Build Advice First time build. Budget friendly Mini-ITX

[Michal95]

Hi everyone,

I am building my first PC and would very much appreciate your opinion on the components that I decided to purchase. I am aiming for a £ 1,000 - £ 1,200 build.

CPU: Intel i5-12400
GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC
RAM: 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance
Motherboard: ASRock B660M-ITX
Case: Cooler Master NR200
CPU cooling: Scythe Fuma 2 rev. B
Fans: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM
NVME: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (for OS and else)
PSU: EVGA Supernova 650 GM, 80 Plus Gold 650W

Thank you for everyone's input.

Best,

 

[Karadjgne]

3200/14 is about the same as 3600/16. But 3200/16 is somewhat slower than 3600/16 as you've not only got worse timings, but higher latency and lower bandwidth.

 

[Michal95]

Hey guys,

I decided to go with this RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 32GB 3200MHz DDR4 Memory Kit for £100, seemed like a good deal to me.

Otherwise I ordered all the parts as described in my last post listing the components (with the change of GPU to RTX 3060 Ti). Everything is arriving next week on Thursday the latest, so will hopefully post here some screenshots of the PC next weekend with some test results. I'm super excited.

Thanks to everyone for advice on picking the parts, you guys are truly amazing.

 

[Karadjgne]

Take your time ⌚, mITX has wiring challenges atx doesn't, might have to tear apart the entire thing half a dozen times just to get the wires right, or put wires in before other parts etc. 😅

 

[Michal95]

Hi everyone, hope you're having a great week!

I'm coming back to this topic as I have managed to collect of the parts and put together my small dream PC.

Unfortunately, of course, I cannot make it work properly right now having an issue with the Windows installation. My PC crashes every time I try to install Windows, never in BIOS though. Could you please help what this might mean? I tried to install Windows multiple times now and every time there is the same issue.....

I'm using this flash drive to install Windows: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ul...5CH1PJU/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B015CH1PJU&psc=1

Thanks!

 

[Lafong]

I cannot make it work properly right now having an issue with the Windows installation. My PC crashes every time I try to install Windows, never in BIOS though. Could you please help what this might mean? I tried to install Windows multiple times now and every time there is the same issue.....

Give us full details on your installation media.

Something you bought that arrived in the mail?

Something you made? How exactly?

 

[Michal95]

@Lafong

The flash drive that I'm using: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ul...5CH1PJU/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B015CH1PJU&psc=1

Something you bought that arrived in the mail?

Something you made? How exactly?

1. I downloaded Windows installation media from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11

2. I formatted the USB drive using Quick Format. It's FAT32

3. I inserted a USB drive to my rear IO

4. Changed in the BIOS to boot from UEFI

5. Started Installing Windows and crash, crash and crash....

 

[Michal95]

Another thing worth noting, when I download Windows 10 installation media onto my flash drive and try to boot Windows 10, then I just have a blue screen (no text) and my PC automatically turns off... This is so annoying

 

[Lafong]

Is the following all correct regarding your hardware:

CPU: AMD 5 5600
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 FE
RAM: 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance
Motherboard: Gigabyte x570 I AORUS pro wifi mini itx
Case: Cooler Master NR200 White
CPU cooling: Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Case fan: Noctua F12
NVME: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME
PSU: Corsair SF750 80 Plus Platinum

 

[Michal95]

Please find my correct hardware below:

CPU: AMD 5 5600
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FE
RAM: 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance
Motherboard: Gigabyte x570 I AORUS pro wifi mini itx
Case: Cooler Master NR200 White
CPU cooling: Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Case fan: Noctua S12A
NVME: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME
PSU: Corsair SF750 80 Plus Platinum

 

[Michal95]

I made a short video of what is happening on my PC after booting Windows. Please find it here > 22 lipca 2022 - YouTube

Also, I took some screenshots of my BIOS in case it helps. My understanding right now is that I have some issues with motherboard or SSD as the PC keeps crashing only after choosing partitions (when installing Windows 11).

 

[Lafong]

I can't read that language shown in your video clip....but:

I assume you are trying to do a clean install of Windows 11 Pro. Is that correct?

At 39 seconds of your video, a bunch of partitions are shown.

Between 39 and 2'00, it looks like you delete most of them.

At 2'00 you still have one partition left.

It looks like you then try to install Windows on that remaining partition. Is that corrrect?

I think maybe you should have deleted that last partition and installed to the remaining "unallocated space"........NOT to an existing partition.

Does that make sense to you?

 

[Michal95]

Hey @Lafong , sorry for the language issues.

The partition I'm installing Windows to is "Partition 0 - Unallocated space" translated to English.

 

[Lafong]

Have you played around with BIOS settings related to:

Secure boot

CSM

Trusted Computing

 

[Karadjgne]

Why so many partitions on the drive? Are you trying to get multi-boot options for 10 and 11?

If not, I'd use diskpart from command prompt and delete all the partitions from there, not from the install media options.

 

[Michal95]

What I tried to do:

Changed

1. Changed CSM Support to Disabled
2. Opened Secure Boot

At the beginning I had System Mode: Setup and Secure Boot Enabled but Not Active.
I then followed some piece of internet advice and

1. Changed Secure Boot to Disabled
2. Changed Secure Boot Mode to Custom
3. Accepted Factory defaults
4. Enabled Secure Boot

And then I had System Mode: User and Secure Boot Enabled and Active.

But now when I try to boot Windows I have a new screen saying:

"Recovery, your PC/Device needs to be repaired

Your operating system couldn't be loaded because the kernel is missing or contains errors

Error code: 0xc0000098"

What has changed also, is that my BIOS started stuttering greatly.

 

[Michal95]

Hey everyone,

I managed to install Windows and the system seem to be booting normally. However it was only possible when I took out 1 RAM stick... Do you have an idea what can I do to have a system working with both sticks? Would much appreciate your help. Thank you.

 

[Math Geek]

now that windows is running, try putting the second stick back in. if it works, then you can try it with the xmp enabled.

ryzen is known to be finicky with ram so it can take some tinkering to get it working at times. there are too many mobo/ram combos to test every one so sometimes you have to be the guinea pig. i've had to return ram once myself when it just refused to work with a 3600

 

[Michal95]

It still crashes when I put the 2nd stick in... For today I'm done trying to figure out staff and will just enjoy the new PC.

Will try to put the 2nd stick into the A1 slot and see if the stick is defective or something wrong with reading 2 RAM stick or B1 slot is defective.

 

[Math Geek]

you got further with 2 sticks than i did with my mini build. one slot was totally dead and would not post at all with both in place.

replaced the mobo and it was good to go. do you have any other sticks you can try? even pulling a couple from a friends pc for a few minutes? will show you if it is the ram or mobo if you can test it with a second set of sticks.

 

[Michal95]

@Math Geek @Lafong @Karadjgne

I don't have unfortunately any other sticks to test. But I did perform one more test, i.e. replaced my 1st RAM kit from A1 slot with my 2nd RAM stick (that used to be in B1 slot). And actually Windows couldn't boot after the replacement. Is that enough of an indication that there is an issue with the 2nd RAM kit and not with motherboard?

Thank you guys for all the help and support, I cannot stress this enough how amazing you are, really.

 

[Karadjgne]

Use A2/B2 slots, not A1/B1. The '2' is somewhat important to the memory controller, basically its the Primary and preferred channel, the '1' slots are secondary, almost an afterthought. Many mobo's specify that A2 should always be used with a single stick of ram for best performance.

Think of it as taking someone who is right handed and making them write with the left hand. The resultant scribble isn't always legible.

 

[Michal95]

@Karadjgne
My Motherboard has just 2 slots - A1 and B1. That's why I thought I should be using first A1, and only then B1. Does that make sense? Thanks

 

[Vic 40]

I don't have unfortunately any other sticks to test. But I did perform one more test, i.e. replaced my 1st RAM kit from A1 slot with my 2nd RAM stick (that used to be in B1 slot). And actually Windows couldn't boot after the replacement. Is that enough of an indication that there is an issue with the 2nd RAM kit and not with motherboard?

When only using that seemingly faulty stick in either slot and in neither slot it works right does it indeed seem to be that you have a faulty stick of ram in that kit you bought.

 

[Michal95]

Hey everyone!

To close the topic, I just would like to add that after inspection by the retailer (scan.co.uk), it turned out that one memory kit was indeed faulty and prevented windows from posting. Very good service from their side though, replaced the kits with new ones within 3 days.

As for now, my PC is working just fine, however a new monitor that I ordered is not working and waiting for the repairment.

At this point I can say that PC with the specs from my most recent spec post is, for me, pretty amazing. Very small form factor, easy to fit on the desk, not shiny or flashy at all, very quiet, powerful enough for smooth Full HD gaming, just insane. Thank you guys once again for giving me advice throughout this journey. Hope you all very best.

Thanks,
Michal

 

[Karadjgne]

👍