This isn't an ASUS System Board

[Scannerman]

My daughter is spoiled.

I have so many PCs of my own that my wife insisted that I give my other other daughter this new PC.

But ...

1) I'm not familiar with DDR5 systems
2) She wants RAID 1 and I'm only familiar with RAID on Intel systems and LSI cards.
3) She also wants Windows 7 in multi-boot because she has some old games that only play well in Win7.
4) She wants all the fans to be red.
5) I'm familiar with AMD but more old school AMD. I'm mostly an Intel kind of guy.
6) I've worked on MSI, ASUS, GIGABYTE, HP, and DELL systems for decades but nothing this new by MSI.
7) So much of this MSI software seems to be configured for AI of which I know nothing about.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[zbook]

1) Upgrade the BIOS: 1E0 > 1R3

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B650-Tomahawk-Wifi/support

2) This link may be useful:

Dual Boot Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8

How to Dual Boot Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8

www.tenforums.com

 

[Scannerman]

Yes, I've been to that site and I've flashed the BIOS (which took a considerable long time) and scared myself thinking perhaps I bricked the BIOS but it looks as though I have the latest one now. I also downloaded most of the zip files of the software and apps but I'm a little hesitant to install the RAID drivers as the OS was not installed prior to switching to RAID. I think I'll just skip the RAID part of it. BIOS is in AHCI.

 

[Ghot]

Good Old Games has many old games for very cheap, and they run on Win 11.

 

[Scannerman]

Good Old Games has many old games for very cheap, and they run on Win 11.

Yeah, I think she uses Steam. I'll let her know. Thanks

 

[PurSpyk!!]

Windows 11 is surprisingly able to run many old games, the only real issue is if they use some obscure drm, then they could be an issue. The biggest issue i have had with older games is they struggle with multi core cpus. If she uses Steam there are ways around this by creating a batch file and modifying the gane startup options. I can help with that if needed.

 

[Scannerman]

Windows 11 is surprisingly able to run many old games, the only real issue is if they use some obscure drm, then they could be an issue. The biggest issue i have had with older games is they struggle with multi core cpus. If she uses Steam there are ways around this by creating a batch file and modifying the gane startup options. I can help with that if needed.

Thanks! :) I'll keep that in mind. Right now I'm just trying to get the whole thing set up for her properly. Once her royal princess gives me the okay I'll proceed with her game installations.

 

[glasskuter]

https://drivers.amd.com/relnotes/amd-raid-quick-start-guide.pdf

 

[Scannerman]

https://drivers.amd.com/relnotes/amd-raid-quick-start-guide.pdf

Thanks, glasskuter.

I believe I have these instructions with my AMD HERO/WIN 10 but I'm pretty sure they'll work with Win 11 as well. Seems like a whole lot of fuss just to get RAID working. With Intel it's much easier. You don't even have to pre-install drivers with the OS on an Intel platform. You just simply switch from AHCI to RAID in the UEFI/BIOS. After that you can set up soft RAID with ctrl + i. I think I have my daughter convinced that it's okay to skip the RAID. She's just used to having it on her Intel build and is very happy with the concept of mirroring data.

 

[werty]

You may also need the older DirectX libraries for older games - Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center.

 

[Scannerman]

You may also need the older DirectX libraries for older games - Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center.

Thank you for the reminder. I recall having to do this for a few clients years ago. I know that she will still want Windows 7.

 

[Scannerman]

So... Here's the situation:

Daughter wants ARGB. The fans on the case are NOT ARGB. The system board is. Do I really want to change out all the fans??

There are three fans in the top of the case as well and they are not RGB. The blue fans in the front look nice but again, they're strictly blue and she doesn't want blue. The NH-D15 (BLACK) Noctua cooler with the over-size fans looks good and this is a worthy cooler for a chip that easily does 5GHz. I'll leave those there. I'm not familiar with the graphics card at all and I want to pull it. Not sure what the previous builder had in mind but I'm definitely going to make some changes.

Myself, I like these large blue fans but alas, they will have to go. They will be replaced with smaller ARGB fans so that the princess can have her red theme. I'll be putting in this ARGB remote control kit for her so that she can make the fans any colour she wants them to be.

 

[Scannerman]

Top fans replaced. Still need to install the two fronts. One is flipped for intake and the other two are exhaust. This results in three exhaust fans and three intake fans in addition to the two cooling fans which I am also debating changing out. Another thing I'm considering changing is the graphics card. I'm debating replacing this MSI MECH with an XFX 580XXX. Not really sure which is better. The 580 is older.

 

[Scannerman]

So the front fans are in now but I'm leaving the front bezel off in case I need to run more cables/wires through the front. Changed the SATA portion in the BIOS to RAID in the hope that I can get some RAID 1 going for her royal majesty because she loves her archived files so much. Can't say as I blame her. Alas, she wants what she calls 'the furnace effect' which is a lighting modification I made for her on her old gaming rig where I used red LED strips inside the case and it lit up like a glowing furnace. Not to be confused with RGB. This is strictly red. Personally, I'm not big on red and black. (Isn't that a 90's thing?) But this isn't going to be my PC so I'm guessing it will be the last one I build for her. The girl wants her furnace.

So it begins with a reel. . .

This company marks the reels with the corresponding colour which is kind of handy.

If you don't cut where it is marked for cutting it won't work.

I couldn't find the spool of red and black wire I normally use for jobs like this but I found this rubberized wire that can easily handle 12 volts. I'll shrink sleeve this to the terminals on the LED strip and connect it via Molex. (The yellow wire on the plug is 12V.)

 

[Marie SWE]

So the front fans are in now but I'm leaving the front bezel off in case I need to run more cables/wires through the front. Changed the SATA portion in the BIOS to RAID in the hope that I can get some RAID 1 going for her royal majesty because she loves her archived files so much. Can't say as I blame her. Alas, she wants what she calls 'the furnace effect' which is a lighting modification I made for her on her old gaming rig where I used red LED strips inside the case and it lit up like a glowing furnace. Not to be confused with RGB. This is strictly red. Personally, I'm not big on red and black. (Isn't that a 90's thing?) But this isn't going to be my PC so I'm guessing it will be the last one I build for her. The girl wants her furnace.


View attachment 188616
So it begins with a reel. . .

View attachment 188617
This company marks the reels with the corresponding colour which is kind of handy.

View attachment 188618
If you don't cut where it is marked for cutting it won't work.


View attachment 188619


I couldn't find the spool of red and black wire I normally use for jobs like this but I found this rubberized wire that can easily handle 12 volts. I'll shrink sleeve this to the terminals on the LED strip and connect it via Molex. (The yellow wire on the plug is 12V.)

It looks like that wire can handle high voltage or Amps. so you can put in a lot of LED before that cable warms up.

 

[Scannerman]

It looks like that wire can handle high voltage or Amps. so you can put in a lot of LED before that cable warms up.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue. They are 12V LED and there are a lot of them. The case was large enough to take half a reel. I'm digging around for a switch in case she changes her mind at some point and wants to turn off the "furnace".

 

[Marie SWE]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue. They are 12V LED and there are a lot of them. The case was large enough to take half a reel. I'm digging around for a switch in case she changes her mind at some point and wants to turn off the "furnace".

That sounds as a good idea to have a switch to all the Christmas light.

 

[Scannerman]

That sounds as a good idea to have a switch to all the Christmas light.

nope. I have my limits. She wants her "furnace" she'll get it.

 

[Scannerman]

Uh-oh... Looks like other daughter might have snagged my toggle switches