Building my first computer - need help

[Pyromanik]

Volts for the jolts,
Currants for the scones

Volts for the jots,
Amps for the death.

Bent pins aren't fun.

Read that too fast :<

if all really goes to poo - you can probably ply one of the members with Beer to help you out

Not at 15 one can't.

[Kayne]

In theory the earth pin isn't switched and its always earthed. My personal preference is to have the power on, as a way of ensuring it's plugged in and powers flowing, but it's not really necessary. Having it unplugged means you ain't grounded, and you ain't protecting shit from static.

Earth pin (the bottom one) is never switched, Only phase (Looking at the female end, the top left one) is opened or closed.

I wouldn't work on a pc live simply because you might do more damage than static will.

Also on top of all that, I wouldn't take electricity that lightly (This is aimed at everyone). If you happen to get zapped and it goes through your heart, You can quite easily die as it upsets the rhythm of your heart.

Just thought I'd mention that, When people say things like "It's only a little zap, don't worry about it", Makes me worry

[Lias]

I wouldn't work on a pc live simply because you might do more damage than static will.

How exactly?

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

How exactly?

Because you could create a short between the mains electricity, and the computer components. Mains current flowing through your motherboard (and your body) is going to do far more damage then then static.

There is not point to having it switched own, so why do it?

[The Demon Lord]

I personally like to put on a wollen jumper and then roll around on a synthetic carpet for a couple of hours before building my rigs.

The extra voltage helps with my 1337 overclocks....

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

I sit in the bath while working on my rig. The water and soap keeps the case clean of dust.

[Lias]

Because you could create a short between the mains electricity, and the computer components. Mains current flowing through your motherboard (and your body) is going to do far more damage then then static.

There is not point to having it switched own, so why do it?

I've been working in IT for about 17 years, the vast majority of that time has involved building or fixing PC's, and I've never once seen, or heard of, mains current getting through the PSU into the pc components. I'm no electrical engineer so I won't say it's impossible, but i find it highly unlikely.

As to why do it, most modern mobos, and many PSU's have a visible indicator (such as a LED) when power is flowing. Visible indicator = visual reminder that yes your case is grounded.

[Kayne]

I've been working in IT for about 17 years, the vast majority of that time has involved building or fixing PC's, and I've never once seen, or heard of, mains current getting through the PSU into the pc components. I'm no electrical engineer so I won't say it's impossible, but i find it highly unlikely.

As to why do it, most modern mobos, and many PSU's have a visible indicator (such as a LED) when power is flowing. Visible indicator = visual reminder that yes your case is grounded.

I'm merely a humble electrical apprentice, So what I say isn't law.

I'll rewrite what I said, as it's no longer 12:30am, so i'm able to think a little bit better.

One thing it depends on, is if the PCU is an isolating transformer or not. I doubt 230volts are directly supplied to each individual part, but hey, i'm not an IT technician, or an electrical engineer. Anyway, if it is on an isolating transformer, the only way to get a shock will be if the secondary side (the computer side) of the transformer is earthed (I should hope not), Or if you make a path between positive and negative. That being said, If your left hand touched positive, you were touching a computer part, and that computer part was some how linked back to negative, you would send voltage through that said part. I don't know how many volts are in the average static charge that you pick up, and I also don't know how many volts the computer uses. So it's up to you to decide if it would be harmful for that part or not

If your left hand was touching positive, and your right hand was touching negative, You'd be sending voltage directly through your arms, through your heart, and back through the other arm. That being said, if it ISN'T on an isolating transformer, Touching something with your left hand only has a chance of sending electricity through your heart, down your body, and out to earth at your feet. Just making sure no one thinks its okay as long as you only use one hand.

The LED, Being a sparky, You always test. You wouldn't trust a light that's off to assume that power is off. Sure, the LED of the motherboard is probably brand new and working, and is probably a good way to tell if power is on, but I wouldn't trust it to tell if power is off.

Also, I made a uh-oh in my original post, I said

Earth pin (the bottom one) is never switched, Only Phase AND NEUTRAL (Looking at the female end, the top left one (phase) and top right (neutral)) are opened or closed.

Just to clarify, both phase and neutral are opened / closed when turning a power socket on or off. Although neutral is connected to earth at the switchboard, It may still contain power, It shouldn't, but hey.

Not trying to stir shit here, Just like I said, I don't want people thinking a shock is completely harmless. I'm such a caring guy, aren't I?

Also

Visible indicator = visual reminder that yes your case is grounded.

What if the earth pin was broken?

[Lias]

I doubt 230volts are directly supplied to each individual part, but hey, i'm not an IT technician, or an electrical engineer.

230 volts is only supplied to the PSU, which is a sealed unit (yes you can actually open them, but you wouldn't ever do that under anything like normal circumstances). It takes your 230v AC and turns it into nice smoothed out 12v, 5volt and 3.3 volt DC. The only dangerous voltages are within the sealed PSU enclosure, and I'm fairly sure things within the PSU would blow up spectacularly( or blow the internal fuses) and cause a break in the circuit before a dangerous voltage could get through.

If we were talking about working within an open PSU with 230v going into it, then HELL NO, but us IT guys just bin damaged PSU's and whack a new one in. Not many people would ever be poking around inside one (not that I haven't done it.. but not bloody plugged in!)

Not trying to stir shit here, Just like I said, I don't want people thinking a shock is completely harmless. I'm such a caring guy, aren't I?

Also

What if the earth pin was broken?

It's a shockingly good time lol.. nah your right any shock from mains has the potential to be fatal. But you've probably got substantially better odds of winning lotto than being fatally electrocuted by a PC PSU, even a faulty one.

If earth is broken your fucked anyways :-)

*edit* did a bit of digging, and yes if your ground is bad, and things have gone spectacularly wrong within the PSU, you could potentially get a fatal shock, but it would literally be a freak accident, so far from the norm it's not funny. I'll take my chances :-)

[Pyromanik]

Yusss, battle of the electrogeeks!

[Kayne]

Yusss, battle of the electrogeeks!

I don't see whats wrong with talking about current affairs.

What lias said

Fair enough and completely agree. I also agree that chances of every thing in the book fucking up are slim, but it's drummed into apprentices that everything in the book has already fucked up.

[Tandoori]

I once got electrocuted with 230v and it literally killed me (but I lived to tell the tale). Since then, I've made it a rule to minimise the chances of getting an electric shock - principally this means working on electricky things with the power disconnected.

To mitigate the static issue, I do absolutely nothing and that strategy has worked every time!

[Tandoori]

I once got electrocuted with 230v and it literally killed me (but I lived to tell the tale). Since then, I've made it a rule to minimise the chances of getting an electric shock - principally this means working on electricky things with the power disconnected.

To mitigate the static issue, I do absolutely nothing and that strategy has worked every time!

[Chromozone98]

guys can we please get back to the topic... make another thread if you want to talk about another thing.

[Pyromanik]

We are on topic.
Welcome to ICONZ Arena, hosted by IHUG.

[Pyromanik]

This is the build i have come up with so far
COMPUTER RIG

PSU http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=158_363&products_id=7190
CPU http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=107_353&products_id=6476

GPU http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=124_430_433&products_id=6922

FAN http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=164_502_504&products_id=6891

PROCESSORMOTHERBOARD http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=110_354_378&products_id=6116

OPTICAL DRIVE http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=129_133&products_id=7238

HDD http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=120_122&products_id=5808

MONITOR http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=139_174&products_id=6670

CASE http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=307_313&products_id=4654

THERMAL PASTE http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=164_448&products_id=4938

WINDOWS 8 http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=156_345&products_id=6801

RAM http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=117_219&products_id=7331

SPEAKERS http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=146_523_524&products_id=4425

MOUSE & KEYBOARD http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_337_539&products_id=5991
This rig is around $1300 including gst and shipping. Is this a good build?

If you're looking to save money:
You don't need thermal paste or a fan, CPU will come with them.
You don't need Windows.
You don't need speakers, get some good quality headphones. You should probably do this anyway.
You don't really need an optical drive in this day and age, but if you have old discs that you think you'll be making lots of use of, then probably go for it.

I don't keep up with the play, but it looks like you've got some higher quality stuff with some mediocre stuff. Choose one or the other. It looks like you're aiming for mid/low end with the i5, so I'd say just stick with the mid rage goods all round. Dropping the extra peripherals above should save you a fair bit.

That said, I'd look at a decent mouse. Nothing beats a good mouse.

[O-L-W-A-G]

What pyro said and switch that i5 for an i3 and a better GPU

[PrinceTuiTeka]

You don't need Windows.

You dont? We going linux here?

[The Demon Lord]

You dont? We going linux here?

su
root@Linux: rm -rf /
??
Profit

[Pyromanik]

You dont? We going linux here?

No. When was the last time YOU bought windows?
Go 'linux' or go home.

Especially because the only windows you can buy is 8.


I recommend 'linux' 7.

[The Demon Lord]

No. When was the last time YOU bought windows?
Go 'linux' or go home.

Especially because the only windows you can buy is 8.


I recommend 'linux' 7.

I actually recommend Ubuntu - its Friendly ish linux

[Chromozone98]

Dont need linux guys, already got win8

[Chromozone98]

also should i get amd radeon 7870 or gtx 660?

[Pyromanik]

I actually recommend Ubuntu - its Friendly ish linux

Nah, no way.
If you're actually serious, and we're talking new users: LinuxMint.


Never ever Ubuntu, not even once.

[Pyromanik]

Dont need linux guys, already got win8

Why are you trying to buy it again then?