Help upgrade computer

[Monoriu]

Talked to the computer shop again.  It is US$20 more if I want 16x2 RAM 

The Samsung SSD is already "M.2", whatever that is.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Single channel RAM would be a bit of a waste.  Get two 16GB ramers. 

That model ASUS iwill have the NVME slot, so get that instead of a PCIE.

Careful.  I think that all NVME slots are PCIe, though the reverse isn't true (some PCIe devices still use SATA).

Mono will want a board with two M.2 slots if he can afford it, both with (PCIe-)NVME.  The second is just future-proofing, though, so isn't worth spending a lot on (especially if future video cards start to crowd the PCIe channels and make the second PCIe SDD a bad idea anyway).

Agree on RAM.  One megastick is an unnecessary single point of failure.

You are correct. 

[Monoriu]

I can pay US$77 for someone to come to my flat, install all the new hardware, reinstall Windows and do data migration on one HD. 

Or I can drag my mini-tower case to the computer shop, and drag it back.  While the shop does all the above free of charge, there are transportation costs and tunnel fees etc.  I have dragged the mini-tower multiple times and it was extremely painful.  There are stairs involved, everybody in the streets stared at me, my arm muscles were in pain for several days afterwards, etc. 

It is an easy choice

[DGuller]

Why can't you just order the parts and do it yourself?  It's not rocket science.

[Monoriu]

Why can't you just order the parts and do it yourself?  It's not rocket science.

Nah.  I once tried to install a new video card, and ended up with a computer that refused to boot itself.  I had to drag it to the shop anyway. 

When I was in Vancouver, we tried to assemble a table by ourselves, and failed.  My mother called her brother for help.  He came to our house and the first thing he asked for was our toolbox.  We were like, "what toolbox?"  He sighed and had to go back to his home for the toolbox. 

[Monoriu]

What happened with the video card was this.  The case was on the floor.  So I knelt on the floor.  But my waist muscles were too week for my upper body to keep an upright position, so I had to put one arm on the floor to support my upper body.  Most of the time during the operation, I worked with one arm only. 

I opened the case, and tried to pull out the old video card.  I couldn't.  It was as if it was stuck there.  I couldn't see very well because it was too dark inside the case.  My only option was to pull harder, but it was hard to do because when I pulled, the entire case moved with it.  Remember, I only had the use of one arm, so I couldn't steady the case.  I moved the case to a position where it couldn't move around.  Then I tried to pull the card out again, and failed.  I tried really hard, and in the process, somehow knocked something off in the motherboard.  After a long while, I finally saw that there was some plastic switch that kept the video card in its place.  Once I flipped that switch, it was easy to pull out the old card.  I worked a long time with one arm only, so my sweat was everywhere and more than a few drops got into the case. 

Even though I installed the new card, the damage was done.  The computer wouldn't boot itself, and I had to drag the mini-tower to the shop.  Dragging it was like the nightmare solution for me.
They found that I loosened the RAM on the motherboard a bit, so it wouldn't boot. 

I think I'd rather pay US$77. 

[DGuller]

  Yep, in your case, you made the right decision.

[Monoriu]

I have hired the same guy to come to my flat to solve my computer problems several times.  He doesn't come empty handed.  Every time, he brings along a small suitcase of tools, cables, converters, CDs etc.

What do I have?  A screwdriver. 

[Monoriu]

The deed is done.   

But as my wife predicted, it is rare for any of my computer operations to go smoothly.  Sometimes the power supply failed after the upgrade, sometimes there is no video output, sometimes the computer refuse to boot, etc etc. 

This time, a mere two things failed.  One, the cooler is making crazy noises when I play any game.  Two, somehow my internet speed is capped at 100m (normally it is close to 1G). 

I don't know if it is just bad luck, sabotage, or fate. 

[DGuller]

Both issues could very well be a function of the new motherboard having the wrong settings.

[Monoriu]

Broadband issue: solved.  It is the ISP's 10-year old modem. 

New cooler has been purchased.  Installation scheduled on Boxing day.

Over-fried onions have been replaced by a new batch of onions. 

Hope is on the horizon.

[Monoriu]

So, after solving the "cooler is making crazy sounds", "broadband internet isn't so broadband after all", "wireless keyboard responding 10 seconds after each key stroke", "Windows keep asking me to activate it" problems, the first thing I noticed when I sit near my half-new computer is that it is noisy as hell. 

A quiet computer is very important to me.  I like to sit in silent rooms.

My CPU usage is less than 10%, and I don't have a lot of heavy duty background programmes running, but somehow the fans are going at full speed.  Even just using Chrome seems to provoke the fans. 

After doing some internet search, I decided to go to *gasp* the BIOs thing. 

I played around with the buttons.  I pressed that "optimisation" button in the "fans" page, the the sound went down noticeably.  But it still wasn't good enough for me.  So I played around with letters that made zero sense to me, like the "PMW" and "DC" buttons, whatever they meant.  What made the biggest difference in sound was picking PMW for the CPU fan. 

I hope the CPU will survive this and not explode 

It is still a bit more noisy than my old set up.  But it is now a lot better than before I played around with the buttons.  I don't think I can cut the sound further without say buying a new case and a new cooler. 

[DGuller]

I would monitor the temperature of your CPU.  It's very possible to set up BIOS so that fans are working way too hard, but it's also possible that fans need to work that hard, because your guy didn't know how to apply thermal paste to your CPU, or because of some other human-induced thermal disaster.  If your PC is loud because it needs to be, then turning the fans down is like replacing a fuse with a wire.

[viper37]

Chinese parts with a Chinese installer and a Chinese configurator.  What could go wrong? Everything?

Cooling wise, if you want absolutely quiet, near-silent, a liquid cooling is the solution for you, you would only hear the video card fans.

[DGuller]

I don't think lack of liquid cooling is the problem for Mono.  Something sounds really wrong, even a computer with shitty thermals shouldn't be in jet on takeoff mode, not without a high CPU load.  Besides, a good Noctua fan is a much more practical solution than liquid cooling, and doesn't give up much in any category.