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So I was planning to put off buying a PC for another month since I'm not going to be able to use it next month, with finals and going home and all (this is for my dorm room), but then I saw the Black Friday discounts, didn't seem that bad, so I just bought the components. Could you all tech-savvy people tell me how the components are (i.e. are there any compatibility issues, etc.) ?

ASUS P5Q SE PLUS 775 P45/ICH10
COOLERMASTER CAC-T05-UW Case
Corsair PC2-6400 (DDR2 800) 4GB
DVD BURNER SAMSUNG 22X
SAPPHIRE 100245L HD4850 512M
ANTEC EA500 500W
INTEL Core2Duo E8400 3.0 GHz
Seagate Barracuda HD 750G 7200 SATA

 

This should all work great. All high or semi high end. Happy gaming, but do not forget the liability clause for not making your finals.

You have the expertise to put it together I assume?

 

Of course...it's been a while since I've put one together, but I shouldn't have any problems.

Finals...I'll just have to deal with it

Thanks for looking over this

 

Perhaps a third party CPU cooler that makes less noise and/or cools better.

 

Okay, so I got the parts, just finished putting them together....and it won't boot

I'm pretty sure I connected everything, and correctly...tried to jump it with a clip in case it was a switch problem...nothing. Does that mean it's either a PSU or a mobo problem?

The worst part is I'm leaving in 4 hours, so I won't be able to work on it until after break.

 

Normally your MoBo will try to tell you something about it. Old boards have these distinct BIOS alarms, more modern boards sometimes have LCD displays that give a code.

Either way my P5Q-E has sounds, and I expect our MoBo, being related as it is, to have sounds as well. In the MoBo handbook form my P5Q-E the salient entry is titled 'Starting up for the first time', under item 2.9 on page 2-40. Your manual probably won't divert far from that. It should help you find the most basic errors.

You are lucky I had my MoBo manual still lying on my desk. The odds that I wouldn't go search it to respond were overwhelming

 

You *did* plug it in....right?

A little more info would be helpful though. Is there any sighs of power? Are there any LEDs on the MoBo that are on? Do when you hit the power button, to any fans spin up?

 

Kit and BTA make a good point.

On the pic of the P5Q-SE one can clearly see the two power connectors - the 4-pin power connector in the upper right corner and the obvious 24-pin power connector directly to the right of the blue PCIe slot for the graphics card. You have both of them connected, do you?

 

Yeah, I plugged in both...I saw that there was a pin in the 24-pin connector that didn't have a wire though...is that a manufacturing error or normal?

Right now, when I turn it on, nothing happens. As in, NOTHING happens, the PSU doesn't hum and the MoBo LED doesn't come on at all. That's why at first I thought it was a switch connector problem, but I ruled that out. Both my MoBo power connectors (the 24 pin and the 4 pin) and the cable to the graphics card are connected, so I don't see a problem there, either

 

I am ashamed to ask, but did you flick the switch on the back of the PSU

 

Of course...I flicked in both ways a couple of times to make sure I hadn't gotten the symbols confused again...nothing

 

Well, since *nothing* happens, it might be that your PSU is dead. First off, try a wall socket that you know has power. If it still doesn’t work on a different outlet, try this:

• Turn the PSU off and unplug everything from the PSU, except the wall plug, and one or two fans that are attached directly to the PSU.
• Take a small wire...a paper clip would even work.
• Grab the 20/24 pin connector and stick one end of the wire into the socket that's attached to the GREEN wire, and then stick the other end to any of the sockets that are attached to a black wire.
• Flip the power switch back on.

If the PSU doesn't turn on, then the PSU is bad. If it does turn on, then your mobo is to blame...it might not be bad however, so check all your connections, you might not have the front panel connectors plugged in correctly.

 

That's a really good idea, and I'll try it...as soon as I get back to campus

 

I own this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3231112&CatId=1107


It's the only cheaper ($20 range) tester that gives you a screen that tells you voltage numbers. The other cheap ones (like Ultra) only flash a light but don't tell you the amps to know if you are getting enough or too much power.

 

Looks good except you might want to consider an nVidia card because ATI series 48-- overheats tremendously and some cards have problems reaching beyond that. For example, I've cooled mine to below 40C. I saw over 100C before replacing the cooling with an Accelero S1 rev. 2 and tying a 12 cm fan under it with cords. It still manages to fail some requirements Windows has of the driver's reaction speed or if I'm missing something, there's a different problem. Also, Asus P5Q-E has horrible problems with BIOS and compatibility. Don't know to what extent this is true with other P5Q boards. Finally, 8400 is a great CPU, but 7200 isn't far behind in games. When I was getting mine, 8400 cost 50% more than 7200 and offered 6 to 8% increase in games.

 

Hey Chev,

How is your 4850 running now with the latest updates from ATi? I heard the newest updates improve the cards performance and reduces game crashes.

 

I have to contradict Checv here. My experience doesn't confirm what he says. I have an ASUS P5Q-E and it performs flawless. I have an ATI 4870 and it performs great. So far driver support is good, at least three driver updates in the last two months. I do not have any trouble with overheating. My past problems revolved around my OS, not my hardware or its drivers.

 

I get fewer and fewer problems in games, but I've started experiencing problems already on Windows desktop, which I find rather curious since that's neither a high load on the card nor a high temperature. I still need to install the newest of the new drivers, though.

Want to swap your P5Q-E for mine?

 

If you'd bring it to Cologne, and consider bringing few bottles of vodka we're good. I have Martini, olives, lemons and cocktail glasses.