pre -building pc help and English lesson

[teachopvutru]

Well, in any case. I'm going to start building now as I just fit the PSU in.

Wish me good luck, guy?

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

but I'm a pretty big fan of them

Ugh!

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

... Bill Gates included.

Wah!



I understand the licensing restrictions, but in a sense they're not very practical. You want me to tie myself down to a single computer for the software? It's truly an effort to make the software seem more like a physical product. It'd be too easy to replicate software infinitely, after all - with these restrictions in place, you're forced to buy more. Works for the manufacturer.

I don't mind that, but I mind the idea that computer = motherboard. I work with five different computers at my job, all with different strengths and weaknesses. I typically move from system to system in the work flow process. I am one person using these five systems, frequently one at a time, but should I still have to buy multiple licenses if the work flow involving one program requires multiple systems? Some of the software we use has a sort of protection built in: if it detects another computer on our network running that copy, it won't start up. That's fair - technically I should only be using one copy actively at a time, on one computer. If I want to increase my productivity, I should buy two tools (software/licenses). But to say that I'm limited to using this software on a single computer doesn't sit well with me.

It may work well in the home setting, but even then I think it's a bit counter productive. If I'm changing my motherboard, there's a good chance that I'm just upgrading my system. It's the same computer, just upgraded. What's the deal?

I understand why they do it, though. If not the motherboard, what else could you use as an anchor point? What other copy/license protection schemes could be used effectively? The software makers do need to protect themselves in some manner, but the optimal scenario is one where they don't need to shaft the legit users too badly to do so.

Originally Posted by tiachopvutru

I guess I'm pretty lucky that I decide to buy when it happens to be on sale. So right now I'm rather curious if let's say, for the same amount of RAM, how much performance boost would the DDRII have over the DDRII?

hobbes_fan elaborated on RAM timings and such. It's the usual story: newer tech is always a bit faster. The important point that doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that you don't have a choice as to what RAM you'll be using: that's determined by your motherboard. You're either set on DDR or DDR2. I haven't seen a motherboard that can accommodate multiple RAM types. It should be the same way with DDR3.

Originally Posted by tiachopvutru

Well, wouldn't they be like, paranoid, though? Because the UAC program makes it sounds like catastrophe is coming when you do certain things...

The problem with UAC is that it's a bit alarmist about everything. Let's say you see the security dialogue come up at least ten times a day (some people report that it comes up much more often), and it comes up over trivial tasks as well as higher-level ones. How carefully are you going to be reading what it says? If you're so used to it, you're probably just going to click through it. It falls into the flaw of the fable "the boy who cried wolf."

The fable is pretty well known, but I'll repeat it in case it's not too well-known outside of America (or if it isn't taught to the younger generations): it describes a boy who would run to the village, crying out that there was a wolf proving around. The townfolk would arm themselves and go out in search of the dangerous wolf, wanting to kill it. The boy would laugh - there was no wolf, it was just a trick. He did this two more times until the villagers started to ignore him. One day, there really was a wolf. The boy ran, crying that there was a wolf, but the villagers ignored him. They felt that he was telling lies for his own amusement once again. The wolf ate the boy.

In Linux and Mac OS X, the security prompts generally only come up when you're about to do something potentially dangerous. Accessing the system control panel or installing some new software (modifying your system in some way) - these are actions that really should have some sort of security measure. Having a million security prompts about moving files that are in the same form as asking for permission to install something is a boy-who-cried-wolf scenario: they all look the same, and the vast majority of the time they're not worthy of attention. Click through it. It's no longer providing useful information now - it's just an annoying obstacle to getting a task done.

As I've mentioned, in my brief usage of Vista I didn't find the UAC prompts to be nearly as intrusive as others have mentioned. My usage was basically just downloading and installing Opera, looking at AnimeSuki, running a few updates, and viewing the control panel. It's not a terrible idea, and if they refine it a bit more it could work nicely.

Good luck with your building! I'm writing a paper so I can't provide on-the-spot support, but if you hit a spot you're unsure about feel free to post here and we'll help you out. I don't expect you'll have issues though, so have fun building, and we're looking forward to seeing your first post from your new system!

[hobbes_fan]

You'll be fine, take your time, be neat and tidy, don't get frustrated (walk away and take a break) and KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS. I'll be arond here for the next 3-4 hours before I go to dinner so I'll do my best to give you a hand jst be prepared to post pics describing your situation.

[grey_moon]

@tiachopvutru - Good luck! Remember to make sure your working area is brightly lit and if something starts to go wrong and you start getting annoyed and start sweating, take a break and wipe your face. Saltly sweat dripping on electronic components is not good for it and it also is a really unpleasant sight

Booo I get pre-occupied for a few days with my new toy and I miss this marathon discussion!

Just like to add to the static in the air business. Check out this quote from the wiki about helicopter teams:

The job of the Static man is to use a grounding rod to attach to the hook so that the static electricity conducted by the helicopter is grounded out and does not end up killing a Marine.

@Ledgem - LOL at the gamer needing the best kit statement, but don't let them know that, I rely on them for most of my own upgrades, where I get top kit for less then 1/2 the price within 6 months to 1 year of it coming out

[hobbes_fan]

Wanna buy a 2900xt?

Just a joke.

[teachopvutru]

Well erm... there are only two fan slots (excluding the CPU fan slot out) on my motherboard. The case has two fans by itself and the PSU has one more fan... now I'm stuck, lol.

[hobbes_fan]

Case fans connect directly to the PSU generally. The PSU fan does not need to be connected to anything It is powered by the PSU directly.

Post pics of the connector for the case fans they generally look like this
http://www.bleedinedge.com/guides/ps...ages/molex.jpg

Let me get a download of the manual so I have a better picture of what's going on

[teachopvutru]

I can't seem to upload the picture of the pin from the PSU I've taken. But actually, they are different, lol. The connector from the PSU has 3 holes like the other two fans' that were already in the case, but the PSU one is only attached to 2 wires, while the case's fans, each isattached to 3 wires.

[hobbes_fan]

For the fan:
Small? probably the thickness of your pinky finger? Like this?
http://www.antec.com/images/3pinfansensor.jpg

That's a little unusual but you can get away with just using one case fan. (connect the rear)

I still have no clue what you're talking about for the PSU (Hiper?)
Your PSU according to specs has these, which one are you talking about

http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data...power_conn.jpg
http://www.askkia.com/articles/images/sata15pin.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._connector.jpg (can also be male, pins instead of sockets)
http://educations.newegg.com/categor...uy/image02.jpg
http://images.tomshardware.com/2007/...pcie-power.jpg
http://www.pcfoster.pl/Recenzje/feel3/10.jpg


Typed descriptions aren't very helpful unfortunately, I really need to see pics. Or do you mean the heatsink fan?

[teachopvutru]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

For the fan:
Small? probably the thickness of your pinky finger? Like this?
http://www.antec.com/images/3pinfansensor.jpg

That's a little unusual but you can get away with just using one case fan. (connect the rear)

That one belongs to the PSU (SilverStone). The fans come with the case are the same, except instead of 2 wires attach to it, they come with 3 wires.

[hobbes_fan]

Do not worry about the wires, worry about the actual plug and how many "holes" it has. That's what I need to know to identify what it is.

That cannot be from a PSU. I request that you have a closer look. It should be a 4 pin Floppy Disk Drive connector if it is coming from the PSU.
http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data...power_conn.jpg

Connectors from the Silverstone Strider according to newegg. IS THat what yo bought? I need to know this
1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 12V (P4)
8 x peripheral
4 x SATA
2 x Floppy

[Ledgem]

I don't understand the descriptions very well, but if the connectors look the same, then the third wire is likely a communication wire rather than a power wire. Some fans "talk" to the motherboard and let you know what speed they're running at. If the plug fits, you're fine.

[teachopvutru]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...W+Power+Supply

It's the "fan speed monitor connector" in the picture above.

[Ledgem]

Jeez, that has a ton of connectors compared to my PSU. Nice choice.

In general, if it plugs in, go with it. We're guys, we like to plug stuff in (XD~ @ Zero Shinohara). If the system doesn't power on properly, then you know it's time to unplug some things. When I was linking everything up, two power connectors from the PSU fit to my motherboard, so of course I plugged both in. The system would rev for a fraction of a second when I tried to power it on, but nothing would happen. Unplugging one of the two connectors let the system run.

If you have multiple fans you may need a Y-splitter for the fan plugs. I'm not sure of the layout of your motherboard, so listen to hobbes_fan more carefully than to me, but generally you'll plug one of your fans into a three-pronged thing on the motherboard. I guess the other fans connect to the PSU directly for you - lucky you, my PSU didn't have that type of connector and I had to deal with converters and such.

[hobbes_fan]

Good stuff.

Ok I need you to trn to page 7 of your motherboard manual. It should have a diagram of your motherboard.

On the right hand side find the 2 longest rectangular sockets. near there is a 3 pin socket it goes there



Unfortunately for the time being you will be unable to connect your front fan. It's a bit silly of them to use a 3 pin plug for that. most motherbards have 1 or 2 max. It's no big deal. Just get an adaptor. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=3pin%2bmale. Your system will be fine in terms of cooling for the time being though

[teachopvutru]

... lucky me. I was connecting that slot with the front case fan... But since now I unplug the case fan, do I plug it into the SYS_FAN2 slot? It doesn't matter that the slot has 4 pins and my front case fan connector only has 3 holes, right?

[hobbes_fan]

At this stage leave it. Let me do some research. It's not something I would do especially as it's not absolutely crucial for you to have this fan going. I need to see what each of those pins does first. ( i don't like leaving things half plugged unless I'm absolutely sure. I need to see which pins are positive, negative and ground). Plugging the fan socket into the incorrect slot may short your motherboard.


EDIT: It should be ok, just line it up properly. The fourth plug is for communication purposes in high end fans allowing for regulation of fan speeds.

See:
http://www.intel.com/support/motherb.../cs-012074.htm

[teachopvutru]

Okay... so I was able to build it but the CPU temperature is too high. Right now I'm trying to remove the heatsink to reinstall it, but it turns out I can't pull out one of the four pins that pins down the heatsink...

EDIT: Wow, it takes me a long time to remove the heatsink <.< (more than 30 minutes LMAO XD)

EDIT2: Anyone here think it's so laughable to only have a success attempt at installing heatsink after 3 hours?

EDIT3: While I'm going to sleep (my schedule is VERY strange <.<), I would like to hear suggestion on how I should divide my Ubuntu partition? I'm planning for / and /home partitions, but not sure how much space I should leave for each.

EDIT4: Took a 4 hour naps. Ran memtest86+ while doing that. 11 cycles run and no error.

[hobbes_fan]

SO temps are good? Heatsink installed properly?

If not watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6NbPMQgwPM

(Sorry I can't really help too much with Intel heatsink issues)

[WanderingKnight]

EDIT3: While I'm going to sleep (my schedule is VERY strange <.<), I would like to hear suggestion on how I should divide my Ubuntu partition? I'm planning for / and /home partitions, but not sure how much space I should leave for each.

Usually a root partition of 10 GB is more than enough. If you have space to spare, go for a bit more (say 15 GB). The rest you can divide in as many partitions as you wish, with different setups if you wish so. For example, you could have a small /home partition (say 5 GB) to store only configuration files, and then several different partitions with different purposes (oh, I don't know, for example, "anime", "pictures", "stuff"...) and then mount them in the /home partition, so you'll end up with something like this, to put a simple example:

/ ----> 10 GB
/home ---> 5 GB
/home/user/anime ---> ?? GB

...and so on and so forth. Or, you could have a regular setup and allocate all the remaining disk space to /home. It's really your choice. I personally find that having many partitions can make a really flexible file tree, especially under Linux, and it can be pretty useful when backing up stuff... but it depends a lot on your decisions and on what you wish your file tree layout to be.

PS: The Ubuntu installer, as far as I recall, is not very flexible when partitioning and setting mount points... at any case, you can make any changes you want through the fstab file.