[Queue 2001: A Space Odyssey Music]

It’s allliiiive! All the parts arrived and were assembled. The most nerve-racking part of the build was actually putting the CPU cooler on. The instructions are mostly what some would call “English”, but the diagrams leave something to be desired. There are arrows on top of four posts that go into the motherboard to secure the cooler, and you’d think they’d be pointing the direction you’re supposed to twist to secure the cooler. You’d be wrong. They’re actually indictating how to remove the cooler. Go figure.

Anyway, I’m very happy with the results, the machine screams. The only real bummer thing I just discovered is that this motherboard only supports up to 800MHz memory. I have 1066 MHz memory. That’s 266MHz the board can’t use, and paid more for. Oh well, I guess. Maybe MSI, the motherboard manufacturer, will come out with a BIOS update to increase the speed? Really doubtful. I wonder if it’s a BIOS limitation or an actual hardware limitation? Hrm.