Zeitgeist - The Movie, 2007
If only they would have seen it coming... maybe they could have done something.
"It can't happen here." It's been happening since before I was born and imagine it foolish to think there's anything that can be done to stop it. I don't know that I'll live to see how this all actually happens but it's been entertaining so far. I do try to enjoy the ride because I guess I'm afraid of being killed like so many before me. Every now and then I slip and people look at me funny but so far I've managed to get by without incident. I fear...
Friday, July 20, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
stolen elections
Google video - watch the first 12 minutes at least... especially if you or anyone you know is in the military. Not news to me.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
O&O Defrag 10
O&O Software - Product Information
I've been a fan of O&O's defrag for a few years because it reorganizes files according to a set of rules as it defrags. With version 10 we can finally have our defrag jobs run whenever Windows goes into screensaver mode! As if that weren't cool enough by itself, they also include a screensaver as part of the install package. Here's a crappy digital camera shot of my screen with the O&O screensaver in action. On the left side of the screen file names with their full path scroll up as they are defragged & taken care of. The image map of your defragmentation in process spins and rotates in a 3D space on the right. It almost looks like something out of CSI Miami or some Sci-Fi show. As cool as it is I will stick to the Power Dimmer screensaver just because I like being able to see my desktop at all times. You certainly don't need to be running O&O's screensaver in order to have their software defrag while your PC is running a screensaver!
I've been a fan of O&O's defrag for a few years because it reorganizes files according to a set of rules as it defrags. With version 10 we can finally have our defrag jobs run whenever Windows goes into screensaver mode! As if that weren't cool enough by itself, they also include a screensaver as part of the install package. Here's a crappy digital camera shot of my screen with the O&O screensaver in action. On the left side of the screen file names with their full path scroll up as they are defragged & taken care of. The image map of your defragmentation in process spins and rotates in a 3D space on the right. It almost looks like something out of CSI Miami or some Sci-Fi show. As cool as it is I will stick to the Power Dimmer screensaver just because I like being able to see my desktop at all times. You certainly don't need to be running O&O's screensaver in order to have their software defrag while your PC is running a screensaver!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Yahoo Mail, Firefox and Vista
Let's say you have a new computer and are using the combination of Yahoo webmail, Firefox and your OS is Vista and you want to be able to click email links on webpages in firefox and have a compose yahoo email page open in a new tab with the proper info from the mailto link you clicked. You'd think this was a pretty straightforward and easy thing to set up. I just spent 3 hours looking for a way to get it to work.
I used to use Yahoo mail. Yahoo used to have a little app that would install and make it so all your clicked mailto links would open their webmail instead of Outlook Express or Windows Mail (vista). Apparently Yahoo doesn't support or distribute that tiny application anymore. They want you to install their Yahoo Instant Messenger in order to be able to click a mailto link and send mail with them... in firefox. Things like this make me glad I switched to gmail way back when.
I went down the path of trying to get Yahoo's old webmail application that I used to do and it was a dead end. If you search you will find a .cab file and can install this thing without problems under XP (right-click->install the .dll file) but it doesn't work so easily in Vista and I didn't want to figure out how to make it work in Vista. It should NOT be this freakin hard so I kept searching.
I eventually found a WebmailCompose add-on for firefox that works with all kinds of webmail providers and mailto links but the extension is gathering dust and won't install in FF 2.0.4. Download v0.6.5 and save it somewhere because who knows if it will still be around for long. The original author's website that most download links point to was a vast wasteland of 404s.
Next you need to get Mr. Tech's local install add-on for FF. Install this first, restart FF, then open the WebmailCompose .xpi file you saved... open it with Firefox of course. You should get a pop-up window from the Local Install add-on. Check off the box that says something about maximizing version compatibility or whatever and it installs just fine in FF 2.0.4. It looks like all of the WebmailCompose add-on's options are present but some of them went beyond the bounds of the options window in Vista. It still works though as far as I can tell.
Credit goes to this link Posted: Oct Thu 12th 2006 6:36pm by Mr. E but I thought I would make a post backing it up just in case that page disappears someday too.
I used to use Yahoo mail. Yahoo used to have a little app that would install and make it so all your clicked mailto links would open their webmail instead of Outlook Express or Windows Mail (vista). Apparently Yahoo doesn't support or distribute that tiny application anymore. They want you to install their Yahoo Instant Messenger in order to be able to click a mailto link and send mail with them... in firefox. Things like this make me glad I switched to gmail way back when.
I went down the path of trying to get Yahoo's old webmail application that I used to do and it was a dead end. If you search you will find a .cab file and can install this thing without problems under XP (right-click->install the .dll file) but it doesn't work so easily in Vista and I didn't want to figure out how to make it work in Vista. It should NOT be this freakin hard so I kept searching.
I eventually found a WebmailCompose add-on for firefox that works with all kinds of webmail providers and mailto links but the extension is gathering dust and won't install in FF 2.0.4. Download v0.6.5 and save it somewhere because who knows if it will still be around for long. The original author's website that most download links point to was a vast wasteland of 404s.
Next you need to get Mr. Tech's local install add-on for FF. Install this first, restart FF, then open the WebmailCompose .xpi file you saved... open it with Firefox of course. You should get a pop-up window from the Local Install add-on. Check off the box that says something about maximizing version compatibility or whatever and it installs just fine in FF 2.0.4. It looks like all of the WebmailCompose add-on's options are present but some of them went beyond the bounds of the options window in Vista. It still works though as far as I can tell.
Credit goes to this link Posted: Oct Thu 12th 2006 6:36pm by Mr. E but I thought I would make a post backing it up just in case that page disappears someday too.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Cable Modem Blower
So after years of dealing with a Linksys BEFCMU10 cable modem (with firmware version 1.0.6 (befcmu10v2_106.bin) of course) that likes to stop working properly when downloading alot of stuff I figured I'd finally try something to fix it since I don't have alot of other things to do lately. I stuck a fan into the thing that blows down onto the main processor chip. Gallery of the mod of course... it's not pretty since I just wanted to be done with it quick (I don't like being disconnected for very long) and I cracked the case trying to use utility scissors to cut it instead of my Dremel. Lesson learned hopefully... ALWAYS use the Dremel.
It took more than a day but the modem eventually stopped sending any data just like always. The thing isn't very warm to the touch anymore though so it's still an improvement over the stock design. The white thing taped to the modem is a de-cottoned cotton swab and has been there for almost as long as I've had the modem. It goes into a hole and makes contact with the reset switch so I can hit tthe switch without turning around the modem or standing on my head to find the hole with a paperclip or pen.
It took more than a day but the modem eventually stopped sending any data just like always. The thing isn't very warm to the touch anymore though so it's still an improvement over the stock design. The white thing taped to the modem is a de-cottoned cotton swab and has been there for almost as long as I've had the modem. It goes into a hole and makes contact with the reset switch so I can hit tthe switch without turning around the modem or standing on my head to find the hole with a paperclip or pen.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Smart Case Fans...
Now that the 70 degree F + weather is here I'm becoming more frustrated with these Smart Fans. The 80mm fans are great. Stick a temperature probe under the CPU heatsink and the 80mm fans ramp up their speed as the temperature at the probe increases exactly as you'd expect. The only problem is that I have a 120mm fan on my CPU heatsink and I can hook it up to the same probe that works great on the 80mm and it does NOTHING! I've finally had to resort to using the fan speed control knobs that come with the fans. I have 2 knobs, one for the 120mm front intake and one for the 120mm CPU fan - all of my fans in Ziggo5 are the Thermaltake Smart Fans with Blue LEDs.
Each Smart Fan comes with an optional speed control knob which is mounted to a PCI slot cover from Thermaltake. Not bad, but I don't have 2 slots at the back of my machine I want to sacrifice to this unholy compromise. The knobs are silver so they won't be going on the front of my machine. So I grabbed a blank Lian-Li slot cover, made my marks and started drilling holes. The slot covers must be made out of steel (as opposed to aluminum like the rest of the chassis) because they put up a good fight when I was drilling into them. Most knobs you might find on a device are mounted through a hole in a surface and then there's a nut that goes onto the knob shaft. Not so with these knobs. The Thermaltake slot covers have a rectangular cut made on either side of where the knob goes and then the metal was bent inward to make a sort of U shaped knob holder. The knob's square body fits perfectly into the U shape and there are 2 tiny latches involved as well. Right... all this means is that I was not going to be able to mount the knobs on a blank slot cover the way I'd hoped, but I made it work. I now have the 2 knobs mounted on a single PCI slot cover with plenty of room to add 5 or 6 knobs in I ever had the desire - which I'm sure I never will.
Once I had the knobs mounted (with some super glue help) I put the slot cover in place and hooked up one control to the 120mm CPU fan and booted into the BIOS to check things out. Just because I can, I left the temperature probe attached to the fan also. The first thing I noticed was that with the knob on it's lowest setting the fan was running 100+ RPM faster than it had without the knob. It used to hover around 1350 RPM and was at 1480 according to the BIOS. Interesting.
Next, of course, I booted into windows and started the dual Prime95 tests to heat things up. I had run this test before I started to get somewhat accurate results - rather than comparing to my old test results that were taken when the ambient temperature was a good 20 degrees F cooler.
Start test: (before the knobs, with temp probes)
CPU = 62, MB = 44
CPUfan = 1371, 80mm = 3590, 120mm = 1360
5 minutes into test:
CPU = 68, MB = 46
CPUfan = 1360, 80mm = 4821, 120mm = 1360
8 minutes into test:
CPU = 70/71, MB = 49
CPUfan = 1350, 80mm = 5113, 120mm = 1339
I stopped the test at this point to start working on the fans. Both 120mm fans were plugged into motherboard headers for power. I decided to change that and plug them into 4pin molex connectors from the PSU using adapters which also allow you to run the 3rd wire to the motherboard header to monitor speed. This adapter comes with the fans.
I had set the knobs so that both 120mm fans were around 1500 RPM.
Start 2nd test: (CPUfan has knob and temp probe at CPU heatsink now)
CPU = 45, MB = 35
CPUfan = 1534, 80mm = 1654, 120mm = 1430
1 minute in:
CPU = 54, MB = 35
CPUfan = 1721!!!!! 80mm = 1776, 120mm = 1406
6 minutes in:
CPU = 54, MB = 37
CPUfan = 1785, 80mm = 2136, 120mm = 1430
This is interesting. I'm now seeing the 120mm CPUfan increase it's RPM with the temperature I think! All I had to do was hook up the knob AND the temp probe. It could be an anomaly... but I don't care. What I do care about is that my 80mm rear intake fan shouldn't be overworking itself anymore. I ended up setting the 120mm fans to appx 1700 RPM. Since one is an intake on the front I think that will help slow down the 80mm intake at the rear (with temp probe at CPU heatsink and no knob) and bring in more air. The front intake 120mm has a temp probe under the heatsink of my ATI x1950xt and I don't expect to see any changes from that position. The leads of the probes aren't long enough to reach the front fan from the CPU heatsink so that's why I have that one there. Some day I might take some temp readings on the hard drive and see if the probe for the front intake would be better off there.
Each Smart Fan comes with an optional speed control knob which is mounted to a PCI slot cover from Thermaltake. Not bad, but I don't have 2 slots at the back of my machine I want to sacrifice to this unholy compromise. The knobs are silver so they won't be going on the front of my machine. So I grabbed a blank Lian-Li slot cover, made my marks and started drilling holes. The slot covers must be made out of steel (as opposed to aluminum like the rest of the chassis) because they put up a good fight when I was drilling into them. Most knobs you might find on a device are mounted through a hole in a surface and then there's a nut that goes onto the knob shaft. Not so with these knobs. The Thermaltake slot covers have a rectangular cut made on either side of where the knob goes and then the metal was bent inward to make a sort of U shaped knob holder. The knob's square body fits perfectly into the U shape and there are 2 tiny latches involved as well. Right... all this means is that I was not going to be able to mount the knobs on a blank slot cover the way I'd hoped, but I made it work. I now have the 2 knobs mounted on a single PCI slot cover with plenty of room to add 5 or 6 knobs in I ever had the desire - which I'm sure I never will.
Once I had the knobs mounted (with some super glue help) I put the slot cover in place and hooked up one control to the 120mm CPU fan and booted into the BIOS to check things out. Just because I can, I left the temperature probe attached to the fan also. The first thing I noticed was that with the knob on it's lowest setting the fan was running 100+ RPM faster than it had without the knob. It used to hover around 1350 RPM and was at 1480 according to the BIOS. Interesting.
Next, of course, I booted into windows and started the dual Prime95 tests to heat things up. I had run this test before I started to get somewhat accurate results - rather than comparing to my old test results that were taken when the ambient temperature was a good 20 degrees F cooler.
Start test: (before the knobs, with temp probes)
CPU = 62, MB = 44
CPUfan = 1371, 80mm = 3590, 120mm = 1360
5 minutes into test:
CPU = 68, MB = 46
CPUfan = 1360, 80mm = 4821, 120mm = 1360
8 minutes into test:
CPU = 70/71, MB = 49
CPUfan = 1350, 80mm = 5113, 120mm = 1339
I stopped the test at this point to start working on the fans. Both 120mm fans were plugged into motherboard headers for power. I decided to change that and plug them into 4pin molex connectors from the PSU using adapters which also allow you to run the 3rd wire to the motherboard header to monitor speed. This adapter comes with the fans.
I had set the knobs so that both 120mm fans were around 1500 RPM.
Start 2nd test: (CPUfan has knob and temp probe at CPU heatsink now)
CPU = 45, MB = 35
CPUfan = 1534, 80mm = 1654, 120mm = 1430
1 minute in:
CPU = 54, MB = 35
CPUfan = 1721!!!!! 80mm = 1776, 120mm = 1406
6 minutes in:
CPU = 54, MB = 37
CPUfan = 1785, 80mm = 2136, 120mm = 1430
This is interesting. I'm now seeing the 120mm CPUfan increase it's RPM with the temperature I think! All I had to do was hook up the knob AND the temp probe. It could be an anomaly... but I don't care. What I do care about is that my 80mm rear intake fan shouldn't be overworking itself anymore. I ended up setting the 120mm fans to appx 1700 RPM. Since one is an intake on the front I think that will help slow down the 80mm intake at the rear (with temp probe at CPU heatsink and no knob) and bring in more air. The front intake 120mm has a temp probe under the heatsink of my ATI x1950xt and I don't expect to see any changes from that position. The leads of the probes aren't long enough to reach the front fan from the CPU heatsink so that's why I have that one there. Some day I might take some temp readings on the hard drive and see if the probe for the front intake would be better off there.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Film to Video Transfers...
It's not pretty and really cramped. After working for 10 years for my last boss he decided to throw in the towel and retire. I can't say that I blame him one bit... so I've been unemployed for almost a month as a result. Funny thing is that I still have customers. I don't think I'd ever be able to pay the bills doing this stuff but I do have the equipment and know-how... my whole setup is custom built and ever evolving using pieces and parts from all kinds of machines over the years. Living in a crappy, tiny 1br apartment in a building with a locked entrance and a 6x6x12 mailbox simply doesn't allow for me to pursue working on my own as much as I'd like. I always did this stuff because I enjoy it and feel like I can produce more than acceptable results for a certain price... not just because I was paid to do it. I wasn't paid enough to live anywhere but in a tiny, crappy apartment after all. I don't even have a van to live in down by the river so I'm not sure if my situation is much better than Matt Foley's.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Thumbnails from DVDs
Why is this kind of software not more common? Been looking for years and never finding anything perfect. Image Grabber II works at least. I have my own DVDs with my own footage and I just want something to go through the DVD video and pull thumbnails so I can make decent covers for them. This software work pretty damn good but you have to open each .vob file and grab thumbs individually. You'll have fun renaming them if you want to keep them in order after going through multiple .vob files.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
1st successful overclock
CPU-Z Validator Database not quite perfect - testing apps failing and finding errors... much work to do :/
Saturday, April 07, 2007
MetkuMods - Because you love your hardware!
Lapping of a processor I just came across this tutorial for sanding down the heat spreader for a processor! I suppose it would have been prudent to look one up before I did my own ;) I just used the surface of my drafting table for a flat surface to tape the sand paper to and I didn't protect my processor at all like this guide shows! I didn't use much water and I did use the plastic shell protector that the processor came with... I'm not completely retarded but just wanted to get it over with I guess.
Fans and Asus' AI N.O.S.
These Thermaltake smart fans are driving me nuts. I have 3 temperature sensors mounted to the heatsink base (only using 2 of them though) just as Thermaltake instructs but the only fan that seems to change speed is the 80mm fan. Both 120mm fans idle along at about 1400 RPM no matter what. The front intake 120 has it's sensor under a heatsink on my video card... meaning that I can actually open the case and get at that sensor while it's all running. So I did the unthinkable. I grabbed a lighter and held it under the sensor. It took at least 30 seconds before the 120mm fan started to speed up. Not good... to further prove this point I grabbed the good old meat thermometer and held my lighter under it at the same distance for the same amount of time. I'm guessing the 120mm fans don't start to speed up until the sensor sees a temperature of 120 - 140 F which is 48 - 60c and is not exactly the 20C to 55C low to high speed range Thermaltake claims IMO. I'm not seeing any abnormal temperatures I guess so maybe I should just let it be. I tried to get it as hot as possible (image lost) but you can see in that screenshot that the temps are fine and I never saw any higher while I was letting the AI N.O.S. overclock the CPU and throttling the system. You can also see the 80mm (chassis2) is at 2057 RPM - well above it's idle of 1400 RPM. I'm kind of glad that the rear intake is 80mm and blowing towards the CPU cooler. If it were a 120mm fan it wouldn't be speeding up at all.
Speaking of the AI N.O.S. overclocking - it works quite well but UT99 hated it! I would get stuck in maps and have to move all around to free myself. I wonder if overclocking manually/permanent will be different.
Some more temperature readings (PC idling, not at load) from the meat thermometer:
Front 120mm intake: ~70f / 21c
Rear 80mm intake: ~75f / 24c- right below the PSU exhaust but isolated
PSU exhaust: ~85 / 29c
VGA exhaust: ~90f / 32c - below the rear intake and not isolated
top blowhole: ~85f / 29c - fan disabled, just a vent, don't want negative case pressure so one 80mm fan exhaust via the PSU is fine. I might even block the hole off.
With the front intake measuring about 5 degrees cooler I'd rather that fan would speed up instead of the rear intake I think. Even so the sensors' wires aren't long enough to attach the front fan to the CPU heatsink. Putting it on a video card heatsink is the best I can do without an extension cable.
Overall I'm VERY happy with the cooling situation now (I've come a long way from the initial 140f PSU exhaust about 2 weeks ago) but I'm left wanting a little more if I can get it :) I'm nearly positive that the loudest fan in my system is now the fans in the Ultra Xfinity 600 watt PSU. They aren't very loud but I can hear something that sounds like an electric motor whine and it seems to be in the PSU area.
Speaking of the AI N.O.S. overclocking - it works quite well but UT99 hated it! I would get stuck in maps and have to move all around to free myself. I wonder if overclocking manually/permanent will be different.
Some more temperature readings (PC idling, not at load) from the meat thermometer:
Front 120mm intake: ~70f / 21c
Rear 80mm intake: ~75f / 24c- right below the PSU exhaust but isolated
PSU exhaust: ~85 / 29c
VGA exhaust: ~90f / 32c - below the rear intake and not isolated
top blowhole: ~85f / 29c - fan disabled, just a vent, don't want negative case pressure so one 80mm fan exhaust via the PSU is fine. I might even block the hole off.
With the front intake measuring about 5 degrees cooler I'd rather that fan would speed up instead of the rear intake I think. Even so the sensors' wires aren't long enough to attach the front fan to the CPU heatsink. Putting it on a video card heatsink is the best I can do without an extension cable.
Overall I'm VERY happy with the cooling situation now (I've come a long way from the initial 140f PSU exhaust about 2 weeks ago) but I'm left wanting a little more if I can get it :) I'm nearly positive that the loudest fan in my system is now the fans in the Ultra Xfinity 600 watt PSU. They aren't very loud but I can hear something that sounds like an electric motor whine and it seems to be in the PSU area.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Ready for my closeup, Mr. Sean...
Thursday, April 05, 2007
WOW!
I have my new CPU cooler installed... the Enzotech Ultra-x.
Here are the numbers that I can't believe! They are all 'under load', running 2 instances of Prime95 for at least 20 minutes.
65c/53c = CF800 from ZEROtherm.
40c/33c = ULTRA-X from Enzotech.
I was hoping for a 10 degree improvement! I've got 25 degrees cooler on the CPU!!! The temps under load are LOWER THAN IT IDLED with the CF800!
I did make an alteration or two though.
1st, I sanded down the top of the processor using paper with a grit of around 600 or 800 to give it a smoother finish and better contact with the heatsink.
2nd, I took the stock fan off of the ULTRA-X and replaced it with a Thermaltake Blue LED Smart Case Fan. That was purely for aesthetics but let's see the specs:
EU = 1200 - 2500 RPM
TT = 1300 - 2800 RPM
EU = 24.5 - 38.5 db
TT = 17.0 - 46.5 db
EU = 35.8 - 62.67 CFM
TT = 38.6 - 93.7 CFM
According to the Asus pc probe software the TT fan is spinning at 2700 rpm, we're under full load for 25 minutes now, cpu is at 40c still, and I can certainly hear this fan! I'm definitely going to see if I can't slow it down some. The fan in the CF800 was practically silent in comparison (27 db) but it's max flow is 42.8 CFM according to their site. I'm going to play with the Asus Q-fan settings to see if I can't quite things down some :)
This Enzotech cooler is freakin awesome!
*Edit*
Okay okay... I'm such a noob. These TT fans all came with jumpers on the pins to make them run at full speed! I had to take the jumpers off (no small feat with everything installed) and now they're running slower and just about silent. The rear intake 80mm and front intake 120mm are both running at 730 - 740 RPM - that's below the specs on the box (1300 RPM for both) and the Asus software alarm goes off at 800 RPM! Arrrrgggg!
Right... so you'd think the same is happening with the 120mm TT fan I have on the heat sink. Nope! I took it's jumper off and it stayed at 2700 RPM no matter what the Q-Fan settings were. So I attached the thermal probe to this fan and stuck it into the northbridge's heatsink. I've yet to see that fan go above 1400 RPM. 30 minutes of full load and the temps are 52/43 and still climbing. So on top of the power cables being too short on these fans (about 6 inches) it looks like I'll have to rewire them in order for the BIOS to be able to control their speeds. It's either rewire them or mount fan speed control knobs which is NOT what I want to do. I WANT the BIOS to be able to control the speed based on temperature! I suppose I could wire them all up with their temperature sensors...
One last thing... I ordered a UV LED ring puk... I recieved a RED LED ring puk. I will let them know about this but I kinda like the look the way I have it so I'm not going to send it back. I might order another UV LED ring puk and tell them to check 10 times before shipping the next time. It's 2 a.m. now and I've been working on this crap since about 4 p.m. I cut a hole in my case to route wires from the PSU also and that required taking it all apart to just the aluminum rails. It's been a fun day and I do have pics :)
Here are the numbers that I can't believe! They are all 'under load', running 2 instances of Prime95 for at least 20 minutes.
65c/53c = CF800 from ZEROtherm.
40c/33c = ULTRA-X from Enzotech.
I was hoping for a 10 degree improvement! I've got 25 degrees cooler on the CPU!!! The temps under load are LOWER THAN IT IDLED with the CF800!
I did make an alteration or two though.
1st, I sanded down the top of the processor using paper with a grit of around 600 or 800 to give it a smoother finish and better contact with the heatsink.
2nd, I took the stock fan off of the ULTRA-X and replaced it with a Thermaltake Blue LED Smart Case Fan. That was purely for aesthetics but let's see the specs:
EU = 1200 - 2500 RPM
TT = 1300 - 2800 RPM
EU = 24.5 - 38.5 db
TT = 17.0 - 46.5 db
EU = 35.8 - 62.67 CFM
TT = 38.6 - 93.7 CFM
According to the Asus pc probe software the TT fan is spinning at 2700 rpm, we're under full load for 25 minutes now, cpu is at 40c still, and I can certainly hear this fan! I'm definitely going to see if I can't slow it down some. The fan in the CF800 was practically silent in comparison (27 db) but it's max flow is 42.8 CFM according to their site. I'm going to play with the Asus Q-fan settings to see if I can't quite things down some :)
This Enzotech cooler is freakin awesome!
*Edit*
Okay okay... I'm such a noob. These TT fans all came with jumpers on the pins to make them run at full speed! I had to take the jumpers off (no small feat with everything installed) and now they're running slower and just about silent. The rear intake 80mm and front intake 120mm are both running at 730 - 740 RPM - that's below the specs on the box (1300 RPM for both) and the Asus software alarm goes off at 800 RPM! Arrrrgggg!
Right... so you'd think the same is happening with the 120mm TT fan I have on the heat sink. Nope! I took it's jumper off and it stayed at 2700 RPM no matter what the Q-Fan settings were. So I attached the thermal probe to this fan and stuck it into the northbridge's heatsink. I've yet to see that fan go above 1400 RPM. 30 minutes of full load and the temps are 52/43 and still climbing. So on top of the power cables being too short on these fans (about 6 inches) it looks like I'll have to rewire them in order for the BIOS to be able to control their speeds. It's either rewire them or mount fan speed control knobs which is NOT what I want to do. I WANT the BIOS to be able to control the speed based on temperature! I suppose I could wire them all up with their temperature sensors...
One last thing... I ordered a UV LED ring puk... I recieved a RED LED ring puk. I will let them know about this but I kinda like the look the way I have it so I'm not going to send it back. I might order another UV LED ring puk and tell them to check 10 times before shipping the next time. It's 2 a.m. now and I've been working on this crap since about 4 p.m. I cut a hole in my case to route wires from the PSU also and that required taking it all apart to just the aluminum rails. It's been a fun day and I do have pics :)
Monday, April 02, 2007
A little Bling for Z5
I got my shipment from Performance-PCs today... most of it at least. There was a slight problem but after just one email to them it was completely taken care of in less than 2 hours. So now I have my Enzotech cooler, Lian-Li drive covers, blue case fans (the power cables are only about 6 inches long on the thermaltake fans - a little short IMO), red UV round IDE cables, some aluminum fan filters and a UV LED Ring-Puk... and everything's wires have been expertly sleeved in red UV reactive materials. Their website has the phrase 'Sleeve it and they will come' in the title bar. I think that if you order just one sleevable item from this website you'll understand that phrase. You can always buy the sleeving materials and DIY but it's likely that it will never look as good or well done as it does from Performance-PCs. I'll take pictures eventually. I get a silly grin on my face when I sit and look at the sleeving job on my stuff. It's just so cool :)
I'm not sure when I'm going to tackle the cooler install. I want to sand down the processor's top when I do that to make sure it's as flat as it can be and hopefully I'll get some pretty interesting temperatures. I think I'd like to see a 10 degree drop but I'm not sure that's possible. Z5's proc is currently idling around 45c.
I'm not sure when I'm going to tackle the cooler install. I want to sand down the processor's top when I do that to make sure it's as flat as it can be and hopefully I'll get some pretty interesting temperatures. I think I'd like to see a 10 degree drop but I'm not sure that's possible. Z5's proc is currently idling around 45c.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Cold front!
The last time I ran Prim95 x2 for a stress test I had 65c processor/53c motherboard with the CPU fan at 2343 RPM. Those numbers were reached after running the test for over an hour.
Today I have new numbers! 61c processor and 49c motherboard CPU fan @ 2100 RPM.
What did I do? A new processor? A new CPU cooler?? Drill more holes in my case???
None of the above. I got a new power supply.
Yesterday I tried to play FEAR. The game would run for about 4 minutes and then the whole machine would shut off. I also tried UT99 and that ran for 15 to 20 minutes before the machine shut down. I had an old 300 watt PSU... it only had a 20 pin mobo connector (not 24 pin), a 4 pin aux motherboard connector (not 8 pin), no SATA nor any 6 pin video card connectors. I figured there was a risk that this PSU wouldn't even work and I guess I was right. Playing the games demanded more of the video card than doing anything else for the past few weeks and that's what pushed the PSU beyond it's limit... or so my theory goes.
So I've got a new PSU installed now. No modular connectors and no LED fans (although I might change that later) and I don't even like the placement of the fans because the PSU's intake fan sucks air away from the blowhole fan of my case. Poor airflow theory I think.
At any rate I've got a 4 degree drop in temps and I figure that's just because the new PSU isn't being taxed to and beyond it's limit. The exhaust is still pretty warm and makes for a nice heater but there is a difference.
Today I have new numbers! 61c processor and 49c motherboard CPU fan @ 2100 RPM.
What did I do? A new processor? A new CPU cooler?? Drill more holes in my case???
None of the above. I got a new power supply.
Yesterday I tried to play FEAR. The game would run for about 4 minutes and then the whole machine would shut off. I also tried UT99 and that ran for 15 to 20 minutes before the machine shut down. I had an old 300 watt PSU... it only had a 20 pin mobo connector (not 24 pin), a 4 pin aux motherboard connector (not 8 pin), no SATA nor any 6 pin video card connectors. I figured there was a risk that this PSU wouldn't even work and I guess I was right. Playing the games demanded more of the video card than doing anything else for the past few weeks and that's what pushed the PSU beyond it's limit... or so my theory goes.
So I've got a new PSU installed now. No modular connectors and no LED fans (although I might change that later) and I don't even like the placement of the fans because the PSU's intake fan sucks air away from the blowhole fan of my case. Poor airflow theory I think.
At any rate I've got a 4 degree drop in temps and I figure that's just because the new PSU isn't being taxed to and beyond it's limit. The exhaust is still pretty warm and makes for a nice heater but there is a difference.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Enzotech CPU cooler
I originally wanted to get this Enzotech Ultra-X CPU cooler for my Pentium D but it was out of stock everywhere. Today (after my previous post) I got an email notification telling me it was in stock at one of the sites that lets you do email notifications on out of stock items... I went ahead and checked the other sites that carried it and sure enough it looks like they've all got it in stock now. After having an issue with jab-tech's site I ordered from Performance-PCs.com because they have other items I'm interested in as well. I'm hoping that the extra charges I paid them will actually get my stuff here before the weekend... unlike some OTHER web sites I won't mention.
Ziggo 5, computer or space heater?
The other night about a week ago it was extremely warm in my tiny apartment. This was when I was doing preliminary testing of Z5 running it at full throttle and trying to get the case cooling into order. The temperature outside was 55f and the temperature inside was 90f. The only thing I can think to blame is the hot air being constantly blasted out the top and back of Z5. After a few days of tweaking I figure I'm not going to get it to run any cooler but what I can do is improve the airflow in my apartment maybe. What I'm thinking about is a 5 inch by 5 inch square channel that will run along the wall and direct warm computer exhaust air right out a window that already has a fan in it. I've already mocked up a 5x5 channel that's about 6 feet long but with no bottom (like an upside-down U shape) and hung that on the wall using double stick tape. Using foam core and double stick tape should definitely work but the upside-down U channel seems to leak alot of heat so having a sealed channel will be necessary. The last thing I want or need is for it to get up over 100 degrees inside when it's 80 degrees outside! I can't wait to see my next electric bill...
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Do more with Dual Core
Vegas Video 6, 11 min video consisting of 59 still images with fades and a few page curl transitions.
Ziggo 5 render time = 10:35 - Pentium D 805 2.6 GHz Dual Core
OptimusPrime render time = 55:10 - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Ziggo 2 render time = usually about the same as OptimusPrime - Athlon XP 1800+ 1.5 GHz
:)
Ziggo 5 render time = 10:35 - Pentium D 805 2.6 GHz Dual Core
OptimusPrime render time = 55:10 - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Ziggo 2 render time = usually about the same as OptimusPrime - Athlon XP 1800+ 1.5 GHz
:)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Ziggo5: Cooling the beast
I've got an all aluminum Lian-Li case. All aluminum = better thermal dissipation than steel, lighter than steel, easier to cut/mod than steel and more expensive than steel. It's worth it.
The processor is a Pentium D 805 - one of the hottest running dual core 64 bit Pentiums around but it's also a nice overclocker's chip.
The motherboard is an Asus P5b Deluxe with heatpipes instead of fans to cool it's components. Is it crazy logic to think that several noisy fans inside cool less efficiently than heatpipes because the small fans disrupt good airflow and blow warm air onto components? I don't think so.
The case has 1 120mm front intake, 1 80mm rear intake and one 80mm exhaust fan at the top of the case - blowhole style. The PSU also has 2 fans to exhaust... now think about that rear 80mm intake. It's right below the PSU exhaust. What are the chances it will suck in warm air from the PSU exhaust? Very small if you have the PSU fan duct from Lian-Li that directs the PSU exhaust to the left. I would rather have this exhaust direct the hot air up due to where the case is sitting in my workspace and I may look into making that a reality in the future. The case sits at my right as I type this and the hot air gets blown in my general direction.
The CPU cooler is an Apack Zerotherm CF800. It cools about as good as the stock Intel solution but my OEM processor doesn't come with the Intel cooler. The CF800 cost me about $30 at Newegg.
For reference, 35c = 95f, 40c = 104f, 45c = 113f, 50c = 122f, 55c = 131f, 60c = 140f, 65 = 149, 70 = 158, 75 = 167, and 80c = 176f.
Before I even think about attempting to overclock I'm going to make sure my cooling is good. The results of my first test were scary as hell! To test I'm running 2 instances of Prime95 to push both cores to 100%.
1:09 - Start Prime95 x 2
1:11 - proc core temp = 70c
1:13 - proc core temp = 71c
1:15 - pct = 72c... that's 159f BTW
1:24 - pct = 73c, motherboard temp = 51
1:36 - stop Prime95 x 2
1:37 - pct = 57c mbt = 51c
Went into the BIOS, turned off Asus' Q-fan control of the CPU fan then started test 2.
1:43 - start - pct = 65 mbt = 50c
1:44 - 70/50
1:45 - 71/50
1:46 - 73/50
2:02 - 73/53 - stopped test.
BIOS, disable all Q-fan control so all case fans running full throttle, start test 3.
2:08 - start - 62/51
2:09 - 66/51
2:10 - 69/50
2:11 - 70/50
2:16 - 72/51 - stopped test.
Something's either really wrong or I'm confused about what to expect. Did some thinking, took side panel off and just looked around. The exhaust out of the PSU was 140f and the top panel was arund 120f this whole time - I used a meat thermometer to measure exhaust temps. I felt the area of the back panel just below the PSU exhaust and it was very warm. Felt the back panel near the bottom and it was cool... this confirms a thought I've been having off and on about putting a 120mm fan intake in the bottom of the case! Still, I must be missing something so I put the side back on and power up into the BIOS. At some point, at a loss, I grabbed a tissue and held it up to the rear intake to see just how much air it was moving... it was then that I had a small rush of joy quickly overtaken by frustration. That rear fan that should have been an intake was exhausting air! Wow... it was something obvious! I didn't mount/install this fan but that's just an excuse... and changing it requires a bit of work due to the duct attached to the inside of the fan to direct the INCOMING air onto the processor. I felt so damned stupid.
8:00 - took a long break, a nap and then put the case back together to start the tests again.
8:10 - cold boot cpt = 49c mbt = 35c
8:11 - 45/37 - little to no load - CPU fan speed = 1298... first time I've seen it under 2200 RPM ever!
8:14 - 45/38 - little to no load - CPU fan = 1298
8:15 - start test - 59/39 - CPU fan = 1360
8:16 - 61/41 - 2057
8:19 - 63/45 - 2109
8:20 - 63/46 - 2163
8:25 - 64/50 - 2220
MUCH BETTER! I'm no longer seeing a core temp increase of 10 degrees + from normal/average operating temperature.
Now things are performing more in line with what my original expectations were of this Pentium D 805... now I can consider overclocking a small bit. I still haven't stopped that last test.
9:30 - 65c/53c - 2343 RPM
The PSU exhaust still sucks... errr blows. Gotta do something about that before summertime for sure. It's a cheap old 300 watt PSU I had lying around - I'm not in love with it much even before this experience... but at least it hasn't failed yet under these temps.
BTW... Friday morning I got another email from Newegg. It had the UPS tracking numbers for my shipment... that I had recieved on Wednesday. Never. Paying. 2.99. Again.
The processor is a Pentium D 805 - one of the hottest running dual core 64 bit Pentiums around but it's also a nice overclocker's chip.
The motherboard is an Asus P5b Deluxe with heatpipes instead of fans to cool it's components. Is it crazy logic to think that several noisy fans inside cool less efficiently than heatpipes because the small fans disrupt good airflow and blow warm air onto components? I don't think so.
The case has 1 120mm front intake, 1 80mm rear intake and one 80mm exhaust fan at the top of the case - blowhole style. The PSU also has 2 fans to exhaust... now think about that rear 80mm intake. It's right below the PSU exhaust. What are the chances it will suck in warm air from the PSU exhaust? Very small if you have the PSU fan duct from Lian-Li that directs the PSU exhaust to the left. I would rather have this exhaust direct the hot air up due to where the case is sitting in my workspace and I may look into making that a reality in the future. The case sits at my right as I type this and the hot air gets blown in my general direction.
The CPU cooler is an Apack Zerotherm CF800. It cools about as good as the stock Intel solution but my OEM processor doesn't come with the Intel cooler. The CF800 cost me about $30 at Newegg.
For reference, 35c = 95f, 40c = 104f, 45c = 113f, 50c = 122f, 55c = 131f, 60c = 140f, 65 = 149, 70 = 158, 75 = 167, and 80c = 176f.
Before I even think about attempting to overclock I'm going to make sure my cooling is good. The results of my first test were scary as hell! To test I'm running 2 instances of Prime95 to push both cores to 100%.
1:09 - Start Prime95 x 2
1:11 - proc core temp = 70c
1:13 - proc core temp = 71c
1:15 - pct = 72c... that's 159f BTW
1:24 - pct = 73c, motherboard temp = 51
1:36 - stop Prime95 x 2
1:37 - pct = 57c mbt = 51c
Went into the BIOS, turned off Asus' Q-fan control of the CPU fan then started test 2.
1:43 - start - pct = 65 mbt = 50c
1:44 - 70/50
1:45 - 71/50
1:46 - 73/50
2:02 - 73/53 - stopped test.
BIOS, disable all Q-fan control so all case fans running full throttle, start test 3.
2:08 - start - 62/51
2:09 - 66/51
2:10 - 69/50
2:11 - 70/50
2:16 - 72/51 - stopped test.
Something's either really wrong or I'm confused about what to expect. Did some thinking, took side panel off and just looked around. The exhaust out of the PSU was 140f and the top panel was arund 120f this whole time - I used a meat thermometer to measure exhaust temps. I felt the area of the back panel just below the PSU exhaust and it was very warm. Felt the back panel near the bottom and it was cool... this confirms a thought I've been having off and on about putting a 120mm fan intake in the bottom of the case! Still, I must be missing something so I put the side back on and power up into the BIOS. At some point, at a loss, I grabbed a tissue and held it up to the rear intake to see just how much air it was moving... it was then that I had a small rush of joy quickly overtaken by frustration. That rear fan that should have been an intake was exhausting air! Wow... it was something obvious! I didn't mount/install this fan but that's just an excuse... and changing it requires a bit of work due to the duct attached to the inside of the fan to direct the INCOMING air onto the processor. I felt so damned stupid.
8:00 - took a long break, a nap and then put the case back together to start the tests again.
8:10 - cold boot cpt = 49c mbt = 35c
8:11 - 45/37 - little to no load - CPU fan speed = 1298... first time I've seen it under 2200 RPM ever!
8:14 - 45/38 - little to no load - CPU fan = 1298
8:15 - start test - 59/39 - CPU fan = 1360
8:16 - 61/41 - 2057
8:19 - 63/45 - 2109
8:20 - 63/46 - 2163
8:25 - 64/50 - 2220
MUCH BETTER! I'm no longer seeing a core temp increase of 10 degrees + from normal/average operating temperature.
Now things are performing more in line with what my original expectations were of this Pentium D 805... now I can consider overclocking a small bit. I still haven't stopped that last test.
9:30 - 65c/53c - 2343 RPM
The PSU exhaust still sucks... errr blows. Gotta do something about that before summertime for sure. It's a cheap old 300 watt PSU I had lying around - I'm not in love with it much even before this experience... but at least it hasn't failed yet under these temps.
BTW... Friday morning I got another email from Newegg. It had the UPS tracking numbers for my shipment... that I had recieved on Wednesday. Never. Paying. 2.99. Again.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Report: One Versus Two Spaces After a Period
Report: One Versus Two Spaces After a Period - old habits die hard... unless you never learned to type on a typewriter...
grrrrrrr
I figured out that the tracking numbers aren't internal newegg tracking numbers. I'm still never paying the 2.99 again. Ziggo V's internals will be here today.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Newegg's 2.99 priority
I'm never paying that $2.99 again. I ordered round about midnight Friday eastern time. UPS does pickups on Saturdays so I can't blame UPS at all. My credit card was charged just fine and I recieved an email about that minutes after I'd completed the order on Newegg's pages. Saturday and Sunday I tried to look up info on my order using the SO # and kept getting errors from Newegg. I didn't get an email from Newegg until 5AM eastern Monday morning regarding the invoice number with internal tracking numbers. It's now 6PM eastern Tuesday and I still get "Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request at this time. Please try again later. If you need immediate attention, please contact the shipping courier directly." when I try to check those internal tracking numbers.
I'm giving them Sunday off, not counting Sunday at all. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. That's 3 days and I still don't know where my stuff is. WTF? I guess this is what really happens when you pay the 2.99 idiot/extortion fee. In 2 to 3 years of ordering crap from them off and on I've never gone 3 days after placing an order with Newegg without knowing where my stuff is and this was the first time I ever payed that $2.99. Coincidence?
I'm giving them Sunday off, not counting Sunday at all. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. That's 3 days and I still don't know where my stuff is. WTF? I guess this is what really happens when you pay the 2.99 idiot/extortion fee. In 2 to 3 years of ordering crap from them off and on I've never gone 3 days after placing an order with Newegg without knowing where my stuff is and this was the first time I ever payed that $2.99. Coincidence?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Return to Microcenter
So I took the case back today and it wasn't much of a hassle. Spent at least an hour, mostly standing around waiting for the guy to come back and tell me just how messed up they are.
Lian-Li PC-65. That's what's on display and it has a 120mm fan up front. What they gave me in the box was a PC-65 with 2 80mm fans up front. The guy at the returns desk asked if I wanted to pick out another case and I told him no, I want the case you have on display. I didn't pick out a case with 2 80mm fans up front and fewer front ports. I had to tell him to have one of their guys go into the back and find one. Luckily there was a really cool MC guy that came along and was willing to go look... granted I think he was already in the middle of helping 15 other people at the time. I can wait. After about 45 minutes he tells me that they have 4 in the back and they're all the dual 80mm version according to their boxes. He goes on to tell me that the 80mm version is the newer version and is replacing the 120mm version. All I can think when he says that is 'BULLSHIT'! I didn't say that out loud of course... what I said was well, do you really want to keep that 120mm model on display then? He said well I guess we'll have to put that one on clearance. Okay... maybe he was just playing dumb. Maybe they have rules about what they're allowed to offer to a customer who isn't irrationally irate. At any rate I had to suggest that he just take down the display model and swap it for the one I brought back since it represents what they have in stock. He claimed he had to clear it with his manager first and had the display case back to me in about 5 minutes. It had scratches on the side panels and I had to be the one to point out the obvious solution again. Just swap the panels, they're the same frame. I helped with that because I didn't want to spend too much time there and didn't want to keep him off the floor more than I had to. Heh... I went behind the returns counter to swap the panels... that was kinda cool I suppose but no other employees gave me any hassle about it.
So I get home and take the case back out of the box (I'd packed everything back up myself at the store) to inspect it further. It has some nubs on the power supply plate for holding an air director sort of thing (I assume) and the other one didn't have that. Oh... and after I was done petting my new precious I googled lian li replacement parts... found almost everything I need at this site but more importantly I found this image at the site which proves what I knew all along. Too bad for Microcenter I guess... the employee was either poorly informed or their supplier is kinda messing with them or maybe they just have bad inventory control procedures. How you get a gen2 on display and nothing but gen1 in stock is beyond me. I didn't find the freaking 120mm aluminum housing + washable filter for the front fan at that site though and I think that's the only thing missing from the case as it should have been now... unless the duct for the PSU fan should have been included. Oh well. I have the case I wanted and the missing parts can be dealt with.
Lian-Li PC-65. That's what's on display and it has a 120mm fan up front. What they gave me in the box was a PC-65 with 2 80mm fans up front. The guy at the returns desk asked if I wanted to pick out another case and I told him no, I want the case you have on display. I didn't pick out a case with 2 80mm fans up front and fewer front ports. I had to tell him to have one of their guys go into the back and find one. Luckily there was a really cool MC guy that came along and was willing to go look... granted I think he was already in the middle of helping 15 other people at the time. I can wait. After about 45 minutes he tells me that they have 4 in the back and they're all the dual 80mm version according to their boxes. He goes on to tell me that the 80mm version is the newer version and is replacing the 120mm version. All I can think when he says that is 'BULLSHIT'! I didn't say that out loud of course... what I said was well, do you really want to keep that 120mm model on display then? He said well I guess we'll have to put that one on clearance. Okay... maybe he was just playing dumb. Maybe they have rules about what they're allowed to offer to a customer who isn't irrationally irate. At any rate I had to suggest that he just take down the display model and swap it for the one I brought back since it represents what they have in stock. He claimed he had to clear it with his manager first and had the display case back to me in about 5 minutes. It had scratches on the side panels and I had to be the one to point out the obvious solution again. Just swap the panels, they're the same frame. I helped with that because I didn't want to spend too much time there and didn't want to keep him off the floor more than I had to. Heh... I went behind the returns counter to swap the panels... that was kinda cool I suppose but no other employees gave me any hassle about it.
So I get home and take the case back out of the box (I'd packed everything back up myself at the store) to inspect it further. It has some nubs on the power supply plate for holding an air director sort of thing (I assume) and the other one didn't have that. Oh... and after I was done petting my new precious I googled lian li replacement parts... found almost everything I need at this site but more importantly I found this image at the site which proves what I knew all along. Too bad for Microcenter I guess... the employee was either poorly informed or their supplier is kinda messing with them or maybe they just have bad inventory control procedures. How you get a gen2 on display and nothing but gen1 in stock is beyond me. I didn't find the freaking 120mm aluminum housing + washable filter for the front fan at that site though and I think that's the only thing missing from the case as it should have been now... unless the duct for the PSU fan should have been included. Oh well. I have the case I wanted and the missing parts can be dealt with.
Ziggo V conception
Newegg Wishlist
After months and months of agonizing and waffling I have to go with Intel over AMD. The main reason being price/performance/upgradeability. I got into the AMD game nearly 4 years ago (Ziggo 2) with an Athlon XP+ 1800 and an Asus A7V333+Raid. My thinking at the time was buy what I could afford across all the parts and upgrade as prices came down. AMD decided to change their socket on me though... not once but twice. Kinda screwed my update path as getting a new board wasn't part of it. I wasn't going to hold a grudge against AMD for that but I still didn't like it.
So here I am again trying to envision the upgrade path. Upgrading is fun to me and not just a necessary evil. So I'm setting a limit of under $1000 for the core components but I'm going to skimp on the processor this time. Also the first time I did this in 2003 I picked a motherboard with on-board video but this time it's not an attractive option. That was my very first build so I could afford to do it piece by piece... and now I have standards that won't let me do that :)
Processor: Intel Pentium D 805
I had originally planned on getting the E6300 but by going with an OEM D 805 I was able to cut over $100 from the cost. I think my upgrade path feels pretty solid going this route too. Since the exact chip I'm getting is an OEM I had to throw in a cooler: ZEROtherm CF800 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail - I did a little research on this and it shouldn't be any worse than the stock Intel cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP
Originally I was looking at motherboards with the P975 chipset but the $200+ price of these boards left me holding off on the purchase. Roughly $150 per component just feels right in my mind so I started to look at the P965 boards. I also found benchmarks where the ICH8 southbridge was alot better than the nvidia chipsets when it came to USB performance and some other things. The WiFi version of the board is priced about $20 more than the one without and even though I don't need WiFi I figure it won't be bad to have the option in the future. The same with dual PCI-E slots... I'm not sure that I'll ever need that but might as well.
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
No point in sacrificing on the RAM. I struggle along with 1.5GB in Ziggo2 with XP + Photoshop, virtual machines and other apps as it is.
Video Card: ATI X1950 XT
Originally I was thinking about going with an ATI X850 variant because that's what I currently have in Ziggo2 running in a 4x AGP slot. The comparison would have been cool but I can't find any X850 cards lately. I want to have VIVO regardless so that meant the X1650 was the card to set my sights on... until I compared the X850 and X1650 using Tomshardware.com's graphics card comparison utility. The X850 consistently scored better than the X1650... oooookay. That's how I ended up with the X1950 as my card of choice and this was what ultimately lead me to choose the Pentium D 805 as well, spending more on the video than the original plan. It's an open box card but I have the adapters I need already. I also didn't want a card that was double height with the cooler.
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
On-board sound doesn't cut it. Never has for me.
Hard Drive: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Seems like an obvious choice to me.
The total comes to $935.18 with shipping. I'm also trying to get a Lian-Li PC-65 variant case. This is turning out to be just as complicated as putting the core system together. I went to microcenter and they had one on display, so I bought one. When I got home with the box it's not the same case they had on display. In the box = 2 80mm fans up front, on display = 1 120mm fan up front. There are other differences as well and I'm taking the damned thing back to see if I can get what I want. This adds another $150+ to the total but this is total splurging :) I don't NEED a case, I have a few I can use but none of them are aluminum with a removable motherboard tray! :D
After months and months of agonizing and waffling I have to go with Intel over AMD. The main reason being price/performance/upgradeability. I got into the AMD game nearly 4 years ago (Ziggo 2) with an Athlon XP+ 1800 and an Asus A7V333+Raid. My thinking at the time was buy what I could afford across all the parts and upgrade as prices came down. AMD decided to change their socket on me though... not once but twice. Kinda screwed my update path as getting a new board wasn't part of it. I wasn't going to hold a grudge against AMD for that but I still didn't like it.
So here I am again trying to envision the upgrade path. Upgrading is fun to me and not just a necessary evil. So I'm setting a limit of under $1000 for the core components but I'm going to skimp on the processor this time. Also the first time I did this in 2003 I picked a motherboard with on-board video but this time it's not an attractive option. That was my very first build so I could afford to do it piece by piece... and now I have standards that won't let me do that :)
Processor: Intel Pentium D 805
I had originally planned on getting the E6300 but by going with an OEM D 805 I was able to cut over $100 from the cost. I think my upgrade path feels pretty solid going this route too. Since the exact chip I'm getting is an OEM I had to throw in a cooler: ZEROtherm CF800 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail - I did a little research on this and it shouldn't be any worse than the stock Intel cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP
Originally I was looking at motherboards with the P975 chipset but the $200+ price of these boards left me holding off on the purchase. Roughly $150 per component just feels right in my mind so I started to look at the P965 boards. I also found benchmarks where the ICH8 southbridge was alot better than the nvidia chipsets when it came to USB performance and some other things. The WiFi version of the board is priced about $20 more than the one without and even though I don't need WiFi I figure it won't be bad to have the option in the future. The same with dual PCI-E slots... I'm not sure that I'll ever need that but might as well.
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
No point in sacrificing on the RAM. I struggle along with 1.5GB in Ziggo2 with XP + Photoshop, virtual machines and other apps as it is.
Video Card: ATI X1950 XT
Originally I was thinking about going with an ATI X850 variant because that's what I currently have in Ziggo2 running in a 4x AGP slot. The comparison would have been cool but I can't find any X850 cards lately. I want to have VIVO regardless so that meant the X1650 was the card to set my sights on... until I compared the X850 and X1650 using Tomshardware.com's graphics card comparison utility. The X850 consistently scored better than the X1650... oooookay. That's how I ended up with the X1950 as my card of choice and this was what ultimately lead me to choose the Pentium D 805 as well, spending more on the video than the original plan. It's an open box card but I have the adapters I need already. I also didn't want a card that was double height with the cooler.
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
On-board sound doesn't cut it. Never has for me.
Hard Drive: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Seems like an obvious choice to me.
The total comes to $935.18 with shipping. I'm also trying to get a Lian-Li PC-65 variant case. This is turning out to be just as complicated as putting the core system together. I went to microcenter and they had one on display, so I bought one. When I got home with the box it's not the same case they had on display. In the box = 2 80mm fans up front, on display = 1 120mm fan up front. There are other differences as well and I'm taking the damned thing back to see if I can get what I want. This adds another $150+ to the total but this is total splurging :) I don't NEED a case, I have a few I can use but none of them are aluminum with a removable motherboard tray! :D
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