Buying a New PC

[Ideologue]

I think my case actually may have been mismanufactured... I had to break a piece off the mesh faceplate to get the DVD drive in.  The screw-off pieces were actually in front of the hard drives cages, each of which includes a fan.  I am certainly willing to think that I fucked something up, but I cannot understand why there would be a need easily-removeable pieces in front of the fan (neither of which actually fully uncover the fan) over of in my optical drive bays.

Especially given that, due to their shitty screw(s) and/or my apparent Thor-like strength, my HDD will still be in there long after I pass from this mortal coil.

[Caliga]

You do in fact have to do that with some cases, Ide.  I think I did with my current two cases (CoolerMaster Cavaliers).

[Ideologue]

I: newb.

But I have claimed wiktorie over my GPU.

[Ideologue]

Moment of truth in a few minutes.

I managed to construct the entire machine without snapping anything apart (except for parts of the case and I meant to do that).  This almost certainly means that I have destroyed one or more pieces of equipment in a more subtle way.  Possibly by bleeding on it.

Problems that have not been remedied include the weird angles that the motherboard and GPU have decided to rest at.  The MB is not touching the case, but is not parallel to its side wall.  This has resulted in the IO panel being uninstallable.  I might tape it on later, but really, given the porousness of this case, dust coming in through an open IO slot is going to be marginal.

The GPU may be perpendicular to the MB and it's only the angle of the MB that gives the appearance of oddity, but, given the GPU's weight, I would not be surprised if it is a combination of both viewing angle and poor installation.

I'm pretty sure I put the power supply in upside down.  However, everything's hooked up fine as far as I can tell--with the exception that the 24-pin MB cord seems looser than I think it should be.  But the lack of an "up" arrow on virtually everything except items that are actually basically symmetrical, like the hard drive cage, is annoying.  One Corsair logo is upside down and one is right side up.  The fan faces the GPU fan, which is facing the ground per necessity and possibly by design.

I'm kind of considering getting a guy I know who's built like a million computers come over and give it a once over before I do something stupid like turning it on. : /

Edit: I think I figured out why the hard drive cage mesh can be removed--to permit installation of HDDs without having to remove everything else in the Goddamn case.  That is actually kind of a useful feature.

[Ideologue]

I have successfully built a device for powering small fans!

A computer, not so much.

[Barrister]

Good luck Ideo.

[Ideologue]

Isn't the motherboard supposed to beep and shit if there's a hardware failure?  No beeps, no codes, no nothing.  At least it's not on fire.

The lights are on, but no one is home.  The MB is definitely powered, the red power symbol light shows up fine, and the button will turn on the system as expected.  The GPU is powered, as it lights up too.  Of course, the fans and LEDs and shit are all drawing power.  The only indication that something might not be getting power is that the CPU fan doesn't spin up.

[Grey Fox]

Is it making it to the Bios?

[Ideologue]

Nope.

N/m about the CPU fan, I got it to work.  So, basiscally, it's just not responding whatsoever, just drawing power for mechanical objects.

Something may be coming out of the GPU--I get a "no [whatever] signal" message, but I got a repeat of the "no HDMI signal" right after I turned off the machine.

[Grey Fox]

What case did you get?

[Grey Fox]

Mobo should touch the case, should be about 1/4 inch above it.

If the power supply is on the bottom it should be upside down.

Mesh to be removed for installation of drive bays is normal.

[Ideologue]

Yeah, it doesn't touch the case.  The spacers keep it from touching, it's just a bit closer than 1/4 inch.

The case is an Azza Solano.

[DGuller]

I'd really try to get the mobo lined up properly.  I don't even know how you managed to insert the cards into it with it being askew.  When I did it, it was a PITA to line it up, but eventually it was manageable.

[DGuller]

Nope.

N/m about the CPU fan, I got it to work.  So, basiscally, it's just not responding whatsoever, just drawing power for mechanical objects.

Something may be coming out of the GPU--I get a "no [whatever] signal" message, but I got a repeat of the "no HDMI signal" right after I turned off the machine.

My mobo has a two-digit led display inside, which normally displays interior temperature, but during startup displays POST codes.  Does your mobo have something like this?

[Ideologue]

Nope.

N/m about the CPU fan, I got it to work.  So, basiscally, it's just not responding whatsoever, just drawing power for mechanical objects.

Something may be coming out of the GPU--I get a "no [whatever] signal" message, but I got a repeat of the "no HDMI signal" right after I turned off the machine.

My mobo has a two-digit led display inside, which normally displays interior temperature, but during startup displays POST codes.  Does your mobo have something like this?

No.  Nothing but the red taking-in-power light.

I think I've broken it completely, btw.  It happened when I put the case speaker in.  I think I switched the positive and negative wires on it, although I'd like to point out that this is not entirely my fault as "red" and "black" are not labels, "positive" and "negative" or "+" and "-" are fucking labels.  A label proudly declaring that it is a "SPEAKER" is not really very helpful, and this space would have been better spent telling me what red and black mean, because I am not a Goddamn electrician.

Would a misinstalled speaker wire actually be capable of destroying whatever the fuck I have now destroyed?

When I powered it on that time it came on, and went off, came on, went off, ad infinitum, until I freaked out and killed the PSU switch.  Turning the speaker around, it still flashed on and off.  Fully removed the speaker.  Still flashed on and off.

The red power light still says that power is going in.  This is currently the only sign that it is not completely ruined.

Sigh.  I knew in my heart of hearts I should've gotten someone to do this for me.