigrate anything that Alan has done but, assembling a computer is much like painting by numbers. Daunting on your first attempt, yes but, it becomes easier as you go on. My granddaughter completed her first non-supervised build recently and she did it in a very short time using knowledge she had picked up watching and helping me in the past.One of the best things about building your own machine, and I'm sure Alan will agree when he switches his on and it whirrs into action, is the great sense of achievement and satisfaction it gives. Nothing quite like it!jrjr: For the purposes that Alan needs his machine, I'm sure that memory is quite adequate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 -pops-, you're right. I am sure that if I could watch it being done by someone who knew what they were doing, I would be able to do it too.I just don't know anyone nearby who builds PC's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Hope all goes well with the switch on, it bears Blackpool illuminations. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted December 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Well - I have now successfully climbed a little more up the learning curve.I switched on this morning with just the monitor, keyboard and mouse connected and it booted without any error beeps but paused with the dreaded message "reboot or select proper boot device". I rebooted and pressed the DEL key to enter BIOS setup but nothing happened.Powered up the laptop and did some googling for a solution - but to no avail.I then rechecked carefully all the motherboard connections - but could see nothing wrong. After a cup of coffee (with Baileys) to steady my nerves I tried again - still the same result. Then I spotted my deliberate mistake - the new computer tower was alongside the old one to facilitate swapping the monitor, keyboard and mouse leads over. The new computer lacks a PS2 port for a mouse so have to use a different mouse with USB. Crawling under the desk to get at the connections is a bit of a fag - and in my fumbling around I had somehow managed to plug the old PS2 mouse into the new computer keyboard port - the keyboard had never been connected. Connected the keyboard, rebooted, entered BIOS setup, changed boot sequence etc and all was hunky dory. Vista loaded with no problems and I was then able to format the second hard drive, partition both drives and re-assign drive letters using Vista.Yippee - it works. I cannot deny that I am chuffed (and somewhat relieved)As pops said - it proved to be a relatively simple task - the manuals tell you most of what you need to know. One confusion - and in fairness the panarchy thread gave me a clue - is that the Antec fans have only 2 wires connected with 4 pin molex plugs. You cannot connect them to the motherboard using the supplied cables and it would be pointless because without the third wire to the fan, auto fan speed control is not possible. Antec's system is to connect all the case fans to the power supply via slider switches on the rear of the case to set the speed in 3 steps. Only the CPU fan is connected to the motherboard for auto speed control. So now for the real chore - loading all my software and getting the wireless network working - which I always have niggly problems with. Transfering all my data files from the old computer is easy - external USB hard drive and Acronis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Well done and top marks. You can now have an end of year bonus point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Congratulations I hope that panarchy is suitably impressed by your achievement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 It's really common for little or nothing to happen at first switch on and you get that dreadful sinking feeling thinking you've wasted all that money. Invariably, it is due to some very minor error (like with you, Alan) and it is very quickly put right. Of all the machines I've assembled, I've never had one that's been a total dud but there have been a couple that provided a mental exercise for a while.How do you feel about having done it? Proud? It always gives me a huge sense of achievement, even now, when it whirrs into action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Well done, but don't let it become addictive. As far as I am aware there is no Coputerists Anonymous yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Well done that man and NO PANICKY long winded threads. :D :D :D :D . I would like to have a go myself, but cannot justify the cost as I am getting no problems with my current machine. You obviously READ THE MANUALS. :D :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 You obviously READ THE MANUALS. :D :DSounds like cheating to me... :lol: Congratulations to your achievment, Alan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 Nice going Alan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 Well done Alan.Hmmmm perhaps this is in the wrong forum, :D Hardware troubles :D :D I don't recall any real troubles with this build = cheating maybe :D It does get addictive though. so be aware you may start badgering friends to upgrade to new systems built by yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted December 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 you may start badgering friends to upgrade to new systems built by yourself. Already have - are you a prophet or something................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.