Help Me Build a New Computer
- Thread starter Keebler Elf
- Start date
benstt said:
This one? http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=017067&cid=999.243.390
Keebler Elf said:
Yeah, the 8800GTS with 512MB was very popular. Lots of people compare them in reviews. Ask google "8800 GTS versus whatever" to look for benchmarks. I believe they held up very well until stuff like the 4850 came along. Discontinued now.
They are double-wide cards, so you'll lose a slot. Long, too. However, they vent out the rear independently, so they don't contribute to the case heat. Relatively quiet fan, mature drivers.
Read up and decide for yourself, of course.
Keebler Elf said:
That board is crossfire only for the video, you can't put an Nvidia SLI card in it.
So I bought my new computer. I ended up getting everything in my last list of components, minus the fan (which was WAY too big to fit in the case). If I end up going the overclocking route, I'll invest in a better fan then (the CPU came with a fan).
I've also installed Windows Vista Home Premium for the first time. I have updated the drivers of my mobo and graphics card and they seem to be working fine.
Next steps include installing anti-virus, Office Home & Student 2007, and then a bunch of programs.
Fingers crossed...
Okay, first problem. I need to initialize my new WD hard drive so I downloaded WD Data Lifeguard but when I tried to install it said it doesn't work with Vista. Then I got a popup from Microsoft that made an adjustment and enabled me to finish installing. However, when I try to open the program it tells me I must have Administrator privileges and that I don't. How do I fix this?
I've also installed Windows Vista Home Premium for the first time. I have updated the drivers of my mobo and graphics card and they seem to be working fine.
Next steps include installing anti-virus, Office Home & Student 2007, and then a bunch of programs.
Fingers crossed...
Okay, first problem. I need to initialize my new WD hard drive so I downloaded WD Data Lifeguard but when I tried to install it said it doesn't work with Vista. Then I got a popup from Microsoft that made an adjustment and enabled me to finish installing. However, when I try to open the program it tells me I must have Administrator privileges and that I don't. How do I fix this?
Keebler
Here is a link to instructions for this.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...idden-administrator-account-on-windows-vista/
Just be careful what you do in this account.
Hope this helps
Here is a link to instructions for this.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...idden-administrator-account-on-windows-vista/
Just be careful what you do in this account.
Hope this helps
asn said:
That may be a tad optimistic. I've never tried to build a computer. I haven't the patience. However, these days I've found the quality of technical writing in general to be terribly low. It's usually written for those who already know a good deal about what they're doing. The writers seem to have real difficulty in imagining themselves into the position of those who are less knowledgeable and then making explanations for that audience.
jwm
samcan said:
Turns out I just needed to format the rest of the drive via Device Manager. It looks different than with Win XP so I couldn't find the right function but I finally found it last night and the drive is now recognized properly. Thx!
I also fixed what could have become a big problem this morning. There was a strange and somewhat loud rattle or vibration coming from my case. I looked and checked but nothing was loose. Eventually I figured it must just be a noisy CPU. Boy was I wrong! This morning when I was cleaning up the inside of the case (tying up all the cables to improve air flow) I noticed that one of the tiny wires from the CPU fan was being hit by the blades of the fan!!! They would have sawed through it in no time. I cleared the cable and presto!, no more vibration.
I continue to tweak and set up and hopefully things will continue to go smoothly.
Exactly.jwmorrice said:
That's why I prefer buying a good one 'ready made' that runs and doesn't have to be tweaked, tested and fine tuned to remove incompatibilities like Keebler Elf is currently going through.....
There are some terrific deals out now, they are practicially giving them away. Here's a couple Quads that come with monitor & printer, at Best Buy in today's Buffalo paper, both run 64bit Vista Prem:
HP Phoenix Special Edition a6755y Desktop with AMD Phenom™ X4 9550 Processor, 6GB DDR2 SDRAM and 640GB hard drive, 22" LCD Monitor & 3-in-1 Printer $799.97
....and for $50 bucks more....
Gateway LX6810-01 TV Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200, 8GB DDR2 memory and 640GB hard drive, 19" LCD Monitor & 3-in-1 Printer $849.97
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Keebler Elf said:
Okay, I figured this out. Vista has added security protection that gives you pop-ups whenever you try to access certain types of programs. Annoying, yes. But granted, it is more secure.
Vista also, by default, does not recognize you as Administrator for your daily computer use. Again, annoying but, again, also probably a smart move since you don't really need to be an Administrator 24-7.
To enable Administrator privileges you have to go to the file in question, right click > Properties > Compatibility > tick off "Run this program as an Administrator."
Voila! Problem solved.
This is something Vista 'copied' from Linux which also does that for added security.Keebler Elf said:
However Linux doesn't give you as many annoying pop-ups for it as Vista does.
Now that you're up & running, do yourself a favor and install Ubuntu as a dual boot setup. Just create a 20-30GB partition for linux and play/learn it at your leisure. That way you will have 2 OSs available and after awhile you will probably dump M$ altogether and not have to worry about XP, Vista or Windows 7 and it won't cost you a penny....Keebler Elf said:
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