Obsidian 650D versus ASUS P8Z77-V LK MB - Connections

[Pressed Rat]

New builder here, putting together an ASUS P8Z77-V LK motherboard build in a 650D case. The "user manual" supplied with the case (and available as a download from the Corsair website 650D product page) is really just a product fact sheet, and provides no wiring connector instructions/tips. I therefore have a few questions I’d like help with:

 

1. The ASUS MB has 4 fan connector ports: 1 CPU_Fan port + 3 chassis fan ports. All can be controlled through the BIOS Monitor menu. Given that control, is there any reason to use the 650D Case fan controller connections at all and, if so, why?

 

2. The H60 cooler I'm using says to plug the pump into the MB CPU_Fan port & the fan into a chassis port. If I do that I assume that I should (a) disable any ASUS CPU-Fan control in the BIOS (you can separately control the chassis fans), since the pump should have a steady 12 volts, or else (b) plug the pump lead directly to 12V from the PSU, in which case I assume I should plug the cooler fan into the CPU-Fan port instead?

 

3. It appears that the 2 USB 3.0 leads coming from the front panel are supposed to snake through the case & out the back, to be looped around & plugged into the 2 USB 3.0 ports on the back panel there, correct? The MB has a USB 3.0 connector (20+1 pin USB3_34) on the board. Is there a cable that would allow hooking one or both of these front panel USB 3.0 leads to the motherboard, and if so wouldn't that be preferable instead? .

 

4. The MB has 2 SATA 6 Gb/s connectors & 4 SATA 3 Gb/s connectors. I’ll be hooking an internal SSD drive to one of the MB 6 Gb ports. I assume that I should attach the lead from the external hot-swappable SATA 3 dock on top of the 650D case to the other 6 Gb/s port, as the other internal hard drive I’ll be using for storage is 3 Gb/s and can use one of the SATA 3 Gb/s connectors?

 

5. The MB does not appear to have a Firewire header on the board, so I assume the 1394 lead from the front panel is redundant (and no, I won’t plug it into a USB 2.0 header).

 

6. The HD Audio lead for the front panel I/O should plug to the sound card instead of motherboard if not using on-board audio, correct?

 

7. The MB has the following expansion slots:

 

Slot Slot Description

1 PCIe 2.0 X1_1 slot

2 PCIe 3.0/2.0 x 16_1 slot (single at x16)

3 PCIe 2.0 X1_2slot

4 Pci slot_1

5 PCIe 3.0/2.0 x 16_2 slot (single at x16)

6 PCI slot_2

7 PCIe 2.0 x 16_3 slot (at x4 mode)

 

I am currently only using 2 expansion cards: sound & video. Video is plugged into slot 2 & its fans take up slot 3 space as well. The sound card requires a PCIe slot. Is there any reason not to use slot 1 for the sound card (away from the video card fans) or would you recommend slot 7?

 

Thanks very much for your help!

[Toasted]

1. Using the 650D fan controller is totally up to you. I would use it for the stock fans as it does save chassis fan headers and the switch (next to the hot-swap bay) allows you to change modes on the fly without going through the BIOS.

 

2. Yes, Disable any fan control in the BIOS for the CPU_FAN header. I haven't seen someone connect the pump to a PSU. But i would suggest you leave it on the CPU_FAN header as it does give the pump's RPM.

 

3. You can use a Internal USB 3.0 adapter. e.g. This

 

4. I'm not sure if the hot-swap bay at the top is supports SATA III 6.0Gb/s. If it does. Yes, plug it into the SATA III 6.0Gb/s connector on the motherboard. Yes, you can use the remaining 4 SATA II 3.0Gb/s slots for the other internal drives.

 

5. If the motherboard does not have a header port for it. Don't plug it in.

 

6. Plug it into the sound card if you are going to use the front panel audio jacks.