PC Build Project 3/4

The next job was to install the CPU AIO water cooling system. This was a little fiddly.

First things first - you need to place a tiny amount of thermal compound on top of the CPU - too much and it will cause the CPU to overheat, too little and the CPU will overheat. However, the compound is toxic, so you must also wear gloves. You also ideally need to get an even spread too.

Next up, once you’ve installed the support bracket behind the motherboard, you attach the pump/reservoir combo onto the CPU itself. Next, you install the radiator w/fans into the space above. This was tricky - ended up having to remove two fan screws (leaving 3 on each, which I hope are enough to secure the fan, and not cause too much vibration) to fit it, as it is very snug with the MoBo.

I still have a lot of work to do:

1. Attach HDD/SSD (the M.2 is already secured within the MoBo) to the chassis
   

2. Attach various cables to the correct positions
   

3. Plug in the RAM
   

4. Slot in the GFX card

5. Attach the power cables to the correct positions

6. Do fan test (i.e. ensure all the fans come on when the system boots, otherwise my CPU will go bye-bye quicker than would be helpful).

7. Ensure the system goes to POST.

8. Access the BIOS and ensure that all the settings are correct (for instance ensuring the the M.2 is in PCIe mode rather than SATA, so that my SATA drives can operate at full speed).

9. Install Windows.

10. Check to make sure everything is running smoothly.

11. Install drivers, firewall, AV, QoL software (7Zip, NP++)

12. And then the fun stuff (SketchUp, LMMS, Steam. I may finally actually be able to play Cities: Skylines, which I have not been able to play since I bought it, due to the last system dying).

I’ve also decided that I think I’ll call this system the “Aolin Mk IV”. Why? Loooong story. Really long. It’d involve regailing childhood fantasies of alien civilisations, sentient energy beings, inter-universe travel, broken promises, vengence, love, joy & untold stories of the rise, fall, divison, amalgamation & evolution of the Connoreadoral & Falcailon along with the ascendency of Feodykift, Simpali & Aurora.

PC Build Project 1/4

So, some pics of the new system building process. Apologies for the abysmal quality of most of the pictures - all bar this first one of the desk were taken with the phone (its incredibly hot, I’m feeling lazy).

I missed a real trick actually with documenting this build: I still have 3 old 3.5″ HDDs from c.2008, along with RAM sticks & a 1st generation Intel SSD from the same period. I really should have done some side-by-side comparisons of the size and looks of the hardware. For eg:

• The Intel SSD was an 80GB drive pre-TRIM. It was about the size of an A5 pad. The 256GB Samsung 950 PRO NVMe M.2 drive is almost the width of a standard 15cm ruler, and measures under 10cm I think. 

• I have 1 1TB 3.5″ Samsung HDD left from the old PC. The new one I bought is a 1TB 2.5″ Hitachi HGST Travelstar, which is adorably small in comparison.

• Similarly, I also have a 2.5″ 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, which is the same form as the Intel drive, has >9x the storage density, and supports TRIM (or similar).

• The one thing that is larger, is the 2x16GB Corsair RAM sticks, partly due to their storage density, but also due to their incredibly tall heatsink as well.

• Lastly, the one thing that really impresses me is that I could get a 550W power supply for this PC. The one I had in ‘08? 1200W. And that was the norm for a high-performance PC back then.