[solidsteve]

hello again

well to start off i just want to say i'm putting my pc together myself (was paying someone to do it) and theres a few things playing on my mind i need to sort

now i just want to find out something's to make sure it is perfect first time so here it is

what's the best way of applying thermal compound on a quad

is there any trick's to putting the thermal compound on, seen a vid on youtube where someone put tape on it then put it on and spread it to get a even line on a E6600, same thing or what?

how do i set raid, i have 2x 500gb western digital drives

how do i set the usb in the front panel, mobo is a GA-P35-DS3R case is a nexus caterpillar

what are these connections on the mobo and what are they for, some will be in your face with the name but i just dont get them when there like this - CD-IN, SPDIF-I, SPDIF-O, CI, LPT, COMA, PWR_LED, FDD

some more on a different page (for front panel i think), MSG +/-, PW +/-, HD +/-, RES +/- and NC

thanks guys (sadly more to come)

[peterhuang913]

Rice size dab on the center, some say use a line.

Line works, dab also works. Just put it on and let the heatsink spread it out.

There should be leads from the case that go onto the mobo, refer to the mobo manual for the USB header area.

CD-IN is for older CD drive's audio function. SPDIF I/O is the in out of the SPDIF digital audio signal header. LPT is a parallel interface. COMA is a memory architecture. PWR_LED is for the power light on the case. FDD is for floppy disk drive.

For front panel, those are the connections for the case leads.MSG is for message, PW is for power, HD is for hard drive activity, RES is for the reset button, and NC is for "no connection?"

[solidsteve]

thanks, now my duh moment has gone with the HD and PW things time to look at it

[veedubfreak]

Dual core = grain of rice
Quad core = thin line across the letters on the cpu

[Luke]

you can also just put a pee sized dot right in the middle, lower the heatsink onto it slowly spreading it out, turn right a bit then left then your done for the thermal paste. XD

[peterhuang913]

That's correct.