Gulp... first built rig startup

Hello everyone. I'm incredibly nervous at the moment because I'm about to power up the first computer I put together and I don't quite know what to expect.

I basically winged it and read these forums religiously for a week or so, coming from barely any knowledge about hardware besides putting in a new HDD one time, and built up the courage to set out and construct a rig of my own. Anyway, I come here to ask if anyone has any last words on the subject? Perhaps share your blunders with me so I do not make the same mistake

My primary concern was that my 3.4GHz P4 (Prescott) would be way too hot to function with the stock fan on the processor and the sole stock fan on the case (there are slots for the side and front). Most of the reviews on newegg ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116173 ) say it idles at a very high temperature and I am afraid of what would happen if the temperature is too high for too long to even get to the BIOS to see what the temperature is.

Another concern was that the RAM I purchased (what I thought was standard size and everything http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 ; Perhaps I didn't push down hard enough?) doesn't really "snap" into the slots it is supposed to go in. There are little tabs that can lock the RAM into place but they're a good 1/16" too short, so that worries me as well that I may just get a bluescreen (or nothing at all) when I try to start the machine up.

Anyway, I eagerly await any precious advice I can bum off of the people here

stock don't worry about it, just don't OC until you get everything setup and running good. Also if it doesn't fireup right away keep your cool. Check all the connections...make sure everythign is pluggin in (the little 12v yellow and black 4 pin pluggin for the mobo...the large ATX pin...all the HDD's make sure the PSU is on (the I/O switch on the back) etc.

About the RAM tabs...too short? You sure they're in the correct way (try flipping it 90 degrees...ot give it a little push if your sure the slots are lined up correctly

Thank you for the confidence. I got no weird sounds when I turned on the computer (which is good!) except I have a problem that I didn't even consider. The port on my motherboard for what I think is the monitor is male and so is the end of the plug that runs from the monitor. On top of that, one has three rows of pins and one has two! I hope I am at least looking at the right thing though, but I assume it's a minor issue.

EDIT nevermind I found the graphics card had a converter.

EDIT again: Looks like I still have some work to do no signal on the monitor but at least the LED's work

EDIT #3: It works! \o/

" The port on my motherboard for what I think is the monitor is male and so is the end of the plug that runs from the monitor. "

??

At least it works though, ehh? Any particular reason you didn't go A64?

Yuriman said:

" The port on my motherboard for what I think is the monitor is male and so is the end of the plug that runs from the monitor. "

??

At least it works though, ehh? Any particular reason you didn't go A64?

Click to expand...

I was being a little silly. I forgot that my motherboard had no onboard video so I was searching for a place IN the IO panel that comes with the motherboard for a place to plug in a monitor, which obviously would not work. I ended up smacking myself when I saw there was a connector that converts the socket that was on my graphics card to whatever type I have and it connected fine. My new problem is figuring out what I am going to do about the 61C idle temperature on the CPU while only having a 35C system temp. Thanks for your replies guys.

GREAT JOB!! My first power up was scary too! Esp since I didnt work on a computer since I friend a P133 by installing a fan.

Actually I still get nervous powering up the first time.

Good thing you got it running. Have fun!

JT

Basically you can try to maximize airflow with your current setup to try and cool down some more. Then add another case fan, make sure it is flowing in the right direction, and as a last resort change the CPU cooler.

I have found that generally for running stock the fan and heatsink that come with the CPU will work fine. That isn't to say that it can't be improved upon with some aftermarket products.

Yeah I came from basically no knowledge and just read the ocforums for a week and decided it wouldn't be that bad to build my own computer.

Took me a few days of working on it after work to get it all together. Everything booted up fine but when i tried to install windows xp it'd say it's copying files and then just stop. I'd wait like 5 minutes and nothing would happen so i'd just turn it off and try again. same thing over and over again. then next day i said i'd give it another try or just take it to the local computer store. it stopped at the same place, but I went downstairs because someone rang the doorbell. I talked to the person for about 10 minutes. When I came back up, my computer was whizzing through the windows install. I had stressed out for a whole day wondering what the hell was the problem, when all I had to do was wait a couple more minutes. DOH!

That first press of the power button is a bit like the first flight of a new, very experimental airplane. It doesn't matter how many times you do it, you still say "Well, here goes" and hope everything is in the right place.