Blimey. This gets more tiresome by the day. The motherboard offers Displayport and HDMI interfaces but I’m gathering they are dependent on which CPU you install.
Nonetheless. Onward and upward…
Thanks for the advice folks. I’ll think about a wireless keyboard and mouse. The convenience is very appealing, but I like my Cherry Black keyboard and Microsoft mouse. I’m tempted to dabble with gaming/virtual reality so maybe I need a decent graphics card anyway.
In my ignorance I thought that all keyboards had multi-key rollover - certainly the many that I have used all did - but it seems not, so worth checking. The Jelly Comb keyboard that I mentioned is fine with multi-key use (Ctrl+Alt+T etc).
It’s all very complicated, isn’t It? I’m surprised that anyone would spend £200 on a processor that has no graphics, but then my new PC last year only cost £250 including delivery!
Most people have no problem with Nvidia, but when you find some-one with a video problem, that’s usually the source of it.
I’ve only built a PC once, in 2005, and I didn’t fancy doing it again. I went to CCL, a very helpful firm in Bradford, who offer a range of basic designs which you can tweak — anything from a basic office machine to a state-of-the-art games box.
CCL’s site doesn’t even work on my PC, either in Firefox or in Chrome, and they don’t seem very bothered about that. They say they’re a Microsoft accredited partner and can’t advise on Linux (or words to that effect). That makes me worry about Linux compatibility…
Looks like I’m going to have to go for another self build, tedious though I find that these days.
Can you describe exactly what you mean when you say “CCL’s site doesn’t even work on my PC”?
Are there any other sites that won’t display on your system? And if so, do they have anything in common?
The site I used is https://www.cclonline.com/ and it displays perfectly on Ubuntu 18.04 running Firefox 93.0 so I can’t see why you are having difficulty. Linux is very compatible.
Do you have you some add-on security settings that may be blocking the site? Or perhaps your router or ISP have some supposed “security” blocking mechanism.
I disabled Adblock Plus for the CCL site and things got a bit better, as in links actually working, but now I keep getting ‘page not found’ errors. I find it hard to see that as anything but shoddy website design/maintenance.
When I said “That makes me worry about Linux compatibility…” I meant with CCL’s systems. They seem very Microsoft-centric. Maybe David was just lucky that his works…
Try clearing your browser history and cache and re-send the request to the site.
A computer build - bare-bones - is just that. The architecture will accept any operating system installed upon it. The fact that CCL are Microsoft-biased just means they won’t be able to advise on the OS installed as they don’t support Linux (their loss!) but there is plenty of support online, both here and a thousand other places. A look at my own build specs might help …
I disabled Adblock Plus for the CCL site and things got a bit better, as in links actually working, but now I keep getting 'page not found' errors. I find it hard to see that as anything but shoddy website design/maintenance.
When you say “keep getting ‘page not found’ errors” do you mean that most pages are not found or just a few on several websites? Shoddy website maintenance is common, so don’t be surprised by that, but I get very much less than 1% of pages not found.
Ad blockers shouldn’t block the whole site. I use the Privacy Badger Add-on provided free by the Electronic Frontiers Foundation. It’s very good and will tell you precisely what it’s blocking and why. If a whole site is actually being blocked then there is probably a good reason for it - Firefox is good at that.
Sorry for the protracted absence. Personal stuff. I won’t bore you with the details.
Anyway, I’ve ordered the motherboard and processor now so I’m commited to a self-build. I’ll order the rest of the components I’ll need in the next 2 -3 weeks with a view to building the computer over the Christmas bank holiday. It feels like a chore, but it’s got to be better than watching the festive drivel on TV.
Just for the record, I’ve checked the CCL site using both Pale Moon 29 (Addblock Latitude) and Firefox 94 (Addblock Plus). I roamed all over the site with no problems, so I’d still recommend them to anyone wanting a ready-made or custom-built computer — they do components, too.
Evening all,
I’m just about to order the RAM and an M.2 drive, then I should be able to put this thing together at long last.
The latest problem is that Asus’ user guide is the most inadequate I’ve ever seen. It consists of a lot of stupid diagrams and too few words. The ‘specifications summary’ gives no clue as to whether NVME is supported for M.2 drives, unless I’m missing something.
That M.2 SSD is fine for your new motherboard. M.2 sockets are actually connected directly to the PCIe bus - hence better speed compared with an SSD in the normal HDD bay.
Your board has two M.2 sockets that, because of the particular CPU you’ve chosen (needing a separate graphics card), are both available for M.2 modules.
It says here: Understanding SSD Technology: NVMe, SATA, M.2 - Kingston Technology amongst other things,
“NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a communications interface and driver that takes advantage of the increased bandwidth PCIe has to offer.” etc.
It just means that the M.2 memory plugs directly into the PCIe bus as I mentioned before.
So yes: It’s all compatible. I built the same combination for a friend and it’s fine.
Here we go then. My first build in over twelve years. I’m interested to see the performance difference, although I’m not a gamer, so it may not be that obvious. The build looks pretty straightforward, with hardly any cables involved and no ribbon cables at all. Hooray!
If the box you are putting it in is a very old one, you might need to buy a modern PSU as all the plugs have changed over the years!
Good luck with the build - and best wishes to you also for the new year.
A look at my own build specs might help …