Building first rig

[esco1199]

A little background, I am in Afghanistan exploiting the war as a contractor and I am buying my self a gaming rig. I am due home in about a month and a half and will prob go with the unicorn build. This is my first rig so forgive my ignorance when I ask a few questions.

1. Do all wires/connectors/screws come with each piece?
2. I have always used apple, how hard is it to get the drivers once the OS loaded on the system....such as the GFX card and such?
3. My extent on computers is upgrading ram, how hard is it to build one from scratch....is the MOBO labeled for which connectors go where?

Anything else that I should know would help...thanks guys.

[Xami]

1. Yes. All you need is a #2 screwdriver.
2. If you're installing Win7 (as you should be), then most of the critical drivers are provided by default, and if not, motherboard comes with a CD with all the drivers you need.
3. Wiring will probably pose the most challenge, but connectors only go into the right slot (due to shape) so they're quite straightforward. Usually motherboard manual will tell you everything you need in terms of which cable goes where.

Other than that, watch out for static (don't touch the back side of boards), make sure CPU heatsink is correctly installed... that's about it.

[googz]

2. If you're installing Win7 (as you should be), then most of the critical drivers are provided by default, and if not, motherboard comes with a CD with all the drivers you need.

True, but you will want to update them after you're up and running still since most of the time the drivers they come with are often already out of date.

Have a looksie... It's under a subforum to this one.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...-Threads-Links

[esco1199]

Other than that, watch out for static (don't touch the back side of boards), make sure CPU heatsink is correctly installed... that's about it.[/QUOTE]

Does the CPU heat sink come in the same box as the CPU or is that sold separately? I did not see it listed in the unicorn section.

[googz]

Does the CPU heat sink come in the same box as the CPU or is that sold separately? I did not see it listed in the unicorn section.

That's what this is.

[esco1199]

Ok thank you. I was under the impression that the fan cooled the whole system and not just the CPU. Thanks guy for all the advice.

[Xami]

CPU are sold in two types: box (comes with stock cooler) and bulk (cpu only). For most purposes stock fan is more than sufficient. Only if you plan on doing heavy overclocking (or if you just want to be fancy) should you consider getting a 3rd party cooler.

[pbrr711]

i recommend amazon, they have been having good deals lately