Tagboard Enquiries 3..

Hi Ju...sorry for the late reply..ok so u wanted to build a DIY PC, which can play sims 3..ok, so here's the minimum requirements that you need to run the game..


FOR WINDOWS XP

* Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1 GB RAM
* At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
* 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

FOR WINDOWS VISTA

* Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
* 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1.5 GB RAM
* At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
* 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0


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After a long research , i have finally come out with the best and cheapest specs that will run your game smoothly..and in fact other latest games..

I'm assuming that you live in Singapore, so i have included the prices of each components as well.
I have extracted these prices from some shops in Sim Lim Square

Specs:

Processor and Motherboard Combo:
Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H + Athlon 64X2 6000 ($284) Video-Pro
Motherboard link:
http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2859

The stock cooler for the cpu is included when u buy the processor..

Video-Card:
Palit HD4670 Super 512MB GDDR3 PCIExpress ($129) Video-pro
http://www.palit.biz/main/vgapro.php?id=975

RAMS:
Kingston DDR2-800 2GB $32 (Bell Systems)

Hard Disk:
Western Digital 250GB 16MB L2 cache 5 years warranty ($65) Pc themes

Dvd Writer:
Asus DRW-2014S1T 20xSATA BLACK ($36) Video-Pro

Power Supply:
ANDYSON 500W Power Plus - 3 Years Warranty $80 (Bell Systems)

Andyson is a very reliable when it comes to PSU, very quiet and efficient..im currently using one now and it never lets me down...=)

Casing:
Cooler Master RC-340 Elite 340 MAXT Casing ($53) Video-Pro
http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?act=detail&id=2541

Total:$679 (Below $700)

Unfortunately, i couldnt get it below $500 but i could get it under $700...YEAY!! LOL!!...So hopefully with these specs, have fun shopping...;)

Note: I have not included the keyboard, mouse, thermalpaste and operating system. You will only need this if its your first time building one or u need to purchase a new one.. With the exception of the operating system, the other three should be affordable, costing around $30+ and can be easily found in any IT shops..

Oh ya, i almost forgot..you can also check the price list of the shops here. Maybe one or two items i've picked up earlier can be on promotion due to CNY. So maybe you can check on the prices for updates or even comparison...shops that you might want to see are Bell,Video-Pro,Fuwell,Bizgram,Pc themes, Cybermind as in my opinion they are very reliable...=)

http://pricewatch.vr-zone.com/previewpricelist.php

Update 2..

I have added in two more sections...

Installing your Motherboard Section

and

You're set to go!! Section

More updates will be coming soon in the future, here are the things that needs to be accomplished:

1) Create "Back" and "next" link after the end of every section for easier browsing
2) Resize all the images to a higher resolution so that the image preview will be clear enough
3)Create "Enthusiast Corner" for enthusiast. This section includes guide for buying,building and overclocking.
4)Change skin template..

So..check out this blog soon for more updates..=) Signing off..

Tagboard Enquiries..

Ju: Can i get you to help me build a great pc?

Reply: Hi there, Ju. So you are a woman..? LOL..cool..!!Actually,i wish i could help you build a great PC as i could discover more things about computers that i didnt know of. But the main problem is I'm only 17 and I'm living under my parents rule. I have to seek for their permission first and if everything goes fine, i will update on it..

But if they disapprove, why dont u tell me your budget and i could help you create the list of items that best fit your budget. Then from there, u can follow my guide . I will try my best to help you if you have any enquiries..=)

Updates...

Updates:

I have put up a search bar, located on the top of the menu..this will help u in searching what you really need if you cannot find it..=)

AND

I have put up three more local online shops (Singapore) under the links section..

So far, i've only put up the shops that i've known:

1)Video-Pro
2)Potterhouse
3)Goo-goo Custom Computer

If anyone have any information of other stores, please bring it up on the tagboard or comment here..=)


I will update more on this blog, will take about 1 or 2 days...so check it out soon..=)

Installing your motherboard..

Installing your motherboard

Earlier on in this guide, you have quite understand on the different parts and connectors on the motherboard. If you have forgotten, u may refer to the "Preparing your motherboard" section..

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Now, let's proceed on.

Now we are going to place the motherboard into the casing. First off, you have to prepare three items that came with your motherboard and casing package. What I'm referring to is the IO shield ,the standoff screws,the threaded screws and....a screwdriver. I'm assuming that you know what a screwdriver is so i dont need to show you an example but for the other three items, refer to the three pictures below..

Click on the images to enlarge it..





The are the only three things that you will need to place the motherboard in your casing.

To start off, take your IO shield and what you wanna do is place it in the back plate of your casing like the one shown below.


Note * Before inserting the IO shield into the back plate of your casing, you must adjust and rotate it to the angle of your motherboard IO connectors.This is to ensure that your IO Shield is faced in the right position with the IO connectors


In some cases, if you have problems fitting it in, use the screwdriver and press down as hard as you can until you hear a snap sound. This means that your IO shield is securely in place.

Here's how it looks like in the right position..
Click on the image to enlarge it..

Notice that the mouse and keyboard are located at the top...

Next,what you want to do is to bring up your motherboard and by holding it in mid-air, slowly align the holes of your motherboard that you are going to screw in, with your casing holes.

Make sure to align it with the correct holes. You can check this by looking at your IO connectors, if the holes that you are aligning now fits the IO connectors into the IO shield,then you have align it correctly.

Now next u wanna do is to memorize the locations of the holes. After memorizing, remove the motherboard,put it back from where you've taken it.

Now what you wanna do is to take the standoff screws and tighten them into the holes like the picture shown below:

Click on the image to enlarge it..


There should be a total of 9 holes to filled up if I'm not wrong. After u have filled up the holes, it should look something like the one below:

Click on the image to enlarge it..



The purpose of putting standoffs is to prevent scratches between the internal casing and the back of your motherboard.


Now bring back your motherboard but instead of holding it in mid-air, u should place it down, resting it on the standoff screws and fitting the IO connectors in the IO shield,like the one shown below:

Click on the image to enlarge it..



If you have done it correctly,it should look like the picture shown below:

Click on the image to enlarge it..




Finally,what you wanna do is take your screwdriver and take about 9 threaded screws and screw all the holes with these screws.

An example is shown below:

Click on the image to enlarge it..

Note*:Make sure not to tighten the screws too much or it will cause damage to the motherboard.

That's it. Congratulations. You have installed your motherboard into the casing. Refer to the "Installing the Video Card" section to continue with this guide or you can click on the next menu on the bottom of the page..

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I have included in the links section under the video reviews of some of detailed and great reviews of computer hardware...this will help you in installing the computer components..=)


Hope this answer your question. If you have any enquiries, feel free to bring it up in the tagboard or you can comment it here..=)

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Introduction.

Hi, Velato here. Basically,my main intention of this blog is to guide those people out there whether it is a beginner or an enthusiast on what to look for when buying computer hardwares and building one. Follow through the guide by clicking on the links available in this blog.Wish you success and good luck on building your own computer.

Currently now updating on the buying section, so overall will take about one or two more days to complete..=)

Regards

Double check on your purchases...

Before you go on and build your computer, make sure to double check that you have purchase all the items that are needed.

Let's make a list of them..

1)Motherboard
2)Cpu (Processor) and CPU cooler
3)RAMs
4)Video Card
5)Dvd writer and Harddrive
6)Power Supply Unit
7)Casing
8)Mouse
9)Keyboard


If your have missed out anything on the list there, i have included the link to the guide to help you on your purchases..=)

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I have included in the links section of some of famous computer online shops in the US...this will help you minimize your research before actually heading down to the stores and grabbing one...=)


Hope this answer your question. If you have any enquiries, feel free to bring it up in the tagboard or you can comment it here..=)

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FAQ..

This area is where all your enquries and questions about building a computer, are answered...

1) Instead of just buying a complete computer, why do we make it so troublesome to build one?

Well, the answer is easy. Its because of the price. Building a computer is obviously much more cheaper than buying one. Let's say one day u were walking in an electronic store and you were attracted by a computer,Dell XPS 720..and when u look at the price..whoaaa!!..$5000..you must be thinking," I can't afford a computer like that"..

Well, here's the secret. You can build exactly one like that but it only cost you about only........ $2000+.. and I'm not lying..and in fact, why not? It's the same as modifying you own car that look like a ferrari instead of buying one...

Installing Guide..

Installing Guide:


Preparing your motherboard...
Installing your Cpu (Processor)...
Installing your RAMs...
Preparing your casing...
Installing your Power Supply Unit...
Installing your Motherboard...
Installing your Video Card...
Installing Your Hard Disk, dvd writer and floopy drive.
Connect All the necessary cables...
You're set to go!!

You're set to go!!!

You are set to go!!!

Well done. Now u have completed on the inside of you casing, but that's not yet. You still have one more thing to pay attention to before turning on your PC.

Ok, when you received your Power supply package, it will come with your power connector like the one shown below:


Now, connect the one with three rectangular holes to the back of your power supply located on the back of your casing like the one shown below:




Now, pay attention to these red colored words . In some cases, certain power supplies have this switch that let u switch to either 240V or 100V/110V while in some cases ,some power supply does not have this. This is usually located beside the on/on power switch of you power supply.

Note* If you have the manual 240V/100V switch,make sure to set it to the correct voltage range in your area. If the wrong voltage is set, this will cause severe issues with your computer. There was one case when i accidentally switch it to 100V, then when i turn on the main power, the inside of the power supply exploded and the next thing i knew i could not on the computer...


For those power supplies that does not have the switch,there's no need to worry as the power supply can automatically senses the voltage range in your area..=)


Now,connect the other end to your power socket as shown below:





You are almost there, make sure to connect the other connectors to your motherboard IO connectors. Eg, Mouse, keyboard, etc...

YOU ARE DONE!! CONGRATULATIONS....u have successfully build your own computer.. Now to see if everything is working, turn on your computer by pressing the on/off button at the front of your casing...

If you could listen a beep sound on your motherboard,it means that your have accomplish your job...congratz..

Now, for those who have any other beep sounds, like there's beeping sounds every 1 seconds or even there's no beeping sound, double check on your connections.

Make sure that the RAMs, and other connectors are fully connected. If the problem still occur, please bring it up to the tagboard or comment here..i will try my best to help you..=)

Last but not least, here's my wonderful system that i have successfully built. Just want to show off..LOL!!

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Connect the necessary cables...

Connect the necessary cables

OK,so now u have all the components install, now u have to connect the cables into them or else it would not run..LOL...

Before we move on, let's give a quick recall on the pins of the power supply..

This is the main 20/24pin motherboard connector shown below....

This is the 6pin PCI express video card connector shown below....

This is the 4/8 pin motherboard connector shown below....

This is the PSU SATA connector shown below....( for your hard disk and dvd writer)...

This is the PSU molex connector shown below..(For your fans ,IDE hard disk and dvd writer )...

This is your PSU floopy connector shown below.....


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Next, we are going to recall the other necessary connectors..

This is the IDE cable shown below....(Connect to dvd writer or hard disk)

This is the Floopy cable shown below.. ..(connect to floopy drive)

This is the front LED connectors shown below.. ...(connect to motherboard)

This is your SATA cable shown below..



This is your fan molex connector shown below...
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First of all, you have to take your Front LED connector and place it on your motherboard according to where it suppose to be. You must refer to your motherboard and your casing manual when doing this...The location of the front led connectors of your motherboard is usually located at the bottom left.

Here's two pictures to guide you..

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Next,you are going to take the 20/24 pin PSU cable and place in onto your motherboard. The location is usually located at the top right of your motherboard and it is white in color with 20 or 24 holes in it..

Here are some pictures to guide you...


Note* Make sure u have to press down the cable and firmly lock the cable into the connector with the clip located at the side of ur cable ( refer to picture 2)..This clip will tell you whether u have placed the cable in the right position and whether you have secured it in tightly..U will feel the clip snapped if you install it correctly..

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Next, we are going to install the 4 or 8 pin power connector..this is usually located at the top left of your motherboard, near to your CPU..In this case, my motherboard uses a 8pin connector..

Here are some pictures to guide you..




Then again..make use of the clip located at the side of the cable to guide you. U should press down the cable tightly and if you do it correctly, u will feel that the clip is snapped..=)

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Next, you will have to connect the 6 pin PCI express to your video card...if you are unsure of the 6 pins,refer to the image below for reference..Then again, my video card uses 2 X 6pin connector..

Here are some pictures shown below to guide you...



Then again..make use of the clip located at the side of the cable to guide you. U should press down the cable tightly and if you do it correctly, u will feel that the clip is snapped..=)

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Next, you are going to find your SATA cables..one from your PSU and one for your motherboard.. With these SATA cables,connect it to your Dvd writer and your hard disk..

The one with longer length is for the PSU and the shorter one is for the motherboard..

Here's an example below:


After u have connected, it will look like the one below:


Now connect the other end of the SATA cable to your motherboard..

Then again,make use of the silver shiny metal at the side of your SATA cable and when you are connecting this to your motherboard, the metal should be facing outwards for your SATA connector:

Here's a picture below to guide you:






For IDE, make use of the molex connector and the IDE connector and connect it to the necessary devices..

An example below:





Then you will need a IDE motherboard connector and connect the other end of the IDE cable to your motherboard and the PSU molex cable to connect to the device molex connector..If you dont know how it's done, here's a picture to guide you..



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For floopy drive, all you have to do is to connect the 4 pin floopy power connector( refer to the top of the page) and the floopy connector..

Here's a picture to guide you:



And then use the other end of the floopy connector to connect to your motherbord which is located usually near the IDE connector...

Here's how it looks like:


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Note* Please double check on your connection. Make sure they are tight and fully pushed in...

And that's it, you have finish building your custom PC...YEAY!!!! but not yet!! You have finish the internal side but you havent finish the external...you have to move to the "You're set to go" section to finish up on your building..=)


I have included in the links section under the video reviews of some of detailed and great reviews of computer hardware...this will help you in installing the computer components..=)


Hope this answer your question. If you have any enquiries, feel free to bring it up in the tagboard or you can comment it here..=)

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Installing Power Supply Unit..

Installing Your Power Supply Unit

Next, we are going to focus on how to install your power supply...

Im going to use my Andyson 650W PSU as a reference to this guide. It is a very quiet and efficient power supply with a bronze certified 80 plus.

Here is a picture of it:
Click on the image to enlarge it..



Ok,so now you got your casing ready as discussed in the "Preparing your casing" section. Let's bring your power supply over. What you will need is a screw driver and your hands...LOL!!

First of, let's get a tour of the PSU and its cables.

This is the main 20/24 pins motherboard connector shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..

This is the 6 pins video card PCI express connector shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..

This is the 4 pins floopy connector shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..

This is the 4/8 pins motherboard connector shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..

This is the molex connector shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..

This is the PSU sata connector shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..



The next thing you will have to do is to locate your power supply station in your motherboard. This is where you will have to place your power supply. If you do not know what it looks like, here's a picture for you to refer:

Click on the image to enlarge it..


Note: Depends on what casing you bought, some power supply station is located at the bottom and some is located on the top..

Ok, so now all you have to do is get ready your screwdriver in one hand and the other hand for your power supply..LOL...i know this is tricky but there's no choice..

With the hand holding the power supply,bring it up to the station...make sure that ur power supply FAN is located downwards...now align the power supply accordingly to the screw holes located at the back of the casing.

Now take this sets of screws as shown below:
Click on the image to enlarge it..

These are called threaded screws

And tighten them up by using a screwdriver as shown below:

Click on the image to enlarge it..

Make sure that the PSU fan is located downwards as shown in the pictures below:

Click on the images to enlarge them:

If you do it correctly, u will have something like this:

Click on the image to enlarge it..


That's it..you're done..make sure to move the cable out of the way as we are going to install the motherboard. Please press the next menu on the bottom of this post to continue with this guide..=)

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I have included in the links section under the video reviews of some of detailed and great reviews of computer hardware...this will help you in installing the computer components..=)


Hope this answer your question. If you have any enquiries, feel free to bring it up in the tagboard or you can comment it here..=)

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