[Salome's computer] IT LIVES! [with pics]

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A brief preface: this is going to be a longish post. It's going to be, in places, rambling. It may not be consistently interesting, particularly to those of you with a bit of experience with scratch-building computers and/or case modding. Then again, it might be, because as if turns out it's one thing to do it yourself under optimal conditions, and quite another to do it on behalf of another person when circumstances are suboptimal. If nothing else this post illustrates the adage that a battle plan never survives contact with entropy.

So, Salome wanted herself a computer. After asking around the forum for input, she made her choice and I decided to pitch in. The whole deal was pretty straightforward: Salome wanted something she could tinker with, and something that would last longer than your typical laptop while still not costing her an arm and a leg. She wanted to run Windows 7 and Linux in a dual boot configuration. I had a case lying around in my basement gathering dust, a model I'd inherited from my cousin and kept around because I liked it. I also had a home network I knew worked, the programs needed to get everything running, plus past experience in putting together builds of this sort. So everything was pretty much set, and our quest about to begin.

This shouldn't take long.



The first thing I did was to empty the case and open 'er up. The thing contained an old SATA/IDE enabled motherboard from ATI, so I'm pegging it from around 2003-2005. The HD was gone, salvaged earlier, but there was a wireless ethernet card, an anemic graphics card and a bunch of USB interfaces. Plus, someone had put foam bricks in it, for reasons unknown. The power supply was still intact, but this thing had been retired from service several years ago and plugging something like that into a new computer might result in varying levels of fire. So it went.



I mentioned I'd kept the case because I liked it. This model of case was identical to one I'd had in my previous machine, and the first actual quality case I'd seen. You don't need to have something like that for a decent build, but it does help make everything go that much smoother - no risk of cutting yourself on sharp surfaces, no awkward wrangling around wires to place the hard drive correctly, you get drive bays that are padded with rubber to reduce vibrations. So I was happy to get my hands on the case, even though I had no idea what to actually do with it.

Anyway, first we installed the Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 motherboard. This was easy enough, although not all the mounting points were there. This meant the motherboard had a tendency to flex, but all in all, we didn't need to move the fixtures at all, which was nice. Then, we installed the power brick, a Corsair CX-500. The cables could mostly be tucked away, but some of the mess was attached to the internals of the case using cable ties.



Having hooked up the power brick meant we had no excuse left to delay the critical part - installing the CPU. That was an AMD AM3+, a low-tier but capable hexacore processor. With it came a cooling fan, so termed because it produced a light breeze.



This was inadequate.



Much better.

Now, the first true problem arose: we'd dallied far too long before getting to work, and a winter evening doesn't do wonders for my equilibrium: I get unfocused and depressed. If there's any part of tinkering I'd definitely advise against, it's installing an expensive and delicate component under such circumstances. This goes double if said component A) is unfamiliar (I favor Intel processors), B) must be applied with sustained violence and C) belongs to someone else. Suffice to say that there was quite a cavalcade of false starts before we determined how the heat sink was supposed to be affixed. It mattered not. In the end, the beast was laid low.

Next came the RAM. Salome had purchased two 4 GB Corsair Vengeance DIMMs. 8 gigabytes of RAM seems to be the sweet spot for any Win 7 user who doesn't outright reject the idea of ever closing applications, and it's not as if Linux would be worse at memory management.



Sometimes, the placing of the RAM can be tricky. Luckily, this was a Gigabyte motherboard, so everything was nicely laid out in the manual. Less luckily, one of the two channels was blocked by the heat sink. We just had to hope it didn't matter which channel you filled first.

Then came the GPU, the make of which I temporarily forgot. After putting it in, the case looked like this:



Hooking up the new HDD was a snap, and then, there was nothing to do but boot it up.

..

...no picture. No response, other than the whirring of fans. Didn't even POST.



Is this the end of our intrepid adventurers? Will they triumph, or will the dread beast Murphy prevail? Stay tuned for the conclusion!

Been there, done that. Even Gigabyte mobos aren't immune to the dreaded DOA, although that's the brand I would go with. Corsair memory isn't as good as it once was. I've switched to G-Skill after getting too many dead sticks in other brands. The most reliable brand tends to change. I leave Memtest86 running for hours on a new computer just to be sure. I even had a Gigabyte mobo with one defective memory slot out of four.

So, we last left our heroes in the throes of disaster. No signs of life from the computer. The motherboard plainly passed electricity enough for the fans to work, both on and off the MoBo (the graphics card fan was running, after all). But there wasn't a single beep from the BIOS which would indicate that the motherboard was up and running. So what could be the problem, and how to test it?

Hypothesis: I'd forgotten something when plugging in the power supply.

So I looked, and it turned out I had. The motherboard gets one power connector, the CPU another, and for some unfathomable reason this had slipped my mind. So I plugged it in. Booted.

Still nothing.


Time for a new hypothesis: There was something wrong with the PSU so that it underperformed. This can happen sometimes: you get enough power to run the fans (~5W) but not enough to get the CPU up and running (~35 W or more). But how to test that? Well, obviously, you have to get another PSU out, one you know is working. Solution?

Well, there really was only one thing to do: use my own.

Let's stop to consider how dumb this was. I was tired, jittery and stressed out, and an operation that normally goes without a hitch had failed to work. My own computer hadn't been opened for Lord knows how long, and I tend to be very careful with it: it was pretty expensive, and removing the PSU tends to be cumbersom. So naturally, I ripped that sucker right open. What's the worst that could happen?

So eventually I got my own PSU out of the case, dislodging a blanket of dust in the process. And I just vacuumed the thing, too. Hooking it up was a snap, and then... nothing.

Darn. Okay, putting it back... replacing the hard drive...

*crack* There goes the SATA connector for my hard drive. Crud.

Nothing worked (on Salome's rig; mine still ran fine for reasons beyond knowing), and about all we could say, after trying it with and without peripherals, was that the motherboard seemed to be borked. Nothing we could do could bring it to life.

It was time to call it a night.

The final day came. The supplicants gathered. With them they brought offerings to appease the microprocessor gods. To wit, a new motherboard, shaped in plastic, forged in copper, quenched in the tears of innocents.

It was time. Time to do it all over again.





Thus it came to pass that Salome noticed the tiny lever unto the motherboard. And lo, by raising it and lowering it, we ensure that the AMD processor would henceforth sit in its rightful place, not to be moved by lesser beings. Just a trifling detail that I hope to never overlook again.

A few deft maneuvers later, and we had a complete case.



Now the button is pushed. Fans blur. The computer chimes. Light comes unto the screen, resolving into a hideously garish bootup screen that Gigabyte seems to love.

Success.


Every project is, I guess, a learning experience. I've learned a few things from this one, things I may have known but not taken seriously before:

• Never build a computer when you're tired and stressed.
• Always assume it'll take hours longer than you thought it possibly could.
• Keep these things on hand: a PS2 keyboard, an extra monitor, an RJ-45 cable, a USB-mounted DVD player, and a USB stick. You may need them, and if you ever do, you'll really need them.
• Try to have an extra power supply on hand in case you need to test things.
• Don't try to work on more than one computer at the same time.
• If you begin to despair, or maybe even if you're just feeling angry and frustrated, don't push on. It'll just end in tears.

Du är ju nåt så förbannat rolig ! Skriver fantastiskt bra gör du också!

I loooove my new computer!

Well, at least it wasn't a total loss! Good recovery!

BTW, there are power supply testers. If you build computers, you need one of them. Always test a power supply with a cheap tester before you plug anything expensive into it, since if it's bad you could fry the expensive stuff.

The power supply is the most critical part of a build, because it can fry everything inside the case that's plugged into it. So always get a good, name-brand power supply. Don't skimp there. (I use Thermaltake power supplies.) Never use the PS that comes with the case (unless it's a Thermaltake case, I guess) because these are usually not very good.

Nice components in there. You won't have any complaints.

Planning to play games with it, Salome? There's no fancy video card in there...

I forgot which video card it was. Not an overly fancy one, but decent for video playback and HD.

I haven't gotten around to playing any games yet but I'm sure it would handle your average game.

It's a Gigabyte G-force 2GB gddr3 so not gamer stuff but capable.

I don't know how I missed it in the picture but there is a card in there... probably a Geforce 620 or something low-end. If you have the box or model number (It'll be GT or GTX xxx) I can tell you how awesome it is.

Glad you're happy though! Wish I could've helped you out but I'm half a planet away! Nice going, Elias!

LINUX???? Why.... just.... why?