$600 PC Bui Ahoy!

A step-by-step guide to building your own superbudget, asskicking machine

1 TAKE THE FIRST STEP

YOU KNOW THE ONE THING we almost always forget to do every time we build a system? Install the rear I/O plate. After you’ve got all your shiny new hardware unboxed, prepped somewhere sensible to build your new rig (no woolen socks, or fluffy carpets), and stripped your case of any unnecessary hard drive cages and accessory boxes, install your mobo rear I/O shield. It helps reduce potential static discharge from your cables and peripherals, and also reduces the amount of dust entering your system. Once that’s done, line up your motherboard with the pre-installed stand-offs, and secure it with the correct screws (often included in your case’s accessory box/bag). It’s worth noting that if you have an air tower cooler that requires a backplate, it’s wise to install the backplate before securing the motherboard inside the chassis.

2 THE BEAUTY OF AN ITX BUILD

AFTER YOUR MOBO IS SAFE and secure, you can start installing the majority of your new hardware. We suggest the processor first. For Intel’s LGA socket, lift the retention arm up and out, until the bracket can be lifted up. Gently place your new processor in, with the golden triangle on the corner of the CPU matching the triangle on the socket, then plop it into place. Don’t force it, or try to push it down; simply place it, then give it a very slight wiggle with your finger, to make sure it’s secure. Bring the bracket back down, secure it under the bottom torque screw, and bring the retention arm back down as well. The protective cover will pop off, and you’re good to go. Next, you can install the memory—be sure to line up the notch at the bottom of each stick of DDR4 with the notch on the slot, then push it securely into place at both ends, until you hear a satisfying click. For the GPU, remove the screws securing the PCIe brackets in place, then slot your new graphics card into the single PCIe slot, before resecuring with the screws.

3 FAN-TASTIC

“YOU COULD SPEND much less on a case!” We hear you, but the Evolv ITX is a fantastic small form factor case to build in. And this is one reason why: It comes with an impressively large 200mm single fan intake at the front. Plugging this behemoth into your motherboard provides plenty of air to keep your system well fed, and it comes with a pretty substantial dust filter, too. And, if you really want, you could take it out and use a 240mm AIO here instead. Speaking of fans, once you’ve got this far, you’re going to want to install your CPU heatsink. By default, the Pentium G4600 comes with a stock Intel cooler, with pre-applied thermal paste. Simply align the fan pins with the holes in the mobo, click the fan into place, and lock the pins by turning them to the left.

4 STICKING IT TO THE STORAGE

NEXT UP IS STORAGE. By default, the Evolv ITX comes with a single 2.5-inch SSD mount in the rear. Simply slide the tray up off its rubber mounts, slot in your SSD, and secure it with the included screws (check your accessory bag). Then slide it back into place on those rubber grommets. You’ll spot the hard drive caddies for our 3.5-inch drive located below this, hidden by the PSU cover. Simply pull the two included trays out, unlock the securing latches on each side of a tray, line up your hard drive, and bring the two securing latches back into place. Then it’s simply a case of sliding the caddy back into the 3.5-inch drive cage. Make sure that the connection ports for the SSD are facing down, and your 3.5-inch drive ports are facing toward the rear panel.

5 FRONT PANEL PROBLEMS

AT LAST WE GET TO the first ITX niggle: front panel connectors. Things get pretty tight when you start installing cables like this. You can install the front panel audio connector before you insert the GPU without much worry—most cards have a cut-out to allow you to thread it under for just such a situation as this. However, front power, LEDs, and HDD indicators are trickier. The Strix Z270i comes with details on the motherboard about which connector needs installing where, but you may find you need to remove the RAM to install them a little more easily. One thing to note: The plus and minus for the LEDs need to be oriented the correct way around (as indicated in the motherboard manual, and on the board), otherwise they don’t work.

6 A TALE OF CABLES AND COVFEFE

NOW IT’S TIME to wrap up your build. Thread through your 24-pin power through the side rubber grommet, and the eight-pin power through the top grommet, and you’re good to go. The GTX 1050 Ti we’ve used here relies solely on power drawn from the PCIe slot itself, with no additional PCIe power needed. Finally, use two SATA powers for both the SSD and the HDD, and you’re sorted. After that, there are a few upgrade options you could go for. As seen here, the Evolv ITX supports 240mm AIOs in the roof, and on top of that, given the PSU, you could also upgrade to something along the lines of a GTX 1060 or 1070 with relative ease. Couple a 1070 with a Core i5 processor, for instance, and this little ITX build will be a quick, quiet, powerful 1440p gaming machine.

7 OS OF CHOICE

WITH ALL THE PHYSICAL work done, it’s time to install Windows. To do this, grab yourself an 8GB USB stick and, on another system, head to http://bit.ly/ Win10MediaTool, and download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft. Run the program, select “Create New Installation Media” (make sure it’s the x64 version), select your 8GB USB stick (bear in mind that it will be formatted), and let Windows complete the job. You then need to plug the USB stick into the back of your new system, power on, mash Delete, and change the boot order in BIOS so that “UEFI:[USB STICK NAME]” is at the top. Hit F10, save, and exit, then install Windows on to your brand spanking new SSD, entering your Windows 10 key when prompted.

8 MASS INSTALLATION

YOU’LL NOW WANT to run through some initial setup procedures. In this case, head to Asus’s website, find your specific motherboard model’s page, click “Support,” then “Driver & Tools,” select your OS (in our case, Windows 10 64-bit), and download Intel Chipset Driver, Management Engine Interface, and Realtek Audio Driver, and any other software you might need. Install the chipset driver before anything else. Then head to www.nvidia.com, and download GeForce Experience. Once installed, it should prompt you to download and install the latest drivers for the GTX 1050 Ti. One last thing: We suggest going to http://ninite.com, and grabbing all of your day-to-day programs’ installers.