Data-Driven Assembly

Prepare your building area, making sure you have all the tools you need and plenty of space to work in. Not missing any crucial components? Then let’s get started. Length of time: 2-3 hours | Level of difficulty: Easy

01 OPEN IT UP

Before we start plugging things in and screwing things down, unbox the Enthoo Pro 2 case and strip it down so it’s fully prepped for building in. The side panels come off easily via thumbscrews, and the exterior filters lift right off (either via plastic tracks or magnets), but the front panel can be a bit more challenging to remove. The push-pins on the back of the panel require quite a lot of force to release, but be careful not to damage the plastic. Underneath this panel (and its funky mesh window) is another dust filter, secured magnetically.

You’ll need to install an HDD drive bay – the case should come with four – but we’ll get to that later. You can leave the plastic blanking plates on the motherboard mounting boards in place for now, and the same goes for the screwed-on metal plate that can be removed to install a secondary ITX system. The PSU shroud includes a hinged cover that is secured with two extremely tight thumbscrews, but you can leave that closed for now too. The front I/O cables come pre-routed with handy Velcro strips but will need re-arranging later on, once the system is installed. One last thing you probably will want to remove is the SATA SSD mounting plates, purely to free up some cabling space behind the motherboard.

“Combined with the multiple HDD and SATA SSD drive bays in the Enthoo Pro 2, we’ve got nigh-unlimited potential for storage expansion here.”

“Normally we’d recommend installing the RAM at this point too, but we’re going to leave that for later, since the eight sticks we’re using might get in the way of fitting our cooler.”

02 BENEVOLENT CREATOR

Let’s unbox this motherboard. The first thing you’ll probably notice is the chunky PCIe card included in the box. This is an M.2 expander: The MSI Creator TRX40 already has three M.2 ports on the board itself, but you can plug this expansion card into one of the Creator’s long PCIe slots to provide support for four more M.2 SSDs. Combined with the multiple HDD and SATA SSD drive bays in the Enthoo Pro 2, we’ve got nigh-unlimited potential for storage expansion here.

You’ll need a torx key to open up the CPU socket , following the order of screws printed on the bracket. If you’ve bought your Creator TRX40 new, it’ll have a plastic cover in place over the socket; this slides out easily once you’ve lifted up the bracket beneath the metal seal. Slide the Threadripper in its orange plastic casing and slip it into the bracket, then carefully push it back down into place and secure the screws again. Be sure not to over-tighten these; as long as the CPU doesn’t wobble around in the socket at all, it’s in position.

03 SOLID STATE DRIVING

Next up is our M.2 drive. Normally we’d recommend installing the RAM at this point too, but we’re going to leave that for later, since the eight sticks we’re using might get in the way of fitting our cooler. The Sabrent Rocket 4.0, on the other hand, will be completely invisible once installed; this dinky drive comes in a lovely metallic case, and we’ll be installing it underneath the motherboard’s long, thin M.2 heat shield.

First, you’ll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver to release the heat shield, loosening the tiny screw located at either end. These screws are fixed to the shield, so don’t worry about losing them when removing it. The component you should worry about losing is the tiny M.2 screw that is used to secure the drive beneath the heat sink, but thankfully the Creator TRX40 comes with three of these. A mag-tip screwdriver is useful here. Remove the protective plastic strips on the two sticky thermal pads, and plug the drive into the longer slot. Secure it to the pre-fitted standoff using the M.2 screw, then replace the entire shield and screw it down. Again, don’t over-tighten these screws.

04 FIXER UPPER

Helpfully, the Enthoo Pro 2 comes with a nifty little plastic screw box, which contains everything you’ll need to secure the motherboard and other components (along with spare standoffs and the like). Our one somehow managed to open itself inside the case packaging and flooded us with mixed screws, although we actually took sadistic pleasure in carefully re-sorting all of them individually into their own little partitions.

Anyway… you’ll need seven motherboard screws here (the smallest screws included with the case), so set those aside first, then lower your motherboard assembly carefully onto the mounting pegs inside the case. Make sure that the rear I/O is properly lined up, then secure the motherboard first by the central peg, then the corners, then finally the sides. You’ll want your case on its side for this, but the Enthoo Pro 2 is undeniably bulky; if you don’t have enough workspace on your table, it’s okay to place the case on a non-carpeted floor and work sitting down instead. This can also be better for your back than standing and stooping down to work inside the case!

05 COOLING OFF

With our motherboard in position, it’s time to start adding more stuff to the case. The Enthoo Pro 2 doesn’t come with any case fans as standard, so we’ve purchased three 140mm NF-A14 PWM premium fans from Noctua, one of our most trusted brands when it comes to air cooling. Two of these fans will be installed at the front of the case, and the third will go at the back. Make sure you install them all facing the same way, using the arrows on their edges to orient them correctly; air should be pulled in at the front of the case, then expelled through the rear and sides.

Each fan comes with four silver screws. Line them up with the slots on the front, and screw each fan in individually. The best course of action here is to loosely secure all four screws, then tighten them once the fan is mounted. We’re fitting the two front fans near the top of the case, since we’re not using an additional ITX system that would benefit more from another fan at the bottom. Before moving on to the next step, be sure to tuck the fan cables through behind the motherboard mounting plate – the radiator will obstruct access to the rear case fan’s cable otherwise.

06 EXTENSION TENSION

Huh, looks like we’ve got an XT graphics card and an XT cooler! We wonder what that means… a quick Google search claims that IBM coined the acronym for “extended technology” in 1983. This was just one year after Steven Spielberg rocked young minds with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, so we guess IBM probably didn’t want to tread on the legendary director’s toes.

The Corsair iCUE H115i RGB Pro XT is quite a mouthful to pronounce, but it’s an excellent AIO cooler with Threadripper socket compatibility, which is a must-have. It comes with a small amount of thermal paste already on the heat plate, but you may want to add a tiny glob of extra paste given the size of the 3970X. The first thing you’ll need to do here is pull off the pre-fitted bracket and replace it with the sTR4-compatible one; these snap on and off with a bit of force. Corsair’s instruction booklets are very helpful in identifying which parts and screws you need. Be careful not to get thermal paste on your fingers while doing this!

07 RADIATOR BLUES

With the right bracket installed, you’re going to need eight long screws, four thumbscrews, eight radiator screws, eight washers, and four sTR4 standoffs. All of these are included with the cooler, and there are useful diagrams in the manual so you can ensure that you have the right screws for the job.

First, keep the case on its side and fit the four standoffs in the holes around the CPU socket. Attach the two 140mm fans before installing the radiator, using four long screws for each fan and checking that they will be filtering air upwards out of the case once the radiator is in position. Hold the radiator against the roof of the case, with the tubing towards the front, and secure it to the roof from the exterior using the radiator screws and washers (the washers keep the screws from moving under vibration and protect the case). Once the radiator is secure, you can align the pump over the standoffs and affix it using the four standoffs. Again, fit all four thumbscrews first, then tighten them one by one. Leave the pump and fan cables for now.

“Make sure you install them all facing the same way, using the arrows on their edges to orient them correctly; air should be pulled in at the front of the case, then expelled through the rear and sides.”

08 WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU RAM

With our AIO fitted, it’s time to install this massive amount of memory. Tuck the cooler’s cables and tubes aside and open up all eight clasps, found on the end of each DIMM. One at a time (in no particular order, although we went left to right), push each stick of RAM down into the DIMM slot. You should hear a slight click at the claspless end, and a louder sound at the other end as the clasp locks into place. This should be an easy enough task, you simply have to do it eight times over. Check that all of the sticks are level at the end.

Once the memory is installed, we can turn our attention back to the AIO cabling. Stand the case upright, and feed all the cables through the rubber-necked hole beside the motherboard. Try to run these out and over the memory, so that it’s comfortably away from the exposed radiator fans. Behind the motherboard, connect the fan cables to the two shrouded connectors from the pump. Separate the accessory power connector from the fan header cable, to feed the latter back through and plug it into the pump fan header in the corner of the motherboard.

09 VIDEO TECHNOLOGY

To install the GPU, you’ll first need to remove two of the blanking plates secured at the rear of the case. Unbox the GPU and hold it over the desired PCIe slot (we used the third one away from the processor) to check which two plates will need to be removed, then grab a screwdriver and take ‘em out. Put the screws to one side and open the clasp on the PCIe slot you’re using, then carefully lower the GPU into place and push it down until it clicks and locks.

Once the GPU is in place, secure it using the two screws that you put aside earlier. The RX 5700 XT’s metal backplate is a bit bulky, so tucking the two metal tabs on the lower end inside the case works better than clipping them outside the case. This isn’t exactly ideal (the shape of the Enthoo Pro 2’s rear side is part of the problem here), but as long as the screws are tight, then it shouldn’t cause you any problems.

10 RUSTY CAGE

Before you can install the HDD, you’ll need to fit one of the drive cages. You can situate this anywhere near the front of the case, but we’re choosing the lowermost mounting spot to keep it out of the way of the rest of the system. Remove the plastic cover by pinching the clasp on the rear and popping it out of the cavity, then take one drive cage from the Enthoo Pro 2’s accessory and insert the IronWolf Pro drive. It should be inserted connector-first, so you’ll be able to connect it up behind the motherboard.

Using four of the short, thick screws from the accessory box, screw the HDD into the cage on both sides. This can be somewhat fiddly thanks to the rubber grommets around each screwhole, but the anti-vibration benefits are worth it. Next, position the drive cage against the mounting spot using the two hooks on the rear. You can then fix it in place using two of the thumbscrews from the Pro 2’s little plastic case.

11 WE GOT THE POWER

The last component going into this case is the PSU. Figure out what cables you need first; for this build, you’ll want one PCIe cable, two CPU cables, one Type 4 motherboard cable, and one accessory power cable. Plug all of these into the PSU before installing it – connecting them once it’s in place will be more difficult.

Open the hinged plate behind the PSU shroud, and gently place the power supply on the foam pads. The PSU fan should be visible. Screw the power block to the back of the case using four of the provided screws. You’ve got to do some immediate cable routing here, starting with threading the PCIe cable through the hole in the side of the PSU shroud and plugging it into the GPU (you’ll have a loose two-pin connector, but don’t worry about it). Then, replace the hinged plate. There are two gaps to route cables out from under the plate: The accessory cable should be fed through the lower side gap, while the remaining power cables should be routed out through the top. Feed these through and connect them to the motherboard. Connect the HDD and pump power connector to the accessory power cable.

12 CABLE FABLES

It’s everyone’s favorite step: Cable management! We recommend using the extension cables and Y-cables included with the Noctua fans to plug those in to the SYSFAN1 and SYSFAN2 headers. Beyond that, though, there’s nothing too complicated to deal with here. Find the closest hole to each port on the motherboard, and feed the appropriate cable through it. You may want to loosen the Velcro straps that hold the front I/O cables in place, but we’d avoid removing them entirely, as recontaining those cables can be a real pain.

Good cable management is important, but remember that this is a windowless case: Nobody’s going to see any mess you leave behind, so don’t stress out over making the cables look perfect. The Enthoo Pro 2 isn’t the best case we’ve worked with when it comes to cable routing, but there’s plenty of places to secure and bundle cables to keep things neat. Tidy cable work may prove invaluable later on, if you decide to upgrade (or clean) your system.

“Using four of the short, thick screws from the accessory box, screw the HDD into the cage on both sides. This can be somewhat fiddly thanks to the rubber grommets around each screwhole, but the anti-vibration benefits are worth it.”