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Well, I took my entire system apart last night, literally gave my 400r case a shower... Don't worry, I removed all of the I/O clusters and such. Hand cleaned all of the fans and reinstalled everything. Got my Asus ROG Strix B350-f and 1600x installed. Setup the insanely cheap CoolerMaster 240 lite closed loop cooler I got for $29.99. Upgraded from an 840 EVO to an 850 EVO. Installed my new Seasonic X Series 850w Gold PSU that I've been sitting on for over a year following a godly sale that finally paid off. Slapped some Ripjaws V 8GB temporary kit onto the board, upgraded the BIOS to 3401, set DOCP to run the RAM at it's 3200 speed. Installed Windows 10 and all other software goodies...

All done, pictures to come soon.

BTW, the 400r plus the Strix B350-f and that CoolerMaster CLC aren't exactly compatible. The very oddly shaped VRM heatsink prevents the CLC from lining up mounting holes on the top side of the case. Was really mad but used the honey comb and some rubber grommets to screw in 4 out of the 8. It's not going anywhere. Still was a bit dissapointed. I blame both the case and the VRM heatsink as both should have allowed that little bit more room.

All around happy thus far. Hoping tonight that I can try it out in some games.

**Pictures of upgrade**

https://imgur.com/a/XnHgK

Congrats! Sounds like everything went well. I had a bizarrely problem-free experience myself, replacing a Sandy Bridge-E motherboard and CPU with a Ryzen 1700X. Everything just... worked, no need to re-install Windows 10.

Vhalidictes wrote:

Congrats! Sounds like everything went well. I had a bizarrely problem-free experience myself, replacing a Sandy Bridge-E motherboard and CPU with a Ryzen 1700X. Everything just... worked, no need to re-install Windows 10.

Thanks, the worst of it was cleaning the case out as the original fans are still going strong, they were just immensely dusty until I took the front panel off and removed them. Baby wipes make quick work of dirty fans for future reference.

I did a fresh install due to all of the start menu issues that last long install was having. Just seemed time, even a reset didn't fix it.

You'd still have to do a fresh Win 10 key though, right?

Welch wrote:

Baby wipes make quick work of dirty fans for future reference.

While I don't doubt they do a good job of removing the dust, won't the moisturizers leave a residue which will tend to trap new dust in the future?

just brew it! wrote:

Welch wrote:

Baby wipes make quick work of dirty fans for future reference.

While I don't doubt they do a good job of removing the dust, won't the moisturizers leave a residue which will tend to trap new dust in the future?

The mosturizers are minial, bit I guess I'm about to find out. I've used them on a friend's system and he hasn't had any issues. They don't really leave a greasy or feelable lubrication or anything that would allow dust to stick. I'll keep an eye on it though.

just brew it! wrote:

Welch wrote:

Baby wipes make quick work of dirty fans for future reference.

While I don't doubt they do a good job of removing the dust, won't the moisturizers leave a residue which will tend to trap new dust in the future?

I'd use a Swiffer sheet, or equivalent, if handy -- after all, collecting dust is what they're designed to do.

Vhalidictes wrote:

Congrats! Sounds like everything went well. I had a bizarrely problem-free experience myself, replacing a Sandy Bridge-E motherboard and CPU with a Ryzen 1700X. Everything just... worked, no need to re-install Windows 10.

My only real problem when I went from x79 the x299 was the mobo manufacturer's software... Everything else went well.

As promised, here is the album of my upgrade using the same 400r case. I even included a picture of the case wet to show I was serious about giving it a bath

https://imgur.com/a/XnHgK

UberGerbil wrote:

I'd use a Swiffer sheet, or equivalent, if handy -- after all, collecting dust is what they're designed to do.

wouldn't that be a giant static electricity risk?

That is a great cleaning job. Kudos and congratulations on the upgrade!

Stupid decorative heatsinks strike again.

Edit, actually in the gallery you uploaded they don't look too ridiculous. I guess the case doesn't leave quiet enough clearance for a standard radiator and 25mm fan thickess

Firestarter wrote:

UberGerbil wrote:

I'd use a Swiffer sheet, or equivalent, if handy -- after all, collecting dust is what they're designed to do.

wouldn't that be a giant static electricity risk?

I don't think fans are particularly susceptible to ESD. I agree you'd probably want to keep it away from the motherboard/GPU though.

Chrispy_ wrote:

Stupid decorative heatsinks strike again.

Edit, actually in the gallery you uploaded they don't look too ridiculous. I guess the case doesn't leave quiet enough clearance for a standard radiator and 25mm fan thickess

I've had the same issue trying to install (Corsair) CLCs in the top panel on (mostly Corsair) cases. I have more 120mm rads than 240mm (2 vs 1) so back panel exhaust is usually the best option.

OMG, just saw your pictures. WTF made the case so dusty in the first place? I haven't seen a layer like that even 5 years after assembly. Is that just what living in Alaska is like?

MOSFET wrote:

Chrispy_ wrote:

OMG, just saw your pictures. WTF made the case so dusty in the first place? I haven't seen a layer like that even 5 years after assembly. Is that just what living in Alaska is like?

The case had been cleaned in the past 7 years a few times if you can believe that . That is what it looks like when you have kids and don't clean your own rig out all the while putting your computer on carpet (short commercial) and yeah, Fairbanks can be very dusty in the summer. It doesn't take long really . If I had to be put on the spot I'd say the computer hasn't been cleaned out for over 3 years . Life has been hectic up until the last few months. Between 2 kids, building a house (garage) myself for us to live in, running a business, the wife finally being done with her degree, her getting in a car wreck. The computer cleanings fell wayside. I used to be the guy who cleaned it at least once every 3-6 months. I elected to make room on the desk this time around, also properly mounted the PSU fan downward to suck in cool air off of the table, should help with temps. Ran Prime95 for near 30 minutes yesterday and couldn't get this thing to break 59.5*C. It seems to idle higher than expected and the numbers jump everywhere which isn't uncommon for Ryzen X series for some reason (nothing to do with temp offset).


Thanks Toki! It was quite a bit of work. My 4 1/2 year old son decided to help throughout the process and was really excited about building a computer with dad. He actually screwed in the front fans on the case

JBI - Yes, I didn't bother to check but I'd assume the 400r came out prior to the common availability of thick 240mm CLC. The case was designed for CLC for sure which the mounting options. If the HS on the board wasn't that little bit taller it would have slide right in. Still would be partially in the way and made things awkward and non-ideal for cooling IMHO. I notice a lot of newer cases that support CLC top mount have a large cavity above the top of where the boards mount.