Help! Scared Newbie!!

OK guys, I admit I'm not a speed freak, I've been using a Pentium 2 400MHz, 389MB of PC100, 13GB Maxtor, and GeForce 3Ti500 for the past 4 yrs.
I did what every red-blooded American does...I bought a A7N8X Deluxe Rev. 2.0, 3200+ "Barton", FX 5900, and 1GB (2x512MB) of Corsair Twinx PC3200C2 and you guys are freaking me out with all your issues LOL!!!
Ive never put a system together B4 and I'm hoping (PRAYING) that all I have to do is put the CPU in, put the memory in, put video card in, plug in my 122GB Maxtor Diamond Plus 9 (the lowly ATA133 version, NOT the serial ATA one), turn on the power and adjust the correct CPU speed and I'll be in 400MHz Dual Channel Nirvana after XP Pro SP1a installs. Is there ANYTHING I NEED TO KNOW before I open the boxes (besides read the manuals which I have done 5 times already)??? PLEASE ADVISE!! Obviously I spent a lot of $$ (900 and change) and I don't want anything, to the best of my ability, to go wrong. I have no desire to overclock just yet, I want a stable system right now cause it will OBVIOUSLY be better than what I have even though my old one whips thru Enter the Matrix and Unreal 2 (don't aske me how, I'm not a tweaker, it just does and I dont ask it why!!!). THANK YOU!!

u probably won't be able to find anything until u put ur stuff together....consider putting ram and cpu in first, check for boot up..then put the other stuff .....if it doesn't boot up or anything is wrong, don't panic......

ummm nice upgrade

the only thing i would tell a person putting a first amd computer together is just be wary of mounting on the heatsink ;d can be a pain at first but once you get used to it its a breeze...

as for the cooling since you didnt list anything specific you mgiht wanna go out and buy a better solution than a stock heatsink(assumption)

otherwise you seem like you have quite a nice setup and should be blazing once everything is together ;d

Are u planning on overclocking at all ?

Actually, no I wasn't. Quite frankly, if you look @ my "old" system in my first post, I don't really see any need to since the performance increase will be (hopefullly) astronomical as it is. As I get used to the system and stockpile a couple spare components I will then be willing to risk it and go for the gusto and OC it.
BTW, thanks for the helpful advice so far guys! I will keep you posted on my success (still waiting for parts to arrive.) I think the "open heart operation" (I'm keeping my existing case, cd, and power supply, [which I just got in anticipation of this projet a month ago to replace my old tired one]) will take place next Sat!

UHH By The way...do I need to be concerned with cooling if Im not OCing from the get go or is the heatsink/fan combo that comes w/ the retail AMD gonna cut it to blow Skaarj away in Unreal 2 @ high settings?!?! I mean, my computer is in a nice location, I have central air in my house and 2 fans in a rather large case (think 5-bay, probably slightly smaller then say the Gateway server with dual Xeons I have suffer with @ work...almost twice the size of a stock Dell Dimension case)

steele1743 said:

,turn on the power and adjust the correct CPU speed and I'll be in 400MHz Dual Channel Nirvana after XP Pro SP1a installs. Is there ANYTHING I NEED TO KNOW before I open the boxes (besides read the manuals which I have done 5 times already)??? PLEASE ADVISE!!

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Actually extra cooling woundn't hurt, as far as your comment on getting to 400 on duel channel, I hope you're getting the 400fbs 3200 and not the 333. The board doesn't play well when running the mem async with the cpu. You didn't state which one but I though I'd let you know if you haven't heard about it. If you do get a 333fsb, you will need to raise the fsb to 200(400), and run the mem at 100%.
If you select other than sync (100%) the board diesn't like it. But you can lower the multi if you have to to keep from overclocking it so you wont have to raise the vcore. If you're getiing the 400fsb cpu, you'll be fine and dandy. Enjoy, because after being on a 400mhz machine for that long, you're not going to want to leave it once you get it p and running.

Jim

Cool. As a matter of fact, it is the 400fsb cpu. Thanks for the advice

if you dont mind spending 20-30 bucks on cooling i would def upgrade that stock heatsink..

would i would choose for you is an Thermalright SK-7 coupled with a Thermaltake Smart Fan 2

K folks, next question...which is better deal in terms of performance and price
1) Thermalright SK-7 w/ TT SF 2 for $41.98 OR
2) Thermalright SLK-800 A w/ TT SF 2 for $55.98
Price includes shipping to my door in 3 days.....

i think it's more important to ask which one will fit..i remember one of those won't fit relly well on A7N8X..but i don't know which one since i don't have one..

Both hestsinks fill fit just fine, it's the slk-900 that won't fit without a little work. Both will perform very well for you, it comes down to how much you want to spend, but the slk-800 would perform a little better.


Jim

dont forget the AS3 (arctic silver 3). and be sure to read it's instructins to get a good application between the CPU and heat sink. and pick up a grounding wrist strap to protect your stuff from satic. get some wire ties to hold your cables neatly and out of the airflow to get better cooling. and do you have a floppy drive, cable, and hard drive cables? you should put the hard drive and cd rom on seperae channels, for better performance on the hard drive.. and other than that, have fun with the goodness! i went from a 200 mhz P1 to my 2100 and i was sooo jolly.

i would get the slk800 U(bolt-on) just my .02...and if this is your first pc you're putting together...i wouldn't chance using those darned retention clips ;P might poke a hole right through your mobo or take off those capacitors that asus placed nicely beside the socket..

You guys rock!!! Thanks for all your advice....the memory finally arrived today WAHOO!! Now I can start the process of bulding it!