First custom PC build (Q's)

[MadSupra354]

...So should I worry about the case fans just now? Might it be slow now, and speed up later?

 

[DocBrown]

I would not worry just yet about the case fans, How about the Power Supply fan, is it spinning good.

I run a lot of my computers with the side panel off while checking & working on them.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Yeah, ignore case fans for the moment. Other than those fans, what are the problems, if any??

As Doc said, leave the side of the case for the time being so you can see and hear what it going on in there.

Have you looked in the BIOS and confirmed that your hard drive and memory are recognized as expected?

What's next, load Windows?

 

[MadSupra354]

Yeah, ignore case fans for the moment. Other than those fans, what are the problems, if any??

As Doc said, leave the side of the case for the time being so you can see and hear what it going on in there.

Have you looked in the BIOS and confirmed that your hard drive and memory are recognized as expected?

What's next, load Windows?

I would not worry just yet about the case fans, How about the Power Supply fan, is it spinning good.

I run a lot of my computers with the side panel off while checking & working on them.

I just switched the RAM from the black slots the the blue, and I realised that there is 1 extra 4-pin peripheral connector. My PSU doesn't support any more, so I'm guessing the 2 other fans work, but this one isn't getting enough power?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You probably have 3 or 4 different tiny 3 pin or 4 pin connections on the motherboard. They are fan headers. Any working fan connected to these headers should at least spin. Connect 4 pin fans to 4 pin headers.

I"m guessing you don't have a motherboard diagram showing the pin assignments (ground, 12v, sensor, etc) for any of the fan headers.

If a fan does not spin when attached to a particular header, rotate the connector 180 degrees and try again. The connector may have a keyway that prevents you from rotating it however.

Fan speeds can't really be judged accurately until Windows is installed, but they should at least spin without Windows.

Normally, two sticks of RAM should be in the same color slots. If you have 2 blue and 2 black, my guess would be that 2 sticks should go in blue and blue or black and black, but you could have an oddball situation depending on your motherboard.

The CPU fan should be connected to a specific header.

The other case fans can generally be connected to any of the remaining headers.

 

[MadSupra354]

You probably have 3 or 4 different tiny 3 pin or 4 pin connections on the motherboard. They are fan headers. Any working fan connected to these headers should at least spin. Connect 4 pin fans to 4 pin headers.

I"m guessing you don't have a motherboard diagram showing the pin assignments (ground, 12v, sensor, etc) for any of the fan headers.

If a fan does not spin when attached to a particular header, rotate the connector 180 degrees and try again. The connector may have a keyway that prevents you from rotating it however.

Fan speeds can't really be judged accurately until Windows is installed, but they should at least spin without Windows.

Normally, two sticks of RAM should be in the same color slots. If you have 2 blue and 2 black, my guess would be that 2 sticks should go in blue and blue or black and black, but you could have an oddball situation depending on your motherboard.

The CPU fan should be connected to a specific header.

The other case fans can generally be connected to any of the remaining headers.

I'm talking about these connectors.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

That's a Molex connector. What's at the other end of it?

 

[MadSupra354]

That's a Molex connector. What's at the other end of it?

There are many of them, they came with the case. I've connected most of them, but 1 is left over since the PSU didn't come with any more cables Should I just leave it?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Yeahh, leave it.

Most PCs have several flapping in the breeze, unused. If you had a bunch of hard drives or other stuff to connect, you might use them.

 

[essenbe]

Is ie9 messing up? It seems like there should be another page here.

 

[DocBrown]

I thought I should post some snips to help with the different connectors


The 4 pin molex is a power connector for IDE HD, CD, & DVD drives. Can also have adapters connected for case fans, & possible case LED lighting.

Cable # 4 in the bottom snip.




Most newer MB's have a 24 pin power connector from the PSU.

Cable # 1 in the bottom snip.

Older MB's only have 20 pin connection.



Then there are the ATX-12v-2x4 connections. Some MBs have one or two of these.

Cable # 2 in the bottom snip.





Also depending on the PSU, they may have one or two.




Cable # 3 is the SATA drives power connector.

rb:

Hope this helps any new users following this thread

 

[MadSupra354]

OK, I'm very pleased to hear this. I turned it on, and there is no beep! I guess switching round the RAM worked! Exept, the fan that isn't spinning properly is still making an annoying noise. Everything else is working, the CPU fan, GPU fan, but the thing that is making a noise it the fan at the back of the case.
I went into the BIOS, and I now need to know how to boot from USB (Windows 7 is on my Kingston USB) the BIOS recognises it, but when I hit F10 to save and quit, it just says "Select proper boot device then press any key to continue"

 

[Dwarf]

Check that the fan isn't catching on the case, or that the blades aren't catching on, or being fouled by, any wires/cables. It could also be a failing bearing.

When you boot up, what prompts do you get on screen besides Del/F2 to enter the BIOS?

 

[MadSupra354]

Check that the fan isn't catching on the case, or that the blades aren't catching on, or being fouled by, any wires/cables. It could also be a failing bearing.

When you boot up, what prompts do you get on screen besides Del/F2 to enter the BIOS?

In the manual it asks me to press Delete, but it asked me to press F1 or F2. I press F1.
The case fan doesn't seem to be catching anything, may it be a faulty fan or vibrations?

 

[essenbe]

In BIOS there is a catagory called 'boot order' or something similar. You have to set the order of which device (CD, Hard drive) for bios to boot from first. I always list CD first, then the HD that windows is installed on then other drives. There should be another item in that same boot order catagory about-enable legacy devices. make that enabled so that you can boot from your USB drive. Then hit F10 and save. When you start to boot, you have a key (RTM) to select boot devise (This is a one time function), hit that key, just keep tapping it until you get to that screen. It will give you options of all bootable devices in your computer. Select your USB drive and exit. The computer should boot from the usb then. Also, the fan that is giving you promlems, what is the wire from it connected to? You should check the connection to make sure it is making good contact. You can plug it into pins on your MB labled fan or if it has a 4 pin connector you can connect it to the molex connection.

Also, when you turn on the power you should see at the bottom of your screen delete to enter BIOS and another key to enter boot menu. You have only about 5 seconds to press the key.

 

[MadSupra354]

In BIOS there is a catagory called 'boot order' or something similar. You have to set the order of which device (CD, Hard drive) for bios to boot from first. I always list CD first, then the HD that windows is installed on then other drives. There should be another item in that same boot order catagory about-enable legacy devices. make that enabled so that you can boot from your USB drive. Then hit F10 and save. When you start to boot, you have a key (RTM) to select boot devise (This is a one time function), hit that key, just keep tapping it until you get to that screen. It will give you options of all bootable devices in your computer. Select your USB drive and exit. The computer should boot from the usb then. Also, the fan that is giving you promlems, what is the wire from it connected to? You should check the connection to make sure it is making good contact. You can plug it into pins on your MB labled fan or if it has a 4 pin connector you can connect it to the molex connection.

Also, when you turn on the power you should see at the bottom of your screen delete to enter BIOS and another key to enter boot menu. You have only about 5 seconds to press the key.

So, when I select my USB will it permanently boot from it? Or when I'm in Windows do I move the files over to my HD?

 

[essenbe]

When you do the set up in bios that is permanent. When you do the boot options, that is a one time thing.

 

[MadSupra354]

When you do the set up in bios that is permanent. When you do the boot options, that is a one time thing.

So I'll always have to boot from the USB?

 

[essenbe]

You should set up bios first. Press start, hit the delete key. In bios press the optimized defaults key and reply yes. Then you need to go to the first catagory. There you will set uour time zone and basic stuff, the usually in the second catagory you will find boot order and set that up as I told you. after that press F10 and exit and shut down the computer.. Disconnect the power to all hard drives except the one you want to install windows on. then start the computer and enter boot options, select your USB and install windows. When windows is installed, shut down the computer and plug the power into all of your boot drives. Just make sure that the computer is off when you do those things and make sure that the HD you are installing windows on is the first hard drive listed in BIOS boot order.

 

[essenbe]

NO. They are 2 different things bios is permanent, although you can go back and change it any time you want. The boot options is different than bios. The boot options is a one time thing.

If you select your USB in boot options it will boot from it that one time. The next time you start up it will boot as you set it up in bios.