My Computer [that I just built] does not work!!! I am very desperate!!

The PC I have built is composed of the following parts:
-Asus P5GDC Deluxe Motherboard
-Some sort of Samsung 1 GB PC3200 DDR 400 Mhz RAM
-80 GB and 120 GB HDD's
-ATI RADEON X600 PRO gfx card
-420 Watt PSU
-LG Drive that has it all for DVD and "below"... (2 other drives...but not needed for the moment..)
-Sexy Tower [that fits the mo-bo I have] (obviously)
-Intel 630 CPU (Socket 775-LGA775) 3.0 Ghz-2 MB Cache
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Ok, so...here's the problem....I physically installed everything and when I boot and go into the bios it "see's" my hdd's but it does not see my optical drive(s) however when I boot up the PC before the bios screen (when it's all black, after the screen with the ASUS and Intel logo's) it see's it (or them) (I say this because I tried with one and with more than one optical drive in my [new] comp)

The problem I think I may be having is that the hdd's cable (not SATA, I don't have SATA Hdd's..) is connected to the blue connection for it on the mo-bo and that the optical drives are connected to the primary raid red slot (the one that IS NOT sideways)...I cannot tell you exactly which optical drives I am talking about because I do not have their "identifications" for now but I don't think that that is the problem. I adjusted the jumpers to MASTER and SLAVE (one master, one slave) for the drives but they were read in the same order in the boot sequence but not in the bios!! (they weren't read...period, in the bios) I don't think that I am supposed to put optical drives on raid connections because I think it is for hdd's only but someone please help me!! I am going to try if putting the hdd's on the raid connection and the optical drives on the blue connection works...if it does...I will announce it with great pleasure!!! (obviously) This is important: I do not want to "do" RAID with my HDD's! (first of all, they are not the same size and I don't need RAID's "extra security")

Someone please help me! I can't even install my OS (XP PRO)!! I can't even use my computer...not even my old one because I took off the 120 GB from that and I wiped it with DriveScrubber (from System Mechanic)!! What am I going to do with no comp??!!!

P.S. I'm posting this using someone else's comp... (obviously)

 

Your mobo only supports one IDE channel (2 devices). To install the OS, put the HDD as master and an optical as slave on the primary IDE channel (blue connector). If you want to use more than oneoptical drive, invest in a PCI IDE controller card. They can be picked up fairly cheap.

~Rich

 

Thx so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*kissing your feet*
LOL!
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I just got one more question and it's about Hyper Threading...according to the manual book, I have to enable Hyper Threading from the bios before installing a supported OS...which in my case is Windows XP Pro...so my true question is where exactly in the bios do I "go" to enable Hyper Threading?

MY CPU is capable of Hyper Threading, right?
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*edit* Why is no one answering??!!

 

As far as I was aware, Hyper Threading was default enabled on boards that use it, but it may be wise to check. I'm not sure exactly whether or not HT needs to beactivated before an OS, because if it's done in the BIOS, it should be able to be set whenever, it's not to do with partitions. In any case, nip into your BIOS and browse through the menus, you're probably looking like "Advanced settings" or "Advanced CMOS Features, but if you don't find it there, just go into all the menus and look for what might say "HT Technology" or "Hyper Threading". Last time I checked, The P4 630 does support HT, so you don't need to worry about that one!

 

I knew the 630 supported HT but just wanted to make sure. I did look in the bios and I can't find any mention of Hyper Threading! I checked after I have installed Windows XP Professional on my HDD. Do I need to check before I install any OS?..or do you not know? (since you maybe don't have that motherboard or some similar reason)

 

Lol I use AMD, so Hyper Threading is a bit of a grey area, but if you combed the BIOS for it, it may be enabled without option, that board does support it.

 

I am using the PC that we are now talking about. So, what I want to know now is: is it possible to check while in windows if Hyper-Threading is enabled? With a Software maybe? Does Everest Pro check that? I say that since I have Everest Pro.

Thx, in advance...

 

I've not used Everest Pro so I wouldn't know, nor do I use an Intel HT CPU so I'm not sure exactly what to recommend CPU test wise, however, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and go to the task manager, clicking "Performance" - if you get one graph of a CPU at the top, you haven't got HT enabled, if you get two graphs side by side at the top, you have.

 

It is not enabled!! I see a CPU usage graph and PageFile Usage graph...thanks sammoris for helping me realize I don't have Hyper Threading enabled as funny as it may sound...

 

so you don't see this?


You get this instead?

 

Oh!!!! I have Hyper-Threading enabled on my CPU!! Ya!!!!! I have the former (1st pic)!! Ya!!! Thanks sammoris!!!!!!

P.S.
I haven't noticed that bar in the middle until you compared both screens here on AD on this thread.
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As for adding more PATA HDD's, is it possible to have more than one PATA HDD on my mo-bo? I say this because from what I have heard...I have to have SATA HDD's if I want to add more HDD's!! What about those red raid slots? Is there a way to use them for PATA HDD's that ARE NOT on raid??

According to this: "Your mobo only supports one IDE channel (2 devices). To install the OS, put the HDD as master and an optical as slave on the primary IDE channel (blue connector). If you want to use more than oneoptical drive, invest in a PCI IDE controller card. They can be picked up fairly cheap.

~Rich"...I can't, right?

 

i thought hyper threading sucked?
and that is a hell of a lot of page file usage going on their sammorris....

 

Quote:"i thought hyper threading sucked?
and that is a hell of a lot of page file usage going on their sammorris...."
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Hyper Threading makes a single core CPU almost as good as a dual-core CPU at the same clock speed in every aspect except overclocking...correct me if I am wrong. In other words...Hyper Threading simulates the second core of dual-core CPU's.


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As for the pagefile stuff...what exactly is page file? Is it like a small area on the HDD dedicated to be treated as RAM on the HDD or is it part of the cache memory on the CPU? I think it's the former of what I just said...but I want to make sure.

Thx, in advance...

 

s3a: Yeah the line's there alright. I don't really understand the significance of the red slot on your motherboard if it doesn't support HDDs in normal mode. Seems a bit of a weird setup, but if it's true, you WILL need a PCI IDE controller card, and usually that means RAID cards, which although will support more IDEs in normal mode, aren't
cheap to buy. One of my mates has successfully pulled it off though!

Triock15: HT is a bit naff, but hey, he wants it enabled! A hell of a lot? It's TINY! Most of the time its 800MB+.

S3a: nah, cobblers about HT mate, it does indeed make a simulated dual core out of one, but there really is physically only one, so you gain on average about 5-10%. It isn't really anything to rave about. It's only useful if you need to balance two high-usage applications, so they each get enough processing power without a conflict.
A page file is all the memory that's in your RAM, rather than on your hard disk. A file related to it is stored on the hard disk as well. If there's 510MB of data in your RAM, there'll be a page file about that size on your hard disk, so if you've under 1GB free space, your PC will still act like it has only 1GB or less of RAM even if you have more.

 

What do I need to buy to prevent dust from clogging my system in the future? Or is there a free "remedy"?

 

Well either get dust filters installed that you can clean every so often or buy a can of compressed air for cleaning dust out when it arrives...

 

What is a dust filter? And here's a random question: When you do video editing, why do you need a high-end video card? My logic tells me that the only thing a high-end video card would do for video editing is being able to watch movies (your umcompressed video of 160 GB or more) in full HD quality (or even better). Am I right?

 

Good GPUs are needed for the image quality, but it's a CPU you need for the editing really. You don't need a high end unit unless you're using the GPU to encode things.

A dust filter filters dust, surprisingly, i.e. stop dust from accumulating inside!

 

Lol, dust filters DO filter dust...but is it like a filter for the sink, do you ever have to replace it (or any part of it)?

 

They do need cleaning, but are usually easily removable. They don't need cleaning often though.