CM690 -- HDD Partitioning

Farcear

Finally got around to collecting all my bits and pieces but have come across a fan related problem.

The CPU fan and top fan connect directly to the mobo no problem.

However, the two other 2x120mm fans I need to power through a molex connection. At the end of the cable is what's like a small 4-pin connection. Do I need to plug this into the mobo anywhere or is it ok to not have these fans connected to the mobo at all?

Solitaire

Small 4-pin? Odd, usually CPU fans have 4 pins...

If they have both Molex and Mini-Molex connectors then you can use either; the rub is that without the Mini connector hooked up to the mobo you can't control the fan speed via PWM, so if its noisy at full speed things will get messy...

Farcear

Ok, slightly bigger problem now.

Just tried turning it on for the first time.

When I turn on the power, LEDs light up and fans start spinning for a second but then it all goes dark; a few seconds later it tried to start up again but then it all dies.

Any suggestions as to my problem?

Solitaire

Err... the usual? check that cables and cards/DIMMs are in tight.

What kit is this anyway? Some mobos won't work with some PSUs due to abnormal POST durations foxing the PSU and tricking it into thinking that the system's dead...

Farcear

mobo: gigabyte ga-p55-ud3
psu: corsair 650w

I've even gone as far as taking everything out of the case and doing this on non-conductive cardboard, in case something was shorting the mobo, but even just using the mobo, CPU and RAM, I'm still getting the same issue...

Assuming that my connections are OK, what part might be causing this problem and do I have any way of testing it?

somakasvh

Did you reset the CMOS? Do you have a case speaker to listen for beep codes?

Farcear

somakasvh wrote: »

Did you reset the CMOS? Do you have a case speaker to listen for beep codes?

No speakers on this case, I'm afraid.

I have not reset the CMOS. I have to find out how to do that then. It's just a case of removing the battery for 10 seconds, right?

somakasvh

Theres a jumper just beside where the battery is on your board. Short that for a few seconds.

It probably wouldn't hurt to pop the battery out for half a minute too though.

Farcear

Grr, tried that and still no joy.

somakasvh

Maybe then try reseat the CPU, and just use 1 stick of RAM and GPU. Make sure you've got both motherboard power connections, and any GPU power connections.

Failing that, see if you can salvage a case speaker from and old case and connect it up.

Farcear

*head in hands*

OMG; embarassment does not describe how I'm feeling at the moment.

I can't believe I forgot to put in the SECOND 8PIN CONNECTION TO THE MOBO!!!! TWICE!!!

So, that's that problem sorted. Thanks for your help somakasvh, sometimes it does help to have a second opinion reminding me to do the simple stuff.

(At least I hadn't started to take apart the dell to check for beeps!)

Now to put everything back in the case and see what the next problem is.

I'll keep you updated.

somakasvh

No worries, it happens

Farcear

Just posting from the new build to say everything is working (so far!)

I would just like to thank everyone who helped me through the design, ordering and building stages of this. It was actually quite a manageable project in the end. Thanks guys!


Next up on the list of upgrades:
- New screen
- Fan Controller (I'm getting cold just sitting beside this thing! )
- Windows 7!

Deano12345

Farcear wrote: »

Just posting from the new build to say everything is working (so far!)

I would just like to thank everyone who helped me through the design, ordering and building stages of this. It was actually quite a manageable project in the end. Thanks guys!


Next up on the list of upgrades:
- New screen
- Fan Controller (I'm getting cold just sitting beside this thing! )
- Windows 7!

I've got that problem too,what fan controller are you thinking of getting ?

Farcear

Deano12345 wrote: »

I've got that problem too,what fan controller are you thinking of getting ?

No idea; at the moment I'm still focusing on getting everything else to work right!

I wouldn't mind some recommendations here too.

Deano12345

Im picking up a Scythe Kaze Master next week,I'll let you know how it works.How many fans are you going to be controlling

Farcear

CM690 comes with 3 fans, only 1 connects to the mobo.

I might just get a smaller 4th fan and connect them all to the controller -- less stress on the mobo if nothing else.

Farcear

Next up: Partitioning my 500GB HDD for W7 64-bit and some Linux distro.

I figure would something like this work:

5GB: pagefile partition at start of drive
50GB: Win7 OS
50GB: "Linux" OS
300GB: Applications & Data

Thoughts?

Deano12345

Farcear wrote: »

CM690 comes with 3 fans, only 1 connects to the mobo.

I might just get a smaller 4th fan and connect them all to the controller -- less stress on the mobo if nothing else.

Certain Mobo's wont boot without a CPU fan connected,although you can change this in the BIOS

About the partitioning,all looks good.If your not experienced with the distributions of Linux,Ubuntu is the most user friendly and with its new EXT4 file system it's damn fast !

Farcear

Deano12345 wrote: »

Certain Mobo's wont boot without a CPU fan connected,although you can change this in the BIOS

About the partitioning,all looks good.If your not experienced with the distributions of Linux,Ubuntu is the most user friendly and with its new EXT4 file system it's damn fast !

Sorry, I mean the 3 x 120mm 3-pin case fans.

The 4-pin CPU fan can stay connected to the mobo.

How big of a partition would i need for Ubuntu? 50gb is just an arbitrary figure I came up with. I would assume that a non-microsoft OS could be a lot more streamlined.

Deano12345

I'm not 100% sure (last ime I installed was on EXT3) but 50 GB is plenty

Farcear

Wow! Vista is an absolutely HORRIBLE OS! Seriously!!! Between the constant "Vista needs your authorisation (again)" screens and the fact that installing ANYTHING to the /program files directory seems to be a bad idea... How does anyone put up with it???

Tried to install XP but, sadly, the 9 year old OS doesn't play nice with the newer hardware.

I'm currently downloading W7 and can't wait to get Vista off my system.

Seriously, what the hell were MS thinking when they developed this???

Deano12345

Farcear wrote: »

Wow! Vista is an absolutely HORRIBLE OS! Seriously!!! Between the constant "Vista needs your authorisation (again)" screens and the fact that installing ANYTHING to the /program files directory seems to be a bad idea... How does anyone put up with it???

Tried to install XP but, sadly, the 9 year old OS doesn't play nice with the newer hardware.

I'm currently downloading W7 and can't wait to get Vista off my system.

Seriously, what the hell were MS thinking when they developed this???

I skipped Vista completely and went straight to 7 so I cant comment,although I have used plenty of vista PC's...its such a bad OS !