THE 1080P BUILD STEPS
01 Stripped Back
As always, we start our build by stripping down the case to prep for assembly. We’ll give you a super exciting sneak peek here: all three of our builds are going to start with this step. The NZXT H510 is a nice easy case for building in, so we don’t anticipate any trouble here. Remove the two side panels by loosening the thumbscrews at the rear and lifting them off (the glass panel latches to the top of the PSU shroud on the bottom edge), but leave the fans in place; we don’t need to remove them for this build. You can, however, remove the SSD drive mounts and the HDD cage, as we won’t be using them and it will be beneficial to free up the space for cable management later.
02 Processing Memories
Ah, Ryzen. The easiest CPUs to install ever. Thanks for that, AMD. To fit our 5600X processor, all you need to do is lift up the metal retention arm and drop the CPU into the socket, ensuring that the gold triangle on one corner is lined up with the matching triangle on the gray plastic of the socket. Once it’s in place, lower the retention arm and the chip will lock in. When you’ve done this, you can move on to the memory; this B550 board only has clips on one end of the DIMM slots, so open those up and fit the RAM to slots A2 and B2 (the fourth and second slots from the CPU, respectively). These DIMM slots are helpfully marked with an asterisk on the PCB, so you know which slots take priority.
03 Heat, Shielded
The ADATA SSD we’re using in this build does come with a metal heat spreader, but it’s a bit on the weedy side compared to some stock spreaders we’ve seen, so we’ll be using the motherboard’s pre-installed heat shield instead. Using a small Philipshead screwdriver, carefully unscrew and remove the heat sink, then slot the SSD into the M.2 port. Remove the plastic from the sticky heat pad on the underside of the thermal shield, then press it down over the drive to hold it in place. Secure at both ends using the M.2 screws and you’re all done.
04 Lock, Stock, and one Smoking Cooler
The AMD Wraith is surely the ‘old faithful’ of stock coolers, offering a decent low-noise air cooling solution for your CPU, with an installation process so simple it could make liquid coolers cry. The B550-F motherboard should come with plastic brackets attached to either side of the CPU socket; remove these, then position the Wraith Stealth over the CPU so the four screws line up with the screw holes of the CPU backplate. With the cooler in place, secure it by first partially screwing in two opposing corners (you may need to apply some pressure) and then screwing down all
four corners until they stop turning. No need for extra thermal paste here; every Wraith comes with a thin layer preapplied to the underside.
05 Mount That Mobo
With most of our components now on the motherboard, it’s time to situate that board inside the case. Lay the H510 on its side—being extra careful not to trap any loose cables from the front I/O—and gently place the motherboard inside, squeezing the rear I/O underneath the preinstalled case fan. This can be a tight fit, so if you’re really struggling, simply remove the fan and return it to the case afterward. You’ll know the board is in the right position when the rear I/O is lined up with the case and the central mounting peg is snug inside the screw hole in the center of the board. When you’re happy with the positioning, secure it to the standoffs using the supplied screws.
06 Graphic Violence
Despite its triple-fan design, XFX’s Qick RX 6600 XT isn’t actually that big for a GPU, so it should fit comfortably inside this case. First, unscrew and remove the two blanking plates from the back of the case that line up with the PCIe slot closest to the CPU. Set these to one side (use a magnetic screw bowl) and carefully lower the GPU into the slot, ensuring that the plastic clasp is open. It should snap shut once the GPU is correctly installed. Once it’s in place, use those screws to secure it.
07 Powering Up
The final component to install is, of course, the power supply. Since the Corsair CX450M is semi-modular and we don’t have any fancy case accessories or SATA drives, you won’t need to add much. The non-modular cabling accounts for the motherboard ATX and CPU power delivery, so you just need to add a single modular cable for the GPU, which will be marked ‘PCIe’. With all the cables you need, gently place the power brick in its slot at the rear of the case beneath the PSU shroud, with the integrated fan facing downwards out of the case. Line it up with the rear port before screwing it into place.
08 Case Closed
The NZXT H510 has some nifty plastic channels behind the motherboard plate that allow for easy cable management, so we’ll put them to use here; especially for the ATX power cable. Use ties to fix your cables in place as you route them around the motherboard, plugging in all the I/O cables as you go (we start with the fiddly power and reset switch cables, using the motherboard manual to check you have the right headers). When you’re happy with your cables, return the two side panels to the case and screw them back on. Job done!