Question Peerless Assassin 120 SE mounting and m2 use thoughts?

[bardicverse]

Built a new box last night, have not powered it on yet. Rog Strix z790-H mobo with a Peerless Assassin 120 SE . In order to make the PA fit, I had to flip orientation, so the fans pull from the center of the case and blow up and out the top of the case, which has two 120m exhaust fans. It's covering channel 1 , slot 1 and 2 of RAM, but I have 2 32 GB sticks in channel 2 3 and 4, which should be ok, I think.
Also, got two m2 sticks for storage, a 2 TB for gaming and a 1 TB. I also have a 1 TB 2.5" ssd. I plan to use 1 of the two 1 TBs for OS and the other for other apps like adobe cloud, presonus, fl studio, and general daily use apps. Initially I was going to put the OS on the m2, but am wondering if I'd be better to use it for apps instead? My current rig has windows on a 2.5 ssd and it boots in under 30s on a 13 yr old rig, so I think boot performance increase would be minimal.

Thoughts?

 

[geofelt]

What is the make/model of the case?
What cpu are you cooling?
Can you post a pic of your current situation.
Most likely, you are ok so long as there is sufficient front air intake airflow.

As to storage, it makes very little difference if you use sata, m.2 or pcie devices.
Do what seems logical to you.
These experts could not tell the difference:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

 

[bill001g]

That is a strange way to mount the cooler most times they are mounted front to back. You can many times offset the fans to not block the memory.

Like most other motherboards you want your memory in slot 2 and slot 4 according to the manual. Not sure if that is just the optimum recommendation or if it will have issues booting withe memory in slot 3 &4

 

[USAFRet]

Initially I was going to put the OS on the m2, but am wondering if I'd be better to use it for apps instead?

Your applications should go on the same drive as the OS. It makes little sense to have them on a different drive.

Which one? Might as well put it on the NVMe.
Leave the other drives for your data and games.

 

[bardicverse]

Your applications should go on the same drive as the OS. It makes little sense to have them on a different drive.

Which one? Might as well put it on the NVMe.
Leave the other drives for your data and games.

Thanks, so I have two m2s, and one 2.5" ssd, so three drives. The logic is that if I need to reinstall the OS, I can reformat without losing programs, but then again, due to how MS Registry works, the programs would have to be reinstalled anyway. I suppose I could just make an image and wipe/restore as needed. So maybe I'll just skip the 2.5 or use it as backup storage.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks, so I have two m2s, and one 2.5" ssd, so three drives. The logic is that if I need to reinstall the OS, I can reformat without losing programs, but then again, due to how MS Registry works, the programs would have to be reinstalled anyway. I suppose I could just make an image and wipe/restore as needed. So maybe I'll just skip the 2.5 or use it as backup storage.

Reinstalling the OS means reinstalling your applications as well.
No Get out of jail free card.

While the Reg is the mainstay, it is more than that. When an application is installed, it make dozens/hundreds of entries in the Registry and elsewhere.
Your new OS knows nothing about that.

A good full drive backup routine will bring that whole drive back to exactly it was when you made that Image. Windows, applications, settings, everything.

 

[bardicverse]

Reinstalling the OS means reinstalling your applications as well.
No Get out of jail free card.

While the Reg is the mainstay, it is more than that. When an application is installed, it make dozens/hundreds of entries in the Registry and elsewhere.
Your new OS knows nothing about that.

A good full drive backup routine will bring that whole drive back to exactly it was when you made that Image. Windows, applications, settings, everything.

yup, I was like oh wait, not a Mac, there's actual windows components tied to everything. I should have remembered that sooner, not a spring chicken to IT. =P

 

[Gururu]

After researching a bit, I ended up copying program data (games, steam, battle net, etc.) and personal files to a second drive for a format and fresh OS install on my main drive. Since I had a digital license, activation and upgrade to Win11 was free on the new system. Also, with the digital ID, I was able to download my Office version right from MS. Everything else I reinstalled from scratch as needed like my Adobe programs.

I did initially try to boot from my original install but the drive wouldnt boot. Also couldn’t install the OS from boot drive until I had wiped the main drive. It just wasn’t able to allocate any space with the old configuration.

I am interested in hearing how you get it to work.

edit: ok I reread and understand this is a clean install, but yeah, USAFret is on point.

 

[bardicverse]

What is the make/model of the case?
What cpu are you cooling?
Can you post a pic of your current situation.
Most likely, you are ok so long as there is sufficient front air intake airflow.

As to storage, it makes very little difference if you use sata, m.2 or pcie devices.
Do what seems logical to you.
These experts could not tell the difference:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

Sorry missed this!
Case Zalman Z1 Plus Mid ATX
CPU - intel i7 12700kF

pics below. As you can kinda see, next to the PSU, there's supposed to be spots for 2 more 120 mm fans, which i have, but there's no mounting points there. Would love to add them, but no way to mount.

 

[Gururu]

That is a strange way to mount the cooler most times they are mounted front to back. You can many times offset the fans to not block the memory.

Like most other motherboards you want your memory in slot 2 and slot 4 according to the manual. Not sure if that is just the optimum recommendation or if it will have issues booting withe memory in slot 3 &4

I have the same cooler and had to put the fans slightly higher than the sinks to fit with DIMMs in the 2 and 4 banks.

 

[geofelt]

The normal and natural way to mount is to send the airflow from front to back.
That not only feeds the cooler, but it also directs the airflow over the motherboard and vrm heat sinks.
Experiment with removing or slowing the top fans which tend to redirect front cooling air up and out of the case before it can cool the cpu and gpu.

In an ideal world, one would never need to reinstall windows.
But, things happen.
To help prevent issues configure and activate system restore protection.

Take a user checkpoint on occasion, or at least before installing something unusual.
Or, before a windows update.
In the event of a problem, you can restore back relatively easily.

 

[bardicverse]

I have the same cooler and had to put the fans slightly higher than the sinks to fit with DIMMs in the 2 and 4 banks.

Yeah the heatsink pipes literally hit the BRM channel casing and wont sit the intended way, so I had to go sideways in order to make it work =(