[Updated] Second Opinions on a Build

Hidden Orange · October 19, 2018

40 minutes ago, brob said:

Post a picture of the part that broke.

It's this little dinky bracket? thing.

I doubt a motherboard would have something like this, I don't think the Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B has anything like this since it's just a giant heatsink and the fans don't have any protruding plastic, it's also not the RAM sticks since once again, this would be weird to have on RAM. So, yeah, I have no idea what this freaking thing is. My only guess is that it came from the case somewhere. Now that I think about it, it might be one of the brackets for the front panel to connect to the case. I did take it off to get the protective stickers off, so one of them might have snapped when I put it back on which is weird since I didn't apply any extreme force on it.

Speaking of which, there's a protective sticker on the motherboard that I couldn't get off. Is it fine or should I try later? It's right on the "B450 Tomahawk" text: https://asset.msi.com/global/picture/features/MB/Gaming/B450/B450Tomahawk/b450-Tomahwk-RGB.jpg.

23 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

Good to hear. My SATA power cables are also 90 degree, except for the ones on the end, which are straight. That one I used on the Optical drive actually so the chord wouldn't run into the 24 pin and would route nicely through the grommet. Can't say about the plastic piece though. Your PC is gonna destroy some games, especially with that overkill GPU lol

They're all right angles and I don't think I can flip the back tray or install the SSD behind it as there isn't enough room. Yeah, it's going to kill the games I have.

brob · October 19, 2018

SATA data cables are relatively inexpensive. If you have a nearby computer store, best buy, etc., you should be able to pickup the needed cable.

The broken piece may be off of a filter.

Hidden Orange · October 19, 2018

On 10/19/2018 at 12:13 AM, brob said:

SATA data cables are relatively inexpensive. If you have a nearby computer store, best buy, etc., you should be able to pickup the needed cable.

I'll keep that in mind. Right now, it's a minor inconvenience, but it works, so whatever.

Edit: Just noting this down for myself: Updating the GTX 1080 was strangely complicated. Manually downloading the newest driver or any driver led to this message during the installation: "the standard nvidia driver is not compatible with this version of Windows". I found a workaround that was from a thread on here where the OP had to use an alternate driver:

Figuring that this doesn't address the problem of if I can ever install new drivers, I decided to look into it further and resolve it which lead to this method of disabling the default setting on Windows 10 to install drivers automatically, booting into safe mode, and using DDU from Guru3D to completely uninstall the current drivers and restarting:

It worked, but it's just really strange and I don't know why this was an issue.

Edit 2: Noting something else for myself: A fresh install of Windows 10 beginning with the October 2018 update automatically installs Nvidia's GeForce 398.36 or maybe more recent DCH drivers instead of the "standard" ones which messes with things if you don't know which drivers you had in the first place. Coincidentally, I built my system during that time and yeah, I didn't know anything really about which type of drivers and why this, "the standard nvidia driver is not compatible with this version of Windows, was happening. Finally, I fixed this morning when I tried to install new drivers and encountered the same problem, but this time, there was an actual solution: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/psa-nvidia-installer-cannot-continue-on-windows-october-2018-update-and-how-to-fix-it.250415/.

Basically, uninstall the DCH drivers and its leftovers using the command prompt to use PnPUtil. Did run into a problem where I had to uninstall a different set of drivers which I had installed to get the most recent and working drivers from the previous edit. Uninstalled that and to be safe, I even uninstalled the what I think were the factory drivers which weren't DCH, but whatever.

Stefan Payne · October 19, 2018

13 hours ago, Hidden Orange said:

The scariest thing was when a standoff got stuck and I thought I stripped it or the screw. Turns out in my excitement, I used the wrong screws to install the motherboard. I used the screwed labeled as drive screws which I'm guessing is for a 3.5" drive instead of the motherboard screws.

I really hate the mix of M3 Screws for 5,25" Drives and the Imperial 6/32 ones. And with some Cases (IIRC Cooler Master Storm Trooper) you use the M3 Screws, with others the Imperial one. Its total cancer. And you need to check the Motherboard (or have an eye for it) what screwes you have to use for Slots because there are also some where you use the German M3 screws.

Personally: They should get rid of that Imperial Cancer and stick with the German M3 Screw and stick with it for everything they can.

And it has another advantage as well: If you are too brutal and ruin your screwhole, you can violently screw the Imperial one in and everything is fine...

13 hours ago, Hidden Orange said:

The Bitfenix PSU only gave me right angle SATA power cables which I guess is normal?

Yeah, the ones cutting into the cable (like the old Ribbon Connectors) are the Standard. There are a couple of manufacturers that still use Crimped ones and ironically you see that more on the cheaper units than the more expenisve ones...