my 1st pc build, aiming for quiet pc, went from no knowledge, kindly needs help

[Cerb]

There's only one.

 

[mfenn]

which IRST driver should i install? the IRST driver for 8x series or the IRST driver?

Neither. You're not using RAID so there's no point.

As for your question #1 above, it doesn't really matter. I would use both PCIe 6-pin connectors for a single cable because it keeps things neater.

As for boot speed, you need to distinguish between the amount of time spent by BIOS/UEFI and the amount of time spent loading Windows. Give us a breakdown of each time.

The speed of your SSD and CPU have nothing to do with the amount of time spent in the BIOS/UEFI, all of that time is spent initializing various controllers. Expensive boards with lots of fancy add-ons do boot more slowly becasue they have lots of extra "toys" (controllers) to initialize. The first thing to do is to turn off the full-screen BIOS/UEFI logo so that you can see what is actually going on. Once you see what is taking a long time, you then go into the BIOS and disable those controllers (assuming that you don't need them).

 

[rovopio]

Neither. You're not using RAID so there's no point.

As for your question #1 above, it doesn't really matter. I would use both PCIe 6-pin connectors for a single cable because it keeps things neater.

As for boot speed, you need to distinguish between the amount of time spent by BIOS/UEFI and the amount of time spent loading Windows. Give us a breakdown of each time.

The speed of your SSD and CPU have nothing to do with the amount of time spent in the BIOS/UEFI, all of that time is spent initializing various controllers. Expensive boards with lots of fancy add-ons do boot more slowly becasue they have lots of extra "toys" (controllers) to initialize. The first thing to do is to turn off the full-screen BIOS/UEFI logo so that you can see what is actually going on. Once you see what is taking a long time, you then go into the BIOS and disable those controllers (assuming that you don't need them).

loading windows from the PC is pretty fast, like 3-5 seconds, faster than the windows loading from my i5 ulv laptop.
loading the dragon gaming page on the PC (i guess this is the BIOS page?), on PC it takes 30-50 seconds, on my laptop, the brand logo takes 3 seconds-ish.

The first thing to do is to turn off the full-screen BIOS/UEFI logo

alright. how do i turn off bios / uefi logo?

btw about driver, so.. i wont need IRST for 8x series driver, but will i need to install intel rapid start technology?


@cerb,

i misread it. it's Intel rapid start technology, and rapid start technology. haha.

 

[Cerb]

@cerb,

i misread it. it's Intel rapid start technology, and rapid start technology. haha.

That one's on Intel: Rapid Storage Technology and Rapid Start Technology are both (I)RST.

 

[rovopio]

1)There’s ac97 and hd audio. Which one I shud plug in to the board audio plug?

2) Before buying the board I noticed that most nicer boards have some extra audio features like audio boost / purity sound / etc.
=> My question is,, if I plug in my speaker or headphone on the green plug in front of the case,, will the purity sound / audio boost / etc feature still works if I plug my headphone or speaker to the front of the case?
=> aka... will it have different sound quality than if I plug it directly to the motherboard green plug on the back of the case?


3) So far I’ve only been using the 2 fans supplied by the case. Based on youtube videos, I plugged it directly to the board on the plug written SYSFAN1 and SYSFAN2. From my MSI command center I can control the fan from 50~100%.
=> My Q is... if i add up 4 more fans, where should i plug it in? i think i noticed the board only have 2 or 3 SYSFAN plugs. Is this the situation where PSU molex cable for?
=> What's the difference between the fans plugged into the board SYSFAN plug directly and to molex connector? Can i still control the fan speed either way?
=> Is there any way to make the fans move lesser than 50%?
[FONT=&quot]
4) On [/FONT]my research while trying to understand which parts does what and choosing it… I noticed reviews and general discussions of people talking about temperatures, VGA CPU and HDD. I notice I can check it on BIOS. Is there a way / SW where can I check temperatures from within windows?

5) I have 2 cables from my PSU that I haven’t use yet, and I don’t know what it’s for. Here are the picts.

a) No.1 is the 2 SATA + 2 Molex Cable. Why do they combine SATA plug and Molex plug? Is it because the molex plug goes into the spiky parts of the HDD?

b) Cable no. 2 is the 3 Molex + 1 small plug cable

6) I read about sleeving cables articles from google. i'm not going to DIY my cable myself since the tools is not easy to find here at my place. (at least i cant find it in my local walmart). i also find that my local retailers sell sleeved extension cables like this one here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-071-BX

is extension cable different than normal cables? is it only for extending PSU cable for better cable management or is it for completely replacing the PSU cable? how to use extension sleeved cable? is it PSU => plug PSU original modular cable => Plug extension sleeved cable => Motherboard?

is that the right order?

============

ps: i edit this on MS word... i apologies that the format becomes messy after i copy paste it to forum reply >_<

 

[Cerb]

1)There’s ac97 and hd audio. Which one I shud plug in to the board audio plug?

HD. It's still not uncommon for them to have both headers, to handle people upgrading in older cases, but AC97 itself is old/dead.

Before buying the board I noticed that most nicer boards have some extra audio features like audio boost / purity sound / etc.
=> My question is,, if I plug in my speaker or headphone on the green plug in front of the case,, will the purity sound / audio boost / etc feature still works if I plug my headphone or speaker to the front of the case?

Yes.

=> aka... will it have different sound quality than if I plug it directly to the motherboard green plug on the back of the case?

Well, that's a totally different issue. Being non-shielded non-twisted cable going through a PC case to the front panel, quality loss there is going to vary, but will have nothing to do with any effects.

My Q is... if i add up 4 more fans, where should i plug it in? i think i noticed the board only have 2 or 3 SYSFAN plugs. Is this the situation where PSU molex cable for?
=> What's the difference between the fans plugged into the board SYSFAN plug directly and to molex connector? Can i still control the fan speed either way?

Varies. With PWM fans (4-pin), you can get splitters that allow control via motherboard headers, but power via the PSU directly. For non-PWM fans (3-pin), you either need a splitter for the motherboard header, or lose speed control through software.

=> Is there any way to make the fans move lesser than 50%?

Probably not, if they're 3-pin, by software. You would need some other controller.

4) On [/FONT]my research while trying to understand which parts does what and choosing it… I noticed reviews and general discussions of people talking about temperatures, VGA CPU and HDD. I notice[/SIZE] I can check it on BIOS. Is there a way / SW where can I check temperatures from within windows?

Yes. Your board probably comes with software for it. Or, you can use software like Speedfan and Afterburner (though the software your video card came with was probably an old version of Afterburner).

5) I have 2 cables from my PSU that I haven’t use yet, and I don’t know what it’s for. Here are the picts.

Those small ones with the raised key are floppy power cables. Floppies are basically dead, but some auxiliary devices, like fan controllers, and card readers, still use them, due to being small, and the connectors cheap and easy to implement.

a) No.1 is the 2 SATA + 2 Molex Cable. Why do they combine SATA plug and Molex plug? Is it because the molex plug goes into the spiky parts of the HDD?

No. SATA has its own power connector. Like the floppy power connectors, they're less used these days, but not quite dead. They used to be used for everything that needed extra power, like video cards, some P4 motherboards, drive controllers, phone cards, HDDs, ODDs...

6) i read about sleving cables articles from google. i'm not going to DIY my cable myself since the tools is not easy to find here at my place. (at least i cant find it in my local walmart). i also find that my local retailers sell sleeved extension cables like this one here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-071-BX

But what you do with the cable before the extension? And, you've got ribbon cables, which are not conducive to sleeving anyway.

is extension cable different than normal cables?

Generally, interconnect cables are either male-male, or female-female, and extensions are male-female, to make a longer effective cable. In some directional standards, I'm sure they're the same, but 99% of the time, they're not.

ps: i edit this on MS word... i apologies that the format becomes messy after i copy paste it to forum reply >_<

You can grab the lower-left corner of the text input box, just under the vertical scrollbar, and make it bigger, to make editing easier.

 

[rovopio]

so... when i plug my headset... will the music sound quality differ if i plug on the green plug on the back of the board vs. the green plug on top of the case?
is it a big difference?

if you were me, where do you plug in your headphones to get the best possible sound quality for music?

2) regarding extension cables... if i buy those, can i go...
PSU >> Modular Cable PSU >> NZXT Extention Cable >> Motherboard

is that the right order?

 

[Cerb]

so... when i plug my headset... will the music sound quality differ if i plug on the green plug on the back of the board vs. the green plug on top of the case?
is it a big difference?

Maybe. You'll have to try it and see. In my PC, both sound atrocious, just like my last several motherboards.

if you were me, where do you plug in your headphones to get the best possible sound quality for music?

But, I'm not you. I plug them into my amp, which rests near my USB sound card (both soon to be replaced by a semi-DIY DAC+amp rig). There's 6 feet of USB cable, and maybe 4 feet of air, between my PC case and the analog audio.

2) regarding extension cables... if i buy those, can i go...
PSU >> Modular Cable PSU >> NZXT Extention Cable >> Motherboard

is that the right order?

If you're going to do that, yes, but it only adds one more set of contacts/losses, and it looks like you have plenty of room.

 

[mfenn]

loading windows from the PC is pretty fast, like 3-5 seconds, faster than the windows loading from my i5 ulv laptop.
loading the dragon gaming page on the PC (i guess this is the BIOS page?), on PC it takes 30-50 seconds, on my laptop, the brand logo takes 3 seconds-ish.

OK, so your slow boot time has nothing to do with the speed of any of your components, CPU, SSD, RAM, nothing. It's all about how long it takes you BIOS/UEFI to initialize all the toys.

alright. how do i turn off bios / uefi logo?

Your motherboard manual is the best reference for this sort of question. What you want to disable is "Full Screen Logo Display", see page 3-14 of your manual.

 

[rovopio]

alrighty... 1 last question... i noticed when i first build the PC that the USB 3.0 plug doesn't snug fit / tight at all like all the other connectors. it's less snug than fan / usb 2.0 / audio plug. it's just not fit at all. i can easily take it out when i pull the cable, unlike other connectors.

also when i plug it in, it didn't have the tactile feeling / click sound you feel / heard when something is connected. is this the bitfenix shinobi case fault or the msi motherboard fault? here's the picture.

the 1st picture is when im holding it with my hand (pressing it from outside the camera)

the 2nd picture is when i take away my hand and leave it there

as you guys can see, it got a little bit loose. i'd like to ask,, is this the shinobi 3.0 plug fault, or the MSI board connector fault?
because the thing is whenever i plug usb 3.0 device like USB / HDD to the front of the case, the USB device i have got connected/disconnected intermittently all the time...
More importantly, will it short out the motherboard if its not snug fit? i couldn't make it snug fit without breaking the board it seems...

=====
oh, also forgot to mention
first is the i/o shield.

1) does that silver thing on the usb supposed to be like that or should i have bend the silver thing to make it inside the case?

 

[Cerb]

The USB connector won't short anything, no, but it shouldn't work its way loose.

 

[mfenn]

oh, also forgot to mention
first is the i/o shield.

1) does that silver thing on the usb supposed to be like that or should i have bend the silver thing to make it inside the case?

The tab on the IO shield shouldn't be inside the port area at all. It's supposed to be along the outside housing of the USB connector (as viewed from within the case).

 

[rovopio]

The USB connector won't short anything, no, but it shouldn't work its way loose.

in your opinion... is this the bitfenix shinobi case 3.0 fault or the msi motherboard connector fault? or is that normal with the usb 3.0 connector design...? if its not normal what should i do abt it?
do you need a clearer picture of each to determine which one's at fault?

i couldn't get it in, it's way loose you're right. and i've tried pushing it, maybe a bit harder than im comfortable with pushing a board

 

[richaron]

in your opinion... is this the bitfenix shinobi case 3.0 fault or the msi motherboard connector fault? or is that normal with the usb 3.0 connector design...? if its not normal what should i do abt it?
do you need a clearer picture of each to determine which one's at fault?

It's neither the "fault" of the case nor the motherboard. It's the fault of the person who installed the motherboard. And easily fixed if you pull it back out, maybe bend the flaps, and put it back in properly.

 

[rovopio]

It's neither the "fault" of the case nor the motherboard. It's the fault of the person who installed the motherboard. And easily fixed if you pull it back out, maybe bend the flaps, and put it back in properly.

idk about easy, but its not easy at all for me.

regarding proper cable management, since im using a fanless PSU, i mount it facing up, and since it's semi-modular, some cables like the 8-pin power cable very barely reached the top left side of the board when i ran it through the back, but after a couple tries, i came out okay, considering it's my first build...

for the usb 3 connector itself, i tried everything i could... i tried to plug it in for around 3 hours-ish last night, when i first build it, i tried it around 30 mins for that alone. i've even unplug and took everything off except the standoff just to see if it can plug and click properly. i still couldn't do it.
i tried just plugging it in without going through the back with the motherboard clean and it's still way loose.

now... what do you mean by bending the flaps? if you could show me how to do it with pictures, that'd be great.

also, if you'd like a clearer picture of both the usb3 needles on the board and the usb3 plug from the case, let me know, i'll try to take separate, clearer pictures of each.

 

[Cerb]

in your opinion... is this the bitfenix shinobi case 3.0 fault or the msi motherboard connector fault? or is that normal with the usb 3.0 connector design...? if its not normal what should i do abt it?

Half a world away, and not using MSI boards, I can't even speculate. It shouldn't be as tight as some other connectors, but it should be on there firmly enough that you could safely ship the PC. Make sure no pins are bent, though.

 

[rovopio]

Half a world away, and not using MSI boards, I can't even speculate. It shouldn't be as tight as some other connectors, but it should be on there firmly enough that you could safely ship the PC. Make sure no pins are bent, though.

there's a notch so it could only plugged in one-way.. and since i was watchin YT videos, i know i didnt plug it wrong.

i dont know whether the pins are bent or not though. would you mind teaching me how to see that with my untrained eyes?
i checked it last night, and as far as i saw... it wasn't bent, i also touched it one by one, risking ESD to the board

but again, i really don't know the difference between normal pins and bent pins... so.. how do i know if its a slight bent? will the pin becomes wobbly and broken-like when it's bent? because all the pins are firm when i lightly touched it.


regarding firmy.. yea its not firm at all.. it stays there if i dont move the case, but im pretty sure if i sweep or mop my room and move the case or pick it up to move it to another room, it'll get loose and i'll get "device unrecognized" mssg on windows

=================================
==
also one other thing i'd like to type blow that i hope would let you gys better able to diagnose whether it's user error / bitfenix connector error / board error.

when i took the photographs, if i hold my hand like on the 1st picture, it looks firm. it's not as tight as say PSU cables but it's somewhat firm.

but when i let go of my hand, the left side of the Bitfenix Case USB3 connector went up immediately (got a little bit loose). the right side of the bitfenix case usb3 connector is firm enough and stays there unmoved. not that firm but i know its there to stay.

i checked the bitfenix usb3 connector and there's 2 bump 1 on the left and 1 on the right. the left side, is not as thick as the right side. (or maybe its placebo im not sure).

that discovery was also why i decided to touched the pins 1 by 1, particularly the left side of the board connector. its not broken or crazy bent. i dont know about slight bent...'

would you guys mind explaining the traits of a slightly bent pins? my eyes couldnt tell the difference last night....

 

[richaron]

The little "flap" hanging over the USB port (circled), and the other one hanging over the red ethernet port have been bent out of shape. They should be ~90° 'away' from this picture. Sitting 'on top' of the motherboard ports when looking down on the motherboard (CPU fan side). Kinda hard to explain...

These "flaps" should be almost perpendicular to the back plate, hanging 'down' a little bit and blocking the cut outs. Then you 'scoop' the motherboard in 'under' them from the side, they act a bit like a spring holding everything in place.

 

[richaron]

would you guys mind explaining the traits of a slightly bent pins? my eyes couldnt tell the difference last night....

For every pin there should be a hole for it to go into. As long as it is straight enough to fit in the hole then you should be fine. Since you have got the plug all the way on down, all the pins are straight enough (unless they are bent fully flat).

My USB plugs are looser than the others also, but not so loose I think it would just fall out, and none of them click or clip in place. Maybe you got unlucky it's not tight, but it should still work.

 

[rovopio]

For every pin there should be a hole for it to go into. As long as it is straight enough to fit in the hole then you should be fine. Since you have got the plug all the way on down, all the pins are straight enough (unless they are bent fully flat).

My USB plugs are looser than the others also, but not so loose I think it would just fall out, and none of them click or clip in place. Maybe you got unlucky it's not tight, but it should still work.

as far as my untrained eye can see it's not bent in a visible way, nor is it completely fat. idk if its slightly bent or not because i hv no idea what bent pin looks like, and google search only showed either the CPU pin bent image or major bent image

i have two question, no.1 is that.. based on your answer so... since i'm able to plug the usb3 connector all the way down when im holding the cable with my hand (without any force on my part)... does that mean most likely my board pins are okay...?
and it's not visible to my eye either.

i can plug in just fine if i hold my hand on top of the cable, it's just won't stick no matter what i do. it's just sort of there.

because warranty here where i live aren't really being honored that well so if it's a CID like bent pin, then i'm screwed and im sort of forced to buy another board. hehe :biggrin:


2) abt cable management... i tried every possibility of cable management i could think of that didn't involve ducktaping or pressing the USB3 cable under another thick cable (like forcing it to enter under the 24pin thick cable) and zip tie it a certain way so that it'd push down. i tried that and it could theoretically stick there, but im afraid it'll bent sideways if i do that permanently.

if you wouldnt mind checking out this photo, you can see the right side small bump is not as big as the left side small bump, in my opinion. can you see it clearly? is it true or it's just placebo on my end?

that's front and back. the left side (in actuality) aka the right side bump on the picture looks like it's not properly made / not as big a bump as the left side.

what do you think?

it's just the left side that won't connect firmly, the right side at least, it plugs okay-ish. i suspect that it is the case usb3 connector and i'll be glad if its the case thats faulty because its a temporary case until i get my h440

what do you think from looking at the picts?

 

[richaron]

1) Yes, since you can plug it in all the way the pins are fine... Or majorly bent (which you would notice).
2) Pictures are good, thanks. It looks like a manufacturing defect with the plastic plug (coming from the case). I can see the left/right side look different, it's not really a problem unless the plug falls out though.

If it is a big problem you can always try to make both sides the same yourself.

 

[mfenn]

It looks like the USB 3.0 connector has some extra plastic bits left over from the mold (this is called flashing). You can use an X-Acto knife to trim it bit by bit until it fits properly.

 

[rovopio]

alrighty... last question, ATM im using a PCI-e wireless adapter, but its only 150mbps TP-LINK brand the link. it's quite sucky, i couldn't maxed out my DL speed with it from where i put my computer.

To max out my DL speed i have to move the PC to the center of my room 2 foot over, which is not an option. i have several wireless router antenna, including one high-gain wireless router antenna that is unused in my closet, also TP-LINK brand.

does antenna from a wireless adapter and from wireless router interchangable? can i use my wireless router antenna and plug it on my PCI-e wireless adapter?

2) also is there a way to turn off the green epilectic-inducing status led-light off?
(i didn't get the manual with the box, i hv the cd though, but it's not written there.)

 

[Cerb]

does antenna from a wireless adapter and from wireless router interchangable? can i use my wireless router antenna and plug it on my PCI-e wireless adapter?

If it fits, yes.

2) also is there a way to turn off the green epilectic-inducing status led-light off?

On the NIC? Not that I've ever seen. If it reflects back too much, try electrical tape over it.

 

[rovopio]

thank you very much for you guys replies... id like to ask about vanity questions now that the difficult stuff hv been dealt with

im considering changing the noctua cpu cooler fan with some other more colorful fans. im thinking of getting a phanteks or a corsair fans.

what should i research / pay attention to before changing the noctua cpu cooler fans?
other than paying attention whether its a static pressure fans or airflow fans...