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RADIATOR RELEASE
THE RAM’S HORNS
MOTHERBOARD READY
LET THAT SINK IN
AT FIRST, it seems impossible to install a motherboard inside
this case without removing the bulky 140mm radiator and fan
entirely. Fortunately, NZXT has a nifty solution for this. Two
screws at the top of the bracket securing the radiator are
clearly labelled (with arrows cut into the metal!), and removing
these allows the entire AIO cooler to flop down out of the case
via a concealed hinge. Situate the case in an upright position
and be careful when releasing the second screw, as gravity
will act fast and you don’t want to damage the radiator. Make
sure that the CPU block and pipes are also clear of the case,
but don’t bend the pipes too much, as these short tubes aren’t
as flexible as those on larger AIO coolers.
THERE’S ONLY TWO DIMM SLOTS AVAILABLE on this B550
board, so you don’t have to worry about picking the right slots
for full memory speed. Release the clasps on the slots and
push each stick of memory into place until it clicks, both at
the clasp end and the opposite end. Both clasps should be
secured, and the memory should sit flat in the slot. We are
going to have to mess about in the BIOS later to ensure that
our memory is running at full speed, since it’ll likely default to
a lower frequency like 2,400MHz.
This motherboard and processor should support the full
capacity without issue, so there’ll be a hefty 64GB of RAM to
play with once the system is up and running.
LET’S GET THIS MOBO PREPPED. If you buy a new unit, the MSI
B550i board should come with the standard AM4 cooler bracket
(a plastic “hook” bracket on either side of the processor)
already fitted around the CPU socket. If not, install that first.
This is easy enough to do; position the metal backplate
beneath the motherboard so that the four screw holes line
up with the four holes around the socket, then attach the two
plastic brackets with the provided screws. Each bracket’s
“hook” should be pointed away from the processor if fitted
correctly. Place your motherboard on the box it came in (or,
if you have a dedicated antistatic building space, use that) and
you’re ready to start installing components.WE’LL BE MOUNTING the Corsair Force MP600 SSD on the
motherboard, but first we’re going to need to remove the
heatsink that comes with it. This can be somewhat fiddly, so
take care not to damage the SSD itself. The heatsink is held in
place by a clasped metal bracket that also cradles the drive,
but the drive is also stuck to the heatsink by a strip of adhesive
thermal padding. You’ll need to apply a bit of force to free the
heatsink from the clasps, but the lower bracket’s metal does
flex a little, which should allow you to remove the sink and then
peel off the bare drive. Do this last part slowly, as you don’t
want to tear the sticky padding and leave any bits of it stuck to
the drive.maximumpc.com SEP 2020 MAXIMUM PC 23
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