order todo after PC build complete- OS, drivers, firmware, etc.

[acousticaPCM]

I will be building this later this week:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3MyUc
Parts for reference only as this thread is about the order of things to
do.

I've upgraded a 2004 computer in 2006 but that has been all except some
hard drive swaps.
This will be my first build and I started to make a list of the order to
do things and wanted to get some feedback.


I have an old LCD monitor
that I know the VGA port works but unknown if the DVI-D port works.

Use power conditioner/surge protector
1st assemble on top of motherboard box to see if all working: Install
RAM, fan onto cpu cooler, install thermal paste, ( just 1 PWM 120mm fan
then pushing into cpu cooler), videocard, dvd-RW drive (SATA 2 port),
monitor VGA from motherboard port, SSD, then cpu cooler on CPU.
POWER SUPPLY ON, BOOT computer
Confirm video card fan spins, DVD drive spins up an Audio CD optical
disc, CPU cooler fan spins. Boot to BIOS

Ssd: confirm AHCI mode enables the TRIM feature to do its job.


Shutdown, power supply off.
Change monitor to DVI-D port.
POWER on. Boot.
If working then power down and stall video card. plug in dvi-d cable,
unplug VGA cable
Boot & confirm graphics card fans spin up
------
Then put build in case, mount all SSD & HDD and tidy all cabling.
SATA III 6 Gbps slot order:
1. OS Level & Application Level SSD 128GB Samsung 840 PRO
2. Cache Level (caching, scatch disk, vram, etc) SSD 128 GB)
3. 2TB Data Level HDD (1TB-4TB) (do not plug in SATA cable yet
SATA II 3 Gbps slot order
4. 2TB hdd /backup =swap with other 3TB backup hdd for offsite
5. DVD-RW optical drive
6. 1TB Media HDD As another write Photoshop files & video to drive.


Setup:
Do not plug 2TB media HDD into power or SATA yet
change the older 2TB HDD jumper for 3Gbps instead of 1.5Gbps speed.(i
think remove jumper).
SAME thing for older 1TB HDD

Plug in Ethernet cable

Install windows 8.1 OS

Connect to Internet with Ethernet
Register with my personal live.com acct


Download any motherboard firmware update
Download videocard updated drivers
Plug in videocard

For both SSDs Disable Drive Indexing.
Reboot
Update windows 8.1 OS
Reboot

Setup
1.Administrator acct with simple password
2. Guest internet acct

Download Firefox browser

Download from website:
Zone Alarm Security Suite [Firewall/Antivirus] for Windows 7/8 [for
Windows 7/8 64-bit] subscription. Download.
Or ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2015 (64-bit)
Install on OS drive
Get Win8.1 update for Zone Alarm Security Suite


Ninite.com download Speedfan , install on app drive
Run speedfan for PWM fans-
Download prime95

Turn off network connection & turn off Zone alarm
For 1 hour to test cpu Prime95cpu test software
Document temperatures
-check Speedfan for CPU temperature & system temp under stress & Allow
to idle.
Test cpu for 1 hours using prime95 check Speedfan for CPU temperature &
system temp under stress. Allow to idle 5 min.
check Speedfan for CPU temperature & system temp, allow to idle .
shutdown.Boot up. Check UEFI/bios the cpu & system temp. Then bootup.
Check speed fan for temps and lower PWM fans speed to 60-70% for
silence. Test.
check Speedfan for CPU temperature & system temp under stress


Software:
Printer drivers epson website 64-bit - install on OS drive
Scanner drivers - hp website- 64-bit- install on OS drive
wacom tablet drivers- download

Turn off network connection & turn off Zone alarm

Microsoft Office download,
Adobe lightroom & photoshop creative cloud

Change cache and location of LR previews

Wacom website download drivers for win 8.1
Install on OS SSD
Reboot

Download iTunes, install on app ssd
Give username & password. Browse store.
Update iTunes
Uncheck box in preferences to keep a copy of songs.
Point itunes to music folder on 2TB media HDD
Allow to download artwork

[Malphas]

OCD overkill. I used to be like this back in the XP days, but nowadays you can do everything haphazardly and it's fine. Also, ZoneAlarm? Really?

[SpAmRaY]

OCD overkill. I used to be like this back in the XP days, but nowadays you can do everything haphazardly and it's fine. Also, ZoneAlarm? Really?

I remember the good ole days of zonealarm....

[user 18]

I just plug things in, unless I'm going for really fancy hardware that needs a particular installation order to fit properly. Then I just install programs in the order I find I need them.

Just out of curiosity, why 2 SSDs?

[Cheesebaron]

Personally I would grab a 4770k instead of the 4790, this way I can overclock the CPU if I feel like it. Non-k models do not have the multiplier unlocked and only allow BLK overclocking, which won't give you much.

Also remember, to go to the BIOS/UEFI and select an XMP profile for your RAM, to make sure you get the most out of them. Some vendors such as Kingston provide more than one profile. XMP 1 is always the highest performance one.

Also personally I would opt for some Noctua fans, but I guess those PWM fans will get the job done.

If you want to save a little on the motherboard you could opt to go with something like the MSI Z87-G43 or G55 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z87g43

Otherwise it seems like a pretty solid build

[IvanIvanovich]

I wholly agree on K CPU, no sense in not taking advantage of being able to OC. If you're going for a 9 series board... I would go for an m.2 ssd for the boot instead of a sata. If you have no intention of taking advantage of that feature then saving money on an older 8 series board makes sense.
preprep... use rufus to copy over 8.1 to usb3 flashdrive with uefi only setting, then make folders for drivers, update1 and other hotfixes, software. This saves huge time on installation and time downloading things again especially updates.
If using sata disk, connect to old machine and firmware update if available, then set it to a gpt disk.
I then build everything in the case leaving all drives but the boot drive disconnected to ensure windows doesn't decide for no reason to place those files on some other disk... I have never had any problems with assembly so I skip the build outside step. Enter uefi and set all applicable settings, set first boot to usb3 flash so I don't have to enter boot select menus manually.
Install windows (I set up my live account at install), install drivers if needed (8.1 for the most part seems to actually get the most recent possible non beta drivers for most things). BURN IN TEST with realbench. Install everything else.

[vun]

Remember to install adobe reader.

[Cheesebaron]

I would go for an m.2 ssd for the boot instead of a sata. If you have no intention of taking advantage of that feature then saving money on an older 8 series board makes sense.

Do all 9 series boards have two m.2 ports?

Remember to install adobe reader.

I like foxit reader as an alternative.

Also I like to use Ninite to install most essential software for me: https://ninite.com/

[vun]

Remember to install adobe reader.

I like foxit reader as an alternative.

It's actually a reference to this, not a serious recommendation. I was hoping at least someone on GH had come across it.

[IvanIvanovich]

All the good 9 series have m.2... some of the dumb ones have only sata express which I believe is a standard doomed for failure. Who the **** wants 3 data cables connected to a drive? What kind of crack were they smoking when they decided on that?

[Cheesebaron]

Yea, SATA express is a bit silly :-) They could have spent their effort on something else.

[IvanIvanovich]

It's not that it is a bad idea in principle... but they could have used something like a slightly modified sas cable? Something like how USB2 vs USB3... it can use the same port, just the extra pins don't connect on older interface so still backwards compatible. Also one port on the motherboard so it could accept 2x express or 4-6 sata with breakout... no they do this dumb thing.