07 08
09 10
BACK INTO THE BIOS we go. We’re going to get everything
set up here now the system is built. Get the system
plugged into your display and enter the BIOS. Our
first step is to restore the default optimized settings;
you can do this with a simple click on the BIOS’s exit
page. If you bought your board second-hand, this step is
vital; otherwise, it’s still worth doing to clear out any
possible niggles. Next, we need to check our memory
is running at speed. It should be active at 2,666MHz;
it might manage to hit this by itself, but if not, switch
on the XMP profile under memory control. You can
check the operating speed outside of the BIOS using
a system monitoring program, such as CPUID. Lastly,
check the boot priorities; both of your drives should be
blank at this stage, but make sure that the Crucial SSD
is at the top of the boot priority list.YOU NEED your copy of Windows 10 on a USB drive,
as this system doesn’t have a DVD drive (unless you
have one lying around). It’s a fairly simple process: Plug
in the USB drive, fire up the system, and follow the
installation instructions. Make sure the OS is installed
on the MX500 SSD, and delete any partitions on either
drive. We recommend going with custom rather than
express installation, and turn off any features you don’t
want to engage in your version of Windows, such as
Cortana’s personal assistant settings, or personalized
ad data. Once installed, make sure it boots properly, and
check that the HDD is also accessible in the file explorer.
If you’re serious about performance, now is the time to
stress-test your build with benchmarking software
such as Prime95 or Cinebench. Otherwise, this build is
complete, so let’s take a look at the numbers....MEMORY SETUP INSTALL WINDOWS
WITH ALL OUR components set up, this build needs some
tidying. The first stage is to separate the unused cables
from the PSU, neatly bundle them together, secure them
with a cable tie, and tuck them behind the front I/O. The
Q500L is a good case, but it lacks space for concealing
surplus cables. With no PSU shroud and minimal cable
routing space behind the motherboard, we’ll have to
settle for tying up our loose cables like this. Leave the
front I/O cables loose; the USB and HD audio cables need
to be threaded along the bottom of the case behind the
motherboard plate, then brought through to be plugged
in. As for the tiny front I/O control connectors, we found
it best to plug them in directly, then draw back the
slack, and tie it up with the rest of the bundled power
cables. There are plenty of clips on the rear of the mobo
plate for you to secure cables back there.MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
THIS SECTION is mercifully quite simple. Take the two
drive mounting brackets from the case, and screw the
Western Digital HDD to one, and the Crucial SSD to the
other. They will be mounted at right angles; the HDD
should face to the left once installed, while the SSD will
face downward. Due to the PSU placement, this case is a
bit top-heavy, so we fitted the HDD to the lower bracket
with the SSD above it, but you can align them the other
way around if you like. Reinstall both brackets to the
case by slotting them in on the right-hand side, then
securing the thumbscrew on the left. Simple! We’ll get
ahead of the game with cabling here, too. Connect the
accessory cables from the power supplies—you need
two, as the Corsair CX450’s multi-connector cables won’t
reach far enough—
then plug in the
SATA connectors
and feed them to the
far-left of the case,
before bending them
around the edge of
the mobo plate, and
connecting them to
the board in slots 0
and 2 (labeled on the
board), making sure
the SSD is in slot 0,
because it will be our
boot drive.DRIVE BY
$500 build
34 MAXIMUMPC DEC 2019 maximumpc.com