building my first rig.. need help, advice, kudos, ANY INFO

Hi, everyone I am pleased to announce that i am going to start building my first PC. ive got an ASUS p5n-t deluxe MOBO, an intel 2.5ghz quad core CPU, a geforce 8800gt oc, 8g of corsair ram, 64bit vista prem., aftermarket cpu cooler, and several other goodies that i will be displaying pictures of as the build goes along, so stay tuned in subscribe if you want so you can lend a hand in anyway you can, from neat case mods, to wire routing, to the way things are placed in the pci slots to improve the case management, remember i'm a total noob at this and i've made about 200 calls to tigerdirect to get hte info i needed about parts and compatibility etc etc, now for my "new friends" to help me the rest of the way, so watch out i think this thing will impress a lot of you, and when its done i want to OC the CPU the graphics card and the memory, thats where a lot more of your help will come in handy, so thanks in advance for it!! write more with pics later tonight SO STICK AROUND!!!

Looking forward to it and ready to help out.
Just do me a favor and break apart your words a bit!
I had to -__- to read all of that.

Rule one: Don't be scared!

Rule two: Have fun!

We're here to help.

my parts list

ok so heres a short parts list... case is a standard atx mid-tower. 4 big bays, 6 small bays, 6 fan slots, clear side and top..1 cd dvd copier-reader-writer (a cheapy 20$ unit) cause i wont be needed lightscribe or dual layer... 2 500gb sata HD's by western digital, (need advice on the routing (i.e. raid 1 etc etc) and how to do such a configuration... an Asus p5n-t deluxe mobo. A tv wonder HD650 PCI express tv tuner, linksys G pci adapter and matching router (again info on making bigger better antennea would RULE) Geforce 8800gt oc graphics card (info on OC it stabily please) a 19-in-1 memory card reader. the CPU is a core 2 quad Q9300 LGA775 2.5ghz 6mb L2 cache 1333MHz FSB 45nm Yorkfield core (how to OC saftely please) Windows vista home prem. 64bit OS,...8GB of corsair XMS2 DDR2 RAM.......Xigmatek HDT-S1283 CPU cooler.......a 19IN Dell monitor model#E198WFP....an External 250GB HD (western digital again)......4 80mm case fans.....a 650w PS......and if i forgot anything let me know i'll add it later...hopefully it will go together pretty smoothly if anyone has any ideas for mounting locals, or running wires let me know remember PICS SOON i promise if you want to know anything else just ask i'll check back in a just a few hours, i have a few things to pick up (my anti static mat, powder free work gloves and some different mobo mounting studs)

Again, please break up your sentences so we can read it more easily.

As for all those little, nibblits of asking for OC help, there are ton's of threads (here!) that have covered most generic issues.

And you won't even have to bother overclocking until after you have setup your system + drivers.

I'm going to a gree on breaking up you sentences some, a little formatting makes things easier to read.

Also, i would suggest to plan your wiring a bit as you go, don't just throw it all in there, then it will look a lot better in the end, and make for better airflow

Beautiful ideas, but whats the best way to hide the wires?? in the unused drive bays? tucked behind the motherboard mount?

Also i hope this helps with reading

any good ideas on what bays to use first? like is the third bay down better for flow than the first?
can i stack the H.D.'s on top of each other? would it look better in the end?

im getting started right now so hopefully pics will be up in the next 30 minutes or so

This is a great thread to look at to help with wire management. I haven't gotten through it all yet, but I still look at it when I'm board : http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=445933

It's a lot of fun to read. Basically you want to route your wires anywhere that they're out of the way. If you can't see them, they're probably not in the way. You can put them behind them behind the M/B, behind the drive bays... As you post pics, we can help more specifically.

Have fun!

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f2fcdf4be18ec9ca1686155677bb2685b068de07085fe519

thats the link to most of the stuff i'll be putting in, i have painted the inside of the case so a pic of that will be coming shortly

also if youd like to contact me you can do so via yahoo msngr dj_mindframe_99 might say I'm offline but I'm not

Alrighty were off and running, the mobo is in the case and the new cooler is about to go on heres a few pics BEFORE i hide some wires
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f2fcdf4be18ec9ca1686155677bb2685a8c7eff30cbc3a9b

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f2fcdf4be18ec9ca1686155677bb2685d2b301c16ea9d1ed

First peace of advice for wire management: There's a lot of management that has to be done before you mount the M/B.

For instance, you have a wire that goes from the bottom left corner of your M/B to the front of your case . That wire can probably go behind your board around to the front of your case. You shouldn't see it at all.

The same is probably true with what I'd guess are probably the front USB wires on the bottom right. I can't see for sure what else you've got there, but...

Also your ATX and CPU power cords can probably go behind your M/B and come out of "nowhere" to plug into the board.

BTW, nice paint job! That is GREEN!

And since it looks like nobody else said it yet, to the forum.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5n0tuiyhzzw

thank you thank you

now i need to figure out the best way to hook up my two HD's I've heard things like RAID1 but I dont know what any of that means......any help?

how's the wiring look? now i just have to figure out a path for the 4 case fans...again any ideas?

I'm afraid I don't know anything about RAID (though come to think of it, that may be my next project), but I think that you can make the cable management much better.

Is there a hole towards the top of the motherboard tray? If there is, you can start by pulling the M/B power cord (the really big one) 1. out the back of the tray, 2. bring it in through the hole, 3. out the side of the M/B and 4. into the power connector. (Unfortunately I'm not much of an artist. ) (Numbers correspond to picture.)

MoBo Power.gif

If you tell me what case it is, I might be able to help more.

Also, the VGA power can probably also be routed behind the M/B. And I don't know what that cable going from the bottom left of your M/B to the front of your case is, but same thing.

Anything that can be routed behind the M/B, should be.

The rear fan can be turned 180 degrees so the wire is as close to the M/B as possible, then route that wire behind. The top fan can be turned 90 degrees to the right so it's wire is closer to the M/B side of the case.

Also, you can turn the HDDs around so their wires attach where they can't be seen.

That's all I can see for now. perhaps when you've done all that I can see what else can be done. All that being said, it's a lot cleaner already than some rigs I've seen

wow your right that did make a huge difference,

however i opted to keep the fan the way to is to keep the air flow going the way i wanted it to, plus put a little extra air on my graphics card

the power cord routed beautifully as did the H.D.s (never would have thought about that or the fans) (which is why i'm here lol)

thanks so much im sure that will add a few degrees of cooling and a LOT better flow through my first rig.... not for a noob even if i say so myself

I'm glad I could help. Enjoy your new rig!

BTW, if you turn your fans clockwise or counter, (in other words not flipping it over), the fans will blow in exactly the same direction as before. The only thing it'll change is where the wire is (and maybe the direction the label is facing).

Again, have fun!