New build - please give advice

nate42nd · 14 Jun 2009

A lot of you have gone through building your own rig. I have a new gigabyte EP45-UD3P and Q8200 CPU being shipped right now.

What are the common mistakes made or tips anyone can give?

I am planning on putting it all together right, making the BIOS changes and plugging my USB install key into one of the 10 USB ports on the new system to install Se7en.

What will I run into that I'm not expecting? I searched my mobo and already found this thread on this forum.

Installing windows 7 on fresh PC

I have one question. I have this case and PSU on the way.

Newegg.com - RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply - Computer Cases

It sounds like it has no P8 connector. I ordered a molex to P8 adapter to hook up the CPU power. The mobo manual says "The ATX 12v 2X4 connector is compatibe with PSUs with 2X2 12v connectors. Does this mean I can use a 4 pin connector on half of the P8? Thanks for any info. It's not clear in the manual.

Attachment 14320

I read this to mean you can plug a 4 pin 12v into the right side. Is this correct?

Dark Nova Gamer · 15 Jun 2009

Well I haven't put together a build yet but from what I can tell a lot of people make the mistake of not wearing static wrist bands and in turn end up frying or screwing up their Motherboard/CPU/RAM (I screwed up my RAM on my older Desktop because of static discharge).

nate42nd · 16 Jun 2009

Thank you for the advice. :)

ibocpro · 17 Jun 2009

At some point soon replace that power supply, it should get you by but you do not want to rely on it for too long. I have seen too many times included power supplies that cause hardware issues and failures. I zoomed in on the power supply connections and it looks like it has the 2 4pin 12v connectors to make up your 8pin so you should be fine, hard to tell in the picture. Let us know.. Case looks good, should be pretty!

Good choice on motherboard, I have 3 Gigabytes running and they are solid, on the AMD side but the UDP standard for Gigabyte is awsome. F9 is the latest bios for your board, I have had good luck with Newegg as most of the boards I get have the latest bios. F9 was released on 4/16 so you may not have to flash.

Take your time, stay grounded, refer to the manual and you should have no issues. Gigabytes manuals are very good and should have all the important steps for you. Bios descriptions are a bit weak but a quick Bing or Google will answer all your q's.

Win7 setup is a breeze, just follow the steps.. Where do you want 7 and maybe some drive options if you want, then wait for you name, timezone etc. Should be up and running in no time. My builds have 7 to the desktop in under 20 minutes, takes a while to get all my programs loaded but that has nothing to do with 7.

Well good luck and post some results. Building your own is the best way to go. Do look for a better power supply, Corsair is my recommed, or even a better Raidmax would help. Cheers!

rbmorse · 17 Jun 2009

The answer to the OP's question is yes, you can plug the 4 pin ATX12V connector into half of the motherboard's 8 pin socket. It only goes in one way (right side) and make sure the hook on the connector engages the retaining ridge on the socket molding.

That woks fine, but ideally, you would get an atx12V 4 > 8 pin converter, or a Molex > 8 pin ATX12 converter and use that to better distribute current flow through the motherboard traces.

nate42nd · 17 Jun 2009

I just hooked up a Thermaltake 500W PSU. I am going to the store again for some molex to SATA connectors and I'll power this thing up. I hope it all works. Is it normal to adjust the BIOS before loading windows? Or does it matter?

nate42nd · 17 Jun 2009

rbmorse said:

The answer to the OP's question is yes, you can plug the 4 pin ATX12V connector into half of the motherboard's 8 pin socket. It only goes in one way (right side) and make sure the hook on the connector engages the retaining ridge on the socket molding.

That woks fine, but ideally, you would get an atx12V 4 > 8 pin converter, or a Molex > 8 pin ATX12 converter and use that to better distribute current flow through the motherboard traces.

Thanks for the response. I found that out and have one hooked up to the correct half of the 8 pin. I don't plan to overclock much so it should work okay.