first build in a few years

[rafe]

It's been 7-8 years since I built a system from scratch. Some of the
components arrived yesterday, so after spending a couple of hours
opening boxes and assembling components, I have a few questions:

1) Mobo is an Asus P5Q Deluxe (which strikes me as very well designed)
and the case is an Antec Three Hundred Illusion. I spent five minutes
looking for a case speaker cable before finding on line that the case
just doesn't come with one. No POST beeps anymore? Can I rely on the
BIOS bootup screen in case something's wrong?

2) The case comes with four fans, all with the big old-style power
cables: I've daisy-chained all the fans onto the one old-style power
connector from the PS, which I presume is okay. I'm used to
connecting at least one case fan to the motherboard for monitoring
purposes, but I guess -- especially since these fans have manual
controls -- that's another quaint old-fashioned idea.

3) Do people somehow thread the fan controls outside the box, or leave
them in? Not sure how to get them out without pinching the wire, or
rather, if it's worth the risk.

4) $110 for a COOLER MASTER RS-600-AMBA-D3 600 is almost as much as
the motherboard cost! For that money it better be completely
bulletproof and can last twenty years, 'cause I'd sure hate to think
all that money went into packaging the thing like a damned iPod.

-rafe

 

[Dave]

It's been 7-8 years since I built a system from scratch. Some of the
components arrived yesterday, so after spending a couple of hours
opening boxes and assembling components, I have a few questions:

1) Mobo is an Asus P5Q Deluxe (which strikes me as very well designed)
and the case is an Antec Three Hundred Illusion. I spent five minutes
looking for a case speaker cable before finding on line that the case
just doesn't come with one. No POST beeps anymore? Can I rely on the
BIOS bootup screen in case something's wrong?

Odd. I haven't seen a case include no speaker at all. Some newer cases
have a small speaker (not attatched to the case!) that plugs into the
motherboard and just kind of "hangs" on the motherboard speaker pins. If
your case didn't at least include one of those, you could probably froogle
it and pick one up for a buck or two. My last two builds use that kind of
speaker. It works great. The "speaker" is about the size of a dime, only
square, if you can imagine that. Are you sure you have looked through ALL
of the stuff included with the case? If you don't know what you are looking
for (or more specifically how small it is) you might have overlooked it, as
some kind of cable that you hadn't found a need for yet (but that's the
speaker). It's possible.

2) The case comes with four fans, all with the big old-style power
cables: I've daisy-chained all the fans onto the one old-style power
connector from the PS, which I presume is okay. I'm used to
connecting at least one case fan to the motherboard for monitoring
purposes, but I guess -- especially since these fans have manual
controls -- that's another quaint old-fashioned idea.

I think it's a quaint old-fashioned idea to use any fan that comes with a
case. Almost without exception, these are really fricking noisy. I think
you've set it up correctly, using the hardware included. I would have
bought some quiet fans to replace the case fans though. Note it's not too
late.

3) Do people somehow thread the fan controls outside the box, or leave
them in? Not sure how to get them out without pinching the wire, or
rather, if it's worth the risk.

Ummm...wow, there are so many types of fan controls, this one is impossible
to answer. But I think the best answer is, if you want to fiddle with the
fan controls a lot, it would probably be best to buy a fan controller module
that fits in a drive bay or an expansion slot. But then, if you buy quiet
fans to begin with, there should be no need for a fan controller at all, as
the only reason to have one is to turn the fans down to control noise.

4) $110 for a COOLER MASTER RS-600-AMBA-D3 600 is almost as much as
the motherboard cost! For that money it better be completely
bulletproof and can last twenty years, 'cause I'd sure hate to think
all that money went into packaging the thing like a damned iPod.

OK, $110 is about the least I would expect to spend for a power supply for
any new build. In fact, that money's on the low side of the price range
where acceptable build quality tends to be more common. If you chose a
different power supply, it would have to be for reasons other than COST. In
other words, unless you found a wicked awesome sale, you can't spend much
less than you did and not be cutting corners too much, as far as the power
supply goes. I'm not familiar with the Cooler Master power supplies, I'd
have to google...
OK, just read three reviews, and I think you have nothing to worry about.
It seems to be in the same league with a couple of other -good- power
supplies I'm familiar with. So I'd say "good choice" and fair price. One
of the reviews I read is below, if you care to do a little reading
ourself. -Dave
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/cooler_master_silent_pro_600_watt/

 

[ray field]

Odd. I haven't seen a case include no speaker at all. Some newer cases
have a small speaker (not attatched to the case!) that plugs into the
motherboard and just kind of "hangs" on the motherboard speaker pins. If
your case didn't at least include one of those, you could probably froogle
it and pick one up for a buck or two. My last two builds use that kind of
speaker. It works great. The "speaker" is about the size of a dime, only
square, if you can imagine that. Are you sure you have looked through ALL
of the stuff included with the case? If you don't know what you are looking
for (or more specifically how small it is) you might have overlooked it, as
some kind of cable that you hadn't found a need for yet (but that's the
speaker). It's possible.

When I Googled the case, I found one or two other reports of a
"missing speaker," so I'm pretty sure it just doesn't come with one.
I can't find one on the board (thx, K) or listed in the specs, so I
guess I'll pick up one like you describe -- maybe I can find a
computer builder in town who will sell me one.

I think it's a quaint old-fashioned idea to use any fan that comes with a
case. Almost without exception, these are really fricking noisy. I think
you've set it up correctly, using the hardware included. I would have
bought some quiet fans to replace the case fans though. Note it's not too
late.

Point taken. I'll see how crazy they drive me; but I will say, the
reviews I saw noted the fans were quiet.

...

OK, $110 is about the least I would expect to spend for a power supply for
any new build. In fact, that money's on the low side of the price range
where acceptable build quality tends to be more common. If you chose a
different power supply, it would have to be for reasons other than COST. In
other words, unless you found a wicked awesome sale, you can't spend much
less than you did and not be cutting corners too much, as far as the power
supply goes. I'm not familiar with the Cooler Master power supplies, I'd
have to google...
OK, just read three reviews, and I think you have nothing to worry about.
It seems to be in the same league with a couple of other -good- power
supplies I'm familiar with. So I'd say "good choice" and fair price. One
of the reviews I read is below, if you care to do a little reading
ourself. -Dave

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/cooler_master_silent_pro_600_watt/

thanks for the link, I feel a little bit reassured -- I had seen other
good reviews, none as thorough.

I certainly understand how important a good PS is, having gone through
two with the P2-B I'm switching from (told you it had been a
while...) In fact, I suspect the current PS is what's making this box
act just a bit flakey -- hopefully it'll hold out for a day or two
until I get everything switched over.

-rafe t.

 

[NT]

When I Googled the case, I found one or two other reports of a
"missing speaker," so I'm pretty sure it just doesn't come with one.
I can't find one on the board (thx, K) or listed in the specs, so I
guess I'll pick up one like you describe -- maybe I can find a
computer builder in town who will sell me one.

PC speaker specs are as undemanding as it gets, and any old junk
speaker out of any piece of electronics that makes a noise will do
fine. You could even use a piezo one if you dont need much volume.


NT

 

[ray field]

PC speaker specs are as undemanding as it gets, and any old junk
speaker out of any piece of electronics that makes a noise will do
fine. You could even use a piezo one if you dont need much volume.

NT

I knew there was a reason I kept that stupid old case around for 15
years

 

[ray field]

just to follow up: even with all three fans chassis fans plus the PS
fan plus the CPU fan, it's very quiet -- maybe the quietest I've
experienced, let alone built -- the barest low-frequency hum, which I
could maybe get rid of by dampening the bottom of the case somehow.
running Ubuntu 9.04 I can't say the P5Q Deluxe is an absolute speed
demon but I can't complain, I suppose if I'd gotten a more expensive
graphics card than the cheap GEForce 8400 GS thing might be peppier.

 

[NT]

just to follow up: even with all three fans chassis fans plus the PS
fan plus the CPU fan, it's very quiet -- maybe the quietest I've
experienced, let alone built -- the barest low-frequency hum, which I
could maybe get rid of by dampening the bottom of the case somehow.
running Ubuntu 9.04 I can't say the P5Q Deluxe is an absolute speed
demon but I can't complain, I suppose if I'd gotten a more expensive
graphics card than the cheap GEForce 8400 GS thing might be peppier.

glue a layer of triplewall cardboard to it, or 2 layers of twinwall
cardboard. Very effective.


NT