Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I still don't like the idea of running tails without external load. Seems wasteful (besides, I'm trading ut anyway).

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

Shovenose got a free PSU, so I'm outright buying his board/shield and selling the supermicro PSU (see for sale/trade). It's a good PSU but for this setup I'm not feeling it. Just doesn't seem the be the right PSU for this rig.

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Card reader/floppy came today. It was very dusty but 5 mins later and I had it de-bunnied. I then took my USB header cable I made and used it to interface to my laptop to reflash the firmware... and it reads SDHC! The firmware trick works indeed!

On a side note, it seems that this drive has a 1-2" longer USB cable... which is quite helpful given the cable routing distances. With the floppy mounted so high in the case and the usb card being so far back (remember, EATX), the old rev 00 reader i used to mock-up with barely fit.

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ordered a fresh DB-9 header, this one is 16". I'm hoping that's long enough... if not, I'm gonna have to buy some ribbon cable ($$$ ) and re-cable one DIY.

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After lloking around, the only 80 wire IDE and floppy cables that will fit the rig right are the cables found in the dell optiplex gx240 (and the like, with orange tags (IDE) and black tags (floppy)). I found a pair and got them for under $10 shipped... I've always been a bit fond of dell cables of that era; the plug layout and length for a rig like this is just perfect; with the IDE cable at least, no other cables I saw were as good (too short slave to mainboard, too long master to slave).

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I'm not sure what to do about fans. It came with a single PWM san-ace that even when run at full blast (board has no PWM), was pretty quiet. However, I'd like to have a pair of matched 120mm fans and another one of those is pretty $$$ ($36 on ebay).

I couldn't find much in the way of quietish fans from good brands... arctic coling makes 120mm fans but they're PWM and I hear they are noisy full blast.

I don't need PWM but the tach output is semi-required.

Any suggestions?

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I'll take a few quick pics and attach them in a little bit.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

forgot to add:

I contacted supermicro's tech support about the breakout cable being wired backwards... in the mean time I tried to fix my exinsting cable... but I seem to have lost my touch, as I broke the tang on the first pin socket I tried to undo . I used to be good at this... Heck, undoing those is how I braid all my 3 wire cables...

In the best case supermicro sends me a fixed cable; in the worst, I order a fresh header cable shell from digikey/newark/mouser.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

why do you always gotta run workstation-type shit. Xeons and Opterons. Get a cheap Ivy-bridge that will beat the piss out of those Opteron X2's

[370forlife]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

While a good Ivy Bridge would indeed beat them no problem, I suspect this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116889

Might struggle a bit. It is also the cheapest Ivy Bridge, but costs $50, where as both his processors were had for $15.

I built my 12 core dual socket 1207 for about $200. It's even SLI capable and fits in a standard ATX case.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

why do you always gotta run workstation-type shit. Xeons and Opterons. Get a cheap Ivy-bridge that will beat the piss out of those Opteron X2's

Because I don't want some run of the mill consumer-grade throwaway halfass job.

Even if some cheapass ivy bridge POS was a wee but faster, the build quality wouldn't be there. Nore would it be unique. It would also be too easy and thus less fun to build.

Hell, until somewhat recently topcat pushed a slightly newer tyan rig... yeah, it had PCI-E and SLI, but it was otherwise pretty much identical (DDR, sockets, EATX, etc.). And he never came close to 16gb RAM IIRC. You think he would have traded that rig for some ivy bridge POS? I don't think so.

As for the regaular atx arguement, I'd still have to buy a case if I went with a new rig; V2's case/PSU has been more or less customized to fit V2's board. Yeah, more case selection... but again, run of the mill.

Not to mention RAM costs... Not even for DDR3 you can get good quality 16gb for $50... plus mine has ECC.

I've always wanted an EATX workstation rig... with enterprise-grade components. something I could expect to last long enough to show my children even after it's obsolete, if it's obsolete. Something that is 100% my design and style. 100% ratdude's main rig.

So please, no more "toss that shit and buy a new POS" posts. Please.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

you don't need ECC. You're not running a server with a massive database system

You're fn like 19, by the time you have children that fucker won't be able to run windows NT 15 (or whatever the hell they choose to call it then). Remember technological breakthroughs double every few months in the computing world

'Run of the mill POS'. Bs. There are some good board offerings out there. And you can get some good quality DDR3 (which is actually QDR) for much less than you can get for a fraction of the price for the size of you can with your current rig. ECC is unnecessary for your application. You can wisely get GOOD 8GB DDR3-1600, and save yourself a lot of money. Another point is upgradability. Your board has a serious limit. You can get a G1610 (thank you for pointing that out 370, i've known about the 1610 ivb for some time and so far has used it in one of my customers computers, fucker passmarks ~2300+). But its still LGA 1155 which has a good upgrade path cause they JUST started moving IVB to 1155

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

While a good Ivy Bridge would indeed beat them no problem, I suspect this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116889

Might struggle a bit. It is also the cheapest Ivy Bridge, but costs $50, where as both his processors were had for $15.
.

My E8400 likely can kick its ass!

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

My E8400 likely can kick its ass!

I stand corrected, the 1610 passmarks ~2600

E8400 passmarks ~2100

no. it can't. It really can't. Maybe OC'd to 3.8 or 4ghz. But no. You're three generations behind (nahlem, sdb, ivb). They can do so much more with so much less on these chips

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I stand corrected, the 1610 passmarks ~2600

E8400 passmarks ~2100

no. it can't. It really can't. Maybe OC'd to 3.8 or 4ghz. But no. You're three generations behind (nahlem, sdb, ivb). They can do so much more with so much less on these chips

Intel restricted that model so much that a Zambezi probably beats it.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

you don't need ECC. You're not running a server with a massive database system

You're fn like 19, by the time you have children that fucker won't be able to run windows NT 15 (or whatever the hell they choose to call it then). Remember technological breakthroughs double every few months in the computing world

'Run of the mill POS'. Bs. There are some good board offerings out there. And you can get some good quality DDR3 (which is actually QDR) for much less than you can get for a fraction of the price for the size of you can with your current rig. ECC is unnecessary for your application. You can wisely get GOOD 8GB DDR3-1600, and save yourself a lot of money. Another point is upgradability. Your board has a serious limit. You can get a G1610 (thank you for pointing that out 370, i've known about the 1610 ivb for some time and so far has used it in one of my customers computers, fucker passmarks ~2300+). But its still LGA 1155 which has a good upgrade path cause they JUST started moving IVB to 1155

I never said the new stuff was crap... all I meants was that it wasn't for me.

Nor did I say I wanted to run NT 15 on it. Hell, it will run 7 x64 just fine, so unless M$ ditches metro or my GPU gets decent xorg support, it will stay with win 7. Even if by then win 7 is obsolete... and hell by then I'll be on something newer for the main rig...

I know I don't need ECC... but it's there.

You're pretty much telling a guy with a classic gas guzzling crate car (like a ford LTD) to ditch it and buy some POS kia. I know the kia has a warranty, doesn't need much "tweaking" to "work", and has better gas mileage... but do people who buy classic cars care about those much? The reasons they care about are usually build quality (old cars were indeed built to last), style, and perhaps if it's a sportier car, engine performance.

Same here. I know the latest consumer crap may be faster and all... but I don't care about that as much. I like having my own workstation because it's very robust (other than a CMOS battery issue, V2 has been rock solid) and well built. Not to mention that I really have an affection for workstation gear... Sure, in some cases (like V2) it takes some modding to get it to work, but I love modding and it provides a good engineering challenge.

Are rigs like V2 and V3 for everybody? Hell no. Are they for me? Hell yes.

Now that I said that, let's keep this on topic. This thread isn't a toilet, so quit shitting in it.

[shovenose]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I'm going to respect RD's decision to build a computer however he wants.
That said, My secondary PC is running the Celeron G540 (was $50, now for $50 I'm contemplating the G1610 as it's Ivy not Sandy, but my mobo can handle it), and it's a fine CPU.
Got the RAM for like $30 (Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1333), had a brand new 500GB Seagate 7200RPM HDD sitting around, Motherboard is some cheap MSI H61 thing, Got the ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB for cheap off a friend, PSU is (now) an Antec 650W I got free, (was) a Cooler Master 500W that I didn't trust, and (would have been) the SuperMicro if I hadn't got the Antec.
It's been rock solid so far, run Windows 7 great on two 20" Dell LED monitors, and is almost as fast as my AMD FX-8350-based primary PC. But moving on, RD's build is certainly much more interesting than either of mine. Even though I disagree on the claim that it would be more reliable.
See, the way I disagree, I'm not an asshole about it

[Pentium4]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I understand what Uranium is trying to say but I too have a liking to old hardware. Hell...I usually wander over to my older rigs unless I'm gaming. I think Windows 7 breathed life into older machines, it seems to be faster and more efficient than XP. Windows 7 is fast on a P4 or Athlon x2 as long as they have RAM to work with

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I may have a PSU after all.

I more or less forgot that I had one and a half OCZ 850W PSU's sitting. The half is one with missing screws and a busted case/PCB.

The issue is that it has a bunch of super skinny capxons and smaxon GF's that were blown... I am going to try to cram in the smallest diameter Nichicon HE's I could find in the given values... if that works, I'll have a PSU for now. If not, then the PSU is more or less junk...

I say "for now" because it's multirail... but it's also laid out so in the end I'd only be wasting one rail, not two. I have another system that would be a better fit for the PSU, also needing a PSU, so once I had a single rail unit I'd be good to go.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

Bought this for it.

It's one of the few PCI tuners I know of with QAM support. It also has decent linux support IIRC but until and if AMD fixes the HD 2000/3000/4000 driver to work witht he latest xorg, linuxing it is out of the picture.

Too bad only 2 of 4 revisions do QAM... the ones with RCA audio plugs don't (like my other 1600). However, this one will... This could be one kick-ass system!

edit- I also have the remote and reciever for one of these... Not sure I'll use it though (I have 2 other NTSC cards with Hauppage IR jacks).

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

To go with the TV tuner, I have this:



It's an old RCA S-VHS VCR I recently redid the drive belt in. The reason I use it is because S-VHS players are the best composite to S-Video converters I've seen (plug in adapters only work the other way around). Not to mention they work well as their intended purpose, as vcr's.

Look at all the "legacy" connections on the back of this thing:



I also have a recapped JVC S-VHS/DVD combo I could have used... but I kinda like this one a bit better. Feels a bit beefier. (if anybody needs/wants an S-VHS/DVD combo, PM me)

Win or fail?

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I think I actually had that same card. Used it on my HTPC (win7 media center) box for a while but not for QAM, QAM wasn't available with my service provider

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I think I actually had that same card. Used it on my HTPC (win7 media center) box for a while but not for QAM, QAM wasn't available with my service provider

There were 4 versions:

1. original model, had two RCA audio-in plugs and (maybe) an FM radio hookup (3 Coax total). ATSC support only. may have had happauge IR hookup as well

2/3. Revisions with QAM added. RCA jacks replaced by single 3.5mm jack. IR hookup jack. No RCA.

4. Similar to 1, with no IR jack. Designed for windows media player, which at the time didn't have QAM support (not until W7), so no QAM capability. This is what my existant card is.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I may have found a PSU:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seasonic-SS-...item4853ef61be

From the review of the consumer version 's 430W variant, it's actually a single rail PSU and a decently built one.

I'm tempted to get it...

Is $42 shipped a fair price for one of these... or should I keep looking?

[Pentium4]

Re: Ratdude's main rig V3, maybe

I may have found a PSU:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seasonic-SS-...item4853ef61be

From the review of the consumer version 's 430W variant, it's actually a single rail PSU and a decently built one.

I'm tempted to get it...

Is $42 shipped a fair price for one of these... or should I keep looking?

Damn, that's a good find. I would go for it!!! You know that's a good unit except it might have OST in it