My partial system upgrade

[pillainp]

Hi guys,

I recently moved to a new house, and to cut a long story short, I am having to partially upgrade my system as no Z77 boards are available locally to support my 3770K.

As a result, the following is my proposed upgrade:

1. CPU - Core i7 4790K
2. Motherboard - Asus Maximus VII Formula/Hero (Not decided yet, advice sought)
2. GPU - Asus STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-4GD5
4. RAM - G.SKILL RipjawsZ 1600 16GB DDR3 (4x4) (From my current build)
5. PSU - Corsair CMPSU TX850V2 (From my current build - See no reason to upgrade - yet)
6. Case - Corsair Obsidian Series 450D
7. CPU Cooler - Corsair H100i Extreme AIO

Now I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it OK to connect the H100i's Corsair Link cable to the single USB port shared by ROG Connect, since I will not be using that feature in the near future? This is the USB connector labeled USB1112 and shared with the ROG-Connect Header. I am asking because the Link seems to use Data only, power for the pump and fans coming from a SATA power connector.

This will also save me 4 USB 2 ports that I can bracket to the rear panel, since I have a few devices that work only on native USB 2 ports.

2. The Maximus VII Formula has an additional 4-Pin ATX power socket to supply the CPU with clean power.
My PSU however has only one 8-Pin EPS12V connector.
Can I connect just that and have the system run fine or do I also need to connect the 4-Pin? If so, where can I find an adaptor that converts one or two HDD 4-pins or PCIE power connectors to the 4-pin ATX connector?

 

[AddRAM]

I would definetly get the Formula over the hero.

I would email or call Asus about that other 4 pin connector, see if it`s needed.

You may have to upgrade the PSU to something like this.

EVGA - Products - EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 Power Supply - 220-G2-0850-XR

EVGA - Products - EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 Power Supply - 220-G2-0750-XR

 

[pillainp]

Well, well, well...

I'll be a monkey's uncle.

That bit about me having moved house. Well the system is back at the old place, and I just dropped in.

So I thought I would just have a look, having built it about 3 years ago.

And guess what:
My PSU (Corsair CMPSU-TX850-V2) does have 2 (yes 2) CPU 4+4 Pin Power connectors.
All the material I have read on the internets insists it has only one. This includes jonnyguru's excellent review of this same PSU.
I guess that teaches me to use the good old Human Eyeball Mark I and not believe what I read on the 'nets.
Unless Corsair quietly changed that.

I was wondering about that since I know the ASRock Z77 OC Formula has one 8 and one 4-pin CPU power header, being an OC'ing board, and I couldn't remember what we did about that then.

So Maximus VII Formula here I come.

Now the only other worry is about the Corsair Link USB connector.

Sadly no emoticon for rolling about on the floor screaming girly screams of ecstasy, so I have to go with this . Dodged the bullet that time.

 

[AddRAM]

Nice.

We await pictures and benchmarks

 

[pillainp]

So the final build specs are:

1. CPU - Core i7 4790K
2. Motherboard - Asus Maximus VII Formula
2. GPU - Asus STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-4GD5
4. RAM - G.SKILL TridentX F3-2400C10D-16GTX 2400MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (8GBx2)
5. PSU - Corsair CMPSU TX850V2 (From my current build - See no reason to upgrade - yet)
6. Case - Corsair Obsidian Series 450D
7. CPU Cooler - Corsair H100i Extreme Performance AIO CPU Cooler
Will be replacing the OE fans that come with the H100i with 2 of these:
8. H100i Fans - Coolermaster JetFlo 120 Red LED Fans
9. SSD - Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB SSD from my current build.

HDD's all from my current build.

And my issue with the lack of USB2 ports I plan to solve with this cool little add-on:
IU01 USB Expansion Internal USB Expansion Board

I was also planning to use this Fan controller:
Deepcool ROCK MASTER V3.0
But the plethora of fan headers on the Maximus VII Formula has rendered it redundant. ALso the blue LED's would not gel well with the general red colouring.

Waiting on delivery of the motherboard, which will come in only by month end, the CPU and the RAM.

Hopefully build should commence by the end of this month, at which point I shall be pestering the lot of you for advice.

 

[ThrashZone]

Nice case got it too
It is a bit tight but at least your getting the 120x240mm cpu cooler
It will fit on top well
I used the H110i GT 140x280mm and it fits on the front well as an intake air setup but not on the top.
I would take note that rads should be setup as a pull not a push unless you do both
So corsair probably has the fans backwards and also should use static pressure fans like the corsair sp120
http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custom-builds-overclocking/366238-corsair-h80i-thermal-paste.html

Not sure but you seem to have 2 usb 2.0 ports on the board and 1 usb 3.0 for the front panel of the case so you should be fine ?
1 usb 2.0 for the corsair link and 1 open for another 2.0 ?

 

[AddRAM]

I would have looked at the Formula 6 Z87, it`s cheaper and has 10 sata ports and all the usb ports you`d ever need, the Z97 only has 6 sata ports and useless sata express ports.

But the Z97 has 8 usb ports on the back and you should have at least 2 at the front of the case.

USB Ports
Intel® Z97 chipset : *5
6 x USB 3.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board)
Intel® Z97 chipset : *6
6 x USB 2.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, black, 4 at mid-board)
ASMedia® USB 3.0 controller :
2 x USB 3.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, blue)

*5. Support ASUS USB 3.0 Boost, UASP standard on the Intel native USB 3.0 is only supported under Windows® 8.1/8.
*6. 2 x USB2.0 port at mid-board shares with ROG extension (ROG_EXT) port.

 

[pillainp]

The thing is that there are no Z87 boards available on any of the sites here in India.

Forget B&M stores... Those guys are still stuck at LGA1155 budget boards.

I have quite a few devices that are finicky about USB 3 ports, notably my monitor (Dell Sp2208FPW - has 2 USB ports), my Laser printer, my camera, and a couple of card readers.

The Formula has only 2 USB 2 ports on the back, all the rest being USB3, so I need quite a few more USB2 ports, hence the NZXT IU01, off which I plan to hang a few USB 2 brackets to the rear slots.

I don't like having stuff hanging off the front USB 3 ports (except portable media like USB flash drives), so I will have to go to the rear.

The IU01 takes one internal USB 2 header and converts it into 3 headers plus 2 internal ports for devices like bluetooth receivers. It can be stuck to the inside of the case wherever it is convenient.

 

[ThrashZone]

I can sort of relate I got the x99 sabertooth because it had more usb 2.0 connections on the back than the Maximus
Plus it did not have the weird old round keyboard port = what's up with that old round connection anyway ?

Your monitor I would hope is connecting with dvi not usb :/

Yep plenty of good usb hubs around

 

[AddRAM]

He just has usb ports on the monitor and you have to run a usb cable to it in order to use them.

 

[Layback Bear]

Them old round motherboard and mouse ports are called PS2 ports and can when needed, come in very handy to get into bios or Windows when problems arise. Their are times when USB ports stop working and PS2 is the only way into your system to repair things.

One example.

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/375674-usb-ports-not-working-after-multiple-crashes.html

 

[pillainp]

My monitor has VGA, DVI and HDMI.

My vid card died a while ago so I am now running off the onboard video using HDMI.

And yes, the monitor also has a built-in USB hub which for some reason will only work off a USB 2 port.

Anyway, how do the rest of the specs look?

 

[AddRAM]

Looks fine

 

[ThrashZone]

Agreed Hero looks good to me so does the rest

 

[pillainp]

Just got the Formula in yesterday.

Now waiting on a pair of LED fans (Corsair SP140 Red) for the front of the case.

Build should commence sometime next week.

Will be cannibalizing the TX850V2 from the older build.

 

[AddRAM]

You got the Formula ? Very good, keep us posted

 

[pillainp]

Yup

Had to chase down three dealers to get hold of it, but it seems to be worth it in the end.

 

[pillainp]

Well,

Finally done.

First boot too, but it seems I am missing an HDD. Will troubleshoot later.

 

[pillainp]

I keep getting a blue screen with the message WHAE_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.

There is no error code so I am not able locate the cause.

Windows 8.1 Pro x64.

CPU temps appear nominal.

 

[ThrashZone]

Bummer might need to make a new question in the bsod section either here or on eightforums