R&D
68 MAXIMU MPC APR 2022
3 4
7 8
THE CORSAIR iCUE H150i Elite Capellix 360 comes with
an RGB lighting and fan controller, which we installed on
the reverse of the build, tucked away with the cabling. We
placed it where SATA SSD drives would usually go—we
had loads these drives available, but unfortunately, no
mounting plates to fit any in this case. We had trouble
getting the lighting controller to stay in one place, first
using self-adhesive film, then opting for the more low-
rent option of sticky tack. You can’t see it, so I won’t get
too hung up about it. The fan controller has space for six
fans, the maximum this case supports, so we could go
crazy and add three more RGB fans. There was no control
lead coming off the box, so we couldn’t manually control
lighting, that had to be done through iCUE software in
Windows once we were up and running.FINDING THE MOTHERBOARD and CPU together in one
piece, I could determine what the mobo was from the
logo, but I had no way of knowing what the chip was as it
was covered in thermal paste. There was a high chance
the motherboard and CPU would be compatible (or else
I’d have been worried about the mad scientist lab my
colleagues were running before my arrival) but my main
concern was making sure the CPU was suitable for the
build. I removed the chip, applied rubbing alcohol to a
cotton bud, and gave it as good a clean as I could. Upon
finding out it was a Ryzen 9 3900X, I actually let out a
little ‘squee’, because it’s a few years old, but still plenty
powerful for a build like this. I also took this opportunity
to install the mounting brackets for the cooler, as it’s less
fiddly to do when the mobo is outside the case.WHOEVER LAST HAD this lovely motherboard before me
had screwed the M2 SSD heatsinks back on so hard that I
couldn’t undo them on my first try. Thankfully, the team in
the photography studio had a set of screwdrivers I could
use, which is a lesson to all PC builders—always invest in
good tools. With the heatsink off, I was able to install the
Corsair Force Series 2TB NVMe drive I was lucky enough
to find. Again, this is overkill both in terms of capacity
and performance but, on a personal note, this is where
I’d spend my money if I were building. I have a 2TB SSD
in both my desktop and laptop systems, just because I’m
incredibly indecisive when it comes to games and tend
to flit between many at a time. I also do some video and
audio editing, and it’s nice not to have to be constantly
clearing out your document and download folders.RAM SUPPLY was an embarrassment of riches, with
the option of using Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB (2x 8GB)
3600MHz ($200), HyperX Fury RGB 32GB (2x 16GB)
3733MHz ($195), or G.Skill TridentZ 64GB (4x 16GB)
3200MHz ($320). After some input from Christian, no
stranger to builds himself, I plumped for the HyperX
memory at the sweet spot of 32GB. That’s more than
enough for most games and applications, but not too
small to throttle the memory-hungry AMD Ryzen chip.
Again, there’s no reason for the RGB or faster clock
speed (manufacturers clearly think we love RGB here). If
you’re speccing a system out, a non-RGB 32GB 3200MHz
kit from the Corsair Vengeance or Crucial Ballistix range
should cost no more than $150, a 25 percent saving.
When using two sticks, place them in slots two and four.LIGHT ‘EM UP RYZEN TO THE CHALLENGE
GETTING A SCREW LOOSE RAM RAIDING