4 replies to this topic

[timothybkeenan]

Hi there! I am pretty excited because thanks to my tax returns, I was able to splurge and replace my ancient hodge podge computer with a brand new one!

I decided that it was time to do it right and build my own, but know very little about the complete process. I ended up using a website to select *what* to buy, since it ensured that everything was cross compatible, as well as providing links to cheap places to buy them... quite convenient! Im not sure if I am supposed to link other websites here, but I will link the items that I bought, since thats going to be necessary info.

The reason I am making this thread is because that once everything arrived, and aI started to put it together, I discovered mistake by mistake that it is actually kind of hard!! Maybe not so bad once you haave done it before, but I have had to backtrack and undo so many steps after doing them that it has gotten silly. At this point, I believe I am close to completion (of the assembly! Then of course I will have more to do, and will likely have more questions posted here at whatthetech).

I have gotten to the point where I *think* everything is properly plugged in, mounted, attached, etc, except the fan, which I was waiting to put in last. The last thing I was putting in were the graphics cards (there are two of them) but I am a little confused as to whether I have them plugged in correctly at this point. Allow me to link the gear, and then explain my exact confusion. Here is the info on what I bought:
 

CPU

Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor

$226.99       $226.99 SuperBiiz Buy CPU Cooler

Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler

$49.99   FREE   $49.99 Newegg Buy Motherboard

ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

$114.99 -$15.00     $99.99 Micro Center Buy

$15.00 mail-in rebate

  Memory

G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

From parametric filter

• Speed: DDR3-1600, DDR3-1866, DDR3-2133
• Type: 240-pin DIMM
• Size: 8GB (1x8GB), 8GB (2x4GB)
• Voltage: 1.35V - 1.5V

$58.99 -$7.00 FREE   $51.99 Newegg Buy

+ USD $7 off w/ promo code EMCARAP49, ends 4/9

  Storage

A-Data Premier Pro SP600 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

From parametric filter

• Capacity: 250GB - 6TB
• Type: SSD

$84.99     $84.99 Amazon Buy  

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

From parametric filter

• Capacity: 1TB - 6TB
• Type: 7200RPM
• Form Factor: 3.5"

$44.99   FREE   $44.99 Amazon Buy Video Card

Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)

From parametric filter

• Chipset: Radeon R9 290

$289.99 -$50.29 FREE   $239.70 Newegg Buy

+ 7% off w/ promo code EMCARAV34, limited offer

 

$30.00 mail-in rebate

   

Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)

From parametric filter

• Chipset: Radeon R9 290

$289.99 -$50.29 FREE   $239.70 Newegg Buy

+ 7% off w/ promo code EMCARAV34, limited offer

 

$30.00 mail-in rebate

  Case

NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case

$64.99       $64.99 Micro Center Buy Power Supply

EVGA 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

And here is my basic (current) question - am I supposed to be simply plugging these in to the mother board, and then attaching a cable from the power supply into each graphics cards (2 total) and then that is it? Or am I supposed to somehow be "linking" these together. My motherboard came with something to link graphics cards, but it is for NVidia cards, and isnt used by these. These cards came with one cable each card (so two cables total) but I am not quite sure how they would be utilized in addition to the power supply plug ins.... basically im very confused. I suppose the most basic question to be answered is simply do they need to somehow be linked, and if so how?



 

[terry1966]

to run in sli you usually need to bridge the cards so they can communicate with each other but not with all setups.

 

the r9 290 cards your using for instance do not need a bridge link between the two cards so are designed without the link connection and communicate with each other through the motherboard pci-e slots they are installed into.

 

info here :- http://wccftech.com/...quired-anymore/

 

here's some images of bridges and how they are used :- https://www.google.c...iw=1152&bih=757

 

like i said tho those 290's don't have the bridge connections because they don't need them.

the only connections you need to make are the power cable connections to both cards.

 

Edited by terry1966, 12 April 2015 - 04:10 PM.

[timothybkeenan]

Awesome, thnak you! I have finished putting it all together (hopefully correctly!) and the moment of truth is nigh - im about to plug it in and see if it fires up As I mentioned before I have never built a computer myself before so there are going to be a lot of firsts, and truthfully there are many questions that I have. Is this an appropriate thread to ask more about the process, or is there somewhere else I could/should post?

The next steps (assuming it fires up) are a bit vague to me, but it goes *something* like this: It boots up and takes me into bios, i spend some time learning about whats going on in there (never payed attention/used it before) and confirm that everything is running properly (RAM, graphics cards, etc). Then I install my copy of windows 8.1 - and here is my next question:

Should I be installing this on my SSD drive? I have never had an SSD drive before, but my general understanding is that I will be loading any games I am currently playing on that drive allowing for pretty much instant boot times/load times etc. So I *think* I want to have the OS on the SSD, is that right?

On a related note someone was asking me if I am going to "clone" my SSD drive, which I know nothing about. He said that I would probably want to - is that correct? If so, any tips on how to do that?

Finally once my OS is up and running I will be installing an antivirus (AVG is what i tend to use as its free and seems to work well) and then working on drivers, updates, etc. All fairly new to me so again any tips are appreciated (of course I have installed/updated things in the past but never EVERYTHING from scratch).

After that I think its just about getting my game files over from my old computer, which again I have never done - I believe there is a way to connect them directly using a cable (usb?) and et a quick transfer over.

I am open to any and all tips, recommendations, etc, and if this is NOT the best place for this post I can relocate it. Thanks in advance!

[timothybkeenan]

OK so an update - I have gone through a lengthy process of installing all drivers, updating chrome, windows, etc. At this point I believe that everything is up to date (although i may have missed something) but I am still having some serious problems. I have had a TON of BSOD issues since booting up initially (with a ton of different codes/descriptions), and was definitely hoping that the issues would resolve with everything being up to date, but have still had issues. I have had 2 BSOD problems, had a game (hearthstone) crash about 10 seconds after opening it, and have had chrome crash about 8 times since I finished updating everything (which was about 45 minutes ago). I am definitely hoping for some help troubleshooting this!

[terry1966]

ok when i build a pc, i only install the minimum components first to make sure it boots and to make it easier to find out where any hardware problems may be.

 

so first i'd install the cpu and heatsink and 1 stick of ram and 1 graphics card (if no onboard.) to the motherboard not in case then add power and make sure it gets to a boot screen, if it didn't then you'd know there was a major problem somewhere, if it did install into case and then add the hard drive and do the os install, update everything run some stress tests then keep adding parts until everything was installed and working fine.

 

and yes your os needed to be installed on the ssd for best performance.

 

so lets see if we can narrow down the problem for you.

 

first thing i'd check is the temps of everything to make sure there are no overheating problems somewhere, if they are ok then it would be time to find out if the problem is a hardware or software problem.

 

check in device manager and make sure there is no warning icons on any of the devices and everything as a driver installed and shows no problems.

 

i'd disconnect from power, press power button to discharge all power from system then remove 1 of the graphics cards (always take anti static precautions when working inside a pc.) reconnect power and run the pc with just 1 card while we try and narrow down the problem, if there is no problem with just the one card then swap cards and run with just the other, if still no problems install both again and we'll see if we can figure out what the problem is with running sli.

 

can you find and post exactly what the bsod messages you've already had are especially the codes so i can research them.