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First time builder needs help with i7 920

newbuilder333

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Intel core i7 920 @2.66Ghz DO batch A steeping
AsRock x58 Extreme motherboard
3x2Gb OCZ Gold DDR3 SDRAM 1600Mhz Cas 8 Timings: 8-8-8-24 @1.65v
Sapphire Radeon HD 5870
Corsair HX850 PSU
Xigmatech Dark Knight CPU Cooler
2x WD Caviar Black 640Gb HDD
Samsung CD/DVD burner
Antec 902 case

Hi

Brand new to this and building my first pc. I have ordered all of the above parts and am awaiting shipping. I will be building it this weekend (10/10/09) and have a bunch of questions. I plan to install Windows 7 on this system but plan to put XP on it until Win 7 is released.

I think I will be able to assemble all of the components without too much trouble. Once that is done the moment of truth arrives and I turn on the power. I know I need to go into the BIOS first and get things set up. I am able to find all sorts of information about overclocking which is something I intend to do once I get my feet wet a little bit. What I can’t seem to find are what the standard settings should be in my BIOS for my setup. Specifically the CPU and memory settings. I have read that the OZC memory will come set to 1066Mhx for compatibility reasons. I need to know what all the settings should be for the speed, volts, etc. I also need to know what the cpu should be set at. I assume it will show up as 2.66Ghz but does that mean all of the other settings are automatically correct?

I have looked at AsRock’s website and I see the BIOS can be flashed either through DOS with a floppy drive (which I don’t have) or through Windows. However I keep reading that there are tests you should run before you install Windows such as memtest86 (from a bootable CD ISO from what I can tell). Apparently it is pretty common for the BIOS to have trouble recognizing all of the memory until the settings are tweaked (is this correct?). So this is my next major questions. What tests should I run to make sure everything is running correctly before I install Windows? Then after I install Windows what other tests should I run? I see there are a great deal of benchmarking programs available (3dMark, SiSandra,CineBench, etc.). Should I be using them when I first start or not until I get into overclocking? Then do I need to update anything else related to the motherboard/memory? I see some files on the AsRock site and I’m not sure what they do (http://www.asrock.com/MB/download.asp?Model=X58 Extreme).

I guess what would help the most might be a step-by-step list of what to do starting when I power it on for the first time. I have done a lot of research but it is a bit difficult to put it all together and separate what people are doing to overclock versus what needs to be done to get the system stable without overclocking.

Thank you much for your responses/links/patience.

Geoff

p.s. Another question popped into my mind. I will have two 640Gb hard drives and do not plan on running RAID, so can I install XP on one and Win 7 on the other and dual boot? Or can I do that and then just pick by switching the boot order in the BIOS? Or is this a bad idea in general? Just a little concerned about everything being compatible with Win 7. Thanks!
 
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JrRacinFan

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From hovering it looks like it will be a fantastic build. Altho what will the PC's main use be?

If you guys must know:
i7 920
Asrock X58 Extreme
3x2GB OCZ Gold
Sapphire 5870
Corsair HX850
Xig Dark Knight
2x WD Black 640's
Samsung DVD Burner
Antec 902 case
 

newbuilder333

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This will be a gaming pc and some time around the holidays I will add a dual tuner card and hook it up to the new 40" LCD I plan to get. I'll see if I can get everything in here now.
 
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looks like a very good setup, and u can get a second 5870 later,, would be a killer
 

newbuilder333

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Brand new to this and building my first pc. I have ordered all of the above parts and am awaiting shipping. I will be building it this weekend (10/10/09) and have a bunch of questions. I plan to install Windows 7 on this system but plan to put XP on it until Win 7 is released.

I think I will be able to assemble all of the components without too much trouble. Once that is done the moment of truth arrives and I turn on the power. I know I need to go into the BIOS first and get things set up. I am able to find all sorts of information about overclocking which is something I intend to do once I get my feet wet a little bit. What I can’t seem to find are what the standard settings should be in my BIOS for my setup. Specifically the CPU and memory settings. I have read that the OZC memory will come set to 1066Mhx for compatibility reasons. I need to know what all the settings should be for the speed, volts, etc. I also need to know what the cpu should be set at. I assume it will show up as 2.66Ghz but does that mean all of the other settings are automatically correct?

I have looked at AsRock’s website and I see the BIOS can be flashed either through DOS with a floppy drive (which I don’t have) or through Windows. However I keep reading that there are tests you should run before you install Windows such as memtest86 (from a bootable CD ISO from what I can tell). Apparently it is pretty common for the BIOS to have trouble recognizing all of the memory until the settings are tweaked (is this correct?). So this is my next major questions. What tests should I run to make sure everything is running correctly before I install Windows? Then after I install Windows what other tests should I run? I see there are a great deal of benchmarking programs available (3dMark, SiSandra,CineBench, etc.). Should I be using them when I first start or not until I get into overclocking? Then do I need to update anything else related to the motherboard/memory? I see some files on the AsRock site and I’m not sure what they do.

I guess what would help the most might be a step-by-step list of what to do starting when I power it on for the first time. I have done a lot of research but it is a bit difficult to put it all together and separate what people are doing to overclock versus what needs to be done to get the system stable without overclocking.

Thank you much for your responses/links/patience.

Geoff

p.s. Another question popped into my mind. I will have two 640Gb hard drives and do not plan on running RAID, so can I install XP on one and Win 7 on the other and dual boot? Or can I do that and then just pick by switching the boot order in the BIOS? Or is this a bad idea in general? Just a little concerned about everything being compatible with Win 7. Thanks!
 

JrRacinFan

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newbuilder333

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Yep, all ordered with some of it here. I wanted to get the best I could on my budget (~$1500) so hopefully it won't be outdated in 6 months.
 
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should last much longer then that,, and if it starts to feel slower with all the eyecandy directX11 might provide get that second 5870 :0)
 

newbuilder333

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That's my plan. Probably eventually go to 12Gb ram also. I think I read that the 6 core 12 thread next INtel chip will also be x58. Not sure though.

Anyone with BIOS advice?
 
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I see you are a little worried since it is your first build. Don't worry about it as I can clearly tell you have done your homework.

Occasionally, Mobo will not recognize the RAM perfectly, but that is a long store. The best thing you can do for your initial couple of boots is just test the parts. Running memtest86+ ensures your RAM is not defective so you can deal with it immediately. PSU not working will be kinda obvious. CPU so rarely fail, I just assume it works. The GPU can't really be tested until your install the OS and its drivers, so as long as you can see you are good their for now.

Remember nothing should make clicking noises. In fact the only thing that should make noise is the hum of fans and post beeping.

On the first boot, check the BIOS to make sure the settings match what the hardware should be. Everything should be correct except for maybe the RAM speed and timing. What the factory promises the RAM will run at and what the chip on the RAM say it should run at are sometimes different. If you need to, manual set to the specs on the package/online. Then comes the memtest86+ (only needs 1 full pass ~ 15 to 45 minutes). I usually take this time to clean up boxes, gather all my manuals, extra cables/parts/adapters and stuff in the PSU box (PSU boxes are always well built and make great spare part boxes).

Once you are sure nothing is defective and the Mobo properly recognized all the components, then you can start installing the OS. I would give the thermal compound on the cooler for your CPU a day or two to "cure" before OCing anything.
 
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newbuilder333

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Thanks for the advice. I still need to make the bootable CD for memtest 86+. When you say set the RAM specs manually to the ones on the package, will I just need to set it to 8-8-8-24 at 1.65v or are there additional settings. I'm on a Pentium4 2.66 Ghz from Dell right now so I feel a bit out of my league. The most I've done with this is replace the PSU. I have spent countless hours over the last three weeks trying to get a handle on all of this so I'm not completely lost when I actually build it.
 
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p.s. Another question popped into my mind. I will have two 640Gb hard drives and do not plan on running RAID, so can I install XP on one and Win 7 on the other and dual boot? Or can I do that and then just pick by switching the boot order in the BIOS? Or is this a bad idea in general? Just a little concerned about everything being compatible with Win 7. Thanks!

Yes, you will be able to install XP on one and 7 on the other. I did that on my desktop.
When it turns on, it allows me to pick between either XP (Older Version of Windows) and Windows 7.
It is fine to do, if you want to have XP, even though 7 has an XP Mode in it. Which is pretty much
similar to running XP in a virtual machine.
 

newbuilder333

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Thanks. I am planning to get the Home Premium Win7 which does not have the XP mode in it so I may need to install both operating systems.
 
D

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I hate to bug you but I noticed you said you are not going Raid0...Why not those are good hard drives but alone they only deliver 100mb/s average transfer speeds with that setup you want a lot more transfer speed than that and you can achieve about 160mb/s in raid0 with 128kb stripes and that would leave you with about 90% of the original HD space and trust me would be well worth doing..Seriously I really think you should go RAID0...,REALLY,REALLY,REALLY,REALLY,REALLY,REALLY,REALLY I can't say it enough, I have a Phenom2 920 and I have 2 WD Black ALLS 500gb same as yours but with less space and they are good but they don't really keep up with my setup and your HD's definitly would not keep up as Independent drives...Just thought i'd put that out there for you to consider
 
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Thanks for the advice. I still need to make the bootable CD for memtest 86+. When you say set the RAM specs manually to the ones on the package, will I just need to set it to 8-8-8-24 at 1.65v or are there additional settings. I'm on a Pentium4 2.66 Ghz from Dell right now so I feel a bit out of my league. The most I've done with this is replace the PSU. I have spent countless hours over the last three weeks trying to get a handle on all of this so I'm not completely lost when I actually build it.

The voltage will most likely already be correct. There will be a section in the BIOS to adjust the memory. It will be set to "Auto". First switch that to Manual and a bunch of other settings will appear. In order set the CL, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS to 8-8-8-24 respectively. Do this only if the "Auto" has not already done this. It will be clear once you see the BIOS.
 

newbuilder333

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The voltage will most likely already be correct. There will be a section in the BIOS to adjust the memory. It will be set to "Auto". First switch that to Manual and a bunch of other settings will appear. In order set the CL, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS to 8-8-8-24 respectively. Do this only if the "Auto" has not already done this. It will be clear once you see the BIOS.

Thanks. I just haven't done this before so I'm a bit nervous. I just want to get it set up and running. Saturday cannot come fast enough.

As for the RAID, I see your point but I wasn't planning on messing with RAID quite yet. i have never done it and didn't want to complicate my first ever build. Maybe in the future I will do it.
 
D

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Thanks. I just haven't done this before so I'm a bit nervous. I just want to get it set up and running. Saturday cannot come fast enough.

As for the RAID, I see your point but I wasn't planning on messing with RAID quite yet. i have never done it and didn't want to complicate my first ever build. Maybe in the future I will do it.
I just recently went Raid0 myself and I gotta say it's actually quite simple, I know it seems like it would be difficult especially since this is your first build, but it's not hard at all,though you probably just want to make sure you doing things right before raid and I can understand that, but to be honest it's only 4 extra steps that only take about 4 minutes and it would be one of those things that would really make your setup shine...So might I suggest you install XP like you were planning to insure your system functions properly and to ease your mind on your first build, and once you are sure it works Start over again with Raid0
 

newbuilder333

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I'm sure I will look into it some time soon. For now I think I'm going to install XP on one drive ans Win 7 on the other. Once I'm convinced I don't actually need XP for anything, then maybe I can do RAID0. Thanks for the info.
 

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I use a memory tester that will run inside of windows
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/
Its a tiny program. Very easy to run.

Sounds like you've done all your homework. If you just assemble the PC like the motherboard manual says, you should be good. I expect that everything will work right out of the box and that you won't have to make any adjustments to the BIOS before the PC will boot. Default settings should work until you want to start overclocking.

I have 3 identical drives but I don't run them in any sort of raid because 1) i need all the capacity I can get and 2) I'm terrified one will fail and I'll loose everything. I can understand why you don't want to run your drives in a raid.
 

Azoriah

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Windows7 XP mode is ok but it has no graphic hardware acceleration .... err the others do like suns:D
 
D

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Windows7 XP mode is ok but it has no graphic hardware acceleration .... err the others do like suns:D

I used it with win7 pro 64 and crashed my PC I had to go to a Restore point before XP mode...
It would get to the startup DOT thing and just crash, so now I'm trying out Sun's version.. hope it works better....the odd thing is it seemed like the ERRATUM thing.....Which shouldn't be an issue with a phenomII
 

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dude post some pics. of the build when you can ok? best of luck man!
 

newbuilder333

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dude post some pics. of the build when you can ok? best of luck man!

Will do. Not building until Saturday.

I just noticed the motherboard has 10 holes and the Antec 902 only came with 9 standoffs to screw into. Maybe one of them is expendable?
 

newbuilder333

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Just a quick update. I built it yesterday and everything went really smoothly. Posted on the first try and recognized all 6Gb of RAM. I did have to change the timings to 8-8-8-24 and the the speed to 1600Mhz from 1066Mhz in the BIOS. Do I need to also change the voltage or any other settings. I passed memtest86 with a couple of passes with no errors but I'm not sure if I need to change anything else. I haven't even seen what the RAM voltage is set at but I didn't look around extensively in the BIOS yet. The AsRock did come with the latest (P1.04) BIOS version which was nice. I also installed XP 32 (the only one I have) without incident. One note for Radeon HD 5870 users, there are no XP drivers from the ATI or Sapphiretech websites. XP is not listed as supported on the product information page. Not a big deal since I'm getting 7 on 10/22 but worth noting. I was able to install Catalyst 8.6 from the provided disc but could not get the HDMI port to work on my 5 year old 58" DLP tv. DVI to my monitor worked fine. i assume this is due to XP not being officially supported but we'll see when I get Win7. Thanks for all of the help, you guys are great.

Sorry, no pics yet.
 
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