Vellaura and her PC Adventures - Configuring her new PC :D

Hey all!

For those of you that know me will know the technical journey I've been on, hopefully this will be the last adventure, my new donated pc. I thought I'd make a thread about it because I have plenty of little questions regarding many things and I'm sure new ones will come as I set this one up.

Here are the specs for anyone wondering, it's nothing mind blowing but its heaps better then my old one:



I've been very out of touch with most of the newer hardware, since my old mobo was not even UEFI. I just wanted to get some tips on configuring everything correctly.

1: First thing I want to do is update my BIOS to get maximum stability. My one is currently on 0504, I was just wondering for my mobo should I go for the latest "beta" version or go for the one right below it, any stability issues with going for a beta version? Is it worth it?

Installation: If I remember correctly all I had to do was download the bios file, put it on a USB, load into bios then update and pray nothing shuts down right? This mobo has a BIOS USB port, not sure what that's for exactly.

2: I'm going to remove all the parts out of the donated pc's current case, its a small old thermaltake case, no where near as cool as my other phantom. I love my NZXT Phantom too much not to use it.

Also going to put my Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition on the new cpu, its currently got the stock intel heatsink and fan, my god is it loud. LGA 2011 socket is surprisingly easy to install on, no backplate required! Woo. All this will be like building a new pc moving everything from one to another, so good experience I bet! Any tips?

3: When doing a clean install of windows I should have all the drivers in a usb and install them all before I connect to the internet right? This mobo actually has tons of drivers it comes with, even chipset drivers (my old mobo didn't even have those ). Any drivers I dont need or just install all the latest ones?

Anything else I should be aware of? I had a quick look through the bios settings but didn't want to mess around with anything, AHCI is on.

Thanks :)

Version 20H2

AddRAM said:

The Sandy Bridge is a great CPU

Really? wew! \ /

Ghot said:

Definitely redo the thermal compound. And if it's using the stock Intel cooler, get a better one.



As for the BIOS flashing....

Yep, going to use my new Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition from my old pc onto this one.

Would that method of updating the bios be safer? Also does my PC have to be turned on?

Also @Ghot you'll be pleased to know the gtx 970 works without a single problem on this pc, it must've been conflicting with something on my Rampage III Formula.

see comments

Vellaura said:

1: First thing I want to do is update my BIOS to get maximum stability........................load into bios then update and pray nothing shuts down right?

Why subject yourself to anything that might require prayers? I'd leave the BIOS alone unless you have specific problems and some reason beyond hope that a BIOS update might solve them.

3: When doing a clean install of windows I should have all the drivers in a usb and install them all before I connect to the internet right? This mobo actually has tons of drivers it comes with, even chipset drivers (my old mobo didn't even have those ). Any drivers I dont need or just install all the latest ones?

I'd be sure to have the NIC driver on a USB stick in the rare case that you might not immediately have Internet connectivity. The rest of the drivers you can get later, but I wouldn't be overly excited about getting any drivers other than those supplied by Windows Update UNLESS you have specific issues. Let WU do it's thing and then see if anything is haywire and doesn't work as expected.

Install the chipset driver first, although I'm unclear on how much of a necessity it is nowadays.

Ignore this advice if you are driver-obsessive. Some people are.

Anything else I should be aware of? I had a quick look through the bios settings but didn't want to mess around with anything, AHCI is on.

Take a look at Windows Disk Managment re your partitions. Run some benchmark software to see if there are any performance issues you didn't expect. Use something like HWInfo to track temps, voltages, fan speeds, etc. Get some SMART data to see if your HD has possible issues. Get straightened out on malware and virus protection. Get a backup plan going for both personal data and Windows/installed applications. Take the occasional gander into Task Manager looking for anything peculiar. Make sure you don't have lots of unnecessary stuff running at startup.

@ignatzatsonic

Thank you for your response ignat :).

Well I thought It'd be nice to have it up to date since its a couple years behind. Just future proofing I guess? Your not wrong but I also don't mind knowing the feeling things might be running even better? Theres also have been a tone of stability updates.

In regards to the drivers cant say I trust Windows, I've read cases where it would automatically install older drivers. Chipset first? Gotcha!

Thank you :)

@Ghot

Yeah think I'll go with EZ Flash, the other method doesn't come with a feeling of as much certainty.

@AddRAM

Stock intel cooler and probably needs new thermal paste.