DELTA's New Rig

[DELTA75329]

As some of you know, I've been working on building out a new rig to replace my aged and overheating workhouse.

Credit where credit is due: most (if not all) the compoment specs come directly from Newegg, as that where I purchased the lot of this stuff.

Some of you might be thinking this is bad timing with all the new technologies coming out.. I disagree: The prices have never been better to build out a kick-arse rig. Besides, I needed to build a machine that wouldn't cook itself this summer. I had a serious harddrive failure last year thanks to the heat, and I'm not looking forward to repeating it this time. :|

As promised, here are the fruits of my labor. :)

<√> Case ??? CHIEFTEC Server Chassis (Aluminum Workstation Tower w/Plastic Front Cover)

- SILVER COLOR w/Side acrylic window and a Case Fan on Side Window

- 2x Front USB2.0 & 1x Firewire IEEE1394 ports Model AX-01SLD

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<√> Case Cooling ??? CoolerMaster Quad Blue L.E.D. 80mm Fan (x6)

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<√> Power Supply ??? Antec 480W Power Supply w/Blue LED Fan Model "TRUE480BLUE"

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<√> Baseboard ??? Abit AN7 nForce2 Ultra 400 Motherboard, Model "AN7" - RETAIL

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<√> R.A.M ??? CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Pro Series

- Low Latency 512MB 64MX64 PC-3200LLPRO w/Heat Spreaders

- Model# TWINX1024-3200LLPRO (512mb[x2]=1Gb Matched Pair)

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<√> CPU ??? AMD Athlon XP 3200+ "Barton" - Retail

Measured Temps:

? IDLE: 38-40?C

? LOAD: 43-45?C

(CPU and CASE temps vary with ambient room temperature, which is usually about 70?F/21?C.)

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<√> CPU Cooling ???

HeatSink: ThermalRight SP-97

CPU Fan: 90x90x25mm Clear RED L.E.D. Axail Fan

Universal Socket "A" Non-Conductive CPU Shim (To avo:s crushing the CPU core.. that was a hard lesson :s)

Thermal Transfer Compound - Artic Silver 5

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<√> Video ??? Chaintech & Asus

VideoCard: CHAINTECH GeForce FX 5900 Video Card

128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/VIVO, 8X AGP, Model "A-FX98"

MultiVIVO: Asus TV FM Video Tuner Capture card w/Remote, Model 7133 - Retail

Model# 90-C1V75C-0UAY / Newegg Item # N82E16815116508

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<√> SATA RAID 0 Array ??? Connected to Abit (SIIG) On-Board RAID Controller

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[x2] Seagate 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model# ST380013AS

RAID 0 Array Mounted in

Lian-Li EX-23 Silver Expansion/Cooling Drive Bay

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<√> PATA Database Array ???► Connected to Promise Ultra100 TX2

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[x2] Seagate 200GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST3200822A - OEM

Model# ST3200822A / Newegg Item # N82E16822148032

[x1] Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6Y120P0, OEM Drive Only

Model# 6Y120P0

PATA Database Array mounted in:

CHEIFTEC Case Built-In HD cooling cage.

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<√> Add-On ATA Controller ??? Promise Ultra100TX2 PROMISE PCI to ATA Controller Card, Model "ULTRA100 TX2" -RETAIL

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<√> Magnectic Storage ??? Panasonic & Iomega

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PANASONIC JU-256A-198P Black 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive - OEM (Drive only)

Model# JU-256A-198P

Iomega Black Bezel Internal IDE 3.5inch 250MB Zip Drive - OEM

Model# Z250ATAPI BLACK

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<√> Optical Drives ??? TEAC & NEC

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TEAC 48X24X48X16 CD/DVD Combo Drive, Model DW548D000 (Black) - OEM

Model# DW548D000 / Newegg Item # N82E16827139006

NEC 8X Black DVD?RW Drive, Model ND-2500A, OEM Bulk

Model# ND-2500A BLK / Newegg Item # N82E16827152012

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<√> Dial-Up Modem ??? Intel? 536EP 56K Internal PCI Fax Modem, Model ENF656-EHW-INPR - Retail

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<√> Monitor ??? MITSUBISHI DP930SB-BK 19" SuperBright Diamondtron CRT Monitor ? RETAIL

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<√> Speakers ??? Logitech Z-5300 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System - RETAIL

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<√> Uninterruptible Power Supply ??? CyberPower 1500VA 6 Outlet UPS with Automatic Voltage Regulator - RETAIL

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This is, without doubt, the best machine I've ever put together. Now, some of you may not think it's all that, and that's OK.

But to me, there's something special about building a computer exactly the way you want it.

Everything from the look, to the meticulous research and selection of the components, to the operation of the finished box is a lot of fun.

But most of all, it's a unique piece of equipment that, unassembled is useless.

Taking the time to make something useful out of it is somewhat therapeutic to me, and I don't mean just building the box.

I mean what the box can do, and what you do with it. And now... without further adeu, on to the pics!

These two pics are from when my new rig was still "in development".. Cable management was not finished and the :devil:were not present, but these give you a good idea of what this thing looks like when it's all fired up. :devil:

http://kevinskorner.virtualave.net/x-web_remote/neowin/po<EDIT> Streamlined spec listing to be more user friendly: Full specs are in the attached unicode text file. Also added the light photos from pre-launch. I got off my lazy ass to clean up this thread because of another. Check it out if you're interested in other custom rigs: post your case mod lighting pics</EDIT>.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=137887&st=80entry2150080"]post your case mod lighting pics[/url]</EDIT>

75329_D_Spex_POST.txt

Edited April 2, 2005 by DELTA75329

[Chouzan]

Nice, are you going to name it? :D

[dreamz Veteran]

wow, very nice (Y)

[DELTA75329]

Nice, are you going to name it? :D

LoL.. I dunno. Any suggestions? :p

[Mokano]

LoL.. I dunno. Any suggestions? :p

Delta Force

LOL :laugh:

[XLS]

DELTA75329's slave ... ?

[Premgenius]

Nice and love the cable management

[DELTA75329]

Delta Force

LOL  :laugh:

LOL.. good one! Though, I'm not that old yet!! :D

DELTA75329's slave ... ?

Now that's kinky..;);)

[DELTA75329]

Nice and love the cable management

Thank you for the compliment.. I'm quite proud of it myself; came out better than I expected. :)

[Intelligen]

So wheres the cathode lights man!? lol......... my roommate just got some crazy ass lights in his with fans that have built in leds on them, wooo stare at one of those and it makes you dizzy! Crazy! But boy does it act as a nice night light at 2 am when i wake up to take a ****

[DigitalN.]

thats very nice man, well done! (Y)

and how about:

Star Trek: Delta Adventure

lol

[Adrian]

LoL.. I dunno. Any suggestions? :p

PURE_PIMPAGE-1

but yeah, nice rig (Y)

[oik]

after about 1/4 of the way through, i decided that there was just too much information and that i didn't anymore. from what i did have the patience to read, it doesn't look bad. just work on your ability to summarize.

[DELTA75329]

So wheres the cathode lights man!? lol......... my roommate just got some crazy ass lights in his with fans that have built in leds on them, wooo stare at one of those and it makes you dizzy! Crazy! But boy does it act as a nice night light at 2 am when i wake up to take a ****

LoL.. didn't want the cathodes because I feel they waste power and add to heat. I wanted to minimize the heat as much as possible. Besides... I REALLY don't need them. If you have to ask about the cathodes, then you haven't seen these cooler master fans in action. :D

[adamp2p]

Wow, Delta, looks great except I am forced to point out that you overpaid for that Athlon chip of yours. You could have easily purchased a 2500+ mobile and a nice heatsink fan combo and overclocked it to 2.2 GHz with ease.

For whatever reason, you opted not to make this move, right? So I am not calling you a fool, but for that price you could have purchased better components. Thats just my opinion...

:)

[DELTA75329]

Wow, Delta, looks great except I am forced to point out that you overpaid for that Athlon chip of yours.  You could have easily purchased a 2500+ mobile and a nice heatsink fan combo and overclocked it to 2.2 GHz with ease. 

For whatever reason, you opted not to make this move, right?  So I am not calling you a fool, but for that price you could have purchased better components.  Thats just my opinion...

:)

The 2500+ is not any worse than the 3200+, but it's certainly not better. It's slower and must be overclocked to match (or beat) the 3200+.

Besides, the whole point was minimize the heat. An O/C chip will always run hotter than stock. I know the cooling solution I selected would compensate accordingly, but I didn't want to do that. When this thing was on the drawing board, I really did think about overclocking. But then I thought: "If I want the coolest (and quietest) running chip possible, then what's the point of working against myself? Just pay a little more and in the long run, you don't have to trade temps and stability for excellent performance when you can simply have both." Having a chip that idles at 48C when I know I can get it 5-7C cooler by just running it at the designed/intended spec would serve only to irritate me, but only when I have the time to think about it in silence with the jet engine-- I mean, PC, off. Beyond that, my experience with O/C has shown me that I can't do it in a way that keeps the box stable. More power to you if you can, but spending more money to get the real thing does not mean I wasted it. Anyway, this a moot point: your suggestion would be a great idea, if all new 2500+ chips available these days chips didn't sell with locked multipliers at the time I allegedly "overpaid" for a real 3200+. ;)

Now, please don't tell me I should have looked for a used one when the idea was to build a new machine from scratch. I'm not trying to be bitchy, but you always have some entertaining comeback.. Just making sure I cover the bases. :)

All the same, thanks for your input and the compliment. (Y)

[ctebah]

my 2500+ @ 3200+ idles @ 36C with AS5 and now newly purchased TT Silent Boost. Very quiet system.

[kaptain chump]

dang man i hope you dont put that in your profile :-p i didnt even consider reading it

[DELTA75329]

dang man i hope you dont put that in your profile :-p i didnt even consider reading it

I promise. :)

[DELTA75329]

my 2500+ @ 3200+ idles @ 36C with AS5 and now newly purchased TT Silent Boost. Very quiet system.

That's pretty cool. (No pun intended) (Y)

Just two, well..three problems in my case:

1 - I can't stand thermaltake. They suck. But just for me appearantly.

2 - I live in a basement without air conditioning, so I have to be careful during June and August.

3 - I'm part of some weird cult that questions why people never ever seem to suspect the fact that their CPUs being overclocked might have something to do with compatibility or stability issues.

[youm0nt Veteran]

nice choice on cooling and mobo. :cool: are the coolermaster fans quiet?i plan on picking 2 of them. :D

[DELTA75329]

nice choice on cooling and mobo.  :cool: are the coolermaster fans quiet?i plan on picking 2 of them.  :D

ABSOLUTELY... that's why I picked 'em in the first place. :D

Lemme put it to you this way: I had 6 fans in the old box. CPU, Videocard, 2 case fans (in and out) and the 2 power supply fans.

This new rig has a total of 12. CPU, NB fan, 2 for the videocard, 4 intake, 2 exhaust, and 2 for the power supply.

Despite double the fans, this machine makes less a lot less noise. And I have much better airflow, but that's a credit to the case itself.

They move the most air with the least amount of noise. When I found out they were lighted, that's when I decided to do the case window.

Don't just take my word for it; Newegg has links to a bunch of reviews for the CoolerMaster Blue LED fan. ;)

[hifive]

Incredible Rig. How much did it cost you total [minus the monitor]?

[ProtoPunch]

your rig is ****in l337

[ak73]

your rig is ****in l337

yeah so l337 he uses onboard sound :p