Hi all, new here so please excuse my lack of knowledge. Just completed a new build, have built a few over the years, but my years are also getting on. Since I built my last machine in 2011, things have changed quite a bit and I see new things I didnt before, therefore am having difficulty. Please also accept apologies for rambling long 1st post !
New Spec:
ASUS A170-Deluxe
Intel i7 6700K CPU
HyperX Predator DDR4 x 16Gb (3000Mhz)
Kraken x61 Cooler
NZXT Noctis 450 Case - Matt Black
EVGA 850W P2 Platinum PSU
Samsung 850 EVO - 250Gb Boot Drive
Samsung 850 EVO - 500Gb Steam/Origin Drive
Cronos SSD x 2 - 250Gb (Just because come out old build and have space)
WD Black 3TB - Work files (Press Photographer)
AMD R9 290 Graphics Card (out old machine - will replace after xmas)
Now when I was building I spotted a video on YouTube regarding the build I was doing and the same mobo, case and cooler there, and the video was on the ASUS Site.
While watching the engineer placed the Kraken on the top with the fans blowing down INTO the case ... which I duplicated.
My first issue was then the wiring up of the fan controller thing on the back of the case ... which was conflicting with the information supplied rather poorly on the Kraken x61 cooler.
Currently Cooler is connected to the mobo CPU_FAN header and not directly through to the fan controller on back. The SATA lead from pump is connected and the USB is connected also. The fans on the cooler are then plugged into the fan ports on the same cable as the SATA power cable, not directly into the fan controller thing itself.
I keep seeing a term called PWM which I dont understand either.
So, once built, powered up, installed Windows 10 x64 as I purchased a copy of it ... yeah I know !!! it turned on fine and all was well ... or so I thought !
Into the BIOS to check everything was as it should be .... and only one fan was registered as spinning, and it was the CPU fan and hasnt moved from around 750-790 rpm, none of the other fans are showing any data
I look in the fan stuff and the curve and seems ok, but what do I know? The BIOS is completedly different to anything Ive seen before and the fan section has a choice of PWM or DC ... its selected as DC at present.
The RAM was listed as DDR4 and 2133Mhz also, so I changed that to 3000Mhz and that was all I done, rebooted, and nothing worked again. Failure to boot due to OC failures, CPU LED on motherboard, and also saying RAM no itinitalised. After 2 days ... I decided just to switch off and start again, but after I flashed the BIOS to make sure sitting on latest version which it is now on 1302
Whole reinstall later and back up and running.
Now ... keeping up
Everything on and working, sides still off case basically just the chassis.
Idle temp sitting 19 - 21 degrees, and I was happy with that .... playing Black Ops 3 ... it was around 58 degrees after half hour.
Put everything on, the covers etc ....
Idle temperature 22-23 degrees but the playing BLOPS for half hour has the top core sitting at 68 degrees !!!
I thought that was ok ... but remember old system temps were sitting at 59 under big load (i7 3770K) and Corsair cooler
So i decided to follow instructions and reverse the fans on the cooler so that it was pushing air up from inside case to outside case basically across the radiator.
Put all back together, sides and lids on ... and proceeded to test again.
24 degrees idle and tonight a 78 degree temp across a core (see pic if attached correctly)
Temps by Steven Brown, on Flickr
It just doesnt seem right, so I am guessing I have done something wrong.
I havent attempted to change anything in the BIOS as I need a working machine for my accounts, and work, and 2 days downtime previously was a nightmare.
So ... any pointers to this 41 year old noob thats lost touch with what terminology is and new tech ...lol
Questions I will answer as best I can if I have missed something above as I don't want to melt the machine especially with Battlefront already pre-loaded and waiting lol
New Spec:
ASUS A170-Deluxe
Intel i7 6700K CPU
HyperX Predator DDR4 x 16Gb (3000Mhz)
Kraken x61 Cooler
NZXT Noctis 450 Case - Matt Black
EVGA 850W P2 Platinum PSU
Samsung 850 EVO - 250Gb Boot Drive
Samsung 850 EVO - 500Gb Steam/Origin Drive
Cronos SSD x 2 - 250Gb (Just because come out old build and have space)
WD Black 3TB - Work files (Press Photographer)
AMD R9 290 Graphics Card (out old machine - will replace after xmas)
Now when I was building I spotted a video on YouTube regarding the build I was doing and the same mobo, case and cooler there, and the video was on the ASUS Site.
While watching the engineer placed the Kraken on the top with the fans blowing down INTO the case ... which I duplicated.
My first issue was then the wiring up of the fan controller thing on the back of the case ... which was conflicting with the information supplied rather poorly on the Kraken x61 cooler.
Currently Cooler is connected to the mobo CPU_FAN header and not directly through to the fan controller on back. The SATA lead from pump is connected and the USB is connected also. The fans on the cooler are then plugged into the fan ports on the same cable as the SATA power cable, not directly into the fan controller thing itself.
I keep seeing a term called PWM which I dont understand either.
So, once built, powered up, installed Windows 10 x64 as I purchased a copy of it ... yeah I know !!! it turned on fine and all was well ... or so I thought !
Into the BIOS to check everything was as it should be .... and only one fan was registered as spinning, and it was the CPU fan and hasnt moved from around 750-790 rpm, none of the other fans are showing any data

I look in the fan stuff and the curve and seems ok, but what do I know? The BIOS is completedly different to anything Ive seen before and the fan section has a choice of PWM or DC ... its selected as DC at present.
The RAM was listed as DDR4 and 2133Mhz also, so I changed that to 3000Mhz and that was all I done, rebooted, and nothing worked again. Failure to boot due to OC failures, CPU LED on motherboard, and also saying RAM no itinitalised. After 2 days ... I decided just to switch off and start again, but after I flashed the BIOS to make sure sitting on latest version which it is now on 1302
Whole reinstall later and back up and running.
Now ... keeping up

Everything on and working, sides still off case basically just the chassis.
Idle temp sitting 19 - 21 degrees, and I was happy with that .... playing Black Ops 3 ... it was around 58 degrees after half hour.
Put everything on, the covers etc ....
Idle temperature 22-23 degrees but the playing BLOPS for half hour has the top core sitting at 68 degrees !!!
I thought that was ok ... but remember old system temps were sitting at 59 under big load (i7 3770K) and Corsair cooler
So i decided to follow instructions and reverse the fans on the cooler so that it was pushing air up from inside case to outside case basically across the radiator.
Put all back together, sides and lids on ... and proceeded to test again.
24 degrees idle and tonight a 78 degree temp across a core (see pic if attached correctly)

It just doesnt seem right, so I am guessing I have done something wrong.
I havent attempted to change anything in the BIOS as I need a working machine for my accounts, and work, and 2 days downtime previously was a nightmare.
So ... any pointers to this 41 year old noob thats lost touch with what terminology is and new tech ...lol
Questions I will answer as best I can if I have missed something above as I don't want to melt the machine especially with Battlefront already pre-loaded and waiting lol