My experience in building own PC III ( the building process )

like i said on my previous post , all my parts came at Friday, 9 October. Which was the date i built my own desktop for the first time.

I started with the casing, where installing an extra fan on side panel , the Power Supply unit, and the Optical Drive were quite Easy. Then i went out to see my personal tutor.

After back from tutor meeting, i resume my work by installing the Hard disk first. However, i became more careful as the components i started to handle is easily destroy by Electro Static Discharge.

Next, i opened up the packing of processor and Motherboard, and start by lifting the seal of the processor socket on the motherboard. Carefully , i put the processor inside the socket, but when it came to closing the cover for the processor, i became hesitated as i need to apply a force, which might damage the processor. But then , i thought, (the processor) is underwarranty by the way, hence i did it.

The CPU heatsink and cooler dont take me much time and effort, as i simply keep the 'warantty' in mind when putting it in place.

Same happened when installing my RAM, as i done it 3 years before, i knew i had to push the Module in the Socket so that the RAM gripped firmly by the motherboard.

Installing my Motherboard Bundle to my casing, would be a little tricky, as the screw holes on the motherboard wont allign to their counterpart on the casing without using a force to hold them.

Installing my Graphic Processor Unit onto the motherboard however, nearly scared me off. As the only thing that connect the motherboard and GPU, and hence hold the GPU from falling/Bending due to its weight, was the tiny little PCI-E 2.0 socket.

Next came the most annoying part, connecting the cables, and did some cable management to avoid obstructing the air flow.

last, when i wanna put my side panel back to casing, the problem arose when i realized i cant connected the power cable to the fan. I had to unscrew the fan, plug in the power cable first, then screw it back to the side panel.

And yeah, after installing the OS things blah blah blah, the system is kicking and running with a Virtual Mark score of 13300.

PS : i would like to try overclocking after 2 or 3 years.
PPS: So, if you wanna built your desktop and dont mind be the white rats, give me a call,
PPPS: If you have the patient to read till this point, i would like to invite you for a HD movie-time in my room, ;p

My experience in building own PC II ( choosing the parts )

First thing came to my mind was Graphic processor Unit, which will handle the graphic and determined the gaming experience i will have. For these, the top of the line model like Geforce Gtx 295 or ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 graphics as introduced before are just way too expensive for me. While the cheaper option , like Geforce Gtx 220 or ATI Radeon HD 4770 wouldnt delivered the power i want. So its actually narrow down to a choice between Geforce GTX 260 core 216 and ATI Radeon 4870. With price and performance both similar, its actually a choice between the Green ( Nvidia ) and the Red ( ATI ) . However , the Green that run cooler and draw less power got my vote.

The sites that i look for reviews were Anandtech and Tom'shardware.

Second Choice was made between still pricey DDR3 platform or cheaper but getting obsolete DDR2 platform. With higher frequency, DDR 3 do offer some although slight performance bonus. My concerned would be with computer component obsolete fast in 3 or 4 years cycle, DDR2 may be phased out within next few years. Upgradewise, Replacewise, i had no option but DDR3. The one i got from Novatech was 4GB DDR3 1600mhz C7 from G-Skill which costed me 80 pound. For whom who didnt know, C7 was the latency of the RAM, which determine how long it counts per cycle. Therefore, lower is better and the lowest one you can get now will probably be C6. Another thing to look at is the voltage they draw, as far as i know, low voltage like 1.60-1.65v was essential for the system to run stable.

Third choice was about the processor, the central processor unit. Not an offence to AMD fans but, i ruled out AMD processor earlier as Intel do Dominated the Desktop CPU market. At first , it was a choice between intel core i7 and Core 2 Quad, where the expensive i7 and its even expensive motherboard ( cheapest 140 here) set me aback. However, the upcoming intel core i5 promised a better performance than Quad core but significance less expensive than i7. Where i waiting for it as stated before. Ordered one from Novatech , and get a Asus motherboard for 100 pound as well.

The Optical drive, and internal Hard disk would be just a matter of personal choice. As the existing brand on the market have similar price point and performance.

As for Casing, i will need a good one which offer good airflow but not too expensive. Where Antec 300 would be my choice.

Last but not list, was the Power Supply Unit. I wouldn't want to risk damaging the whole system by buying some cheap but low quality generic PSU, and i cant affod to buy those powerful 1000w + branded Psu as they cost too much. ( You wouldnt buy a 300 pound PSU just for a 600 pound system, would you?) . Initially i would like a Modular PSU for good cable management inside the casing, but the price difference between Modular and Non modular is quite significance. ( 15 pound for same Watts from OCZ). So i finally Grab the OCZ StealthXtreme 700W PSU.

Afterall, the parts left were just accessories which was a matter of personal choice. I grab a set of cheap speaker ( i cant roam in my room now... ) , a keyboard, an Edimax wireless adapter for networking, and a Belkin Toolbox for assembly.

Box of processor
Graphic processor unit

Motherboard

Power supply unit

My experience in building own PC...

Ok. In October 2009 i had successfully bought and built my own desktop. So this post just merely share the experience.

I shall start from choosing parts first...

The first thing i looking for is full HD ( 1080p) widescreen monitor. Full HD means the monitor must support resolution up to 1920x1080 . Initially i came across this nice 23" acer x233 hb model, unfortunately, the monitor only come with vga input. Hence, i started looking around in Amazon, looking for some widescreen monitor price below 200pound. There were some nice monitor from LG, Acer, and Viewsonic, Until i came across this BenQ G2420HD model, which support DVI and HDMI input at a low price like 160 pound.

Then, i started wondering wether i can get better deal on internet. Hence, i googled it out, and came across oyyy.co.uk which sell it below 150 pound( the cheapest option i could get). Ordered on Friday choosing free delivery services, they shipped it out on next Monday with DPD , where DPD delivered it on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the DPD guy messed up my address so the parcel signed return by the wrong guy. I had to call them again on Wednesday, where they finally handed the parcel to me on Thursday. Which is better than my friend's experience with DHL. However, i didnt realize the model came with vga cable only! which is a shame that oyyy.co.uk people shud indicate this.

Next thing i considered was wether i should built the base unit myself, or ordered it on online dealer website. After surveying around, i found 3 websites offer competitive price for custom built computer, thats desktop option,pc specialist , and cougar extreme. Desktop option offer a good price with good component, but after i searching around for customer review in pc advisor forum, it seemed their customer service was in doubt. Pc Specialist offer cheap price for more reliable customer service than desktop option, however, 10-13 working days just too long for me as anything could happened. Cougar extreme on the other hand, carried with great reputation though a little bit pricey than the other two. However, they dont have the power supply unit that i want. So i figured i better built myself which can save me 50 pounds over buying from cougar extreme, where the money could be use to buy window 7 for 30 pound.

After a bit survey, i decided to bought my part from Novatech. Ordered on Tuesday, their people called me on wednesday to clear some debit card issue. They shipped it out on Thursday where i got it from Parcel force on Friday. Which is Good!

To see what comes to my mind when choosing my components, please kindly read the next post.


The comparison between my monitor and my laptop lcd monitor, noticed how small my laptop's one is....

One of us.... ( Jpa and non jpa scholar look inside)

Just to spread the message....


ChenChow Yeoh 04 October at 17:07 Reply
Dear all JPA Scholars,

Hope that all of you are doing great at any corner of the world.

I have just come across this info that one of the JPA Scholars - Yeoh Yen Kee, SPM 2007, who was supposed to go to Czech Republic to study medicine, had to forgo her dream to be a doctor, due to leukemia.

Currently, she is waiting to do bone marrow transplant, and her family is in need of donation to fund her medical treatments.

You can get the info at http://helpyenkee.co.cc

Hope that you can donate or help to spread the words around.

Thanks.

马华特大。。。

翁诗杰其实不是非走不可，
一， 没有党章规定被投不信任票就必须承辞。
二， 不信任票是以微差的15票通过的。。。

可惜翁诗杰之前话说得太满， 导致自己没有婉转的空间。

性爱光碟后， 蔡细历的政治生涯其实已经完蛋了。。。
一， 这里不是美国， 就算是美国， 政治人物也必须为此负责。
二， 这里是马来西亚， 一个60% 回教徒， 把道德看得比什么都重的地方。

会长理事会做了艰难的决定， 可惜处理不好。

于是我们看到， 即将群龙无首的马华， 再来届大选肯定继续失败。。。

廖中莱？ 江作汉？ 这两人还欠点火侯。

还是， 请回黄家定出山？

Nice....

Searching through online website for the best deal...
Struggling between Building yourself or online assembler....
Skipping class to wait for the parcel....
Scrambling every online source for tutorial.....

Starting from the Casing, Power supply , HDD
Stress out when assembly CPU to motherboard....
Starting from Scratch connecting wire one by one....
Struggling for the cable management....

And finally its there, Kicking and running...

Two Hours more if i can Play Company OF Heroes or Call Of Duty 5, World at War at highest resolution available...

Sleep Happily tonight Shall i....

吓到笑 i wanna watch....

c the trailer ist....

its suppose to be terrific, but i dont know why i cant stop laughing seeing the 辉哥face...