Well I have been doing lots of building with PC's as of late and I had a few ideas for tips. The biggest idea was maybe a Daily Tips section somewhere on the site. I'll go ahead and start this thread off with one of my tips I learned while installing a copper heat spreader on my RAM.

1. When installing a heat spreader onto your memory, be sure to write down the serial numbers, memory type, model number, etc. that is usually printed on stickers on teh chips themselves. That way if you have any questions about your memory you dont have to pull the heat spreader off to see what type of RAM you have. This is also helpful if you are going to ship this out to someone because you might send them the wrong stick. This I also know from experience, in a trading deal with a member on this site I traded a mobo for a 256MB stick of PC2700 (i think thats DDR333), and it was written down on the spreader, but it was actually 512MB DDR400. This is what mine looks like in my server.



All I did was write the information on a sheet of paper small enough to fit on the heat spreader, cut it to the appropriate size and use scotch tape to hold it on. Although if you have something like Corsair or the really good stuff that comes with a heat spreader this has already been done for you. It is great for generic memory that doesnt come with a heat spreader or doesnt have the information on a heat spreader.

Feel free to post any suggestions you have on case modding, etc.

Save drive bay covers! Even if your not going to stealth your drives now (or even plan on it) yuor going to want to later.

(I've been looking for the second cover for weeks!)

If your like me and live on Mr. Noodle noodles.... make sure you add water before inserting the noodles in to the microwave or the heat will penetrate them and light them on fire.

Im sure this is something everybody already nows but:

When I ordered my PC it came with a scratched up right side panel. I called them and they sent me another. When I cut my window kit I used that scratched up right side panel.....its fits on the left side and if you fook it up no biggie. It doesnt have the latch in it but with thumbscrews it works just the same.....and I did in fact screw it up so thank god for crappy shipping.

No one noticed i used the words "inserting" and "penetrate" In the same sentence haha

Thought I would give this thread a bump for those who haven't seen it yet.

2. When installing heatsinks that require a flathead screwdriver to remove the clip, remove the PSU or at least uninstall it and set it to the side. Many motherboards have died a horrible death from flathead screwdrivers. If the PSU is in the way, you may not be able to get enough leverage on the clip to remove it. Also, use the correct size flathead for the clip, generally a Craftsman 3/16" works best. If you use the incorrect size screwdriver, like a smaller XCelite or one that is too large, the head may slip and mess up some resistors or even the PC board itself. My ECS K7S5A died because of the wrong size screwdriver.

I have one! Its not a hardware tip but in windows. Im sure everyone knows this but o well. When browsing in IE and you type something like Pimprig in the addrese bar, to get the http in front and .com at the end hold Crtl and hit enter. It adds teh http:// in the front and .com at the back.

Also heres a tip on sleeving your psu, instead of buying those expensive molex removers. Just canabalize an old molex rip out a pin (female) And shrink soem heatshrink around it. Make sure to use cheap heatshrink so it turns into a rock after its shrunk. Makes it easyer to remove them cause the heatshrink dosent bend. After you have your shrink all shrinked just slip it on to a pin you want to remove and pull it out.

Here is yet another tip, when you buy a cd drive it comes with nero or some burning software. Never use that software with another drive. It wont burn. Im sure all yall are thinking thats dumb but fatsobob and i have made this mistake. So when your burner dosent burn make sure to check that you used the software that came bundled with it.

Im done

More bumpage....

3. Not patient enough to sleeve your PSU? Or do you just not know how? Or maybe you just need better circulation in your case without all these wires in the way? Twistie-ties work great!! Just get a whole strip of them, like from a package of garbage bags, there's proally some lying in a junk drawer somewhere, and twist your wires together and twist-tie them in place. You can also anchor your wires to the case by using longer twist-ties and looping the ties through a mounting hole inside your case. Here's a pic of my Short Circuit mod, as you can see ol' Short needs some touch-up.....

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Quote: Originally Posted by Dimazz Here is yet another tip, when you buy a cd drive it comes with nero or some burning software. Never use that software with another drive. It wont burn. Im sure all yall are thinking thats dumb but fatsobob and i have made this mistake. So when your burner dosent burn make sure to check that you used the software that came bundled with it. Im done

Well I have a plextor DVD-RW/CD-RW drive and it came with Plextor software with Easy CD Creator basic. I have found out that I can use Nero Ultra Editon on the drive with no ill effects, I must have gotten luckly On that same note, I installed a Sony 52x24x52 Burner which also came with Easy CD creator basic, into a HP Pavlilion 520 Model and used its own Record Now software with no ill effect.

However Dimazz is correct.. Some drives only support the software packaged with them.

So again follow Dimazz advice and watch what you have with what you burn.

Laters

4. I have said this before and I will say it again, DON'T THROW OUT YOUR SOCKET 7 PENTIUM FANS, they are great for VGA coolers, here's a shot of my two ATi cards, my Rage 128 Pro GL on top and my Radeon 9000 on the bottom. No special mounting hardware usually, except for the R9K because of the heatsink design, so I just use thicker machine screws from Home Depot with a flathead design, didn't see any large Phillips screws. On the R9K I'm using a hi-flo 50MM Sunon KDE1205PHB2 rated at 1.7W and on the Rage 128 Pro a 50MM Aavid 1450222. And you can also use the 40MM 486 fans too, they work great on the older Voodoo 3's and Diamond Viper V550's.

The best thing about this hardware mod is that in most cases, I know in ATi's case, it DOES NOT void the warranty on the card. Had this mod on my other R9K and I took the fan off and the chip burned up because of crappy Catalyst 3.8 drivers (and poor case cooling)

This is getting to the point to where I will probably have a Weekly Tip or something like that.

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Good tips! Good tips. Heres one, something that I hope the majority of you will know. If you dont, god help you. No0bs, always ground anything and verything you shove in your box. Lets say you need to cut a zip tie holding your wires in cuz you just got a new blue LED 80mm fan that your dying to put in. You grab some scisors, pocket knife, hobby knife, whatever and put it right inside, accidentally touch it to one of many things that you could touch in there. There goes however much money that ceratin component cost. So before you dive your cutting utensil into your case tap it on your chasis a few times, make sure theres no static. Or you can go to any compusa, circuit city etc. and buy a static bracelet, works good.

I was looking at the pentium socket 7 fan tip ^. and I happen to have a socket 7 fan and sink. My card, a Geforce 4 Ti4200, has the flat sink on the top side...any ideas? thermal paste?

While you are saving drive bay covers don't forget to save PCI slot covers as well.
Since I have joined PR I have started saving every piece of computer hardware that I come across as someone, somewhere along the line is bound to need it for a project.

Ummmm, cool, my thread got stickied. Thanx

5. This weeks Tip comes from my experience out in the warehouse with screws. They are everywhere!!! I can't say how many times I have seen screws jammed up in the tires in our forklift from people stripping the cases and just leaving the screws on the floor. Then people who are in the stripping area walk in and look at what we are taking apart and as they leave their feet kick the screws about the warehouse, kind of like the way the wind carries a grain of sand.

There are two ways of solving this problem, and the first one is kind of risky but never fails. Hard drive magnets make excellent storage places for screws!! Most screws are magnetic, why not use an extremely powerful magent to hold them all together? Of course, as many of you may know, certain things like ATM and debit cards don't like magnets, so be sure to keep them away from your hard drive magnet.

Also, some screws are not magnetic, so use a yogurt container much like this one pictured below, you can get them at Publix, they are great for storing not only screws but other things like Dremel bits and heatsink clips.

Don't get screwed

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6. This weeks tip comes from my Short Circuit case mod project. Sometimes the protective masking paper on acrylic plexiglas doesn't come off very easily and uniformly. It is the most annoying, painstaking thing to have to scratch at plexiglas for hours on end to get this stuff off.

Solution? Place water-soaked washcloths on each side for 12 - 24 hours, away from the sun, like in a garage or in the shade somewhere, and after it has thoroughly soaked, just scrub it off, in strips. It's still a pain in the ass but it's better than peeling it off. Plus the plexiglas won't get scratched from scrubbing as opposed to scratching at the paper to get it off.

my question still remains about the graphics card cooler...anythought anybody?

Use Acrtic Silver Thermal Epoxy, later on in February I'm doing a mod with my 3DFX Voodoo 3000, installing a HUGE P3 cooler on it.

Maybe a pic of your GeForce would help, I'm not too keen on the Nvdia cards.

I dont know if they still make them anymore, but those M&M minis, that came in that small tube, make a great place to put all your screws. I have a couple of those filled with various types of screws, Works good.

And about the graphics hsf replacement. First you gotta make sure the sink isnt too big, and that nothing is in the way like caps and resistors. And that the sink isnt too heavy to rip the chip off the pcb. The only epoxy I have is Artic SIlver II. I use that, mix in a lil' ASIII so If I need to , I can remove the sink at a later date.

7. This tip is for the CAD pimps out there. Toolbar arrangement can go a long way in drafting. If you are like me and you use the Snap commands a lot, the command where you draw a line and you can 'snap' it to like the end of another line or the midpoint of a line, it helps to have the Snap toolbar toward the end of the toolbar section and the Draw and Modify toolbars to the left of it. Usually the commands from those two toolbars ask for a start point or a base point. If it's right there you don't have to move the mouse to the middle of the drawing and realize 'oops forgot the snap point'. That way you don't have to move the mouse so much and therfore increasing productivity

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8. Lately I have noticed a lot of threads about modding larger heatsinks onto videocards.

So.......this weeks tip will be a Video Card modding tip

NOTE: J-Dogg is not responsible for any damage to your shiznit.

NOTE: This mod will NOT work on higher-end Radeons with an exposed core. Not enough surface area.

If you don't have any thermal epoxy or a way to secure the heatsink, then this tip is for you!!!!

Get a tube of thermal grease and spread it over the GPU about 1mm thick. Place the heatsink you want to use onto the GPU and hold it firmly, wiggle it around to get out any air bubbles. Let sit for a couple hours, then turn it upside down. The heatsink doesn't come off!!! This is because there is no way for air to enter the grease, so it creates a suction between the GPU and the heatsink. I used my 3DFX Voodoo 3000 and RCA thermal grease (really thick stuff) for this one.

Also a note on heatsink size, use judgement on size, obviously if the heatsink is too heavy it will come off, this mod is good for Celeron/SS7 heatinks and some Pentium 3 coolers.

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