Help needed please new pc build.

[kiwi76]

Help please i've been building my dream pc and i've got a problem can you help please??

Set-up
asus m4a79xtd motherboard (no built in graphics!)
8 gb ddr 3 ocz memory 1.8v
phenom II 955 3.2ghz cpu
thermaltake 550w modular psu
nvidia geforce 9500 gs graphic's card.

the graphics card is my problem, when i put it into my new pc is just "rev's" and i can't get a signal to monitor. The m/b is fresh out of box and not updated and no o/s yet.

However when i put the graphics card in my establised asrock m/b running xp run by a 420w itrust psu with a athlon 64 cpu it runs fine no revving it just works!! what am i doing wrong with my dream pc?? my head hurts!!

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer..

[dctyper]

does the motherboard have built in vga? if so add the drivers for the graphics card before you install

[kiwi76]

no vga built in only a com1 port

[ruudvandan]

have you tried it with a ATI graphics card?

[manxspud]

Right m8... @ruddvandan has hit the nail on the head.
the asus m4a79xtd motherboard supports ati cards and not nvidea cards. this mobo was built for amd who own ati, for your dream pc you don't seem to have done much research bud.
also you are going to need a bigger psu... your phenom II 955 3.2ghz is a 125w cpu, by the time you finish putting your hdd / optical drives and ATI graphics card and whatever else you have in mind together you are going to run short of juice and end up with a unstable pc. i would recommend at least a 750w psu for decent results.
sorry if i sound like i'm having a dig i'm not... it's just been a long day.
regards and good luck @manx

[kiwi76]

Lol i've been merked!! no seriously thank you for the info i'll buy a ati card and see how that fairs.. this has been a dream pc for me and i did do alot of research but not enough it seems. re: psu Asus have a thingy to put your system in and it'll recommend the power required it said 500w and the tek specialist from micron said 500w thats why i opted for the 550w to be on the safe side... :-( looks like i'll have to address this again!!

Thank you for the info it's really appreciated

[chroma]

wattage really isnt an issue.

A 550w modular antec will supply more consistent power across the rails than a generic ?20 550w

Its all down to the other nmbers that dont get widely advertised, like how many amps can be sustained across te different rails.


As for research, i find it best to get a general idea of what id like my Computer to be capable of and my primary goals, setting up a render farm will have widely different hardware than say a gaming setup.

First off i look into processors, and i mean really look, i can speed 2 days straght reading throgh whitepapers and design specs as well as reading reviews (a lesson learned from early pentium problems like being unable to divide integers) this way i form a good picture of any problems i might have down the line.
Then i look into the chips memory configurations, does each core have an independant cache or some kind of convoluted memory manager bolted in to allow cache sharing?

Once ive done my homework there then i'll look at motherboard vendors, again really looking. who manufactures the north bridge? (ive had roblems in the past with VIA chipsets not allowing certain graphics boards) and whats it like with dealing with memory? (an early asus ALIMAGIK1 chipset was a nightmare with certain dram types)

If a board has a proven stable north bridge syncing things up will be much easier down the line and problems wont crop up.

Then i'll look at the South Bridge, this does all your io work, interfaces your hard drives, optical media, usb, firewire, audio, network interfaces and the like.

Once ive got all that sorted (about a week of solid research by now) i'll look into memory and try to max the board out, then look into misc stuff of little importance like graphic adapters and such.

About a week and a half at the drawing board all in, then i'll order everything and have it arrive and set up to run within 2 days mostly.

All in all it takes me 2 weeks to build a solid stable computer, from concept right on through to running.


that being said when i started out i didnt know or understand nearly as much as i do nowadays and ran into my fair share of problems. learning fairly rapidly from that that you can NEVER RESEACH TOO MUCH.

Reviews are NOT research, more often than not reviews are submitted to flaunt e-penis and smoothe over buyers remorse. theres too much subterfuge in an anverage review to be of any real benefit, id rather have a vendor email me or have available for download all the specs and manuals i need to allow me to make an informed desicion.