Posted: 4/9/2008 10:21:35 PM EDT
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OK, let me give you some background. I was going to try and upgrade my old system by getting a new video card and power supply, however I ditched the idea and went with a new build. Granted, I can put these things together and I know what to buy, but when it comes to setting up BIOS, dual channel memory, installing the OS, I'm a total noob lightweight. My "goto" guy is sick and I have no idea what to do. Everything is built and in the case. I havent even started it yet. Is there an online step by step how to I can walk myself through? I'd love to get the system running at highest proformance. Here is what I have. Antec 900 case Antec Neopower 550W PS Gigabyte S-series Mobo GA-P35-DS3L using onborad audio and LAN Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 Mhz CPU 4 gb DDR2 ram 2 sticks of 2 GB EVGA 8800GT 512 Vid card PCI-Express Liteon CD/DVD all in one optical SATA Seagate Barracuda 250 GB SATA HDD Windows XP Pro w/ SP2 OEM |
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you want the fastest? Get a 45nm cpu, such as the quad Intel Q9300 nvidia 9800 GTX Asus Striker Motherboard 1066mhz or 1333 mhz ram 500w or greater PSU 1TB or 500gb Seagate SATA with 32mb cache, or a SCSI over sata drive XP PRO w/SP2 (d/l SP3 beta) all available at newegg.com |
Looks good. If you want to use all 4GB of ram you need a 64bit OS. That means either XP-64 or Vista 64. XP 64 has slightly crappy driver support, but is a GREAT os, just on the way out. Vista 64 (choose the flavor) is great. I am using it now with 6GB ram and it is nice and snappy. I would also get the P35-DS3R rather than the DS3L. I have had better luck with the R. Everything else looks fine. |
Many thanks. I already have all the parts listed so I am stuck with what is there. What issues did you have with the "L" Mobo? As to the build, I was able to get through everything on my own and the system runs fantastic. I dont have the XP-64 just the XP Pro and it sees 3.5GB of my ram. I cant complain since this thing is super fast. The Antec 900 case is a dream to work with and with a bit of modding, it has a clean look inside and massive airflow. Keeps VERY cool with the installed fans. I was going to get a side exaust fan but since it runs so good I may not. I'll try and get some picks up. Now all I need is a good second monitor and a better UPS. |
Not many issues. The 3 I have installed have been less stable than the R's when under heavy load. Could be operator error though...  Have fun with it. |