- Dec 17, 2013
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First off, a big thanks to the Tom's Hardware community. The troubleshooting and advice has been invaluable in getting my first system built, and this includes everything from choosing the components to driver questions on the built system. This is the system I have now built (and that I typed this post on!).
I wanted to share my thoughts on upgrading from my old laptop to this, and also what I hope is useful information for other novice builders.
Comparison to Laptop that is Being Replaced
Speaking of the system, in the day or so I've been able to use it, it runs great. I wanted to build a powerful computer that put a premium on being quiet and I believe I've been successful. This desktop I've built runs quieter then many laptops I've seen. Specifically, my new system replaced an HP HDX16t desktop replacement laptop. My desktop is quieter then my old laptop at idle/light load, and happily, I don't know how loud it is at load yet because I could not hear any increase in CPU or GPU fan speed, if the fans even did pick up, while playing 20 minutes of Assassins Creed IV at max settings.
Systems specs aside, going from a neat box that contained the screen, keyboard, and speakers (and the HDX had actually really good speakers!) was somewhat annoying. There is simply more clutter on my desk now because of these separate pieces of hardware.
Display Size
In addition, the 21.5" monitor I now have is huge compared to the 16" laptop. I cannot absorb the whole screen at any one time the way I could with the 16" laptop. As I said, my monitor is 21.5", and at 16", my laptop wasn't exactly small. If you are considering going from a laptop to a desktop I would strongly keep this in mind as, if you research monitors, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that 23" or 24" monitors are ideal, and 27" are even better if you can deal with slightly turning your head. I find that 21.5" is already really pushing it for me with acceptable size (i.e. I can see all/most of the screen at once, and don't really need to move my head sideways), and frankly, if manufacturers start making 1080p monitors that are 20" or even a bit smaller, I would strongly consider it (side note, I have no idea why they don't already since laptops 14-18" pretty much universally now have 1080p displays).
A final thought on display size: I like the smaller screens more because they necessarily have greater pixel density. I don't think 1080p on a 16" screen from a couple feet away is 'retina display' quality, and this is even less so on a 21.5" monitor. I could not find any 16:9 aspect ratio monitor below 27" that was the next step up from 1080p (some of those 16:9 27"ers have 1440p). As such, I don't think it's my imagination when I say the screen can look slightly grainy compared to the 16". In example, the borders of tabs on Google Chrome is a prime example of where I can more easily see pixelation on the 21.5" vs. the 16".
Issues Encountered that Pre-Buying/Building Research Did Not Reveal
As a novice builder, I did pretty extensive research before ordering my items. Nevertheless, there were a few important things I encountered that I don't think I came across while looking up specific components, their compatibility, and so forth. Below, I list these additional things that a somewhat inexperienced builder should know about:
(1) Most people know your choice of CPU drives your motherboard options, but in fact your options for heat sinks are also somewhat limited by the motherboard. For example, Noctua's NH-D14 appears to be a popular air based solution, but if you are going with an Ivy Bridge-E chip, you need the NH-D14 SE2011 to be able to mount this heat sink right out of the box without a mounting kit.
Similarly, if your heat sink is large enough, you may need to get low profile RAM, as memory with fins on top will be too large to fit under a larger heat sink. So to another first time builder I would say you need to pay close attention to the CPU, motherboard, heat sink, and RAM together in a way that you do not need to with, for example, the graphics card and the motherboard.
(2) All components have some sort of manual or installation guide. These vary in detail and user friendliness. As someone who had really only installed RAM or an external driver before building this system, I really needed my hand held via a manual through much of the building process. The motherboard's manual was therefore extremely important to me because it had supplemental to really the sole information on a lot of the stuff I had to do. If you do not really know what you are doing because you too are a novice builder, I would say you should think twice before getting a motherboard that people say has an unhelpful manual. I found my Asus P9X79 LE's manual to be very good.
(3) I needed an extra pair of hands to install the motherboard to the case and the heat sink to the motherboard because I could not simultaneously exert or maneuver my hands in a way to hold the component in place while trying to get the screws in. I think it's fair to say that depending on your case and components, you might find that building a system could be up to a 90-95% solo job.
Thoughts on Components/Installation/First Boot
(i) The Ivy Bridge-E CPU took a distressing amount of force to lock into the LGA 2011 socket motherboard. If you try to research this people often say it's difficult to accurately describe how much force a person is using; let me try: If the CPU was too tall for the socket, there is no doubt in my mind that all the pins on its underside would have been crushed. If it was slightly too long or too wide, the metal casing would almost certainly have bent a little, and if any circuit board is visible, it very likely would have cracked or straight broken in two. If the motherboard wasn't so securely attached to my case, I would have had to of somehow hold or otherwise secure it to keep it from launching off the table based on the force I had to exert to get that socket shut and locked with the CPU inside. Until I got my computer up and running I really was unsure of whether I had destroyed my CPU or not. In short, if I had done something wrong with the placement or whatnot, I would have been more surprised, even very surprised, if no damage had occurred then if at least something had been bent or chipped off.
(ii) I'm not sure how the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 qualifies as a mid tower case. It is very tall, I think largely because the legs it stands on are themselves pretty substantial. It also appears to be a bit longer then most cases I have seen. I don't know if full tower cases refer to truly gargantuan cases, but unless space is very much not an issue, I would still check out the specs of a case instead of just relying on it being called/(classified?) as mid tower.
(iii) Be careful of any internal USB 3.0 connectors on the motherboard. The cable is quite bulky, and they appear to have a poor ability to stay connected. It was one of the first things I connected in the case, and I noticed it had come undone by the time I was near completion (over the course of a couple of days). Research shows other people have had this problem too, so when securing your wires at the end, be careful that nothing can either knock it out of its motherboard connection, or that the cable isn't hanging in a way that it might simply slip out under its own weight.
(iv) Using Asus EZ Flash to update BIOS was really easy, but surprisingly difficult to get a clear how-to guide either via the mobo manual or forums posts. Here's my stab at it:
(1) Download the correct zip folder from the Asus website. The operating system Asus makes you select before presenting you with a file is completely irrelevant for BIOS. For example, I used a Vista 64-bit comp to download the file for a system that would ultimately be Windows 8.1 64-bit. Also, just choose the newest version. If you somehow know you have the third oldest BIOS version, you don't need to update to the second oldest before updating to the current one, etc.
(2) Take the actual file out of the zip folder and rename it according to whatever naming convention Asus tells you. So far, it looks like Asus has always asked you to drop any spaces or underscores or anything other then the mobo model type from the name. So my file became P9X79LE.cap . Also, if you research this you will come across a lot of stuff about converting a .rom file to .cap . As far as I can tell, .rom no longer exists for new Asus motherboards (no idea if its used by other mobo manufactures or if they ever used it or if they even have something like EZ Flash). So what I'm trying to say is is that the file is already .cap and new mobos appear to be configured for .cap , so you can ignore the .rom conversion stuff.
(3) Reformat a USB drive to FAT or FAT32, or ensure that it is already formatted as such. I don't know if USBs are already formatted as FAT or FAT32 (probably are), or whether you need a blank USB (or can just place the .cap file at the top most layer of the USB a.k.a. the root), but I did this just to be safe. Reformatting erases all data on the USB drive, be careful. Reformatting is easy, in a nut shell, you right-click the icon of the drive and select format and simply follow the steps, really only making sure it will be formatted as FAT or FAT32 and leaving the other settings to whatever they were. A comprehensive guide is here.
(4) Ensure your motherboard is connected to the PSU, and the PSU is plugged to the wall, and the PSU switch is turned to on. You need standby power (that is, it just needs to be plugged in) for the mobo to do this. You can tell the motherboard is receiving power because after a few seconds of being plugged in, a green light turns on on the board and stays on.
(5) Copy your renamed .cap file into the USB and plug the USB into the specific USB slot on the motherboard that is meant to be used for EZ Flash.
(6) Hold down the EZ Flash button on the motherboard for about 3 seconds, until the LED next to it starts flashing.
(7) Once the light goes out, you are done, and have updated Asus BIOS via EZ Flash.
(v) If you are using a silent CPU fan on an Asus motherboard, you are likely to see 'CPU Fan Error!' when you boot the computer. You will not be able to exit BIOS so long as this problem is not addressed. To save on some freaking out and opening the case, the problem very likely is that, by default, the Asus mobo wants to see 600rpm on the CPU fan(s) to not display this error. Your silent fan, in my case the ones that came with the Noctua NH-D14 SE2011, I think start off at 300rpm. You can set the (I'm going to call it) CPU fan error notification speed at various levels, including as low as 200rpm, or just off. I set it to 200rpm (so I can still in fact get the error message if the fans ever do fail) and didn't see the error message pop up again. BIOS tells you where to go to access these settings (it's quite easy).
(vi) The P9X79 series of Asus motherboards require a BIOS update to recognize the Ivy Bridge-E CPUs (as opposed to the Sandy Bridge-E chips they were originally made for) and therefore function. I'm not sure if there are any P9X79's left on the market that haven't shipped with a firmware version new enough to come with this update already being in place, but I didn't want to find out when I tried to boot the computer for the first time, so I did the EZ Flash BIOS update via USB described above.
(vii) As far as applying the thermal paste on top of the CPU prior to heat sink installation is concerned, research showed an overwhelming majority favored putting a pea sized amount on the center of the CPU. I, however, applied the thermal paste in an X configuration based on this extensive testing by Puget Systems. Their testing show that while the pea sized dot is among the better patterns, the X shape was best. I did not see any of the paste spill out after using this technique (and shifting, though not lifting, the heat sink really far too much while I tried to screw it in after applying the paste) and so far, no problems with overheating, CPU malfunctioning, etc.
(viii) The Bose Companion 2 Series III Speakers are surprisingly bulky and, because I think Bose thought laptop owners would be the ones who want these, the included 3.5mm audio cable to attach to your computer is maybe about 3 feet long. This is most likely too short to reach your tower.
Conclusion
Well that's it. I hope some of my experiences can be of benefit to others. If you have any questions for me I'd be happy to respond to this thread or to PMs as this post inevitably gets outdated.
-Spec
I wanted to share my thoughts on upgrading from my old laptop to this, and also what I hope is useful information for other novice builders.
Comparison to Laptop that is Being Replaced
Speaking of the system, in the day or so I've been able to use it, it runs great. I wanted to build a powerful computer that put a premium on being quiet and I believe I've been successful. This desktop I've built runs quieter then many laptops I've seen. Specifically, my new system replaced an HP HDX16t desktop replacement laptop. My desktop is quieter then my old laptop at idle/light load, and happily, I don't know how loud it is at load yet because I could not hear any increase in CPU or GPU fan speed, if the fans even did pick up, while playing 20 minutes of Assassins Creed IV at max settings.
Systems specs aside, going from a neat box that contained the screen, keyboard, and speakers (and the HDX had actually really good speakers!) was somewhat annoying. There is simply more clutter on my desk now because of these separate pieces of hardware.
Display Size
In addition, the 21.5" monitor I now have is huge compared to the 16" laptop. I cannot absorb the whole screen at any one time the way I could with the 16" laptop. As I said, my monitor is 21.5", and at 16", my laptop wasn't exactly small. If you are considering going from a laptop to a desktop I would strongly keep this in mind as, if you research monitors, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that 23" or 24" monitors are ideal, and 27" are even better if you can deal with slightly turning your head. I find that 21.5" is already really pushing it for me with acceptable size (i.e. I can see all/most of the screen at once, and don't really need to move my head sideways), and frankly, if manufacturers start making 1080p monitors that are 20" or even a bit smaller, I would strongly consider it (side note, I have no idea why they don't already since laptops 14-18" pretty much universally now have 1080p displays).
A final thought on display size: I like the smaller screens more because they necessarily have greater pixel density. I don't think 1080p on a 16" screen from a couple feet away is 'retina display' quality, and this is even less so on a 21.5" monitor. I could not find any 16:9 aspect ratio monitor below 27" that was the next step up from 1080p (some of those 16:9 27"ers have 1440p). As such, I don't think it's my imagination when I say the screen can look slightly grainy compared to the 16". In example, the borders of tabs on Google Chrome is a prime example of where I can more easily see pixelation on the 21.5" vs. the 16".
Issues Encountered that Pre-Buying/Building Research Did Not Reveal
As a novice builder, I did pretty extensive research before ordering my items. Nevertheless, there were a few important things I encountered that I don't think I came across while looking up specific components, their compatibility, and so forth. Below, I list these additional things that a somewhat inexperienced builder should know about:
(1) Most people know your choice of CPU drives your motherboard options, but in fact your options for heat sinks are also somewhat limited by the motherboard. For example, Noctua's NH-D14 appears to be a popular air based solution, but if you are going with an Ivy Bridge-E chip, you need the NH-D14 SE2011 to be able to mount this heat sink right out of the box without a mounting kit.
Similarly, if your heat sink is large enough, you may need to get low profile RAM, as memory with fins on top will be too large to fit under a larger heat sink. So to another first time builder I would say you need to pay close attention to the CPU, motherboard, heat sink, and RAM together in a way that you do not need to with, for example, the graphics card and the motherboard.
(2) All components have some sort of manual or installation guide. These vary in detail and user friendliness. As someone who had really only installed RAM or an external driver before building this system, I really needed my hand held via a manual through much of the building process. The motherboard's manual was therefore extremely important to me because it had supplemental to really the sole information on a lot of the stuff I had to do. If you do not really know what you are doing because you too are a novice builder, I would say you should think twice before getting a motherboard that people say has an unhelpful manual. I found my Asus P9X79 LE's manual to be very good.
(3) I needed an extra pair of hands to install the motherboard to the case and the heat sink to the motherboard because I could not simultaneously exert or maneuver my hands in a way to hold the component in place while trying to get the screws in. I think it's fair to say that depending on your case and components, you might find that building a system could be up to a 90-95% solo job.
Thoughts on Components/Installation/First Boot
(i) The Ivy Bridge-E CPU took a distressing amount of force to lock into the LGA 2011 socket motherboard. If you try to research this people often say it's difficult to accurately describe how much force a person is using; let me try: If the CPU was too tall for the socket, there is no doubt in my mind that all the pins on its underside would have been crushed. If it was slightly too long or too wide, the metal casing would almost certainly have bent a little, and if any circuit board is visible, it very likely would have cracked or straight broken in two. If the motherboard wasn't so securely attached to my case, I would have had to of somehow hold or otherwise secure it to keep it from launching off the table based on the force I had to exert to get that socket shut and locked with the CPU inside. Until I got my computer up and running I really was unsure of whether I had destroyed my CPU or not. In short, if I had done something wrong with the placement or whatnot, I would have been more surprised, even very surprised, if no damage had occurred then if at least something had been bent or chipped off.
(ii) I'm not sure how the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 qualifies as a mid tower case. It is very tall, I think largely because the legs it stands on are themselves pretty substantial. It also appears to be a bit longer then most cases I have seen. I don't know if full tower cases refer to truly gargantuan cases, but unless space is very much not an issue, I would still check out the specs of a case instead of just relying on it being called/(classified?) as mid tower.
(iii) Be careful of any internal USB 3.0 connectors on the motherboard. The cable is quite bulky, and they appear to have a poor ability to stay connected. It was one of the first things I connected in the case, and I noticed it had come undone by the time I was near completion (over the course of a couple of days). Research shows other people have had this problem too, so when securing your wires at the end, be careful that nothing can either knock it out of its motherboard connection, or that the cable isn't hanging in a way that it might simply slip out under its own weight.
(iv) Using Asus EZ Flash to update BIOS was really easy, but surprisingly difficult to get a clear how-to guide either via the mobo manual or forums posts. Here's my stab at it:
(1) Download the correct zip folder from the Asus website. The operating system Asus makes you select before presenting you with a file is completely irrelevant for BIOS. For example, I used a Vista 64-bit comp to download the file for a system that would ultimately be Windows 8.1 64-bit. Also, just choose the newest version. If you somehow know you have the third oldest BIOS version, you don't need to update to the second oldest before updating to the current one, etc.
(2) Take the actual file out of the zip folder and rename it according to whatever naming convention Asus tells you. So far, it looks like Asus has always asked you to drop any spaces or underscores or anything other then the mobo model type from the name. So my file became P9X79LE.cap . Also, if you research this you will come across a lot of stuff about converting a .rom file to .cap . As far as I can tell, .rom no longer exists for new Asus motherboards (no idea if its used by other mobo manufactures or if they ever used it or if they even have something like EZ Flash). So what I'm trying to say is is that the file is already .cap and new mobos appear to be configured for .cap , so you can ignore the .rom conversion stuff.
(3) Reformat a USB drive to FAT or FAT32, or ensure that it is already formatted as such. I don't know if USBs are already formatted as FAT or FAT32 (probably are), or whether you need a blank USB (or can just place the .cap file at the top most layer of the USB a.k.a. the root), but I did this just to be safe. Reformatting erases all data on the USB drive, be careful. Reformatting is easy, in a nut shell, you right-click the icon of the drive and select format and simply follow the steps, really only making sure it will be formatted as FAT or FAT32 and leaving the other settings to whatever they were. A comprehensive guide is here.
(4) Ensure your motherboard is connected to the PSU, and the PSU is plugged to the wall, and the PSU switch is turned to on. You need standby power (that is, it just needs to be plugged in) for the mobo to do this. You can tell the motherboard is receiving power because after a few seconds of being plugged in, a green light turns on on the board and stays on.
(5) Copy your renamed .cap file into the USB and plug the USB into the specific USB slot on the motherboard that is meant to be used for EZ Flash.
(6) Hold down the EZ Flash button on the motherboard for about 3 seconds, until the LED next to it starts flashing.
(7) Once the light goes out, you are done, and have updated Asus BIOS via EZ Flash.
(v) If you are using a silent CPU fan on an Asus motherboard, you are likely to see 'CPU Fan Error!' when you boot the computer. You will not be able to exit BIOS so long as this problem is not addressed. To save on some freaking out and opening the case, the problem very likely is that, by default, the Asus mobo wants to see 600rpm on the CPU fan(s) to not display this error. Your silent fan, in my case the ones that came with the Noctua NH-D14 SE2011, I think start off at 300rpm. You can set the (I'm going to call it) CPU fan error notification speed at various levels, including as low as 200rpm, or just off. I set it to 200rpm (so I can still in fact get the error message if the fans ever do fail) and didn't see the error message pop up again. BIOS tells you where to go to access these settings (it's quite easy).
(vi) The P9X79 series of Asus motherboards require a BIOS update to recognize the Ivy Bridge-E CPUs (as opposed to the Sandy Bridge-E chips they were originally made for) and therefore function. I'm not sure if there are any P9X79's left on the market that haven't shipped with a firmware version new enough to come with this update already being in place, but I didn't want to find out when I tried to boot the computer for the first time, so I did the EZ Flash BIOS update via USB described above.
(vii) As far as applying the thermal paste on top of the CPU prior to heat sink installation is concerned, research showed an overwhelming majority favored putting a pea sized amount on the center of the CPU. I, however, applied the thermal paste in an X configuration based on this extensive testing by Puget Systems. Their testing show that while the pea sized dot is among the better patterns, the X shape was best. I did not see any of the paste spill out after using this technique (and shifting, though not lifting, the heat sink really far too much while I tried to screw it in after applying the paste) and so far, no problems with overheating, CPU malfunctioning, etc.
(viii) The Bose Companion 2 Series III Speakers are surprisingly bulky and, because I think Bose thought laptop owners would be the ones who want these, the included 3.5mm audio cable to attach to your computer is maybe about 3 feet long. This is most likely too short to reach your tower.
Conclusion
Well that's it. I hope some of my experiences can be of benefit to others. If you have any questions for me I'd be happy to respond to this thread or to PMs as this post inevitably gets outdated.
-Spec
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