Need some advice on (re)-build

[Kingfisher]

Why shut the pc down to connect a sata drive? I thought they were plug and play?

 

You can do that but then you may need a new motherboard, power supply or hard drive to purchase.

[sQuid]

Back after overnight trip out of town.

 

Better safe than sorry is my motto...lol

 

branjo/king : NO kidding...see below.

 

Almost had a screw-up right off the bat. Thursday nite was "get reacquainted w DFI bios nite" in the rig in my sig. All went well and I figured out pretty quick where the HD boot order setup was located in the bios so I wouldn't have to fuss around when I actually connect the old HD from the pooched comp to download data. Didn't change any settings at the time. Then I hit the "ESC" option from the boot screen that brings you right to the "drive boot preference" screen (can't remember exact name). Well, the working comp freezes, no key response, and I have to reset out. When she reboots I get the inimical Oskar Wu error message: "WARNING:NOW SYSTEM IN SAFE MODE. Please re-setting CPU Frequency in the CMOS Setup."

Uh-huh... so I finally hit "proceed', and everything now seems ok.

 

Heres what I think happened. When I got to the other "option" screen the mobo actually thought I was going to do something...AND I AM OVERCLOCKED! I had forgotten that you don't futz around with any config changes while overclocked. So, another caution, bring this baby to stock before hooking up the old HD and changing/confirming boot order. In think I dodged a bullet, because I sure don't need TWO pooched comps at once, heh. THis is what happens when you "overclock" cars for 14 months and then come back to computers...yee haa!

[wevsspot]

All hardware changes, windows installation routine etc. should be performed with the computer at default or optimized default BIOS settings. I never do that type of work with the computer overclocked.

 

As far as SATA and hot swapping goes, much of that depends on whether a particular chipset supports the feature or not. Since I work with many different brands of motherboards with everything from VIA, nV and Intel chipsets, I choose not to risk messing up a board, hard drive, chipset etc. by hot swapping SATA drives. Just not worth the risk for the 2 minutes it might take to power down the board and then power it back up when the additional drive is connected.

[sQuid]

All hardware changes, windows installation routine etc. should be performed with the computer at default or optimized default BIOS settings...

... I choose not to risk messing up a board, hard drive, chipset etc. by hot swapping SATA drives. Just not worth the risk for the 2 minutes it might take to power down the board and then power it back up when the additional drive is connected.

 

Yep, the OC settings are saved to a profile, and I loaded optimized. Man, I'm glad I remembered that at the last minute before I did any hardware changes.

 

Well, the new build is going well ATM, I'm almost afraid I will jinx it. Had my son socket the chip ( man the pressure required scared me), put the AS5 on, mount the HS, clip in the ram, and hook power up on a bare bones build (floppy and CD, no HDD). She booted to BIOS sweet as could be. Now running Memtest 2.01 off a bootable floopy - passed one pass , no errors --yee haa. Keeping my fingers crossed on the overnight run. If everything goes well on Memtest, we'll install HD and OS tomorrow.

 

O yea, the cpu fan delays startup about 1-2 seconds after power on - does this sound normal - using boxed Intel HS/fan atm?

 

Also, any tips on best bios for EP35-DS3P? If all goes well, I prob won't flash, but it would be good to get some opinions in case I have to flash.

Thanks again for your help.

[Kingfisher]

good luck, but a sucessful memtest run in itself is a victory, a morale victory at best, let alone one loop.

Orthos will be the clincher, but what they hay, good luck!

[sQuid]

king - thanks.

 

Haven't mucked w Orthos yet. Do you run it bare bones prior to OS boot, like memtest? Guess I better add that one to my kit, I see it referenced frequently around here.

[wevsspot]

Not to worry about the delayed start of the CPU fan, that is normal.

 

For Orthos, you can wait until you have the build completed before running it, and then it's only 100% necessary if you start overclocking.

 

If your rig passes Memtest, everything else should be good to go if you are running at stock settings. If you get frisky and WANT to run Orthos, Prime or OCCT, that is fine.

 

I wouldn't have time to run Orthos or Prime on every stock build I do since a thorough test should run a minimum of eight hours.

[sQuid]

Thanks for the fan info, wev. This is going to be a stock build for the near future, so I'll prob just memtest overnight and get on with it. We need a new functional computer and I don't have time for all the stability testing that comes with ocing. Need to get on w other things....

[wevsspot]

Understood. While you are building a very nice rig, none of your components are out there on the "edge" so to speak. Everything you're installing is pretty much tried, tested and true.

 

Good luck. I believe you'll be fairly well impressed with the ease of build and stability of your new Intel based platform.