Greetings and salutations to each and every one of you readers. This post I am about to write is basically showing you what I am doing at the moment in my spare time.

You see I absolutely enjoy every aspect of computing and technology. Some people may enjoy horse riding, soccer, baking,  frolicking through grassy fields. (As you do), but I just love technology.

Basically I’m still a student but have a couple of hours a week with an IT company. I upgraded my current computer about a year ago, changed the motherboard, processor and ram. At the moment my current specs are:

1) Motherboard =Gigabyte M57SLI-S4 (socket M2) Nvidia nForce 570 SLI Chipset

2) CPU = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+, 3.0 Ghz

3) RAM = 4.0 GB Corsair DDR2 @ 201 MHz 5-5-5-18

4) Graphics = 256MB GeForce 7600 GT (x2)

5) Hard Drives = 200GB Seagate SCSI (x2)

6) Operating System = Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit

However, as you can see even though i upgraded the MB, CPU, and RAM only a year ago, already they are running out of date, especially with regards to my graphics cards, any new release games are not playable off my 256MB GeForce 7600 GT (x2). So I said to myself, that’s it!!

I’m gonna have to build a new computer.

So I spent about a week reading reviews, viewing specs, and comparing the various components. Then I picked each component that I wanted, except the video card. Now I buy each component as an can afford it. Then each time I buy a new component, I will post a new post updating you on what I’ve done. The reason I have not selected a video card is because, ATI seem to be miles ahead of nVidia at the moment, which doesn’t really sit right with me since i am a huge nVidia fan. ATI have 2GB GDDR5 cards with direct x11 support (ATI 5970). nVidia are still mainly on 1GB GDDR3 with direct x10 support. So I do want to wait to see what nVidias new Fermi range will have in store.

Ok, so. . . .so far I have bought 3 components, the Case, Motherboard and CPU (central processing unit). You’ll notice too, my supplier of choice was Komplett.ie. You will find the link to each component listed.

Here is the breakdown:

1) Case: Cooler Master HAF 922………………………………………………………[Link]

2) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6, P55, Socket-1156……….[Link]

3) Processor: Intel i5 Quad-Core Processor i5-750, 2.66 Ghz Quad Core….[Link]

OK, so before I go on to show you pictures and instructions on how I fitted the components, I should probably explain, why I decided to pick these exact components. By the way if you disagree with why I did something a certain way or why I chose one component over another, please feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post.

The Case -€120

So the reason I picked that exact case, the HAF 922, was because firstly, it looks amazing, lovely bright red LED’s, nice black finish looks like a mean sith machine. Ha. The other reason is because of it’s expandability – 10 drive bays, 5 external, 5 internal. Also It has an extreme fan cooling system with a Front 200mm Fan, Top 200mm Fan, and a Rear 120mm Fan, with the option for another 200mm on the side panel, and also the option to switch all 200mm fans with 120mm x2.

The Motherboard -€250

The Reason i bought that particular Motherboard was because It supports the long awaited USB 3.0, which brags to be up to 10 times faster, however this really isn’t true, most reviews claim it to be about 3 times faster than standard USB 2.0. Also it has support for SATA 6.0Gbps, yes this technically should be twice as fast as Standard SATA 3.0GBps that we are all use to. The only problem with these is that there isn’t many drives out yet that are 6.0GBps, so at the moment it’s not hugely beneficial, likewise with the USB 3.0. However in a few months or perhaps almost a year, the productions of these devices will be rampant, you see at the moment the companies i.e Seagate, Western Digital, etc all need to get rid of their current stock before selling these new technologies. Also this motherboard supports up to 16GB of SDDR3 RAM, dual channel. And Finally it’s equipped with 1x ATA, 8x SATA, 2x E-SATA, 14x USB, 3x Firewire.

The Processor -€185

Finally the reason I bought the i5-750 Processor. I was stuck between choosing AMD and Intel, Ive been using AMD for most of my life and haven’t had much trouble. However Intel just seems to be miles ahead in technology. Yes AMD are cheaper, however their flagship processor the Phenom ll x4 processor still matched my new Intels i5- 750. Thus, showing that Intels 4th or 5th best processor is matched to AMD’s greatest processor, also the fact that AMD almost got forced out of the market by Intel, was also a little bit unnerving. If Intel wasn’t forced to pay AMD 1.25 billion, who knows where they would be!

Most reviews even show that the i5-750 still out performs the phenom ll x4 by a small bit in all areas, except for gaming where the phenom ll x4 edges its way a minuscule amount past the i5. However, Intel still have the i7 family which consists of 4 different processors which are all better than AMD and the i5′s, these however range in price between €220 – €850. While AMD Phenom ll x4 prices come in around €160

The Build:

The Motherboard and How To Install It

OK so here’s what i did:

The pictures explain most of it, but ill explain what I can anyway.

Firstly I remove the two thumb screws from the back of the case so that I could remove the side panel.

Then I lined up the other twist screws with the Mother Board ATX layout. (These are nine screws which the motherboard then sits on)

After that I then removed the motherboard from it’s packaging, and sat it down lining up the screws. Also ensuring that the rear ports of the motherboard lined up with the rear port slot of the case.

Next, and this is very important, you need to screw in the motherboard, but this isn’t as straight forward as you might think. You do NOT fully screw in 1 screw at a time, this will cause the motherboard to not line up and could end up permanently damaging it. You need to just give each screw a few twists so that you just feel it threading, then you do that with the screw directly opposite it. For example if you start with the screw at the very top left, then your 2nd screw should be bottom right, and so on. Then when they are all threaded you can slowly screw them all in each one a bit at a time, until eventually they fit snug. As seen in the image.

The Processor (CPU)

The next job was to insert the processor, this part must be done with precision and accuracy! Why?

Well if you discharge static from your body through the processor it’s fried, and if you’ve bought the i7-965 Extreme, then that’s €850 that you will not be getting back.

Also if the processor is not inserted the correct way, you could bend the little pins, rendering the chip useless.

So basically, yes it is a square but your processor will come with instructions. On mine i had to line up a small triangle, the processor basically sits right in. Then the retention clip is brought down, securing it.

Yes you do need to exert quite a bit of force on this retention bracket, some people think they are in fact crushing their processor, but listen, the retention clip is there for a reason, to ensure every tiny little pin is in contact with the motherboard, of course it’s going to need quite a lot of pressure.

This image shows how it should look.

The CPU Cooler

The next a final step now comes, the fitting of the heatsink or CPU cooler as some like to call it. Either way something tells me no matter what you call it, it will still complete the same task. Cool your CPU. Ha

Anyway, i know you can buy better and quieter ones, and that you can even buy water cooling ones such as the Corsair H50 Hydro, which I’ve seen in action and must admit its pretty damn good.

However I stuck with Intels standard heat sink for cost sake. Yes it is included when you purchase a CPU.

It’s pretty straight forward, just PLEASE make sure there is cooling paste on your heat sink before you fit it, this aids in firstly holding it together but also for transferring the heat from the CPU to the heat sink.

Basically, all you do is sit it on top of the CPU lining up the 4 push screws and then turn each of them in a clock wise direction, nothing too much to it.

This image shows the heatsink fitted, the other image shows a view from the rear of the MB. and case

Also this was another reason i liked the HAF 922 Case, you can take off the other side panel and there is an access hole to the back of your motherboard.

This is very handy for say fitting a Corsair H50 Hydro, because it comes with a retention bracket that fits to the back of your board to hold the water cooling system on. With this handy access hole, it means you do not need to remove your MB from its case. Neat, eh?

Anyway that pretty much concludes part 1, I shall update ye when I purchase the next part, which will most likely be the RAM or PSU (power supply unit).

Please leave a comment after you read this whether it be commendation or criticism, I really don’t mind, but criticism helps me to learn.

Also if you have any questions regarding this post that you do not wish to post publicity, you can contact Tech-n-life, or myself (ex13mail@gmail.com).