UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Chit Chat computer help

I am going to be building my first computer, now besides all the parts that i am going to order, do i need any cables or does everything just plug into something else?

You'll need IDE cables and a Floppy cable. Most IDE cables have one end that plugs into the mobo and two ends for plugging into the drives, so if your case is small and your cdrom/harddrive are right next to each other, you'll only need one IDE cable most likely. But if you have a big case or they're a ways apart, you'll probably have to get one cable for each of the two drives.

Also, this may come with the sound card, but if it doesn't, you'll need a CD-Audio cable that runs from a special plug on your sound card to the back of the cdrom drive, so you can listen to audio CDs.

And you may want a couple kits of mounting screws, to attach your drives into the case properly. Some motherboards/cases come with big baggies of screws for this purpose, but some don't, so just to be on the safe side you may want to order mounting screws with each of your drives. They're only a buck or two extra.

That's all I can think of as far as little stuff like that goes. Hope this helps.

---Skorpion

Good words Skorp!

Also might want to have a couple of the IDE cables, like Skorp says, that EACH serve TWO devices. Most IDE devices you buy nowadays come with a cable...but it is a single-device type cable and can lead you to problems if you are installing more than two IDE devices.

Hard to give any detailed info without some specs as to what you ordered and and the size of the box. I built one while I lived in the UK and it was a TALL case...so I needed some extensions for the device power cables and LONG IDE cables!!

Post more details if you like....we're always eager to hear more!!

Most of your better motherboards will come with IDE and floopy disk cables. Both of my ABITs did.

... and yes, please tell us more.

Skorp hit it on the head. You might wanna order some heatsink fluid, to keep it cool, but its not required, just a good idea. And if your ordering a highend processor, like a speedy athlon/duron or a p4, get a better heatsink if you plan on overclocking.

Make sure you get a harddrive thats 7200rpm's for max performance, and athlon's are best in terms of price and stability in processors.

I found that an extra IDE cable never hurts, cause mine got melted.

I always found its nice to have spare USB ports, so maybe a usb pci card would work.

Let's see...
Post more specs, we can help you help yourself!™

oh, and check out tweak3d.com and hardocp.com for mobo reviews. I like Asus, MSI and Abit. FIC is not good.

okay, here our my specs.

Case(ATX CASE MID TOWER WITH 300W)
Motherboard (ASUS A7V266)
Processor (AthlonXP 1800+)
Hard Drive (IBM Deskstar 41G)
RAM (Crucial 256MB DDR2100 RAM)
Graphics Card (GeForce2 GTS 64MB)
Sound Card (Soundblaster LIVE 5.1)
Cooling (Taisol CGK742092)
Floppy Drive(samsung 1.44)
CD-ROM (Scdrom-56x)
Keyboard (Logitech Internet)
Moniter
CD Buner

[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: adam ]

Everything looks good except the power supply. You're going to need at least a 350w. AMD cpus need a lot of power. Don't skimp either. Get a good one, it'll pay off in the long run. I recommend PC Power & Cooling , but I'm sure there are some other great candidates out there. If you do decide on a PC Power & Cooling, don't buy direct, they don't always have the best price.

You might as well double your RAM. Crucial has 512 (256x2) DDR PC2100 for around $60.

For your CD burner may I suggest Plextor . Either their 24/10/40 or the 16/10/40 . Only the best.

[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Stilgar ]

so, i just need to get a better case and some ide cables, and im set?

Not a better case, but a better power supply. Then you'll be set. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: Stilgar ]

okay, thanks alot.

yup, that covers it. Go with a 400 watter supply, it pays off if your gonna add more later.

were? im finding lots of 300W but not alot of 350-400