50 replies to this topic

[The Comfy Chair]

Saw this pop up in another thread on another site and from what i can tell (it's 2 hours long, so forgive me not watching the whole thing) it seems like a great and very detailed guide showing you how to build a PC at every stage. It also means i won't have to make my own for this forum like i was planning! Yay!



If you're more familiar with PC building then there are other videos scattered around which will go over things faster, but from what i can tell this videos goes through things slowly, which is important for newbies :) I hated not being able to find a good video when i built my first PC!

Another useful resource, found by FluffyWuffy is this one here:

http://www.pcityourself.com

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 04 May 2011 - 04:51 PM.

[Captain13]

wow! it seems so less complicated than i thought

[Tr0n]

Here's another PC building video from the Tested guys who build it for Jeff Gerstmann (Giant Bomb).

http://www.tested.co...1500-pc/47-319/

[Operative 14]

Perfect. I'm about 1/3rd of the way through now and this is exactly what I've been looking for for the past year. All the other videos I've seen have skipped forward past the 'boring' stuff and left a lot to the imagination. I had a pretty good idea of how to do it before but this is really making it seem even easier.

Only thing I wish was that he had had a third part heatsink to show you you apply the thermal compound, but there are plenty of tutorials around just for that. :)

Thank you for posting!

[tijo]

Applying thermal compound isn't too hard. Just take your time and use whatever method is prescribed for the compound you have. What i found the hardest part was getting the right amount onto the surface of my heatsink.

Anyways here's an example for you: http://www.innovatio...nstructions.htm. Note that ICD7 is insanely viscous, hence why the pea method is recommended. It's the method i used to repaste my laptop with it and it worked great.

Edited by tijo, 28 April 2011 - 02:24 PM.

[chip99]

yea building a pc is easy, the biggest trouble i had was to put this fat cpu fan called scythe mugen 2.

[Lodar]

The Comfy Chair said:

Saw this pop up in another thread on another site and from what i can tell (it's 2 hours long, so forgive me not watching the whole thing) it seems like a great and very detailed guide showing you how to build a PC at every stage. It also means i won't have to make my own for this forum like i was planning! Yay!



If you're more familiar with PC building then there are other videos scattered around which will go over things faster, but from what i can tell this videos goes through things slowly, which is important for newbies :) I hated not being able to find a good video when i built my first PC!

Another useful resource, found by FluffyWuffy is this one here:

http://www.pcityourself.com

I watched the 2 hour long movie yesterday and it's amazing! I allready got the convidence now that I will be able to build my own pc when I start to look for  one. Really good link!

edit:
In the video, the guy is talking about using the CPU cooler that comes with the CPU (or it was for the GPU, I hope I'm not mixing them up right now!). But on other sites people recomment buying better CPU coolers like:
http://www.amazon.co...i_ss_tl?ie=UTF8
in combination with:
http://www.frozencpu...6_-_2_Pack.html (although people seem to not like this all that much!)

What are your thoughts? :)

Edited by Lodar, 27 May 2011 - 09:46 AM.

[dhatcher1]

Stock CPU coolers are generally OK if you do not overclock your CPU.  They tend to be noisier than good aftermarket coolers.

I dont know about that specific cooler, but its awful expensive.  Is your case 8 inches wide or less?  That determines if you can fit a 120mm cooler or have to drop back to a 92mm cooler.

Is your case big enough for a 120mm cooler? If so check below $50 models out:
Coolermaster hyper 212 plus
Xigmatek Balder or Dark Knight (s1283)
Zalman CNPS10 Performa
Scythe Mugen 2 (scmg2000)
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
Kingwin 1264 (clone of Xigmatek 1264 Thors Hammer)

If your case is not 8 inches wide or has side fans that interfere you might have to drop back to a 92mm
Coolermaster Hyper TX3
Arctic Freezer 7

[Ryno_Noobslayer]

Captain13 said:

wow! it seems so less complicated than i thought

I know right? I was so intimidated by the idea of building my own computer, but after actually seeing it, and taking a look at the other website link, I think I can actually pull it off. Now I can get 2 fantastic gaming comuters for the price of a pre-built one. My wife will be so thrilled. :D

[_Flik_]

I watched the 2 hour vid yesterday while waiting for the plumber to arrive. While I have in the past installed the easy bits like memory, drives, GPU's, PSU's I've never done CPU or Motherboard....or built from scratch.

After watching, I now have the confidence to install my new CPU myself and build a new PC for my daughter :)

Quite looking forward to it, anyway, thank you for posting :)

[al capowned]

Tr0n said:

Here's another PC building video from the Tested guys who build it for Jeff Gerstmann (Giant Bomb).

http://www.tested.co...1500-pc/47-319/

I lol'd at them trying to get the optical drive in....these guys are actually quite terrible at putting a machine together despite their knowledge.

[asuraele]

i put in ram in my macbook pro. yay me.  upgraded from 4gb to 8gb... idk why the heck a  brand new system that came out in early 2011 still has only 4gb of ram, thats rediculous. if i had one complaint about mac, they could have went for two 4gb sticks instead of cheaping out and throwing in 2 2gb sticks. jerks lol

[baels]

Gonna try build my first rig. Only daunting thing for me will be installing the GPU since i'm going with the GTX570 dcii and its apparently huge/takes up 3 slots.. But I mean, it's the same thing really... just bigger. xD

[al capowned]

asuraele said:

i put in ram in my macbook pro. yay me.  upgraded from 4gb to 8gb... idk why the heck a  brand new system that came out in early 2011 still has only 4gb of ram, thats rediculous. if i had one complaint about mac, they could have went for two 4gb sticks instead of cheaping out and throwing in 2 2gb sticks. jerks lol

because only a MAC would require more than 4gbs of RAM to run any current software....your fault for buying an overpriced repackaged-for-profit free OS.

baels said:

Gonna try build my first rig. Only daunting thing for me will be installing the GPU since i'm going with the GTX570 dcii and its apparently huge/takes up 3 slots.. But I mean, it's the same thing really... just bigger. xD

you'll be fine. take extra care with your CPU. make sure you get a good thermal paste and apply it properly...the GPU won't give you any issues as long as you have a case that can hold it.

[baels]

al_capowned said:

you'll be fine. take extra care with your CPU. make sure you get a good thermal paste and apply it properly...the GPU won't give you any issues as long as you have a case that can hold it.

Stock i5 2500k isn't good enough? Only plan on a slight OC if I do, like 4.2.
Using a HAF 922 so it should be okay I hope.

[tijo]

asuraele said:

i put in ram in my macbook pro. yay me.  upgraded from 4gb to 8gb... idk why the heck a  brand new system that came out in early 2011 still has only 4gb of ram, thats rediculous. if i had one complaint about mac, they could have went for two 4gb sticks instead of cheaping out and throwing in 2 2gb sticks. jerks lol

Well, Apple was always good at marketing average hardware and selling it to you at a premium. No wonder OS X is cheap considering the price at which they sell you their hardware. Just take a look at their margins, i'll give them points for marketing and user interface, but that's about the only thing where i'll give them points.

al_capowned said:

you'll be fine. take extra care with your CPU. make sure you get a good thermal paste and apply it properly...the GPU won't give you any issues as long as you have a case that can hold it.

Yep, it'll probably take 1-2hours since it's your first time. For the thermal paste, get one from a reputable brand like Artic Silver 5, Arctic Cooling MX-2/MX-4, Innovation Cooling Diamond, etc. Any of those has only minimal differences in performance and will ensure good heat transfer given good paste application. You'll find every tech/regular here has his favorite paste, any of those should do the trick.

[al capowned]

baels said:

Stock i5 2500k isn't good enough? Only plan on a slight OC if I do, like 4.2.
Using a HAF 922 so it should be okay I hope.

stock 2500K is fine....I was speaking more about the care with which you install it. get a good thermal paste as tijo said and make sure you seat it properly without any force. and make sure you have a good CPU Heatsink.

tijo said:

Well, Apple was always good at marketing average hardware and selling it to you at a premium. No wonder OS X is cheap considering the price at which they sell you their hardware. Just take a look at their margins, i'll give them points for marketing and user interface, but that's about the only thing where i'll give them points.

Apple's business model...Step 1: "Steal GNU" Step 2: "Give it a KDE Interface" Step 3: "Sell it to morons with no clue"

I won't give Apple any credit for anything they do until they release something original.

[tijo]

Speaking of thermal paste application: http://www.hardwares...e-Part-2/1392/1. Do note, that some methods are easier with some types of pastes. If you have very viscous paste like ICD, the small dot method is best. For AS5, i'd spread it.

If your daughter likes pink: http://www.hardwarec...r-pink-edition/

[baels]

Doesn't the stock cpu cooler come with thermal paste pre applied most of the time? I thought it was just as simple as placing the CPU in the appropriate direction on the mobo (like in the video(s)) and then attaching the cooler?

[al capowned]

baels said:

Doesn't the stock cpu cooler come with thermal paste pre applied most of the time? I thought it was just as simple as placing the CPU in the appropriate direction on the mobo (like in the video(s)) and then attaching the cooler?

the stock cooler is generally crap....and the ones shipped with most i5's and i7's tend to be faulty. But you are correct they usually come shipped with a thermal paste pre-applied, which makes little to no sense at all to me since the paste is supposed to be applied to the CPU and not the cooling unit(though most tech guys will tell you it doesn't matter).

[baels]

al_capowned said:

the stock cooler is generally crap....and the ones shipped with most i5's and i7's tend to be faulty. But you are correct they usually come shipped with a thermal paste pre-applied, which makes little to no sense at all to me since the paste is supposed to be applied to the CPU and not the cooling unit(though most tech guys will tell you it doesn't matter).

I see. Well if that was the case, and I needed a 3rd party cooler.. would the Cooler Master's Hyper TX-3 suffice? I don't think i'd want to spend upwards of $50+ on a cooler. http://www.ple.com.a...&CategoryID=444

Also, thanks for all the help!

[al capowned]

baels said:

I see. Well if that was the case, and I needed a 3rd party cooler.. would the Cooler Master's Hyper TX-3 suffice? I don't think i'd want to spend upwards of $50+ on a cooler. http://www.ple.com.a...&CategoryID=444

Also, thanks for all the help!

not the greatest not the worst. if you don't plan to overclock you will be more than fine with that heatsink. Coolermaster has always made good quality heatsinks. Maybe one of our techs can suggest something better for less money though. But i'd say you are more than good with the TX-3

[Lodar]

baels said:

I see. Well if that was the case, and I needed a 3rd party cooler.. would the Cooler Master's Hyper TX-3 suffice? I don't think i'd want to spend upwards of $50+ on a cooler. http://www.ple.com.a...&CategoryID=444

Also, thanks for all the help!

The Hyper 212 plus is a good option under 50 dollars :).

[dhatcher1]

The TX3 is a smaller 92mm version of the Hyper 212+ (which is a 120mm fan cooler).  Its rare to find anything price/performance better than one of those.

Arctic Freezer Pro 7 is another 92mm cooler in the same range.

Zalman CNPS10 Performa, Xigmatek Gaia/Balder/Dark Knight/Red Scorpion, Scythe Mugen 2, Kingwin 1264, Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer are other 120mm options that are often in the same price range.

The Larger 120mm fans give the same cooling at lower speed so there is less noise, but the radiators are large and may not fit in small cases.

[Elder III]

$29 seems like a pretty good price for the TX-3 --- I would consider buying it myself at that price, if I was looking for one that is.  

If you plan to overclock, even mildly, it's definitely best to get an aftermarket cooler.  The stock Intel coolers of that past several years are more than poor, and AMD's stock coolers of the current generation aren't too great either (better than Intel's though imo...)

[baels]

Elder III said:

$29 seems like a pretty good price for the TX-3 --- I would consider buying it myself at that price, if I was looking for one that is.  

If you plan to overclock, even mildly, it's definitely best to get an aftermarket cooler.  The stock Intel coolers of that past several years are more than poor, and AMD's stock coolers of the current generation aren't too great either (better than Intel's though imo...)

I'll probably more than likely pick one up then. Found another retailer right near my house that sells the TX-3 for $24. xD Every cent counts!
In fact, I can get the hyper 212 for $32. If it'll be quieter I might as well do that.
The CPU/CPU cooler seems the most daunting part of building a PC to me ;_:

Edited by baels, 30 September 2011 - 05:02 PM.

[dhatcher1]

baels said:

The CPU/CPU cooler seems the most daunting part of building a PC to me ;_:

It is generally the hardest/scariest part.  You have to worry about getting enough goo on, but not too much, getting it even and thin.  Then you have to get the heat sink placed properly on top of the CPU and attached to the motherboard firmly but but not so hard you crush something.  Its probably the step you should take the most time and care on.

[baels]

dhatcher1 said:

It is generally the hardest/scariest part.  You have to worry about getting enough goo on, but not too much, getting it even and thin.  Then you have to get the heat sink placed properly on top of the CPU and attached to the motherboard firmly but but not so hard you crush something.  Its probably the step you should take the most time and care on.

After watching about a million videos on it with the hyper 212plus, i'm quietly confident. I've got most of my parts, just waiting on HDD/Mobo to arrive! Hopefully try build on Friday!

[dhatcher1]

baels said:

After watching about a million videos on it with the hyper 212plus, i'm quietly confident. I've got most of my parts, just waiting on HDD/Mobo to arrive! Hopefully try build on Friday!

Pics or it didnt happen.  ;)  <make a new thread, though>

[edwinshap]

If the intel stock CPU coolers are sometimes faulty, whats the cheapest 3rd party cpu cooler that will adequately cool an i5 2500K that isn't overclocked?