PC BUILD POST MORTEM
The stream wasn’t smooth. Hella boring with almost nobody watching. Oh well.
The PC building was very smooth. Booted perfectly on the first try, and has had no problems whatsoever.
NZXT Kraken X62
It took me an extra long time since I had no experience installing the radiator. It was quite a pain in the ass. Most of the videos on YouTube that show how to install them are edited and do not show how it is actually done. I eventually figured it out though. I can now install them like a pro, but it was a bit tricky. There are long screws that go through the front, then through the fans, and then into the radiator. I expected some other kind of thing in the case to screw the radiator onto. NOPE. It’s just hangs on the back of the fans.
Also, I bought a tube of arctic silver because I thought I would need it. Nope, the cooler came with some thermal paste already on it.
PSU
The PSU has a physical switch on it to turn “ECO” mode on or off. I left it on. I haven’t noticed anything problematic. If it’s saving me energy, great! I see no reason to turn it off. First PC with a fully modular PSU! Protip: Connect power cables to devices first, then connect them all to the PSU last after wiring them up nicely.
Disabling all the stupid LEDs
I was able to disable all the RGB LEDs on the motherboard with a user interface in the UEFI(BIOS). I was able to use the NZXT CAM software to turn off the LEDs in the pump. I’m going to try uninstalling the software to see if the pump lights stay off. However, the motherboard has one ridiculously bright red power LED that is always on. Also, the video card, which was previously hidden inside computers without side windows, has a bright white ASUS logo lit up on the top. I’m going to see if there is software that can turn that off.
Plastic Crap on Motherboards
The plastic bits they put on motherboards to make them look cool are actually a pain in the ass. The CPU fan connector on the mobo was hard to reach. The motherboard mounting holes on the back side were very hard to get screws in as they were surrounded on all sides by plastic. I managed, though.
RIP CD-ROM
First desktop with no optical drive. RIP discs. If I get into a situation where I need one, I’ll buy an external one, just like I have an external USB floppy drive.
Windows
Windows installed and booted perfectly in no time at all. What took time was disabling all the ads and privacy bullshit. My Windows is clean now, though.
The windows license I was using on my old desktop was a very old one. I think it was originally a Vista license that was upgraded to 7 home premium and upgraded again to pro. At the time, home premium had a ram limit of 16GB and I had 32. That’s the only reason I got pro.
Then I got a free upgrade to Windows 10 pro when that was a thing. I was worried I might have to dig up old keys or buy a new license to move the installation to this new desktop. NOPE. I typed in the most recent key (the one used to upgrade from home 7 to pro 7) and everything “just worked”. I have a legit and active windows installation. Good job Microsoft! You finally figured it out! I still remember having to call you on the phone for windows activation, lol.
Motherboard drivers
Motherboards sure have a lot of drivers these days. Here are all the downloads for my motherboard from the ASRock web site.
- Realtek high definition audio driver ver:8210_FF00
- INF driver ver:10.1.1.44
- Intel Optane driver ver:15.8.0.1006
- Intel Optane Memory 1 Click Install ver:15.8.0.1006
- Intel Management Engine driver ver:11.7.0.1045
- Intel Lan driver ver:22.5
- SATA Floppy Image ver:15.8.0.1006
- ASMedia SATA3 driver ver:3.2.1
- Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and utility ver:15.8.1.1007
- VGA driver ver:22.20.16.4785
- ASRock A-Tuning utility ver:3.0.184
- APP Shop ver:1.0.31
- Norton Security ver:22.9.2.3
- Restart to UEFI ver:1.0.5
- ASRock RGB LED ver:1.0.33
Which of these do you think should be installed? Spoilers: I installed none of these. The device manager had no question marks in it. I googled each of these. For each one either Windows already had the driver, or it provided something I don’t need. I don’t have any Intel Optane memory. Definitely not using Norton Security. I can control the mobo lights in the UEFI, and I’m never turning them on. etc.
Keyboard and Mouse
I previously had a Rosewill keyboard with cherry MX blue switches. I still have it if anyone wants it. It is a perfectly fine keyboard physically speaking. The problem is that it is very janky otherwise. The LEDs keep turning back on even after you turn them off. The media keys are weird. It uses two USB ports for no reason? It has a USB hub that can’t be trusted. I took the opportunity to replace it.
At work I have a WASD CODE keyboard with clear switches. I love it, so I got the same thing for home, except I got brown switches. I figured less tension would make a better balance between gaming and typing. WOW. I haven’t spent very much time with it, but I love the brown switches. I almost regret not getting brown at work as well. I can now feel these clear ones hurting my hand and being tough to press, even though I’ve been using them for years.
Normally I’m all about wired mice. Reliable. No worries with batteries. No lag. I was looking at the Logtech G PRO mouse. Then I realized it didn’t seem very comfortable. You need to claw grip it for sure. Then I looked at the G603 wireless. Apparently the battery life is insanely good. They report 18 months on 2AA in low power mode. We’ll see about that. But anyway, this mouse is very comfortable, it worked perfectly right out of the box, and it’s nice that there’s no wire cluttering things up or getting caught on stuff. There may be some lag if I play an fps, but let’s be real. I’m not good enough at any game for that to matter. Also, most comfortable and best scroll wheel I’ve ever used.
M2
M.2 drive is crazy fast. I think it is in PCIX mode, but I’m not absolutely certain. I’m going to do some checking tonight so I know for sure.
Conclusion
This had better last me > 5 years.
