So a big box from Scan arrived for me on Thursday, followed by my first niece on Friday, and having to take the missus's car for a service Saturday morning...finally I've managed to get a few hours to build the new rig :mrgreeen:
So I will be using the following:
Case: Fractal Design R4
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570k (Ivy Bridge)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
RAM: 8Gb Corsair Vengeance (low profile) DDR3 PC-12800 (2x4Gb)
Case fans: 2x Corsaire AF140 Quiet Edition (140mm) + 2 no. Fractal Design 140mm case fans + 1 no. 120mm Silverstone exhaust fan I had laying around:
Drives: Samsung 830 256Gb + Samsung Spinpoint 750gb (from old rig)
GPU: EVGA GTX570 1280Mb (from old rig, used to belong to sawyen)
So on with the show!!!
First things first, we need to fix the mounting bracket for the CPU heatsink to the back of the motherboard. Thankfully it was a painless affair, especially compared to my old Xigmatek S1283 on my Q6600 which was a tightmare of tight fitting rubber mounts for the fans and Intel push pins *breaks out in cold sweat thinking about it*
I start then by aligning it on the motherboard:
Then I take it off again because we forgot to remove some of the rubberised back, necessary for socket 1155 / 1156 CPUs:
Now I re-apply it making sure the hexagonal heads of the bolts sit into the raised lip of the bracket like so:
Now I can turn over the assembly and position the rubber spacers over the screws:
Next is to put the brackets into position:
After consultation with the install guide I realise I've put them the wrong way so I switch the around so the fans will be facing the right direction:
Tehn I realise I haven't even put the CPU into position....so i remove them again and put it to one side while I prepare the CPU with thermal paste! A small blob, spread very thin over the entire service of the CPU like so:
Before:
After:
Now I put the CPU in the socket and fit the retention bracket, the pressure I have to apply has me worried and triple checking it's aligned correctly!
Now I can put the brackets back on (in the right direction this time), and screw them down:
At this point I should have installed the RAM, but I didn't....because I've not build a PC in 4 years and I've forgotten stuff like that....anyway....the easy removal of the Noctua fans saved my bacon:
The Noctua NH-D14 was a pleasure to work with, simply align (it sits on it's own) and screw down with the 2 internally threaded screws provided to secure into position. You have to remove the middle 140mm / circular fan to gain access, but it's no problem at all and takes just a few seconds:
The Noctua NH-D14 has simple silicone strips to cushion the fans onto the heatsink and provide dampening, simple, but effective, as can be seen here:
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, and having to take the missus's car for a service Saturday morning...finally I've managed to get a few hours to build the new rig :mrgreeen: 





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I'll try and get some load temps in the next day or so (all at stock). Overclocked results might take a bit longer till I've tweaked it to my liking...not going higher than 4.5Ghz though, that should be plenty fast enough for me.


