Yay, new computer parts arrive today!

**Taceas** · 05-10-07, 03:44 PM

I am soooo sick of this laptop and its slow performance I could spit. But UPS is delivering my parts from Tiger Direct a whole full day earlier than expected. Yay!

AMD 64 X2 5400+ 2.4Ghz Dual Core processor
MSI K9N Platinum motherboard
Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS KO 256Mb PCI-E video card
Seagate 320 gig hard drive (not my choice, I have a cheap husband)
Ultra 600 watt power supply
a Samsung 206BW 20" gaming LCD monitor
...and a few other miscellaneous things associated with new computers.

The Zalman CPU heatsink fan I had to order from NewEgg, and lets just say they took forever to ship it and I selected what they said was to be 2-day shipping, and its not due till next week. I may have to use the stock CPU fan in the meantime.

So maybe if I can convince my husband to build it without the spiffy Zalman CPU fan this weekend I'll have a real computer again. Knowing him, its doubtful. *sigh*

Joni Garcia · 05-12-07, 12:53 AM

Hurry! I bet you'll be glad to be back online with a speedy computer.

**Taceas** · 05-12-07, 08:02 PM

Well the CPU fan arrived at the local Fedex depot on Friday morning, but because it has a delivery date of Monday May 14th...they didn't bother being nice and delivering it early.

I called Fedex and asked if I could go pick it up, the representative said they didn't see a problem with it. Since I really need this part this weekend I decided to drive the hour down to go pick it up.

I go in, hand her the tracking number, but bad news. They won't release it to me, because its scheduled to be delivered on Monday and they have Monday's deliveries locked up and she doesn't have a key.

Needless to say, I'm pretty miffed and do plan on filing a complaint with Fedex. Who's ever heard of such a thing!

I got my UPS packages with my monitor and the rest of the parts on Thursday, a full day ahead of its scheduled delivery.

**Taceas** · 05-15-07, 02:10 AM

Well the fan got here this morning, and our regular driver was astonished they wouldn't let me have it on Saturday. His words were: "They can't do that!" and he urged me to file a complaint.

So its all put together, but we're still working the bugs out of it. Apparently the install CD of Win XP Pro I have doesn't have Service Pack 2 on it, which is essential for installation on systems with larger hard drives.

When we installed Windows on it, it only recognized half of the 320 gigs, and partitioned it as such when installing. Well obviously that wasn't going to work.

So Matthew researched and had to fashion a bootable CD with the install of Windows XP and Service Pack 2 and some other little files so it'd run. So far we haven't tested it out, but lets all hope it works. I'm not eager to have to buy another copy of XP Pro for $130+.

Here's a picture of it all put together, I was amazed at how easy it was to put together, but the whole CMOS/BIOS stuff befuggles me, so he can do that.

**Caroline** · 05-15-07, 09:34 AM

I am so happy to buy only Apple computers...

Hope all this will work well for you soon. Good Luck.

**Gronk** · 05-15-07, 10:41 AM

Schweeeet Misty ! Got to love new computer parts and a rebuilt machine. I've rebuilt mine twice in the past 5 years<G>.

**Taceas** · 05-17-07, 08:44 PM

After 4 days of trying to fashion a bootable CD with Windows XP and SP2, it finally worked and I have a real computer again!

Man this thing is lightning fast compared to my old behemoth, hopefully it lasts a lot longer as well. Plus its prettier too, my CPU fan has a green LED (they didn't have blue) but I kind of like it...it reminds me of the Aliens movies or something. And I've got UV fluorescent bulbs in there that make stuff glow, which is subtle and kinda neat. Even my husband who was guffawing at my choice of colors likes it, as he self admitted today.

The only issues I seem to be having is at restart my Razer mouse doesn't want to work, even after installing all of the drivers for it. I have to unplug it and plug it back in.

The other issue is even though the motherboard drivers installed, I have no sound on my speakers. I'll have to look through and see what's going on there.

So if any of you have any insights about that, please share some fix ideas.

But otherwise everything is working as it should and I'm just now getting all of my familiar programs re-downloaded and installed. This will also give me an opportunity to try out new versions of some programs (ruts are comfortable things) and also a new Internet Security program (CA instead of power hog Norton).

pcar · 05-17-07, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by Taceas

The only issues I seem to be having is at restart my Razer mouse doesn't want to work, even after installing all of the drivers for it. I have to unplug it and plug it back in.

The other issue is even though the motherboard drivers installed, I have no sound on my speakers. I'll have to look through and see what's going on there.

So if any of you have any insights about that, please share some fix ideas.

The mouse could be an issue with your USB driver. Make sure that you have USB 2.0 on the mother board, and that your mouse is USB 2.0 compliant. You might also try and find an updated driver from the manufacturer. If you can't find one, email their tech support.

As for the sound card, if you have on board sound, you will need to install the drivers for this. I had this problem when I set up my last compter...one of the reasons I will never get a mother board with built in sound. Anyway, if you don't have a selection on the install CD for sound, then you may be missing a CD. If so, you will have to check out the mother board manufacturer's website for updates.

Hope all this helps, and that you get everything up and running soon.

Oh, by the way, that is one sweet looking computer.

**Taceas** · 05-18-07, 12:36 AM

Thanks for the suggestions.

I did manage to get the sound card to work. Dur, it helps if you install ALL of the drivers on the motherboard CD.

Yes its on-board sound. I don't really listen to my mp3's on the computer much and most of the sounds/music it does do is for games. I couldn't justify another purchase for something that really isn't that necessary for me. That's why I have a stereo receiver. But otherwise I would agree. I had an old Gateway that everything was integrated, even the scheisse.

Yeah, every time I start the computer up my mouse doesn't operate and the USB hub I have plugged in the back, none of the devices on it are recognized either. But if I unplug things and plug them back in, it recognizes them.

I'll look around and see if I can find updated drivers for things. The mouse is USB 2.0 compliant, I just got it late last autumn. My motherboard says its 2.0 as well.

I've un-installed and re-installed the mouse software 3x now and every time I open it up it can't find the mouse. But yet I'm using something to click on options within the software.

pcar · 05-18-07, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Taceas

Thanks for the suggestions.

I did manage to get the sound card to work. Dur, it helps if you install ALL of the drivers on the motherboard CD.

Yes its on-board sound. I don't really listen to my mp3's on the computer much and most of the sounds/music it does do is for games. I couldn't justify another purchase for something that really isn't that necessary for me. That's why I have a stereo receiver. But otherwise I would agree. I had an old Gateway that everything was integrated, even the scheisse.

Yeah, every time I start the computer up my mouse doesn't operate and the USB hub I have plugged in the back, none of the devices on it are recognized either. But if I unplug things and plug them back in, it recognizes them.

I'll look around and see if I can find updated drivers for things. The mouse is USB 2.0 compliant, I just got it late last autumn. My motherboard says its 2.0 as well.

I've un-installed and re-installed the mouse software 3x now and every time I open it up it can't find the mouse. But yet I'm using something to click on options within the software.

Glad that you got the sound to work. As for the mouse, it might be because of the HUB. Windows has to load "drivers" to use a HUB and most of the time they aren't loaded with the start of windows, but after Windows starts. thus you have to unplug the mouse and plug it back in. You might try and run the mouse directly to the Mother board USB and see if that changes things. If so, then you know that the HUB is the culprit.