Helping a friend build a PC

Thorsen said:

So as far as I know, the kit is coming tomorrow....

Last questions? Drivers ready? Chipset? GPU?

Thorsen said:

AMD Vision Barebone Kit - Asus M4A785-M Mobo, AMD Athlon II X2 240 Dual Core CPU, Kingston 2GB DDR2 RAM, XFX Radeon HD 4350 Video Card, Western Digital HD, PowerUp ATX Black Case with 450W PSU at TigerDirect.com

A friend of mine just purchased this Barebones Kit from TigerDirect.

He also purchased the extra 2G of RAM and Win7 Home

First off, I know that the Ram is DDR2, and the PSU is underpowered. He is going to upgrade these later down the road (I advised to get the DDR3, but he has a low-budget and will have money down the line for upgrades.)

I have not built a PC so some of this is new to me. As for previous experience, I have repaired some things replaced HDD's, and cpu's gpu's etc.

Can people here give me some guidance on tips and tricks for new installs. When I do the install I would like to refer to this thread and this forum for my info.

First off you can only use 1 type of memory, if the board uses ddr2 that`s what you haveto use.

Email me with any questions, I`ve probly built over 200. Check out the specs on my latest.

Thorsen said:

Thanks everyone, hopefully tomorrow all goes well, I am currently downloading the rest of the Asus mobo drivers (just in case) and ATI Catalyst Software Suite (just in case). The main one VGA is still (Edit)1 hour I hope they are done soon....

Why are you downloading drivers ? Install W7 then check Device Manager. Windows 7 will install or update every driver you need.

Any driver discs you need better come with the kit!!! Did you order from TigerDirect ??

Zomby88,
Thanks for the input, I understand and appreciate your concern.

I have not built a copmuter from the ground up so this is a first for me, but I have been working on computers since I could tie my shoes :)

The Kit will come with Driver Discs, I just want to make sure I have the latest drivers from the Mfg sites and I have them on hand.

also note for the drivers, I did say "just in case". Murphy's Law strikes quick. I don't want to be in the middle of this install and have the CD with the Drivers not run and think "Fail now I have to find them online and download a 117M VGA driver". or that the DVDdrive is a brick and needs to be returned. (I do have a backup CD drive I am going to bring with me but still) :)

I also know that DDDR2 is on the spec for the motherboard and you cant go to DDR3 without changing the mobo. By upgrades I meant mobo and RAM, I informed my friend of this, but the DDR3 kits were out of his budget. On the Athlon X2 path right now, DDR2-DDR3 is not a major performance gain. it is when you get to higher end systems that you see the performance increase and access to higher Hz.

This case should last him a few years and when he wants to upgrade, he is at a good point to get a new mobo and RAM that is cheaper 2 years from now than it is now....

Thanks again and if you see anything missing out of this Thread let me know. I wont know what I am missing till Zero Hour. the Kit should be delivered Today I will keep everyone posted and will have my laptop with me in his house to do whatever is needed online.

Thanks Iggy. I haven't heard if it has arrived yet, but he said he was going to wait by the window....

"is that a UPS Truck?!?!? nope just a van....."

"Is that a UPS Truck?!?!?! nope its the garbage truck....."

Zomby88 said:

Thorsen said:

Thanks everyone, hopefully tomorrow all goes well, I am currently downloading the rest of the Asus mobo drivers (just in case) and ATI Catalyst Software Suite (just in case). The main one VGA is still (Edit)1 hour I hope they are done soon....

Why are you downloading drivers ? Install W7 then check Device Manager. Windows 7 will install or update every driver you need.

Wrong. 7 will install old GPU drivers, and chipset drivers that may not have everything you need, like PCI bridge driver.

How can it be assumed that Win7 will install an old GPU driver? Are you familar with the 7 Driverstore for his GPU?

Seven enthusiasts should be up to date on the changes made by MS to make the installer driver-complete, a completely new approach than Vista or XP.

The WHQL driver program partnered with every manufacturer to build Win7 drivers, with MS picking up the tab so they could have the drivers first in the installer or via Updates.