Accidental build on the AsRock Z68

[Stephen.]

I think you're being far too generous. My parents stopped with a celeron, there was no way they were getting me hardware that good when I was that young. I hope he realizes how lucky he is.

For me it was, you like that? you will have to earn it someday when you start earning your money. Is not that my parents could not afford its that they wanted me to learn the value of things no matter how small and plus we have a huge family 9 kids and i am the third last. Oh well i got the point my parents put across.

The kid is very lucky, for me i would not have it any other way but i would have loved an opportunity like this when i was younger

 

[brandonwh64]

I did not read this whole thread but did you ever get the bios updated to support ivy bridge? Also If you do not plan on overclocking then the stock cooler will be fine.

 

[MilkyWay]

I did not read this whole thread but did you ever get the bios updated to support ivy bridge? Also If you do not plan on overclocking then the stock cooler will be fine.

This... my first thought is that you tried to run an unsupported chip and thats how it wouldnt boot. Asrock only just released its ivy bios update, i have the extreme 3 gen 3 which is a good board. I am not understanding why the bios chip was needed to be removed? Did it get bricked in flashing? So the asrock technician replaced the chip? Stick with the cooler master cooler if its not broken. You dont need a lot of force to attach it. Stock cooler is made to run fine at stock cpu settings. Hope it worked out fine.

 

[techguy31]

His build is:

AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Fan
Seasonic X Series 850W Power supply
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 Graphics card
Intel I5-3570K LGA1155 CPU
Kingston KHX16009D3K2/8GX DD3 DRAM
Cooler Master HAF ATX Case
HD Samsung HD1035J ????
DVD Burn LG GH24NS70 ????
Windows 7 SPI 64 bit operating system (if we're lucky)

And we had to get the very special thermal paste Artic Cooling MX-2... bleh. The last two items are next in line for me to read about so I'm only up to date with the specs I've read so far. He picked these components alone with no "priors", so it's his baby, not a kit build. That's why my "tech" friends bailed on me.

That is one nice build for a 13 year old . I wish I had that money to spend. LOL

 

[itgoesto11]

First off, congrats on the working build

Second BS on keeping the 13 yo far from his baby, uhh I mean PC. Just make sure he understands that if he f**ks up, he's gunna pay out of his pocket (so that he understands that if he wants a baby... uh, custom PC I mean, he's gotta take care of it etc, not a punishment). I built my first rig at 8yo, and payed and bought my 2nd rig at ~17 (put down 2000$ lol). As long as he dos the research etc, its a fun experience.

Third, we love helping people like you, so don't be afraid to ask anything that you couldn't find in a few minutes of googling Tell your son to join in the Techpowerup fun lots to learn here. Next time he wants to buy something, run it through here etc, it makes you understand everything so well.

I came to TPU as a real noob who had done maybe 2 hours of research about computers and almost starting a flamewar with my 1st thread lmao, but now I've got a couple dozen build under my belt and am starting to become a veteran It really is even ore fun building PCs and overclocking etc when you understand what you are doing

HAHA, you called it a baby. When I was driving with my son's rig in the car yesterday I looked over at it and it flashed in my mind, I wonder if I qualify for the carpool lane. Because it is like a little person.

 

[itgoesto11]

@itgoesto11

Check out my Z68 (DZ68BC), I know the pictures are blurry and not that clear its coz i was using a webcam.
One many reasons why i love my Z68, I'm sure your son will find plenty of things interesting with the AsRock Z68 as-well.
Here are the pictures, i haven't done cable routing yet, and I'll get an after market cooler for overclocking soon

http://img.techpowerup.org/120516/2012-05-16 07-59-06.746.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/120516/2012-05-16 08-06-31.687.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/120516/2012-05-16 07-59-29.289.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/120516/2012-05-16 08-09-43.826.jpg

Very cool... is that skull already on the MOBO or is that something you added?

 

[itgoesto11]

I think you're being far too generous. My parents stopped with a celeron, there was no way they were getting me hardware that good when I was that young. I hope he realizes how lucky he is.

His friend has an Alienware double tower thing.... so he's actually slumming LOL. Talk about spoiled rotten. I looked at that stuff and was blown away that people could spend so much money on these rigs. Anyway, I gave him a budget and he combed the net for deals, no tax, etc... this is a gift in memory of my mom who left some money when she just passed away. She had severe Alzheimer's all his life so she never got to spoil him like grandmother's will... so this covers all those years of birthdays they both missed out on.

 

[m4gicfour]

Well I see I showed up just in time to see your success. Good job on doing things the right way.

HAHA, you called it a baby. When I was driving with my son's rig in the car yesterday I looked over at it and it flashed in my mind, I wonder if I qualify for the carpool lane. Because it is like a little person.

When I take my PC somewhere, I always put it in the backseat of the truck and put the shoulder-belt seatbelt around the case. People who see me do it always look at me funny, at least until I have to stop quick and the PC remains in one piece.

His friend has an Alienware double tower thing.... so he's actually slumming LOL. Talk about spoiled rotten. I looked at that stuff and was blown away that people could spend so much money on these rigs. Anyway, I gave him a budget and he combed the net for deals, no tax, etc... this is a gift in memory of my mom who left some money when she just passed away. She had severe Alzheimer's all his life so she never got to spoil him like grandmother's will... so this covers all those years of birthdays they both missed out on.

His friend has a Dell. They bought out Alienware, and it's a subsidiary of Dell now. That makes it sound somehow less impressive, doesn't it?

The Alienware may have superior hardware, but the experience gained from building your own PC is worth far more. Generally speaking, with a set budget you can afford much better hardware if you custom build than you can if you buy a prebuilt, so long as you do the research first.

 

[Stephen.]

Very cool... is that skull already on the MOBO or is that something you added?

The Skull is already on the MOBO, Intel Extreme Desktop Boards have had that skull since 5 series chipset, more in particular the one with LEDs lighting up are 5 & 6 Series Extreme boards, the 7 Series chipset have the skull without LEDs but it has a nice silver finish on it.

The skull lights up blue. The eyes light up red when there's hard disk activity.

 

[Norton]

His friend has an Alienware double tower thing.... so he's actually slumming LOL. Talk about spoiled rotten. I looked at that stuff and was blown away that people could spend so much money on these rigs. Anyway, I gave him a budget and he combed the net for deals, no tax, etc... this is a gift in memory of my mom who left some money when she just passed away. She had severe Alzheimer's all his life so she never got to spoil him like grandmother's will... so this covers all those years of birthdays they both missed out on.

I have both of my grandmothers still after 40+ years and can't even imagine what you went through . My father in-law suffered dearly with Alzeimer's for quite a few years until he passed away.
You go ahead and spoil him rotten for your mom/his grandma for this special project She will appreciate it, she won't think it's enough, but she will appreciate none the less.

Oh and his friend with the Alienware is in for quite a surprise when that new build chews his PC up and spits it out... Alienware may be prettier but that doesn't mean better

 

[itgoesto11]

The Skull is already on the MOBO, Intel Extreme Desktop Boards have had that skull since 5 series chipset, more in particular the one with LEDs lighting up are 5 & 6 Series Extreme boards, the 7 Series chipset have the skull without LEDs but it has a nice silver finish on it.

The skull lights up blue. The eyes light up red when there's hard disk activity.

I saw a thread where people modify their cabinets to show the electronics...

 

[Stephen.]

I saw a thread where people modify their cabinets to show the electronics...

There are transparent chassis on the market they've been for a long time, i have thought of getting one several times

 

[sneekypeet]

full acrylic cases are tough to keep clean, make their own static charge, and leave very little in the way of hiding anything, including wires. I much prefer a well placed window over a full on "see-through" case.

 

[Stephen.]

full acrylic cases are tough to keep clean, make their own static charge, and leave very little in the way of hiding anything, including wires. I much prefer a well placed window over a full on "see-through" case.

Exactly why i have thought of getting but i haven't got one and frankly i think i wont get one, due to the reasons you mentioned

 

[itgoesto11]

His friend has a Dell. They bought out Alienware, and it's a subsidiary of Dell now. That makes it sound somehow less impressive, doesn't it?

The Alienware may have superior hardware, but the experience gained from building your own PC is worth far more. Generally speaking, with a set budget you can afford much better hardware if you custom build than you can if you buy a prebuilt, so long as you do the research first.[/QUOTE]

When you say it like that, I mean Dell is a good product but the word is pretty lame.

 

[itgoesto11]

full acrylic cases are tough to keep clean, make their own static charge, and leave very little in the way of hiding anything, including wires. I much prefer a well placed window over a full on "see-through" case.

I only saw ones with windows, the whole case seems like overkill. I guess the windows are acrylic too... window cleaner can cause serious static electricity as I used to operate a huge scanner and my hair would practically cross the room to stick to it when I used one product in particular, one with alcohol in it I think.

 

[sneekypeet]

"cleaners" and acrylic don't mix well in most instances typically I would use micro-fiber and plain old Booby Buchette brand H2O (sorry for the bad waterboy reference). Anything with ammonia will scratch it, and alcohol seems to leave a film on some windows.

 

[20mmrain]

I don't know how many of your questions you have answered yet..... but I feel the need to try to answer as many as I can for you.

1. Updating your BIOS so that a Z68 Motherboard can handle Ivy bridge: In order to do this you do not need to replace the BIOS chip. All you need is someone you know with a Sandy Bridge CPU or a workshop with a Sandy Bridge CPU that you can use.
Once you have a Sandy Bridge CPU you can use.... then it is a matter of installing it. Turning on the computer. Flashing the BIOS with a USB Key Drive or a Floppy Disk. Then Uninstall the Sandy Bridge CPU Install your i5 Ivy Bridge and away you go.
For directions on how to Flash a BIOS ... just Google it or look in your Motherboard User Manual. If you still are stuck PM me and I will point you in the right direction.
To get the Sandy Bridge CPU: Either call a local repair shop and see if they have one that they will allow you to use. Or see if they will do the flash for you. Worse comes to worse.... buy the cheapest used Sandy Bridge CPU you can find. You should be able to find a cheap i3 or pentium for less then 80 Bucks.

2. Removing the Heatsink: I used to own this Heatsink..... all you have to do is loosen the nut underneath the Heatsink (On top of the CPU). Next take a screw driver and loosen the rest of the screws like you would the bolts on car rim. (A little at a time in a criss cross pattern).
Next remove the little Standoff/Nuts that hold on the back plate. (You will have to turn them a Half turn and then pull them straight out) Last remove the backplate.

3. Component/Motherboard Anti Static worries: Motherboards are really well made most of the time. Just like anything else in life they can be damaged. I can tell you that.... I have been building computers for a long time and I am pretty confident that I have never killed a Motherboard from a Static charge. However even if you did.... you would never be able to prove if that is what happened or not. I also can tell you that I have never always been the most careful when it comes to anti static protection either.
I will mention that I am also a Quality Engineering Specialist which works for a large Server manufacturer. Part of my job is to worry about things on the manufacturing floor like Static discharge. I will give you my honest opinion.... while yes it is important to be aware of Static discharge..... as long as you are grounded by one point you don't have to worry about it. So if your son is going over board.... you can tell him one ground is fine for what he is doing.
In terms of transporting the motherboard in a Anti Static bag.... yes this is important.... especially if you are going to return it to the manufacturer. They will not accept it if it is out of the Anti-Static bag.
Switching gears... Motherboards/Components are fragile. But they are not so fragile you have to handle them with gloves in a rubber room either. Like anything expect it and you will be fine. But at the same time.... they can take some abuse. (Don't go overboard though remember it is an open circuit board)

4. Replacing the BIOS chip: Like I stated above there is no reason to replace the motherboard BIOS chip. A flash is all you need. To replace the mother baord BIOS chip you need special stuff. But if you have already tried and the chip itself is already cracked. All you have done is waist money and void the motherboard warranty.
Sure there are places out there who can replace the chip for you.... but honestly you would be better off buying another motherboard. If this is the route you have to go..... since you have a Ivy Brdige CPU..... buy a Z77 motherboard. The Z77 motherboard has the chip set specially designed for Ivy bridge and it will not require a BIOS flash to work out of the box.

Last once you get this motherbaord thing fixed. Report back..... so that we can give you an idea on how to correctly assemble your new PC. It is not hard and you can do it.... I promise.....(LOL Plus there is no cutting or soldering involved to assemble one I promise) You just need someone to show you the correct way.

Sorry if I am too late..... I hope you have already got your questions answered... if not I hope the stuff I listed above helps. Good luck

BTW Just wait till your son gets into water cooling then your in for a real treat Help him figure out that one

 

[Deleted member 67555]

HAHAHAHA, yes stop work immediately. Wiser words were never spoken. Actually, I just got back from AsRock and everything is in perfect order, the Bios is updated. We did not harm it. In fact watching the guy work with the MOBO I now know we were treating it all too timidly. The Bios was in perfect shape and now it's updated, check, the CPU operational, check, 8 gigs of DRAM, check... The only problem I now have is that the Technician says not to use the Cooler Master heat sink fan. He says he's getting MOBO's returned that are damaged from the metal screws that attach these after market fans. He had a fan in the shop that he recommended because the screws were plastic and it did not need the back plate metal attachment to secure it to the MOBO. I took pictures of the fan because he didn't have the sku number or manufacturers name. Can anyone identify this fan? Or make a suggestion about how to solve this issue?

Scythe Katana 3
It's great and cools the CPU, caps and chokes...

 

[itgoesto11]

2. Removing the Heatsink: I used to own this Heatsink..... all you have to do is loosen the nut underneath the Heatsink (On top of the CPU). Next take a screw driver and loosen the rest of the screws like you would the bolts on car rim. (A little at a time in a criss cross pattern).
Next remove the little Standoff/Nuts that hold on the back plate. (You will have to turn them a Half turn and then pull them straight out) Last remove the backplate.

The technician at AsRock said not to use the Cooler Master and he showed me a damaged board... thing is, I think the person just tightened the fan down too hard. But could gravity damage it, the fan weighs a lot and I was worried that once it's in the case sideways it will exert some unhealthy pressure on the MOBO. Maybe we are supposed to secure it, as we haven't gotten that far into the build yet. My son's has a finger tight mount and I was going to let him keep it as I think it is better option for the CPU than the factory one. Opinions? Has anyone had their MOBO wrecked by one of these fans? My son wants to save for a liquid cooling system... that was his plan... recommendations are welcome, of course by the time he's got that much money they might have a whole new technology.

 

[n-ster]

Liquid cooling is a pain in the ass IMO lmao.

The cooler master is fine, as you said, you are a bit too scared to hurt the mobo. The guy that damaged the board likely used a power tool instead of hand tightening like a lazy idiot

How m,uch is your son planning to overclock?

 

[Sinzia]

Liquid cooling is a pain in the ass IMO lmao.

The cooler master is fine, as you said, you are a bit too scared to hurt the mobo. The guy that damaged the board likely used a power tool instead of hand tightening like a lazy idiot

How m,uch is your son planning to overclock?

finger tight + quarter turn = golden rule for most mounting systems!

I can't believe they want you to take the bios chip out and send it to them, that's just nuts.

Out of curiosity, why not go with a Z77 board? Those are drop-in ready for ivy bridge CPUs.

 

[itgoesto11]

Liquid cooling is a pain in the ass IMO lmao.

The cooler master is fine, as you said, you are a bit too scared to hurt the mobo. The guy that damaged the board likely used a power tool instead of hand tightening like a lazy idiot

How m,uch is your son planning to overclock?

Very good question. I don't think he really understands the process yet, but I could be wrong. I don't get it myself, and since I don't game, I don't understand the logic for pushing a system so hard you could burn it out. So, he's prepared for it, and he built the system to endure it, but I asked him to get a system that didn't require overclocking right away... something he could run and enjoy without it. I understand it could potentially do a whole lot of damage again, if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[brandonwh64]

Very good question. I don't think he really understands the process yet, but I could be wrong. I don't get it myself, and since I don't game, I don't understand the logic for pushing a system so hard you could burn it out. So, he's prepared for it, and he built the system to endure it, but I asked him to get a system that didn't require overclocking right away... something he could run and enjoy without it. I understand it could potentially do a whole lot of damage again, if you don't know what you're doing.

OCing doesn't present damage unless pushed to extremes like over 1.4V and running too hot for too long. He should be able to do 4.4Ghz comfortably with little voltage increase so not much chance in smoking the chip unless he just goes wild with the voltages.

 

[D007]

HAHA, you called it a baby. When I was driving with my son's rig in the car yesterday I looked over at it and it flashed in my mind, I wonder if I qualify for the carpool lane. Because it is like a little person.

Lol, just don't start teaching it how to talk, n take over the world n stuff..
Grats on the build n welcome to the forums.

Very good question. I don't think he really understands the process yet, but I could be wrong. I don't get it myself, and since I don't game, I don't understand the logic for pushing a system so hard you could burn it out. So, he's prepared for it, and he built the system to endure it, but I asked him to get a system that didn't require overclocking right away... something he could run and enjoy without it. I understand it could potentially do a whole lot of damage again, if you don't know what you're doing.

You won't burn it out, if you understand what the safe limits are and what is pushing it.
Taking a 3.2 ghz cpu to 3.6 or 4 ghz, is relatively easy and sometimes requires no voltage adjustments at all.
You will still run hotter though, due to electron migration and all, but nominally so.

Take baby stapes, read up on the system in detail, safe voltages, average gains from other people with the same build, overclocking guides, etc..
There's a wealth of info out there.. In 2007 I came here, having only ever played on consoles. These guys gave me a lot of info and now I not only build pc's. I fix other peoples pc's and they pay me to do it..lol..

Ease into watercooling, don't run before you walk imo.. Get comfortable just working in the confines of a pc or you may end up with a multi-thousand dollar paperweight..

 

[20mmrain]

The technician at AsRock said not to use the Cooler Master and he showed me a damaged board... thing is, I think the person just tightened the fan down too hard. But could gravity damage it, the fan weighs a lot and I was worried that once it's in the case sideways it will exert some unhealthy pressure on the MOBO. Maybe we are supposed to secure it, as we haven't gotten that far into the build yet. My son's has a finger tight mount and I was going to let him keep it as I think it is better option for the CPU than the factory one. Opinions? Has anyone had their MOBO wrecked by one of these fans? My son wants to save for a liquid cooling system... that was his plan... recommendations are welcome, of course by the time he's got that much money they might have a whole new technology.

Liquid cooling is considered by some to be a pain in the ass. Others (like my self) consider it to be a god send. The people who love it... have a hard time going back to air cooling.

I would say if your son gets into bench marking and overclocking.... then yes water cooling will be the way to go. Why???? well while you can get great clocks on air cooled systems..... you can get even better clocks on Water cooled systems. Obviously because it dissipates the heat faster. The other great side to water cooling is the Noise. Or I should say "THE LACK OF NOISE". Right now I can have my CPU overclocked to 5Ghz getting better temps on air.... and when someone talks to me I don't have to keep saying "What?" because my computer sounds like a jet air craft. I'm telling you the hotter the computer gets with air cooling the louder and more fans you need to install to compensate.
The downside to water cooling is.... it is more complicated to install then Air cooling. There is always that danger of a leak too (Although I have never had a leak) It also costs about as much as a computer by itself. Sure for basic Water cooling set ups you can spend only $125 to just cool the CPU. But to cool your whole computer it is not uncommon to spend over $700 Bucks once everything is all said and done. If not more then that. So you really have to be in to water cooling and overclocking to invest in it.
My suggestion is ( a little done the road once you and your son get the other basics down ) is to start off by buying just a CPU water cooling kit for around $125.00 (Something like this) and see how you like it. If it works for you keep going and build off of it.

As far as that heat sink Damaging the Motherboard from its weight and pull from gravity. No it won't .... don't worry about that..... I have had much heavier heat sinks hanging off of motherboards for years without and issue. It will not cause any damage. As a matter of fact .... the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ is a rather lite heat sink when compared to most of the other performance heat sinks out there.
But yes.... you can install a heat sink too tightly. While it doesn't happen often.... a good rule of thumb is tighten down the heat sink until a little passed snug, You don't want it to be able to work itself loose.....but you don't need it so tight that it's going to bend the CPU pins either (Not really gonna happen just an example.) In fact....you could actually just lay the heat sink on top of the CPU with thermal paste in between.... not tighten it down.... and you would still cool the CPU.

Just so ya know