Aurelia Null Box - First Phase Build

Aereto_Compuru · December 4, 2016

After a week of software agony, I finally have the computer ready and prepared for use. To shorten up the introductions, I'll provide the links that are prior to the build (A good amount of related threads, spoiler'd for size):

Spoiler

Here are the parts ordered for the build:

Spoiler

Pre-Rebate Cost: 1704.51 (Exceeding 1500 USD Estimated Budget due to HDD purchase), Awaiting rebates.

Gigabyte GA-H170-Gaming 3

Intel Core i7 6700

MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming X 8G

4 Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB DDR4 2133 (Dual Channel Kits)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

Arctic MX-4

Cooler Master V 650 (Fully Modular, 80+ Gold)

Plextor M8PeGN, 256GB (No heatsink, M.2 NVMe)

Samsung 850 Evo, 500GB (2.5", Sata3)

2 HGST Deskstar NAS, 3TB (set in RAID 1 in UEFI Motherboard by Intel chipset)

TP-Link Archer T6E

Corsair Carbide 600C (Inverse ATX)

AOC G2260VWQ6 (21.5" widescreen LCD gaming monitor, 1ms response, DisplayPort+HDMI+D-Sub/VGA)

Adata USB 3.0 Flash Drive, 32 GB (Windows Installation Drive)

StarTech DISPLPORT6L (DisplayPort, 6ft, confirmed DisplayPort organization approval)

Coboc EA-HDAC-6-BK (HDMI, 6ft, High-Speed + Ethernet rating)

4 Sata 3 Cable, 21" (extra 2 if motherboard's provided cables fail)

iFixit 64 Bit Driver (magnetic scredriver, intended for use beyond PC)

iFixit Anti-Static Mat and Wristband Kit

Logitech Trackman (Marblewheel mouse, and my personal favorite for more than a decade)

Once I have the core components, I went on to assemble the parts. The process took about 4 hours, then an extra 2 hours on figuring out why it did not go past POST, only to find that I have forgotten to connect the CPU power line. (I RTFM'd enough and ended up slipping from memory). Other than that, the hardware installation is successful, though the wiring needs a bit of more organizing. The cable management mess is restricted to the rear, not visible until the back-facing side panel is opened, and will be worked on in the Second Phase.

The monitor is surprisingly on a major sale, and ended up saving more than 100 USD.

I had little to no problems on the hardware side, only to have agony over the software side. Windows 7 Ultimate and Ubuntu Linux are installed in separate drives (Win 7 in M.2, Ubuntu in 2.5" with only 80GB Partition for non-virtualization testing purposes). To be concise, all 4 drives are subjected to partition removals, OS reinstallations and partitioning, and software downloads and reinstallation 3 times, but not subjected to a disk write-to-zero drive wipe, lasting 4-5 days. The Windows Update takes several hours, and not all are guaranteed to be installed.

I'll post pics of my tower once I have the camera prepared.

Data Pictures:

Spoiler

Desktop:

Plextor CrystalDiskMark5 (Post Software Debacle)

Samsung CrystalDiskMark5 (Post Software Debacle)

HGST RAID1 CrystalDiskMark5 (Post Software Debacle)

Unigine Valley Benchmark Results

What did I learn from this build project?

Spoiler

When in doubt, RTFM. Twice.
Double check the motherboard ports to see if the plugs are secured, or are missing in relation to devices in need of connecting.
Before the HDDs are delivered, proactively set the UEFI to have the storage run through the Intel RST RAID controller, THEN include the Intel RST driver into the operating system(s) during installation. Else risk having days of troubleshooting.
When expecting more parts in the future near and far, plan for it.
Expect Windows Update to run overnight.
Plan to have a WLAN NIC and anticipate rearrangements that disconnect the desktop from the wire, and use the best possible bandwidth that the router can use to distribute and make effective use of dual-band channels.
Rome is not built in a day, neither does the PC (not without causing a mess due to inexperience, at least).
Research, and research some more, then keep an eye out on the market for potential price reductions.
Don't use the anti-static bag to rest the motherboard unless sure to be the non-conductive side; use anti-static mat instead and ground accordingly.

What is going to be in the next build phase?

Spoiler

Known opportunities for upgrade:

2 2.5" SSDs for standard application space expansion or reallocation of Ubuntu partition for expanded space.

1 M.2 Sata or NVMe SSD (standard application/Ubuntu expansion for Sata, M.2 new size upgrade for NVMe)

AMD Radeon Pro WX5100 (for when game development hobbies start to take off that a RX480 can't keep up)

Pure Sine Wave UPS at least 700W - PRIORITY

4TB External Hard Drive for data backups - PRIORITY

RGB LED lighting kit (likely to use rebate funds)

Addendum note: Research on securely accessing the desktop remotely before actually attempting to do it via my laptop from my school site. I'm separating my user access to non-admin level to the desktop for remote connection purposes.

DeDra · December 4, 2016

I think this build will go great. A couple things, nothing major, just comments.

32GB of ram; Overkill?
NAS Drives; Might not be the best choice, when compared to just a desktop drive..
Going from Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E531 to this? That's quite the leap!!
9 minutes ago, Aereto_Compuru said:
What did I learn from this build project?
Reveal hidden contents
When in doubt, RTFM. Twice.

Double check the motherboard ports to see if the plugs are secured, or are missing in relation to devices in need of connecting.

Before the HDDs are delivered, proactively set the UEFI to have the storage run through the Intel RST RAID controller, THEN include the Intel RST driver into the operating system(s) during installation. Else risk having days of troubleshooting.

When expecting more parts in the future near and far, plan for it.

Expect Windows Update to run overnight.

Plan to have a WLAN NIC and anticipate rearrangements that disconnect the desktop from the wire, and use the best possible bandwidth that the router can use to distribute and make effective use of dual-band channels.

Rome is not built in a day, neither does the PC (not without causing a mess due to inexperience, at least).

Research, and research some more, then keep an eye out on the market for potential price reductions.

Don't use the anti-static bag to rest the motherboard unless sure to be the non-conductive side; use anti-static mat instead and ground accordingly.
It's great that you learned some new things from what seems like your first build (correct me if I'm wrong about this being the first)

Aereto_Compuru · December 4, 2016

19 minutes ago, DeDra said:

I think this build will go great. A couple things, nothing major, just comments.

32GB of ram; Overkill?

NAS Drives; Might not be the best choice, when compared to just a desktop drive..

Going from Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E531 to this? That's quite the leap!!

It's great that you learned some new things from what seems like your first build (correct me if I'm wrong about this being the first)

To be fair, I am planning to put this computer into diverse purposes in the future, including content creation and near-full spectrum game development. That is where the workstation graphics card comes in once my development projects start to become a problem for the RX 480. I cannot afford a Titan X for play and development as the price is equivalent of all of my components listed. 32 GB may not mean much, but longevity becomes a factor when planning to keep this build for a long while. I would not put it in someone else's build plan unless they are working on something very memory intensive.

HGST is one of the lesser known, but profoundly reliable HDD brands out there... though I have taken note of the researched hardware differences between desktop and NAS drives, especially when I am putting them in RAID 1. Never knew my Lenovo lappy had a HGST 500GB hard drive for a few years.

And I am also a student in the IT field, so some professional programs might end up in this PC, too.