Universes

To reiterate what others have said, you can save some on the motherboard (not as feature rich), RAM (lower speed), case (just straight cheaper), storage (lower capacity), and CPU cooler. Otherwise, you can't cut corners on the other main components if that's what you're looking for.

Nothing to worry about. The whole point of that is just to protect the pins of the socket. You can take it off and put it back on at any time.

Current Intel sockets (LGA, land grid array) will sound and feel a little crunchy when installing The plastic socket cover should not stop the CPU from being installed, and should automatically pop off when the CPu is installed The top (silver heat spreader) can be touched all you want, its just a metal 'shield' on top of the bare die. You essentially just etched the metal with your body oils, which can happen with most brushed metal and stainless steel surfaces. The bracket is not centred on LGA1700. That's fine. If you haven't already, read the manuals. They are specific to your parts. Videos are great but they are generalized.

You can always move your PC closer to your router/modem. My suggestion is to have a wired connection. If you go wireless, don't expect a great connection unless you have a really good router and receiver. You'll have higher ping regardless.

That is so weird. But if there's anything I learned troubleshooting hardware and software issues is somethings things aren't logical. The only thing that does not make sense to me is why it suddenly stopped working as it should when nothing changed. Unfortunately I'm out of ideas and knowledge, other than throwing money at it and trying other routers that may not solve this issue.

For cooler compatibility, Noctua is pretty good with providing tools for that: https://ncc.noctua.at/coolers/NH-D15-2/cases. If that tool doesn't work, just look at their detailed measurements and compare with the case measurements. Almost all decent cases up to $250USD will have mounting spots for 5 140mm fans (2 front, 2 top, 1 rear).

The most objective answer I have is what I originally replied with. This is a matter of personal choice. If you really want to base your choice on someone else's opinion, then I would just get a replacement keyboard.

Using the MSI Z30 Tomahawk, you need at minimum 7 PCI slots in the case. You may actually need 8 PCI slots since I'm not sure if the first PCIe slot is the first or second slot in cases. You'll have to cross reference cases with their mounting holes and the mounting holes of the motherboard to see where the slots line up. As long as the GPU at the bottom is a 2 slot cooler design, it'll fit in the bottom. And I don't mean just 2 PCI slots only. The cooler also has to be the same size as 2 PCI slots. Both the o11 and the 5000D should fit.

Unless I don't see it, it doesn't look like the switches are swappable, so that would mean you're using a soldering iron to removing and attach new switches. Even then, why 'waste' high end switches and keycaps on a regular case?

This makes more sense. So two things come to my mind: Gigabit rated ports on the units does not mean it can and will transmit a gigabit speed through a wired connection. These are WiFi units, rated for 1300Mbs combined total bandwidth output. That does not mean you can reach those speeds on a single client, wired or wireless. These units were never meant for the setup you currently have. the length and type of ethernet cables can limit your speed It's going to be more cables, but I suggest running direct connections from each switch to the router, and daisy the chain the Deco's to the router. That way you will have full speed on all connections as long as your ISP/connection and your router can support it.

Generally yes, that means the heat is being pulled off of the CPU and being dissipated into the air. Generally no, because it will have hardened and not be able to fill in the space between your CPU heat spreader and cooler.

If cost and time are the biggest factor, do you think attempting to fix the K552 is worth it especially when it still may not work after 'fixing' it? If there's something special about the specific K552 that you have, then decide how much it is worth to you.

I don't understand how they are wired (as shown in the diagram) but you also have switches connected to them? From what I see, the Deco M5 units have 2 ethernet ports, one for in and one for daisy chaining. So there's no way for everything to be hard wired the way you have it in the diagram. If everything is hard wired, the speeds should be fine. If the connection at some point is requiring WiFi, that's probably your limiting factor.

If I understand correctly: you have a 'fiber to the home' connection your internet package speed is 1Gb symmetrical (up and down) connecting directly to the modem provides ~1Gb speeds connecting a router directly to the modem, and a device directly to said router provides 30Mb speeds the same wire used to connect directly to the modem is the same wire used to connect the router Assuming all that is correct: What has changed after the connection issues and slow speeds? You mentioned everything was working until approximately 3 months ago and the hardware is still the same.

That sounds like the problem. If it is the VRAM, what is happening is that when a graphic intense application is run, the iGPU runs out of VRAM and needs to keep creating graphics but with only 512mbs of VRAM at a time. Imagine trying to fill your bathtub with water using a small cup. You would need to keep emptying and refilling the cup. When you are refilling the cup, nothing can be put into the bathtub (no graphics are displayed). Glad you figured it out. Cheers!