Tech Tips: August 2021

Summary

I'm going to present a series of pics depicting a new PC build I completed this week. This replaces the PC I built ~8 years ago (and is still fully operational). That PC had 4 CPU cores and 16 GB RAM. This one has 16 cores and 64 GB, so a 4x upgrade.

Equipment List

Pic below with the boxed components used in this build.

Motherboard - Gigabyte Aorus Elite. I've had good luck with Gigabyte MBs in the past, so I'm a repeat customer.
CPU - AMD Ryzen 5950X. 16 CPU cores, 32 logical cores with Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT).
Case - Corsair Obsidian 750D. Again, another case of repeat success + customer. This one has thorough ventilation + 3x140mm fans - 2 in front, 1 behind.
Drive - Samsung 980 SSD 1 TB. I consider Samsung the top end on drives. This one can be had at a good price.
Power Supply - Seasonic Focus PX-750. More repeat success + customer. The Seasonic PSU I bought 8 years ago is still running.
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black. This is an air cooler - and it's a beast. I really like how this company makes fans. Super quiet.
GPU - Biostar Radeon RX 550. Contrary to the rest of this build - this component is on the low end. It's old GPU tech. Unfortunately, the hoards of Bitcoin miners out there have pushed the prices of current generation GPUs beyond what I'm willing to pay. I'm not a gamer, so I don't really need the high-end anyway.
RAM - G.Skill RipJaws V Series 64GB. More repeat success + customer. The Aorus board will take 4 x 32GB (128 GB), so I'm filling it to half at this point.

Unboxed pic of the same components below.

BIOS Updating

The BIOS on these boards needs to be updated before you even install the CPU. Gigabyte makes that easy with a feature called Q-Flash plus. Steps:

Download the current BIOS rev from Gigabyte's site
Rename it to 'GIGABYTE.bin' and copy it to a USB drive.
Put that drive in the MB USB slot that is tagged for this.
Power up the board.
Push the Q-flash button on the board. The associated MB LED will light up until the update is complete.

Pic below of me flashing this board.

Seating the CPU

Pic below of the Ryzen chip seated on the AM4 socket of this board.

Installing the CPU Cooler

The stock cooler retainer brackets on this board need to be removed and replaced with the Noctua bracket. The Noctua cooler includes thermal paste, so no need to buy any separately. Pic below of the brackets and paste applied.

Pic below of the Noctua cooler now installed.

Note about Fan Headers

This board has a total of 4 Fan Headers. For this build, there are 3 fans in the case and 2 on the CPU cooler. That equals 5. That would be a problem except for the fact that the Noctua kit includes a Y-cable for splicing two fans to one header. I'm showing a pic below of that cable on the 2 CPU fan cables. I didn't actually install it that way due to physical distances between fans and headers. Instead, I used that Y-cable to combine the case's front two fans into 1 and the connected them to one of the SYS FAN headers. I connected each of the CPU cooler fans to the two CPU fan headers. The rear case fan I connected to the rear SYS FAN header.

Note that I've also installed both CPU fans on the cooler in this pic. This works for this build.

RAM Installation

Pic below of both RAM sticks in place. They fit under the CPU cooler + fans. For only 2 sticks, you use slots A2 and B2 on this board.

NVM Drive Installation

Pic below of NVM drive in place on this board. There's a piece of plastic wrap on the M2 heat dissipater that you need to remove before final seating.