I'm sorry but could you please explain more precisely. Like what do I do first and how do I copy them from one to the other, what way will they be connected? ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
"Like what do I do first and how do I copy them from one to the other, what way will they be connected?" *hoping I'm not racing with DoD* Your motherboard generally has an IDE controller. (EIDE, ATA33, ATA66 etc) IDE controller have 2 IDE cables coming out. Generaly, one (the "Master") is connected to the hard drive and the other (the "Slave") to the CDROM. So, if you wanna connect a 2nd hard drive to that box, you disconnect the IDE cable from the CDROM and connect it to the 2nd hard drive. Then instead of your CDROM being D: , the second hard drive will be D: . Never had a DVDROM, which may break this soultion somehow. You shouldn't have to modify your BIOS, and your box should boot off your first hard drive, but... maybe you've got some weird configuration, and when you try this solution, you won't be able to boot...
the fruitspreadritztreat has the general idea, but generally on most motherboards there are 2 IDE controllers/channels. Each of these channels can have an IDE cable attached to it. You can get a cable that has 2 IDE connectors on it (there are some that only have 1 connector, get the one with 2 connectors instead). What this ends up meaning is that you can connect 2 IDE devices to 1 IDE channel using 1 cable. You can hook both of your hard drives up on one IDE cable and 1 channel this way. One hard drive should have its jumper settings set for master (ultimately this should be your fastest/newest hard drive) while the 2nd should have its jumper set to slave. Your CD-ROM and DVD ROM drives can be similarly connected on the second IDE channel of your mobo using the same method as stated above. Again, make sure you set one to master and the other to slave. Make sure that PIN 1 of the hard drive or cd rom is connected to the hole that leads to the red stripe on the IDE cable - the red stripe indicates the PIN 1 connection on the cable. PIN 1 on the device is usually identified somewhere near the connector on the device you are attaching to the cable. PIN 1 on the mobo should also be identified and connected correctly. If you reverse these and end up hooking PIN 40 to PIN 1, you may either have nothing happen or lose your hard drive. Bummer d00d. My last suggestion is the same that I suggested before. Watch someone that knows what they're doing do it first. I blew a hard drive and the keyboard port on my mobo on my first install attempt. I learned from that and had somebody show me what to do... now I can do it with my eyes closed (and it shows... haha). ... I wish it didn't have to come to this ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
Is there really $500 in savings in rolling his own proposed system versus buying it assembled? Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated.
Buying all this will costs about $1,300 give or take a hundred dollars. Buying it already assembled, with the exact specifications I have said, it would cost well over $2,000. I have already checked. ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
No. In the past, you could get a huge savings vs. the Dells and Gateways of the world, but while there are savings to be had, they're not that great anymore. I just priced a very similar Dell system for $1438 at their site. I don't think it had a NIC; big deal, you can get one for about $10-$20 and it didn't have the modem (which some services give for free anyway). The video card was one level below the one he's getting. The DVD was also a 16x (better), the UPS was a 500 watt APC, and the processor was a P4 1.3 GHz (faster). I priced another P3 system very similar to the above for $1498. But then all this depends on his mobo selection. I still can't believe his mobo costs that much. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
I added up the component prices listed and came in close to the +/-1300 that you said. You didn't quote an OS or a monitor, so that would add on another $250. I know that you said that you had a monitor, so it wasn't needed on this project. However... somewhere in time you spent some money on obtaining that monitor, unless it was given to you, so that cost needs to be added in when comparing rolling your own versus buying assembled. Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated.
Lil Pun, If you have some time and the incentive to learn, I would highly recommend PC HARDWARE IN A NUTSHELL by O'REILLY. Thier web site is good as well. www.hardwareguys.com The most important thing to understand when building a computer is that every componet will in some way affect the performance as a whole. You also are not spending enough on your tower and I am sure that it doesn't have a power supply. power supplies ARE very important unless you want your computer to lock up every 5 minutes . I recommend both cases and power supplies from PC POWER AND COOLING. They are great, but it will cost around 175 for the combination. Here is the link. www.pcpowerandcooling.com Look at the personal mini tower and the Turbo Cool 350 ATX. I hope this helps. ------------------ I am an invisible man.
Well actually I was given the monitor so it cost me nothing. I think everybody here forgot that I said I would save money doing it this way not everybody would. I have a lot of major parts (monitor, printer, CD-RW, etc.) that would add up to over $500 more on my estimate and I didn't add the 80+ software titles I have so I know that would be quite a bit more to. I haven't had to pay for any of these things either. So yes I will save money and if I don't oh well, I have $2,500 to spend on something I want and I decided I want to build my own computer. That's another thing, I never said I wanted to save money just that I could and don't get me wrong I don't have to get the most expensive of everything either. I simply wanted help on if I had all the right parts picked out, how to put them all together, and other various items. We all got off the track with this price stuff. Sorry ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
Back on track.......... Cnet probably has some tips on assembling a computer. Here are links to other tutorials. http://www.findtutorials.com/DirCatLook.asp?ID=849 http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/01q1/010115/index.html DoD can probably give you some links to other self-assembly tutorials. Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. [This message has been edited by Mango (edited April 28, 2001).]
What any computer-buyers might want to look into is buying a computer with a damaged box/slight disorders. You can call the Compaq headquarters in Houston and ask for something like that. They always make sure the computer is still in proper working conditoin and all, so it's not like they won't work or something. In terms of money saved:My cousin saved about $550 by doing this. ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
If you're talking about Compaq Works, you can build a faster/better system than just about anything they sell and for less. At least that's what the case used to be everytime I visited their site about 2 years ago. Compaq has made notoriously poor-performing (benchmark-wise) desktop PC's and laptops in the past. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
I haven't bought an Intel CPU in a while, but I don't think they come with a fan, so you may need a cpu fan as well. You may need fans for your case if it doesn't come with one, too (if you foresee having heat problems). ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
Oh yes, while I'm trying to sleep and failing, Intel is cutting prices on its chips to phase out the P3's sometime today or tomorrow. So the price on your chip may drop within the next 2-3 weeks. AMD is soon to follow. Woo hoo... more good news for geeks. Now if only they'd release the SMP-enabled chipset for AMD chips... ... I hate insomnia. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
Retail versions of INTEL processors come with a fan. OEM versions do not come with a fan. ------------------ I am an invisible man. [This message has been edited by kbm (edited April 29, 2001).]
DOD , Yes ALWAYS put thermal tape or compound between the processor and heatsink of INTEL processors. HOWEVER, most retail version INTEL processors already have the fan and heatsink installed, so you don't have to worry too much about the thermal tape thing since it is already done for you at the factory. But if you buy a OEM model you WILL need thermal tape of some kind. ------------------ I am an invisible man.
So how many fans total should a computer have at least and still have a good running computer? ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
Lil Pun, If you don't overclock your processor, you need four, maybe five. One at the bottom of your computer case, usually called the supplemental fan. One on your video card. Note: some video cards come with a fan, some don't. You'll just have to check out the card itself. One on the processor. If you buy a retail version, you'll get the fan and heatsink installed for you. One on the power supply. Every power supply has a fan, but all are not built well. Like I said before, your best bet, IMO, is to buy the case and power supply from www.pcpowerandcooling.com You can get all the fans you'll need there as well. And one to cool your harddrive! ------------------ I am an invisible man. [This message has been edited by kbm (edited April 29, 2001).]
