I decided to get a new case for the PC. Although I still think it's an eye pleasing case, my original Cooler Master 690 was starting to show its age. I decided on the Fractal R4 and started looking around the web at how people were doing their cable management for that particular case. I really started to enjoy some of the builds I saw, and as it tends to happen, that snowballed into building an entirely new PC. I've been accruing parts for about 3 weeks now as I find deals and such following the Black Friday/Cyber Monday overhyped nonsense. By a couple of days ago everything was here.
-Fractal R4 (Titanium w/ window)
-Asus Sabertooth Z87
-Intel i7-4770K
-Corsair H100i cooler
-32GB DDR324001866 GSkill Sniper Gaming Series
-EVGA GTX760 Superclocked
-Samsung SSD EVO 500GB
-Corsair AX760 fully modular PSU
-Windows 8.1 Pro-64
During the build, I like to piece together all the items that will go with the motherboard to make sure things generally fit ok. After doing that I started putting them all in the case and screwing things down. Onboard USB. Check. 24pin ATX. Check. Etc... During my quick survey, I just couldn't find the 4pin 12V ATX port for the CPU power. No worries, I'll find it once I get the PSU installed and start running cables. I forgot all about it after that. Big mistake. Once I got to that point, I already had the H100i cooler installed which was a pain to do by the way. It's really a two person job. I had to get blocks to hold the cooler up and clips for the hoses while I held the radiator in one hand and put in screws with the other. Not fun. Anyhow, it is only after I have this installed that I realize why I didn't see the 4pin ATX plug on my initial survey... it's an 8-pin plug on this board and I just didn't notice... and it's now barely visible through a small space behind the coolers radiator. There's simply no way to get that plugged in without taking the entire radiator back off. OK, let's get this over with. Hopefully this is the mistake/glitch for this build and the rest is smooth sailing. I get C clamps out to hold the radiator this time and all goes better than expected. Done.
Onward, I initially purchased the same memory as listed above but at a frequency of 2400 even though the Sabertooth Z87 is only officially able to run 1333/1600/1866. My thought process was this - the memory and the Z87 both have XMP capability so it shouldn't really matter. The board will adjust appropriately. I was still hesitant until I read a review right on the memory page that stated a guy had the same board and it worked. That reassurance combined with the RAM being on sale at about $50 cheaper than its 1866 counterpart, I felt pretty good about it. A week goes by and the RAM sticks arrive along with some other final parts.
I get the entire build assembled, cross my fingers, and hit the power button. Lights come on, fans are spinning... nothing on the screens. Shit. After some various tinkering, I remove all the RAM except 1 stick and reboot. BIOS. Success. I install Windows 8 via USB. Power down. Insert second RAM stick. Boot. Success. Both detected. Fist pump. Repeat with third stick. Success. Repeat with fourth stick. Fail. "MemOK!" light comes on denoting a problem. I follow the MemOK! process of letting it fix the problem but it is unable. After that, I cannot get any stick(s) of RAM to function in any combination. I reset CMOS and restart the process. Same thing. I am also getting beep code for RAM failure. (This is described in a few brief sentences here, but it is a day of experimenting in real time) All I can think of is that RAM doesn't play nice with that board. It may very well be possible to get it working but I couldn't figure it out in a full day of research. Out of ideas, I RMA the memory and order the 1866 frequency sticks that are now on sale for $40 less than the first 2400 set. They should work just fine when they arrive on Monday and with any luck I'll have a functioning build. (also not worried about having 1866 as with 32GB I'll have plenty to go 'round)
Cable management. I've been really irritated with my last couple of builds, this one included. Why the hell doesn't a modular power supply by Corsair (and others) come with a simpler set of cables?? Especially when you go the extra step and purchase the sleeved cables. Example: I have an SSD mounted on the back of the motherboard panel. How does it make sense that the only way to connect it with the provided cables it to run one of those multi sata connection cables with 4 heads? And for the power button up front, it needs a single Molex connection. One. The only Molex cables provided by Corsair? A bulky cable with again, a 4-head Molex connection. Four! Between those two cables, cable management has been a nightmare. I really don't want to take the back cover off of that case again as I'm not sure I'll get it back on, but I need to fix some cables so I'll have to. Something must be done. I'm giving serious consideration to buying custom cables from ModDIY. If I go to trouble of doing that though, I'll probably go all the way and sleeve the front i/o cables as well. No idea how to tackle that...
I shall return with updates as time allows. Pics to follow at some point.
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Originally Posted by pootystomp
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