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Intel Core i5-2500k OC - Help a Newb (LGA1155, P8Z68-V LX v4105)

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Does his Hyper 212 have the AM4 mounting adapter? If not, they are hard to get now. I was looking the other day for TimeBandit.

I don't think the Noctua D14/D15 would fit in his case. I don't think there is enough clearance to the side panel.

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Yes first time. I have done many parts swaps over the years but never MB, CPU, etc. Was wondering about the Windows ... yes, I'll likely need to acquire that as well since my dead box came with Windows 7 which then was a free upgrade to 10.

Notice I made another change with regard to the RAM. Check post #59.
 
Does his Hyper 212 have the AM4 mounting adapter? If not, they are hard to get now. I was looking the other day for TimeBandit.

I don't think the Noctua D14/D15 would fit in his case. I don't think there is enough clearance to the side panel.

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -



Notice I made another change with regard to the RAM. Check post #59.

The CoolerMaster does have the AM4 adapter, so I'm OK with that. Just wondering with Windows - would it be possible to use a recovery disk?
 
I could be wrong but I think those recovery disks do not contain a complete copy of Windows. I think they contain a stripped down version called Windows PE. Just enough of Windows to boot from an optical drive or a thumb drive in order to do repairs on a non bootable system. One thing you might try is extracting the product key from your existing installation of Windows using a free utility called "Produkey": https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html Produkey will also mine Microsoft Office product keys.

Once you have the product key there is a chance you can use it to activate Windows on the new system. You might still need to use the Microsoft automated phone attendant to do this. Do you know if the original Windows 7 installation was using a retail or an OEM version of Windows? With retail, you can use it for up to 3 installations when there are major hardware changes. With OEM you technically cannot use it on a different hardware build where the motherboard is different.

What might be helpful to know is that with Windows 10 you no longer need a product key to install the OS. Just click on the "I don't have a product key" choice at certain points during installation. It will install just fine and run just fine without activation. Features will not be disabled after a certain amount of time. You will get nags and a water mark on the desktop, that's it. Please understand I'm not suggesting you do this because it is technically illegal. But if you want to take this route initially to see if your existing product key will work for activation you could do it.

You can build a Windows 10 installer on a thumb drive from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Then you could purchase an activation key for cheap from here: https://m.urcdkeys.com/ but you would still likely have to use the Microsoft automated phone attendant to activate it. If you want to make it simple and you have the money, just buy a copy from the Amazon link I gave you in an earlier post.
 
Features will not be disabled after a certain amount of time.
For the most part, this is correct. However, some features/functionality is lost... like customization to name one thing.
 
I could be wrong but I think those recovery disks do not contain a complete copy of Windows. I think they contain a stripped down version called Windows PE. Just enough of Windows to boot from an optical drive or a thumb drive in order to do repairs on a non bootable system. One thing you might try is extracting the product key from your existing installation of Windows using a free utility called "Produkey": https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html Produkey will also mine Microsoft Office product keys.

Once you have the product key there is a chance you can use it to activate Windows on the new system. You might still need to use the Microsoft automated phone attendant to do this. Do you know if the original Windows 7 installation was using a retail or an OEM version of Windows? With retail, you can use it for up to 3 installations when there are major hardware changes. With OEM you technically cannot use it on a different hardware build where the motherboard is different.

What might be helpful to know is that with Windows 10 you no longer need a product key to install the OS. Just click on the "I don't have a product key" choice at certain points during installation. It will install just fine and run just fine without activation. Features will not be disabled after a certain amount of time. You will get nags and a water mark on the desktop, that's it. Please understand I'm not suggesting you do this because it is technically illegal. But if you want to take this route initially to see if your existing product key will work for activation you could do it.

You can build a Windows 10 installer on a thumb drive from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Then you could purchase an activation key for cheap from here: https://m.urcdkeys.com/ but you would still likely have to use the Microsoft automated phone attendant to activate it. If you want to make it simple and you have the money, just buy a copy from the Amazon link I gave you in an earlier post.

Thanks for all these details. I'll most likely get the retail version and avoid the extra hassles.

I noticed this RAM on amazon.ca and wondered if it is comparable to the one you recommended earlier. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.ca/G-SKILL-F4-32...3200+F4-3200C16D-16GVKB&qid=1586615993&sr=8-3
 
Thanks for all these details. I'll most likely get the retail version and avoid the extra hassles.

I noticed this RAM on amazon.ca and wondered if it is comparable to the one you recommended earlier. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.ca/G-SKILL-F4-32...3200+F4-3200C16D-16GVKB&qid=1586615993&sr=8-3

Yes, that RAM would be fine. In fact, it's exactly what I'm using in my own system.

There is a significant difference in price between Windows retail versions and Windows OEM versions. OEM versions are designed for system builders who don't care about a fancy box, manual, product support options and the ability to install the OS multiple times. The Amazon link I gave you and the products on URCDkey.com are OEM versions of Windows. OEM = Original Equipment of Manufacture.

If you have a 16gb or larger thumb drive just build your own installer from the Microsoft Media Creation tool website and buy a product key from URCDkey.com after the installation.
 
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By the way, you can add your location into your avatar area if you want through the Profle tool.
 

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Yes, that RAM would be fine. In fact, it's exactly what I'm using in my own system.

There is a significant difference in price between Windows retail versions and Windows OEM versions. OEM versions are designed for system builders who don't care about a fancy box, manual, product support options and the ability to install the OS multiple times. The Amazon link I gave you and the products on URCDkey.com are OEM versions of Windows. OEM = Original Equipment of Manufacture.

If you have a 16gb or larger thumb drive just build your own installer from the Microsoft Media Creation tool website and buy a product key from URCDkey.com after the installation.

Got all the parts ordered from newegg.ca. Was going to use amazon but one of the parts was going to be shipped by end of May :(

Downloading the Windows 10 from the Media Creation tool. It did not have any choices for 'pro'. Is it set to PRO when key gets applied?
 
After the installation has started you get to choose Home, Pro or whatever. All versions are contained in the installer files. Just make sure you get the 64-bit version and not the 32-bit version.

Edit: When your parts come in I strongly recommend installing the CPU, the air cooler and the RAM before you put the motherboard in the case. It'll be much easier that way instead of trying to do those things in a confined space, especially the cooler. Make sure you take note of the gold paint on the corner of the CPU PCB. That matches up with the triangle on the socket. This CPU will have tiny pins on the underside that fit into tiny holes in the socket. Called PGA (Pin Grid Array), here as the Intel you are used to has an LGA (Land Grid Array) socket.
 
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After the installation has started you get to choose Home, Pro or whatever. All versions are contained in the installer files. Just make sure you get the 64-bit version and not the 32-bit version.

Edit: When your parts come in I strongly recommend installing the CPU, the air cooler and the RAM before you put the motherboard in the case. It'll be much easier that way instead of trying to do those things in a confined space, especially the cooler. Make sure you take note of the gold paint on the corner of the CPU PCB. That matches up with the triangle on the socket. This CPU will have tiny pins on the underside that fit into tiny holes in the socket. Called PGA (Pin Grid Array), here as the Intel you are used to has an LGA (Land Grid Array) socket.

Thanks for the good tips. Makes good sense to me.
 
When you get the CPU, check the pins on the underside under a good light. Rotate it at different angles to make sure none of the pins are bent to start with before you try to install it in the socket. Yes, it happens even from the factory. And whatever you do, don't drop the thing and bend any pins.
 
Make sure you have an AMD adapter for your CM Hyper 212. That cooler has been sold for a number of years and preceded socket AM4 by quite a few years. Only recently has the company included an AM4 adapter.
 
I finally got all the parts ... looking at the manual for the B450M VDH PRO MAX, I have mounted the CPU, stock cooler, SSD, Graphic card and memory and attached the MB to the case. Starting with wiring, the first question is how can I tell which is + or - on the tiny connectors for the power switch on the case? The wires are green and black. Green wire has a small triangle on the back of the plastic connector.
 
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Green, orange and red colors will be given to the + wires and black and white to the - wires. On most motherboards, the plus pins in each pair face the back edge of the board or if the pin block is parallel to the front edge of the board, the plus pins are too the left in each pin pair. It actually only makes a difference when connecting the Power and HD LED's because they do have polarity. The Power and Rest buttons don't so you can connect the wires to the pins either way.
 
After the installation has started you get to choose Home, Pro or whatever. All versions are contained in the installer files. Just make sure you get the 64-bit version and not the 32-bit version.

Edit: When your parts come in I strongly recommend installing the CPU, the air cooler and the RAM before you put the motherboard in the case. It'll be much easier that way instead of trying to do those things in a confined space, especially the cooler. Make sure you take note of the gold paint on the corner of the CPU PCB. That matches up with the triangle on the socket. This CPU will have tiny pins on the underside that fit into tiny holes in the socket. Called PGA (Pin Grid Array), here as the Intel you are used to has an LGA (Land Grid Array) socket.

l was a little nervous, turning the power on ... bios came up OK and detected the SSD and my HDD. Bios looks way different than before but I think I'll come to appreciate it.

Now on to Windows. I did download the installer from Microsoft but before I get into the guts of installing it, is there a good strategy for partitioning and where to put the system vs my own stuff? Best do it right from the get go.
 
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