Sorry guys first post and help required :(

Hiya!

 

Ok first post, so firstly, hello everyone :)

 

I'm going to start by saying I am the wrong side of 50, it's been probably 8-10 years since I built a PC from scratch so things have changed a lot!

 

Please be gentle with me :D:

 

So, firstly the Hardware, I have the following....

 

Corsair Obsidian 500D RGB Case

 

Corsair HX1200i PSU

 

Corsair H115i Platinum AIO

 

Asus Maximus VII Hero Motherboard

 

Intel i7 4790k CPU

 

Asus 2080TI Strix GPU

 

The problems... lol

 

Ok I know things have changed... but wow.... so many cables... so many things, and I am looking at it all thinking Jesus, where do I start.

 

The first thing for me is H115i..... there are three fans at the front of the case on a removable plate (Very cool idea!) but they are 120mm and the 2 supplied with the Radiator are 140mm, so do I leave the front alone and mount the rad at the top or the back (if it fits?) or do I remove the front fans and put the 2 x 140mm there with the rad on top of those, or is there another solution?

 

Also the fans and the pump of the AIO plug in, but where... do I use the little box of tricks that came with the Case, do I use the CPU and CPU_OPT headers on the Motherboard???

 

cables for all the RGB.... there is a lot! I also notice the PSU can be hooked up to this commander thingy, but i've looked at the diagrams and the coloured lines, and to me it looks like a Tube Map of London lol

 

If there is anyone reading this that can spoon feed a manchild, please, feel free, if I dont get some help I know I will try and go it alone, and will royally screw it all up!!

 

On a side note, the Heatsink of the AIO has a pre applied Thermal Paste, is it good?? Do I just go with it, or do I use an Artic 5 or the expensive one I have purchased "Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut"

 

So sorry for all the questions guys, but its a lot of kit, a lot of wires, I just want to get it right

I'd probably leave the 3 front fans, as they are actually nicer LL120 RGB fans (16 leds) than the ML fans (4 leds) that come with your AIO. You could remove them and front mount the 280mm rad and fans, but I'm assuming you want to take full advantage of the RGB bling that comes with the Obsidian 500D in terms of front case visuals.

 

Mounting the rad up top should be fine, in my opinion. Regarding the AIO fan header, use CPU_OPT if you can. You'll likely need to go into the BIOS for your motherboard and make sure it is providing 100% power to that fan header though.

 

Yes, no shortage of cables and if you have a Commander Pro, you can plug the Commander Pro into the USB 2.0 header on your motherboard and then plug the supplied USB cables from both the AIO and your Power Supply into the two USB 2.0 ports on the Commander Pro for convienience. Your motherboard likely doesn't have enough USB 2.0 headers otherwise, so a good solution and perk with the Commander Pro. Note, the fans for your AIO and their RGB wires can all plug into the wires from your AIO.

 

The other fans included in the case will plug into the Commander Pro fans ports and the supplied RGB lighting hub that then connects to the Commander Pro in either the LED 1 or LED 2 port.

 

You'll then need to configure everything in the iCUE software from Corsair, which you'll find some great documentation here in the forums.

 

Finally, regarding the pre-applied thermal paste, yes you could use it but since you purchased the TG Kryonaut you may as well apply it as it will give you better thermals at the end of the day.

 

Good luck with your new build.

 

Tony

Hey Tony! Thank you for the reply it’s very appreciated!!

 

I’m currently on nights so reading this in my T Break lol

 

I’ll have a proper look and then next week I’ll have a go at putting it all together

 

I was looking at replacing the two 140mm fans with 2 proper RGB Corsair fans I’m sure I’ve seen them somewhere so then I will have the full money 😁

 

It all looks fantastic just also complicated lol 😂

One note - with the H115i Platinum, put the fan connection on the CPU Fan Header. It provides a tach signal so you don't get a CPU Fan Warning on boot. There's no need to set it to 100% - it only provides the tach signal. Some older coolers use the fan header for power so this was important for them. It's irrelevant with the Platinum coolers.

 

One thing to watch for if you mount that cooler up top is the heat from the GPU. It can get sucked right into the cooler and warm things up. This can be mitigated by increasing intake and exhaust or just flipping the rear exhaust fan and using it as intake. Just make sure to put a filter over it.

 

From a cooler perspective, front mounting is ideal. But ... the ML-RGB fans don't quite have the pretty of the LL fans. If you do mount in the front, it'd replace the front fans with the case.

both the below threads are worth reading buddy.

 

Corsair RGB Faq

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=173880

 

Corsair 500d Faq

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=182614

 

welcome aboard buddy...

Cheers guys!!

 

Devbiker

 

I have the RGB case so I have front RGB fans ��

 

I was looking at how to install the rad there but because of the rad hole alignment I don’t think you can fix it to the 3 LL120 fans that are there sadly

Zotty!! Thank you for the links it actually has the same cooler as I’ve brought so I will try and follow the diagram cheers bud!!

No worrys man.. I was same as you btw. returned to building pc's after a decade or so away. huge changes lol. also in my 50's ;)

I was in the same boat a few months ago as I also hadn't built a new system in 10 years or so. When it came down to this new flashy RGB madness, Zotty's and DevBiker's help was invaluable. Take things slowly, and enjoy your new build!

Thanks guys, you've made feel a lot better!!

 

Its soooooooo daunting when you used to be able to do this sort of thing without any problems, a decade passes before your eyes and you think... mhhhh I haven't got a @@@@ing clue how this is suppose to go lol

 

I will no doubt be back for some advise, for now, its the weekend and I am due to marry in 5 weeks, so until then and the Honeymoon, I have to do things at a snails pace, I dont want to upset the Wife to be :D:

I am due to marry in 5 weeks, so until then and the Honeymoon, I have to do things at a snails pace, I dont want to upset the Wife to be :D:

 

Agreed, don't upset the Wife to be and, congratulations!

Cheers Johnny :)

indeed, congrats dude! and good luck :)

Cheers guys :)

 

On a side note, two further questions, one more pressing...

 

The Corsair H115i RGB Platinum, I have the back plate installed, the correct stand off screws for the 1150 Motherboard, but the screws seem loose, I do not want to over tighten them, but there is definitely movement... is this normal? I am not used to this if so lol coolers are usually tight

 

Second Q

 

The Thermal Paste on the H115i is pre applied, but I have some thermal grizzly kryonaut, should I leave it all alone, or is it worth applying the thermal grizzly kryonaut as its a new install and I can do it anyway? any thoughts on these please reply, I am not proceeding any further until I can find out if the stand offs are meant to be able to be moved slightly when tight

The standoffs don't need to be tight until you install the cooler. The cooler itself shouldn't move or wiggle.

 

You can use either. The Thermal Grizzly might give you a 1-2C difference. If you do use it, make sure that you clean off the pre-applied paste with 90%+ alcohol.

On your question about the The Corsair H115i RGB Platinum back plate and stand off screws.. Once installed there is play (looseness) a bit. once the AIO cooler plate sits on top of the cpu and you attach it with the phillips nuts the looseness will be gone. This is normal. Just double check and make sure you have the correct hardware selected from the AIO kit for your current CPU socket, but some looseness prior to cold plate install is normal.

 

I also bought Grizzly Kryonaut for my latest build. I removed the factory thermal paste and replaced it with Grizzly. It's better paste IMO and worth swapping out. The factory paste works fine but I prefer the better paste. My current CPU temp on my i9 9900k never got above 30-33c while gaming on my H150i with Kryonaut. Idle sits around 27.5c

 

newfiend~

Ahh brilliant thank you. I have not experienced the stand offs on other coolers I’ve used being loose so wanted to ask first before panic set in lol

 

I’ll ensure I clean it off properly before putting the new stuff on