first build horrors

[leedog2007]

Anyone got some first computer build horrors they'd like to share?

 

[imported_obsidian]

Memory goes in one way (no matter how much force you use).

 

[leedog2007]

nice

 

[Daddyjaxx]

Never screw the motherboard directly to the tray.

 

[thecrecarc]

do not spray windex on the heatsink and fan jk i didnt do that

 

[John P]

Make sure you don't have any extraneous metal standoffs where they are not supposed to be, like directly underneath major component of the motherboard.

Memory goes in one way (no matter how much force you use).

By the way, RAM will go partially in the wrong way - and then it will start burning when you turn the computer on (don't ask me how I know that). Fun for the whole family..... The RAM still works, it's just missing part of one of the gold stripe thingies on one side of the PCB.

 

[MisterChief]

NEVER, EVER remove the HSF from a Prescott for more than 10 seconds...

 

[leedog2007]

did it fry the cpu?

 

[bigal40]

Originally posted by: MisterChief
NEVER, EVER remove the HSF from a Prescott for more than 10 seconds...

That reminds me of this movie http://www.glebeci.ca/users/matt/video/...MD_Duron_Vaporizing_final_divx_lq1.avi

 

[ComatoseDelirium]

um, i didn't securely attach the PSU connector to the floppy, and it shorted, melted all the way up the line to the psu hole (you know where the wires disappear to.. down the rabbit hole..)

 

[MisterChief]

Originally posted by: bigal40

Originally posted by: MisterChief
NEVER, EVER remove the HSF from a Prescott for more than 10 seconds...

That reminds me of this movie http://www.glebeci.ca/users/matt/video/...MD_Duron_Vaporizing_final_divx_lq1.avi

Funny crap! :laugh:

 

[ComatoseDelirium]

Originally posted by: bigal40

Originally posted by: MisterChief
NEVER, EVER remove the HSF from a Prescott for more than 10 seconds...

That reminds me of this movie http://www.glebeci.ca/users/matt/video/...MD_Duron_Vaporizing_final_divx_lq1.avi

His accent is funnier.

 

[MisterChief]

Originally posted by: ComatoseDelirium

Originally posted by: bigal40

Originally posted by: MisterChief
NEVER, EVER remove the HSF from a Prescott for more than 10 seconds...

That reminds me of this movie http://www.glebeci.ca/users/matt/video/...MD_Duron_Vaporizing_final_divx_lq1.avi

His accent is funnier.

Lol :laugh: I really can't understand most of what he says!

 

[PhoenixOrion]

I remember installing a slot PII a century ago. Pushed in too hard and broke it.

 

[MisterChief]

... I was having some difficulty with a mobo tray screw...The screwdriver slipped, and *snap* went the memory

 

[ribbon13]

I broke a capacitor off a board because of a fight with the GF.

Luckily I had a Wahl soldering station, silver solder, quality flux, worthy skills, and lots of caps in my workbench.

 

[WW2Planes1]

7000RPM should not be powered off motherboard fan headers
(actually, they shouldn't exist at all)

 

[ribbon13]

Why not? Roadie/touring amps use high rpm fan cooling because the people on stage are gonna be making a LOT more SPL.

 

[cyclohexane]

how about random BSODs that took an eternity to fix

 

[MisterChief]

Anybody ever "static" their system to DEATH? I've never heard of a comp that got zapped and broke down.

 

[kparms82]

Scene...Installing Heatsink....

"This is too much pressure...way too much...i can't believe how hard it is to snap this stupid clip in..." CRACK goes my processor

what really happened though...you know that arm next to the socket that you have to lift in order to seat the processor pins in...yeah i forgot that step.

Moral of the story: "Read the instructions...or at least have a good warrenty =)"

Never static'ed a comp to death or ever heard of one having such a death..think maybe thats a wives tale.....

 

[AMCRambler]

Took apart a cdrom that the tray was acting flakey on. Had the bare pcb on the bottom of it exposed and for some stupid reason, decided to set it right on the metal chassis of the case. Powered the pc on and man did sparks fly. Scared the crap outta me, but luckily the breaker in the psu tripped and it shut off quickly enough. Nothing got fried, but man was my heart beating fast.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hmm. Trying to push an SDRAM DIMM into a never used before slot on a new motherboard, and it seemingly required so much force (no, I didn't have it backwards, I always test-seat them gently beforehand), that my fingers ripped off one of the capacitors near the top of the DIMM. Since they were PC100, and the system was only running them at 66Mhz, it still seemingly worked, but I no longer trust that one to use in an important rig.

I don't understand why DIMM slots, and Socket370/A heatsink clips, require so much dang force. Why don't they drop the whole "ZIF socket" thing, and go back to the old type of evil high-insertion-force socket too. I mean, really. (Why can't they invent a ZIF socket for DIMMs? It wouldn't seem impossible to me.)

That reminds me - anyone remember SIPP memory? That stuff was kind of a fun PITA to upgrade too, especially if you bent a pin.

 

[P0ldy]

Hey guys, about to put together my first build this weekend. I've read the manual(s) in preparation. Motherboard in question is the Lanparty NF3. Three fan connectors, four fans. Short of a fan controller, any way to install all four?

In what order do you all generally put it all together? I've read mech's guide (which is great) a few times already, too.

 

[ts3433]

I used mechBgon's guide for my first build last year. Thankfully, the worst things I did were:
-getting a little AS5 on the ceramic packaging of my XP-M (swabbed it with dish detergent on a Q-tip a little to clean; hasn't hurt a thing yet)
-trying to use a floppy data cable on my CD-RW without seeing that it wasn't covering all of the pins/it was a floppy data cable (had to go 30 minutes into Fresno to finally get the $4 item to finish my build) (To clarify, I did indeed have my molexes straight)