Hey everyone, i am building my first computer and i am unsure on how to proceed, the only thing i am unsure of is after i put together the system and when i need to get into CMOS and make sure my pc is reading the HD and DVD drive, i am also unsure of how to check how to change the basic memoty parameters, because it is a barebone, and the mobo came with no set of instructions, what i do know that it is a dell motherboard and the computer should be an AMD processor.



thanks!

There is no need to enter the BIOS Setup or CMOS unless a problem is apparent. Most boards use the Delete key to enter the BIOS Setup. You should see on the bottom of the first screen Press Delete (or whatever) to enter Setup.

There should be no reason to adjust Memory timings etc. unless you are considering overclocking. You should have a stable running system before you try any overclocking.

The first thing you do when the system is ready to go is boot your Operating System CD/DVD and install the Operating System.

After that load the motherboard drivers. Then you should be all set.

what are they? i bought a dell oem and i dont know how to load the motherboard drivers or what they are, any suggestions?

Did you install the operating system?

If it was pre-installed so were the drivers.

If you installed it then either you have a Dell Driver CD or else go to Dell Support and download the drivers for you particular model.

how would i download them to the computer i am building?

Most new motherboards come with the driver CD.

After you install your Operating System you use this CD to install the drivers.

If you do not have such a CD you can download the drivers from the manufactures web site on another computer and then burn the CD.

You need the make and model of your motherboard to find the proper drivers.

If you have a Dell computer then Dell will have the drivers.

thanks

i installed the hard drive today, how would i know that the motherboard is reading it and will install windows onto it?

the hard drive is a 300 gig maxtor sata, if there are specifics for SATA hdd's

Enter the BIOS Setup if you want to verify that the BIOS sees it. Most BIOS Setups are accessed via the Delete key. You should see on the bottom of the screen "Press Delete for Setup" or another key perhaps F2.

If the motherboard is SATA II capable it should be no problem. If it is only SATA I capable there is a jumper on the drive you need to change. But if the BIOS sees it then there is no problem.

In order to install Windows onto a SATA drive you will need to copy the motherboard SATA/RAID drivers onto a floppy disk.

When you start to load Windows you will see "Press F6 to load additional drivers". Then you need to insert this floppy so Windows can load the SATA/RAID drivers in order to use the SATA drive.

is there another way, because i dont have a floppy drive on any of my computers