Ok, so I've done the easy bits... Installed the CD R/W, HDD (only 30gig) and the silent running PSU. Case looks sexy, and well vented on one side. Was good value for money I think. See pics. Leaving the motherboard & CPU install to a techie mate of mine, with me observing maybe doing under his eye, so I can do it myself next time.

Should be fun!

Recognise something, Fluff? Whats your farm doing at the moment?

Oh eck

I best try and get a few more PC's at work going!!

You'll overtake me soon enough. :( :thumbdwn:

You'll overtake me soon enough. :( :thumbdwn:

Especially if a little plan I've got going comes off;)

Leaving the motherboard & CPU install to a techie mate of mine,

You've minced about with your car loads, and a little PC scares you

It does indeed. I've never gutted a PC and rebuilt one. I had practise of gutting cars on Fabia mk1, and now on Mk2. PC gubbins scare me so I'm doing this motherboard installation under the watchful eye of someone trained to do it.

its easy jase,i am a complete numpty when it come to pc's.i found the cpu and board easier then the psu,i stupidly put it in with the stickers/writing up the right way(as a normal person would),later found that you had to fit it upside down.

had to get someone top breath life into it,and install windows,i didn't have a clue.

I might peruse the board instructions then.

I might peruse the board instructions then.

Yeah go on Jason, give it a try -- with all the stuff you've done to the fabia putting a lttle ol pc together is a peice of cake.

Just take your time, take it steady you'll be fine.

Must admit tho,I've built about a dozen PC's now - I still get nervous when I'm putting them together - "Just in Case"

I've never had a problem tho

Hmm,OK, just read the insructions for the board spec and guess what I've found...

Nvidia onboard graphics.

and 5.1 sound. This looks like one hell of a good board. (Asus A8N-VM)

I concur - I was curious and bought a Haynes PC manual - thought it looked easy, and it was...

Will be a beast Jason.

Hmm' date='OK, just read the insructions for the board spec and guess what I've found...

Nvidia onboard graphics.

and 5.1 sound. This looks like one hell of a good board. (Asus A8N-VM)[/quote']

Most mobos have on-board graphics of some description - won't be up to much mind. Same with sound etc.

Hmm' date='OK, just read the insructions for the board spec and guess what I've found...

Nvidia onboard graphics.

and 5.1 sound. This looks like one hell of a good board. (Asus A8N-VM)[/quote']

Oh well - at least you've got a spare card now!!

Agree - sounds like a cracking value for money board

Most mobos have on-board graphics of some description - won't be up to much mind. Same with sound etc.

seeing as tho this rig is primarily going to be used for folding,dont think it will worry Jason much

This looks like one hell of a good board. (Asus A8N-VM

i have the A8V deluxe,good board,but i kept getting sound problems with BF2 ,bought a cheap sound card,and that made no difference.

OK, first stumbling block hit----- My PSU from dear Fluff has a power end that plugs into the board with 20 blocks (2x10) and the board has 24 (12x2)....

WHY THE HELL ARE THERE TWO DIFFERENT PLUGS ON PSU'S? :grumpy: and why didn't I know this before I started this....

Think I need a different PSU now. :thumbdwn:

Now someone tell me this 20 plug power plug fits the socket OK, leaving 4 empty "bits" And which end do I leave the gap of 4.... or 2 each end? aaaaargh!

Help on MSN might be useful someone.

Panic over. There was only one way it would go anyway, so I've shoved it in. Hope thats OK. (left 4 blanks at bottom end of plug socket)

Some PSU's have an adapting socket which takes care of the extra pins - sometimes there is a seperate lead which plugs in -- in both cases tho they will only plug in 1 way so you cant go wrong.Lookout for a 4 pin plug - it will look different to other plugs

:eek: look how much dust there is in there :eek:

Got another problem now There's various connectors with the assembled case for IDE LED, RESET which have no way of telling me which is + or - :( :thumbdwn: Only got a rubbishy diagram of the case, and the board instructions is telling me which way around to put them on, but I've no way of telling from the plugs - Something on the back of each one saying "KSP" if this is a clue? :confused:

Got another problem now There's various connectors with the assembled case for IDE LED, RESET which have no way of telling me which is + or - :( :thumbdwn: Only got a rubbishy diagram of the case, and the board instructions is telling me which way around to put them on, but I've no way of telling from the plugs - Something on the back of each one saying "KSP" if this is a clue? :confused:

Quite often a bit of trial and error on those Jason -- don't worry wont do any harm -- just won't work properly if you get them wrong way !

Think I sussed it and I think my machine is all wired up. Found out from trial and error (and thanks to single wired plugs) that white wires were grounds / negs.

Now I have power and serial going to HDD & CD. Power to board, 4 pin extra socket connected. sockets for LEDs. Pretty much all thats left is fan installation. There's brackets for two fans on the back - I assume they're meant toblow outwards?

:confused: And I'm going to try and install the two other fans on the HDD/CD end to blow across the CPU to the other fans.

Only really bother with reset switch (RST or something like that) Power on (PWR button) can be either way around. Others will be LED's and speaker, usually a coloured wire is + and black is -

Some will be a specific size and only fit in one position, but the motherboard diagram will be tiny and can be difficult to understand. Unless its coloured where the pins are?

I'll google a review of your motherboard, it should have pictures of the connections (they usually do) and we'll try to help you out from there.

Bit late sorry:D

Yes rear fans blow out (there will be two arrows on the plastic, one for air direction and the other for blade direction.

Sorry i'm reading this late, but did you assemble the CPU and Heatsink yourself? If so you did use thermal compound between the two?

Sorry i'm only checking.

There was a good smearing of thermal compound on it, and now a bit on my trouers too from wiping my hands. I held the CPU in the corners only, to avoid as much compound coming off as possible, but never the less, I got myself a little bit gunked up.

Not sure if the amount of compound was enough - sure had a good coating of white stuff all over it. But yes, I did assemble it myself. The heatsoak was fun fitting. Diagram was crap and I couldn't figure out the way the securing lever held it down.

All on and secure now though.

Fitting heatsinks is good fun although the heatsinks for the A64's are a hell of a lot easier that Socket A's

As long as you get a good seal between the Heatsink and processor you will be fine. You did get a good heatsink didn't you ?

And I know its late in the day to ask, but have you ensured that your PSU is up to the job?

Also on the fans question, usually fans at the front suck in and fans at the back blow out, so that you get a flow of air over the CPU and MB. There should be connectors on your MB for the fans, usually 2 or 3, but bear in mind that these will be 3 pin connectors which are smaller than the standard 4 pin connectors used by hard drives etc. Also with regard to the power lead, ATX boards use a 20 pin connector, the latest ATX2 boards use a 24 pin. Ideally if you have a 20 pin PSU and a 24 pin MB you should get hold of the adaptor which turns a 20 pin into a 24, these are readily available. Leaving the 4 pins unconnected is (from what I read) not a good idea, something to do with voltages I think (although I am no expert).