newbuilder333
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2009
- Messages
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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!
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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