A puff of smoke

[Thomas Edward Bufkin]

This is what I just purchased:


VEGAS 5 w/DVD
Windows XP Pro
Antec Plusview 1000 AMG Case
Thermaltake W0011R 480 Watt Power Supply
Antec 80 MM Quiet Fan
TT-8025A-2B Case Fan, 37 CFM
ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe 875 P, LAN
INTEL P4 Prescott 3.0 GHz 800FS
Kingston 1024MB DDR(400)CL3 RAM
(2) Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 160 GB SATA Drives
(1) Maxtor 120 GB USB external
PNY Quadro NVS 280 PCI-E White Video Card
Plextor DVD/RW PX-712SA/BPSwhite
Not yet delivered 19" LCD
an old 17" CRT still works good
WACOM USB tablet; stylus; 5 button mouse

Question:

Is it important which SATA inputs the two Hitachi HD's go into? the MOBO has four. Also what is RAID? Should I use it, can I use it, yes,no,maybe duh?

Is is important where the Ram pairs plug into?

Since everything is SATA: Hard drives as well as DVD burner, no floppy drive, will configuring the bios be special because of all SATA Drives? BTW should I get another CD or DVD burner/reader?

Should I configure with only one HD first then install the other SATA HD after the OS is installed as well as the Maxtor 120 external USB?

Excuse my inexperience with all this.

I've never built one from scratch only upgraded a time or two.

I'm jut afaid I'll see a puff of smoke come out of the box.
Also what are all the extra wires coming from the Power Supply?

thanks in advance to all who contribute

TEB

[Glenn Chan]

1- If you read the manuals for all your parts, you should be pretty good. If you can program your VCR you're good to go. Just make sure you follow all the instructions, or else you can damage your processor. Newer processors however are a lot harder to damage. I can't think of anything else you can damage, unless you manage to plug in an old Dell power supply or your parts are faulty.

Also make sure you watch out for static/ESD (ground yourself), which applies to all parts.

There's some good information at http://www.dansdata.com/sbs3.htm on how to avoid damaging your computer.

The last thing you have to watch out for are loose screws. They can short out your motherboard and you'll be sitting there wondering why the heck your computer doesn't work.

2-

Also what is RAID? Should I use it, can I use it, yes,no,maybe duh?

You don't need it, and it doesn't help you that much. There are many threads discussing whether or not to RAID. Some people do it for speed increases, although RAID only speeds up certain tasks.
RAID takes a little more effort to setup. If you do wish to use RAID, you have to setup the RAID *before* you put data on it (i.e. video, windows).

3-

Is is important where the Ram pairs plug into?

Yes. Follow the color coding on your motherboard, and/or read your motherboard's manual. If you put the RAM pairs in the wrong way your computer will be slightly slower since the RAM won't run dual channel.

4-

will configuring the bios be special because of all SATA Drives?

No. You may however need SATA drivers for windows. Your Windows CD probably has these drivers already... if not, you will need them on a floppy and you will need to hit F6 when installing windows. SATA drivers latch onto the SCSI framework, so pretend SATA = SCSI.

5-

BTW should I get another CD or DVD burner/reader?

If you want to copy CD/DVD to CD/DVD then another burner/reader can help speed up this process. You don't need an extra drive, but if you do this often then it's worth it.

[Thomas Edward Bufkin]

Thanks Glenn

TEB