And it's done. I was building this while having a very bad covid infection and right after a depression fit...

I don't think 1.4TB will be enough and I will run out of space eventually. I'm gonna slow it down by compressing the filesystem, but yeah.

Closing the book on this build too.

So yeah. Primary OS Disk is now an AData Legend 850 Lite clocked at 5000Mbps, while the cache disk is now a blazing fast Hikvision Hiksemi Future 512GB clocked at 7450Mbps. All parts have been installed back and all that is left is the eight SATA M.2s meant for the two silverstone adapters. We're almost done.

Also, funny thing: I noticed that the Phantom Gaming X is disappearing and reappearing sporadically on Asrock's website. Almost as if the management wants the product delisted while the engineering team, having put their love into the product (it was their flagship back in 2019, even higher up the range than the Taichi boards, and second only to the Aqua boards), protests the delisting.

She'll be alright, indeed.


I took the board out to my usual computer shop to have it tested for a Third Opinion, and the guys caught something I hadn't: The board was identifying itself as an X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3. Aka The Rainbow Warrior.

I had accidentally flashed in the UEFI meant for The Rainbow Warrior instead of the one for the Phantom Gaming X. Whoops.

This kinda explains the bad temperature and fan reading and inability to support more RAM, but it is still perplexing - both this board and the ITX/TB3 has a Nuvoton sensor chip (not common on AMD platforms, but apparently Asrock prefers it to ITE chips). In theory temperature sensor should still work properly.

So they downloaded the correct BIOS onto a USB drive for me and tried to reflash the BIOS.

Except the board wouldn't have it.

So I convinced them to rename the file to creative.rom and use the way that got me into this mess- by using BIOS Flashback.

And it worked. Sensors are back to normal and even the RAM issue is gone.

The only downside is one of the NVMe slots still appear dead. Except that I got the gut feeling to swap out the MP600 in that slot and replace it with the last NV2 I have hanging around.

And that totally worked. The slot now reads both a single MP600 and a NV2. So somehow I have killed a NVMe Drive in the process. No big deal I guess.

So yeah. My cache is down to 256GB. My main OS drive remains at 512GB.


Currently it's running Memtest86+ on my desk. But we are in the home stretch again.

I also took the opportunity to fix up some errors I made the last time and improve my cable management. I remembered the expansion slot cover this time (although getting the GPU in with the cover in place is a real PITA). But yeah, we're almost ready to end this.

However this experience serves to highlight the dangers of BIOS Flashback: apparently zero validation is done to make sure the BIOS is meant for this board. I could've tricked it to flash the BIOS for a Gigabyte X570 Arous Master and it would have obliged. In the wrong hands this opens the tool up for the Evil Maid attack, which a "friend" can flash your PC with a tainted BIOS or even brick it for the evulz. Asrock should investigate this as this dangerous.

Addendum: remaining MP600 just died 4 hours later. Looks like those drives were on the way out for some reason. Welp, I need 9 drives, not 8, now. Also, machine has been rolled back to the point where all the expansion cards are removed.

Addendum 2: I'm also not happy with the SSD cache size.

Addendum 3: Further research indicates that this is a common problem with first gen MP600, that they suddenly would drop dead after just months of use mysteriously. Why did I even...

The nice thing about AM4 is how the CPU and chipsets can sprawl 4 generations and still be compatible with each other.

I popped the 5950X CPU into the old B450 in the modest build (the heat sink of the X470 in the Guts and Glory build turned out to be a pain to remove because it required the GPUs and sound card be removed, and I quickly gave up on the idea). I also popped in the 2*16+2*8 sticks in.

The CPU fired right up and could detect all 48GB of RAM.

So yeah, at this point we can deduce the Mobo isn't all right.

So what now? Coincidently Asrock had just removed the X570 Phantom Gaming X from their website, implying that they’re discontinuing it completely. As of this morning the listing was back, pointing to the fact that it was a mistake.

I'm thinking of an Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master and a Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card. An X570 Steel Legend would be good but getting an X570 Mobo in Malaysia is downright impossible now, none of the usual stores I patronize has X570 boards anymore.

SATA cables arrived yesterday. So I did work on the machine to the point we can run a smoke test.


On smoke test, immediately everything went wrong.

The Mobo won't boot if more than 2 sticks of RAM are installed. Doesn't matter if its 2x16+2x8 or the original 4x8 configuration, it won't start.

Then there's the fact that the temperature and fan reading are completely screwed up, technically reporting that my CPU is on fire, the motherboard is on fire, and the fans are blowing up a hurricane beyond what is possible.

I don't know if it's the fact that the Mobo has been storage for over 3 years (and not in box, but in the V71 TG case) or the fact that it has been doused with contact cleaner.

I'm going to pull apart my x470 windows box to test the CPU and RAM tonight. But I'm 90% certain the motherboard did not survive the three years.

What started with me just messing around end with me making some progress.


It all started with me being bored and deciding to try installing the HDD and Power LEDs. Did some cable management work to try to reduce cable visibility and got the LEDs plugged in.


Remember how I had trouble getting the Audigy Rx from a seller on Shopee and got one straight from Creative themselves? Yeah, that seller's Audigy RX turned up a few weeks after I got the card from Creative. Gonna use it here.


Next, the four port USB2 bracket that arrived today.


Lastly, the single Port USB and reset switch.

So yeah, I've took it as far as I can go tonight. I can't install the GPU yet as it will obstruct the SATA ports which will make it impossible to install the SATA cables. But with the cable already here in Malaysia and arriving in a day or two, I think we can have a smoke test by New Years Day.

No work done on the system today. But a few parts did show up.


First of all is a single USB2 port. This port is supposed to connect to the port near the CPU. It doesn't actually come with a bracket, I sacrificed an existing bracket I have to it.

Then there's the set of push buttons and LED for a generic PC case. I'm only going to use the LEDS here, since the Lian Li case lacks any LED and I find that annoying since I want to see that SSD access activity.

I also pulled out an old push switch from an older decommissioned build (Dongwa II), this will be used as a reset switch in lieu of the case having one. It fits into the second hole of the USB bracket, too.



So yeah, now the long wait for those SATA cables. I still can't do much after they arrive as I will need to get eight SATA M.2 sticks, but at least once the SATA cables are in, I will be at the stage where the GPU can go in and I can do a smoke test.

Short update today.

So I've actually already attempted to finish working on the rad a few days ago, but ran out of thermal paste. Cue today, me wiping off whatever amount of Kryonaut I have on there to replace with what I just bought.


Silverstone TF01. Cheapest paste I can get my hands on, but it will be fine.


Less than 5 minutes later, I'm done. The Y-cable has also arrived, and I have hooked it up to the two 12015s.


The two SDP11s arrived ahead of schedule too. However I am still waiting for my colored SATA cables to arrive (no offense to Cablemod, but I need them affordable and I need them fast. I can't wait for my next paycheck). However last I checked they've still yet to ship). Nonetheless, we are now at a point where everything we need is in the mail (bar the SSDs. For that one there is no way to get without waiting for my next paycheck). So begins the wait. Again.

So 3 days have passed since blasting the Mobo with WD40 contact cleaner. Time to put everything back together.


But before that, new CMOS batteries. Because the old one is now three years old.


Next, in goes the main SSD. A deshelled Corsair MP600 512GB.


Then we connect up the front plate RGB cable.


And do the alignment.

Then we secure the screws to hold the front plate in place.

I decided to install the Thunderbolt3 card after that. Just because.


Still feeling bored, I turned my attention to the rad. And decided to install it halfway.


Lian Li made a great decision to let you mount the rad tray in either direction. I chose to have the rad as far away from the mobo as possible to give room for hiding my cables.


I got the rad installed onto the removable rad tray and subsequently installed the tray into the case. Installing the tray was easy. Avoiding the EPS and Fan cables was the hard part.

And with that out of the way I decided to do an impromptu test fit of the GPU. Yes, I have the GPU long before I even got the CPU.


Yep, a PowerColor Hellhound Spectral White Radeon RX 7900XTX. Same but different.


The GPU comes with a free support bracket! But I decided to use the Jonsbo left over from the M.U.S.S.E build just because.


The GPU looks like it would just fit snugly. That's good.

So yeah. Now to wait for the RGB splitter cable to arrive so I can finish off the radiatior installation.