Gaming PC Build!!!

Correct. There should be a power plug from the PSU and extra SATA cables usually come with the MB. You bought a bare drive which is usually cheaper than the retail version but comes with absolutely nothing.

 

Ohh okay. Well I will just wait and start the build, and if the mobo doesn't come with extra cables then I will just grab some later and install the drive later. I only need two cables total I believe. And my copy of windows will be on a flashdrive anyway, so I'm not too worried about it.

 

Yup, your SATA cables will come with the mobo, don't buy extras. Anybody who builds their own rigs will have a box with spares laying around somewhere anyways.

 

My $60 Mushkin Synchronous SSD (that's been super reliable for years) reads at 560 MB/s
(Granted, it's a 60GB drive... I'm not a gamer, I don't even have it at half capacity)
The absolute top of the line HDD's that spin at 4million rpm, and burst into a ball of flames within a year, read at about 100 MB/s
That's literally 5 times quicker of a load... 5X is an incredible improvement

NOTHING will make your system read the info that HDD is spitting out any faster than 100 MB/s; I don't care if you have 32GB of RAM and an Intel I7

In my experience; you will quite blantantly notice a greater performance upgrade, all across the board, from prioritizing your money on your Drive before your RAM

 

I realize read/write speeds are much faster. I currently run two systems with Intel SSD's and appreciate the difference. If you look into real world performance differences you'll realize it's really not doing all that much for you once you're gaming. Sure, they're faster, but most modern games fetch data from HDD's just fine. From a gamers perspective an SSD will shorten launch times and potentially shorten scene loading times, though this isn't always the case. Most modern games will fetch data before the loading screen and store as much of it as it can in the RAM before the data is needed, in which case that extra RAM will actually be a lot more useful than an SSD.

SSD's give you sweet boot times, and if you've got limited cache and limited or slow RAM, they do help quite a bit elsewhere as well.

SSD's can't read faster than RAM, plain and simple (we're talking >12 800MB/s from decent RAM and >550MB/s from most SSD's). Beyond this, another few MB's of cache go far further than several times more RAM would. Don't get me wrong, If you're just web browsing and using email, an SSD will benefit you long before 16 gigs of RAM will, but for a gaming rig, you will tap out 8 gigs of RAM before you start really reaping the benefits of an SSD.

 

Yeah, he's right; past the intial boots/loads of the game, the in-game experience won't be effected as much by a quicker drive as it will by quicker/more RAM

And I guess since this is a "Gaming" rig, my arguement loses some ground

But, I still say drop $60 on an SSD: even if you're just gonna put your OS and a couple of games on it
It's hands-down, the best all-across-the-board performance upgrade you'll spend money on, including RAM

If you strictly want to squeeze out a few more smooth FPS while in-game... then, RAM is probably your answer
I've got mine running at 1600mhz; 7-7-7-20

 

So I just opened my motherboard box and their were two short ass sata cables and nothing else (besides the drivers disc and paperwork). Are the two enough for everything I will need? They look to be only about 8 to 10 inches long...

 

The only thing I see on your list that you're gonna need a SATA for is your hard drive
I don't see it on your list; But, I'm assuming you've got a CD/DVD drive too; you'll also need one for that

So, 2 should do you fine
Making them reach might be a chore

 

oh, also... you may already know this, but...
static is a HUGE concern when handling/building this stuff
don't mean to freak anyone out; but, seriously... every comp I've built, I've built naked on a wood or linoleum floor; using pizza boxes to lay the motherboard and such on.
and, at least, every couple of minutes tapped something metal to make sure I wasn't static. haha

 

Yeah I have heard about the static. I don't have one of those static wrist bands but I have been making sure to set it on the cardboard boxes they come in, and I have been trying to tap something metal. I just took everything out of their boxes to check them out. I will start the actual building tomorrow.


And yes I think all I will need them for is the hard drive and cd drive, which I also bought. I'm hoping they will reach. If not I will have to go into town and grab a couple longer ones for like 6 bucks a piece

 

That's a pretty typical length for the cables, they should reach; unless you have to do some peculiar routing

 

My case has no cable management room behind the mobo tray so everything is basically going to be hidden behind the drive trays. I have actually been filming stuff, and I am going to try and film the build itself, if I can get a tripod.

 

The static wristband has a resistor in it to limit the current should you contact an energized circuit.
In a pinch, if you can't get one locally, you can simply wrap a wire around your wrist (or ankle) and plug it into the ground connector on a wall receptacle (which is what you should ground the wrist strap to anyways).

Just don't do this when working anywhere near a live circuit, and don't wear any polyester or rayon. Barefoot with jeans and a cotton t-shirt is fine.

 

Just don't plug it into the wrong one!

I've had great success with doing all my builds on a clean wooden table in jeans and a cotton tshirt, no wrist strap. Just make sure you touch your case before touching parts, and maybe avoid rubbing that fuzzy fro. I don't think you need to go to the extent of stripping down naked and shaving every hair off your body, sitting on cardboard boxes, and sacrificing a goat to the static gods like some people seem to think is necessary.

I worked assembly and SMD rework on low voltage low power fine electronics while I was in high school and while we wore static wrist straps for long production line builds, we'd usually just 'be careful' if working on anything less than huge production line builds. Dont worry about it that much.

 

So i just built the pc and I already ran into my first problem. I plugged it into the hdmi on the graphics card, to my tv, and first turn on there is no picture at all. What did I fuck up. The graphics card is inserted correctly, the power plugs is hooked up, I don't know what to check.

 

There is no onboard vga or dvi on the mobo so I can't try that. Not sure why there isnt. And there is a dvi port on the graphics card but I do not have a dvi cable, or a monitor to plug one into. This is just hooked to my flat screen. I haven't bought a monitor for this setup yet. HDMI is my only option right now.

 

Ok i just noticed the graphics card is not powering it. THe card itself has 2 six pins power plugs. My system only has one six pin, with a two pin coming off of it, that wont plug into anything. I have the single six pin plugged in right now and it's not powering up. Thoughts?

 

Make sure you selected the right HDMI input on your TV. Then if your still not able to get a picture reseat the cables and see if the computer will automatically pick it up. Reboot it. Otherwise it would be hard to troubleshoot without a screen.

Also make sure the graphics card is plugged in and wired up right...

 

The two pin is for cards with 8 pin power inputs.

Your PS should have another 6 pin on it. Check the box if its the kind that you have to plug into separately.

 

Power supply... need a different power supply