Little boxes

This should be a straightforward job: clear yourself some building space and have your tools at the ready.

Length of time: 1–2 hours. Level of difficulty: easy

01 PREPARE THE CASE

As usual, start the build process with a stripdown of the case. The Raijintek Ophion Evo makes this nice and simple; the only things that really need removing at this stage are the two glass side panels, each of which is secured by four thumbscrews with rubber washers. These side panels are a bit delicate and prone to scratches and fingerprints, so place them back into the case box and leave them until the build is complete. If your Ophion Evo is new, you’ll need to extract a few extra bits and pieces, like the accessories bag and plastic cover on the PCIe riser cable. Leave the blue plastic cover on the PCIe connector until you’re ready to plug it in: You don’t want to damage it. Remove the two magnetic dust filters on the top and bottom of the case exterior. You’ll be moving the case a lot during this build, and these filters can slip around.

02 ON THE EDGE

The MPG B550I Gaming Edge WiFi is surprisingly heavy considering its diminutive form factor, thanks to the chunky metal heat sinks all over it. Unbox it and place it on an anti-static work surface (using the top of the box is fine). It comes with plastic brackets either side of the CPU socket, which we won’t be using but you can leave in place for now. However, remove the large protective sticker on the underside. We’ll mount the CPU right away. Unbox it and set the included Wraith Stealth cooler aside for later. Be careful: This may come with a pre-applied lattice of thermal solution, so don’t get that all over your fingers. With the CPU in hand, simply lift up the metal retention arm by the side of the socket and drop the chip into place, ensuring that the gold triangle on one corner of the processor lines up with the matching triangle on the socket’s outer edge. Once it’s in position, lower the retention arm so that it clicks back into place securely.