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As some of you already know, I finally built my pc. Let me first say thank you for everyone's help and support. :amen:
Being a computer geek since a young age, I have enjoyed building my own PCs. But it had been several years since my last try and so many things have changed, that I needed to learn. I also wanted to build a pc that I would be able to OverClock.
Bing and Gordon were a big help with advice. I found few other forum sites great for research and information;http://www.anandtech.com, http://www.amdmb.com and http://www.amdforums.com. Read the Sticky threads and they will lead you to a plethora of other sites. I ordered the Mother board, CPU, RAM and Case from http://www.newegg.com. The rest was purchased from OfficeMax.
Order from Newegg Asus A7N8X Dlx, XP2500, Corsair Ram and Chieftec case:
I laid everything on the dining room table (wife wasn't to thrilled :twisted: ). And the bottle of Capt. Morgans is for moral support.
I change the FSB jumber on the Mobo and installed it into the case. Plugged all the front connections, installed and connected the drives and video card. On the first try the system booted up but gave a warning the the CPU may be incorrect. The default FSB set in the BIOS is only 100, so I changed it to 166. Rebooted and BAM Barton 2500 and memory at 200 Mhtz. After some Bios tweeking, I changed the memory to match the cpu speed and disabled onboard devices that will not be used, started MS Windows XP Pro installation. Installation went great and loaded all the drivers from mobo cd. the only problem was that the sysytem would not power off; reboot automaticly. This is when I ran into a couple of snags.
During my research I learned of a problem some people were having with thier onboard sound. The easy solution is to disable APIC and re-install XP. I did this but still had the reboot problem plus a BSOD during shut down. (check this thread out - AMDFORUMS thread A crappy feature of XP is a setting to automaticly restart Windows on Error. Once the feature was disable;
I was able to see the BSOD and an error with PCI to AGP drivers. I don't have an AGP card so I disabled the driver and the system works perfect. :T
I have done a little OC'ing. Basicly changed my FSB and Memory to 200Mhz X 11 multiplier and running at stock voltage. System is able to successfully get 2.194 Ghtz
CPUZ
I ran Prime95 for a couple of hours with no problems but runs a little to warm for my taste so I went back to my default setting. I also picked up some wire loom at the local auto parts store. I also moved one of the exhaust fans to the front and that also helped with keeping everthing cooler.
Mods: I have taken on old 40 mm HSF and modified to fit NB chip
Where to go from here: I plan on getting the SLK-800(a) with a Panaflow H1A. 2 more LED fans. Fan controller and a new video card. This will allow me to do the OC'ing.
Wish list and future upgrades: Bios Ugrade; PSU mod - add and change internal fan; passive heat sink for SouthBridge and maybe a couple of CCLs. And of couse a LCD display.
System:
Asus A7N8X Dlx Rev2.0 bios - 1003
AMD Barton "333" XP2500 w/OEM HSF
Corsair TwinX 2x256 PC3200 LL
ATI Radeon 7200
Chieftec case w/ 450W PSU (1 intake /1 exhaust)
WD 120 GB w/ 8MB cache
52X CDRW/8X DVD/Logitech Elite Cordless Duo
Thanks again for everyone's help and please keep giving me suggestions.
Being a computer geek since a young age, I have enjoyed building my own PCs. But it had been several years since my last try and so many things have changed, that I needed to learn. I also wanted to build a pc that I would be able to OverClock.
Bing and Gordon were a big help with advice. I found few other forum sites great for research and information;http://www.anandtech.com, http://www.amdmb.com and http://www.amdforums.com. Read the Sticky threads and they will lead you to a plethora of other sites. I ordered the Mother board, CPU, RAM and Case from http://www.newegg.com. The rest was purchased from OfficeMax.
Order from Newegg Asus A7N8X Dlx, XP2500, Corsair Ram and Chieftec case:
I laid everything on the dining room table (wife wasn't to thrilled :twisted: ). And the bottle of Capt. Morgans is for moral support.
I change the FSB jumber on the Mobo and installed it into the case. Plugged all the front connections, installed and connected the drives and video card. On the first try the system booted up but gave a warning the the CPU may be incorrect. The default FSB set in the BIOS is only 100, so I changed it to 166. Rebooted and BAM Barton 2500 and memory at 200 Mhtz. After some Bios tweeking, I changed the memory to match the cpu speed and disabled onboard devices that will not be used, started MS Windows XP Pro installation. Installation went great and loaded all the drivers from mobo cd. the only problem was that the sysytem would not power off; reboot automaticly. This is when I ran into a couple of snags.
During my research I learned of a problem some people were having with thier onboard sound. The easy solution is to disable APIC and re-install XP. I did this but still had the reboot problem plus a BSOD during shut down. (check this thread out - AMDFORUMS thread A crappy feature of XP is a setting to automaticly restart Windows on Error. Once the feature was disable;
Windows XP may encounter a problem during startup that results in a STOP error message. Depending on the system configuration, the error message on a blue screen may not be displayed long enough to record the error information. To gather important information about the STOP error message and to verify the cause:
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure, and then click OK. The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure, and then click OK. The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.
I have done a little OC'ing. Basicly changed my FSB and Memory to 200Mhz X 11 multiplier and running at stock voltage. System is able to successfully get 2.194 Ghtz
CPUZ
I ran Prime95 for a couple of hours with no problems but runs a little to warm for my taste so I went back to my default setting. I also picked up some wire loom at the local auto parts store. I also moved one of the exhaust fans to the front and that also helped with keeping everthing cooler.
Mods: I have taken on old 40 mm HSF and modified to fit NB chip
Where to go from here: I plan on getting the SLK-800(a) with a Panaflow H1A. 2 more LED fans. Fan controller and a new video card. This will allow me to do the OC'ing.
Wish list and future upgrades: Bios Ugrade; PSU mod - add and change internal fan; passive heat sink for SouthBridge and maybe a couple of CCLs. And of couse a LCD display.
System:
Asus A7N8X Dlx Rev2.0 bios - 1003
AMD Barton "333" XP2500 w/OEM HSF
Corsair TwinX 2x256 PC3200 LL
ATI Radeon 7200
Chieftec case w/ 450W PSU (1 intake /1 exhaust)
WD 120 GB w/ 8MB cache
52X CDRW/8X DVD/Logitech Elite Cordless Duo
Thanks again for everyone's help and please keep giving me suggestions.
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