My latest creation is ALIVE!! (w/pics)

[Geeky1]

Just finished getting the dual P4 Xeon system put together. I just need to swap TV tuners around so the dual athlon system has the ATi tuner and the dual xeon system has the Leadtek tuner.

Other than that and installing windows, it's done.

Final specs:
CoolerMaster CMStacker case
Antec TruePower 550w EPS12V PS
ASUS PC-DL Deluxe dual s604 (i875p) mobo
2x 2.8GHz/512Kb/533MHz bus Xeons
2x 512MB Corsair PC3200 ValueRAM (1GB Total)
Leadtek GeForce 6800GT
Leadtek PCI TV Tuner
Turtle Beach Catalina PCI sound card
16x Sony (LiteOn OEM) DVD-ROM
52/32/52 LiteOn CD-RW
2x Maxtor 160GB/7200RPM/8MB ATA-133 HDDs

The other system is the dual athlon system, which is more-or-less the same as it's always been:
CoolerMaster CMStacker case
Antec TrueControl 550w PS
MSI K7D-L
2x Athlon XP 2500+, modded to MPs, @ 1867MHz (133 x 14)
2x 512MB DDR (1 PC2700 Kingston, 1 PC3200 SimpleTech)
MSI/ATi Radeon 9800 "XT"/128MB (9800 Pro w/R360GPU)
ATi TV Wonder VE "Remote Control Edition" TV Tuner
Creative Labs Audigy2 Platinum sound card
12x LiteOn DVD+RW/-RW
52/32/52 LiteOn CD-RW
4x Maxtor 160GB/7200RPM/8MB ATA-133 HDDs

And I think, for the most part anyhow, these guys are done until next summer. They need to be water cooled, I'm considering a second monitor, but other than that, I can't think of anything else I want to put in them... :eek:

2 Pics (dual athlon rig on the left, dual xeons on the right):

[mcwc]

Two dualies in a university dorm room, crazy! Better keep your door locked at all times.

Seriously, what's the purpose of have 3 computers, counting the Dell XPS notebook, for university? I can understand have 2 computers, a desktop and a notebook but I don't get why you need a second desktop.

[Geeky1]

heh. The door is locked ALL the time. In fact, I locked myself out yesterday. *rolls eyes*.

As for the point of three computers... From a practical standpoint, I could "get by" with just the Dell. I mean it hits 18-friggin'-k in 3dmark 2001se and like 5.4k in 2003. It's MORE than fast enough to play games on. Get a USB 5.1 sound card and I'd be set. But that's not the point. Ultimately, it's not a matter of need. It's a matter of want. And I wanted a couple of toys. Although I've found that since my desk is too cramped to put the laptop on, I've used the dual athlon system more in the past two weeks than I did in the two months prior to that. And not just a little more, but a lot more. In the previous two months, it saw probably 8 hours of use. Total. It now sees that much in a day.

[TheSmJ]

In other words: He has more money than he knows what to do with. :rolleyes:

[Geeky1]

In other words: He has more money than he knows what to do with. :rolleyes:
Actually, I can't say I've ever had that problem... :p

[madmat]

Have you attempted to OC the Xeons yet? I've always assumed that given the name "Stacker" for those CoolerMaster cases they could indeed be stacked but they look like that's not the case. I wonder if they were just designed buy some guy that was an ephedrine freak.
Anyways, they look good and more than a little drool worthy...very nice indeed.

[Geeky1]

No, I haven't tried clocking the Xeons yet. Frankly, I only had them hooked up to make sure they posted for like two minutes. I'm watching TV on the dual athlons, and I don't really feel like stopping to swap tv tuners and put in the KVM switch. I'll get around to hooking up the dual xeons sooner or later. Probably tomorrow (well, later today)

[madmat]

Oh, BTW you do know that the fans on those Xeons have thermal control don't you? That's why they're supposed to draw the air through the sink and out the fan so that they'll throttle up as the air temp increases....just thought I'd point that out.

[Geeky1]

i don't believe these ones are thermally controlled, actually. They run at 5000rpms when ASUS's thermal control is disabled, so I doubt that they're thremally controlled. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that other Xeons have thermally controlled fans, but these ones don't seem to be.

[Jimborae]

Two dualies in a university dorm room, crazy! Better keep your door locked at all times.

Seriously, what's the purpose of have 3 computers, counting the Dell XPS notebook, for university? I can understand have 2 computers, a desktop and a notebook but I don't get why you need a second desktop.


Can you say folding :smokin: ;D

Seriously though, I have two desktops & a lappy. One is for general stuff, office work browsing etc. The other is purely a games rig & the lappy is for when I'm away. I did have a 3rd desktop & that was purely for folding but funds dictated I had to sell it.

Gotta say Geeky I love those CM Stacker cases, they look sweet.

[Omega65]

Gotta say Geeky I love those CM Stacker cases, they look sweet.

Ditto! From where and how much?!?

[DaCoOlNeSs]

what CPUs you got in the dually athlon?

[Geeky1]

tnx.
Omega, the cases were $160 each from www.pixelusa.com (they don't do mail orders btw), but you can find them at Newegg too, for about the same price.

DaCoOlNeSs; the dual athlon system has 2 modded XP 2500s.

[mmonnin]

I was thinking about getting a big case like that, maybe bigger for my dualie. Something to hold water possibly.

[muddocktor]

I was thinking about getting a big case like that, maybe bigger for my dualie. Something to hold water possibly.


Marc, you could also go for something like this Chenming case (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-125-467&depa=1) , which is the same as my Antec SX1240. Lots and lots of room to put all your watercooling stuff inside and more. :thumbsup:

[citrixmeta]

damn man, those xeons look great...

but if dont OC/fold them, im gonna have to block you..


im sorry, i hope you understand ;D ;D

[mmonnin]

Yeah I was looking at at some of those bigger ones as well. That one is pretty cheap for the size too!

[citrixmeta]

can u post a sandra2004 cpu arith. screenie? of the xeons

[GHoosdum]

Yeah, those systems just scream out "Folding" to me.

[kanezfan]

as one of the common folk who can't plunk down $20 for a game because he knows he could use that money to pay his bills instead, I'd like to say congratulations on wasting yet more money. why don't you save that money instead? don't you think you have more than enough toys? I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that every time you post another thread about the crap you bought that day, it makes me want to puke. I know you think you do, but you have no concept of a dollar my friend. keep acting the way you do and the only friends you'll ever have have are the hangers on who pretend to like you because you're always spending the big bucks. money doesn't buy happiness and it's obvious to me that there's something missing in your life that you're trying to replace with your life long shopping spree. i'm not trying to be mean, but i think that for your own sake, you should know that you come off as obnoxious and spoiled. just my two cents though.

[muddocktor]

Yeah I was looking at at some of those bigger ones as well. That one is pretty cheap for the size too!

They are well made too, but are some heavy mofo's. I think Geeky also has the Antec version too, like mine.

[MediaMan]

Kanez,

If Geeky1 wants to plunk his money into a PC. I say go for it. We all plunk money some place. Some do drugs. Some drink it away. Some put it into cars.

It's his money and he's free to do with it as he pleases. He may know how to handle his money...he may learn that he can run short but it's all part of life. He could be doing worse things with it.

We shouldn't be too critical and I think Geeky1 just wanted to share a bit of pride in what he's put together. That's my 4 cents worth.

[Nomad]

Okay, I'm sorry, but people need to shut the hell up about how he spends his (or his parents, or his parents parents, or his trustfunds) money. Nice rig, I hope you buy 24 more if it makes you happy. >:|

[Dexter]

I don't think it is very fair to take shots like that at Geeky.

It's his life, his cash, and his hobby, so he can do with them what he wants. Some people invest thousands of dollars into hobbies like whacking a little white ball around a perfectly good lawn, or pouring money into a hole in the water (aka, a boat.) Geeky builds computers. He puts his computers to good use - learning, helping others, writing reviews for the site, folding. When he outgrows a computer, he sells the parts at a reasonable price and recoups some of the expense...which he then puts into new parts. That's not hurting anyone, and other people get the benefit of buying his used parts at a good price.

Just because he can afford better toys than some of the rest of us should not make him a pariah, or prohibit him from posting about it or taking pride in his accomplishments in his hobby. I for one think those are some pretty hot looking units :)

Dexter...

[Geeky1]

Thanks guys :)

citrix; i'm working on getting those benchmarks for you right now :) Just gotta finish running windowsupdate first.

gh: yeah, I'm hoping to get f@h on these things. I stopped folding on my personal rigs a number of months back because of the extra heat and noise it generates. Part of the reason I was so pissed off about the lack of AC in the dorms is because I was looking forward to having these things in an environment that makes it possible to have them folding while still being cool enough to let me get some sleep. The lack of AC made that impossible, and it pissed me off. :( Once I get them water cooled tho, and once they finish installing the AC, they should be folding again. :)

[Geeky1]

Ok, here are those benchies:

[Geeky1]

and memory bandwidth:

[Omega65]

as one of the common folk who can't plunk down $20 for a game because he knows he could use that money to pay his bills instead, I'd like to say congratulations on wasting yet more money.
.....
i'm not trying to be mean, but i think that for your own sake, you should know that you come off as obnoxious and spoiled. just my two cents though.

Ohhh The Jealousy! ;D ;D ;D

[Spinner]

Geeky' me old matey... all I can say is - :hitit2:

I bow before the power you now have at your disposal. :respect:

[GHoosdum]

Nice benches. You should try to come out to LANWAR (or visit some other big LAN party sometime) - you'd be the envy of all others there!

[maxanon]

It looks great Geeky. How much noise do those things generate? I'm planning on building a little rig but noise is always an obsession with me.

[Justin]

Beautiful boxes my friend, I am pleased.

[GHoosdum]

I've always assumed that given the name "Stacker" for those CoolerMaster cases they could indeed be stacked but they look like that's not the case.

To me, it looks like they're called that because you can stack fifteen BAZILLION drives in a Stacker case.

The cable organization on the Xeon system looks cleaner than the round-cabled Dual XP, Geeky - How'd you accomplish that with standard IDE ribbon cables?

[dragonV8]

Very sweet looking puters Geeky. Like the look of those cases.

[Preacher]

Very nice rigs, Geeky! I'm jealous, but not in mean way.

I'm waiting for a Nforce4 with an AMD 64 CPU and PCIe before I plunk down some more money on a computer. By the time they come out I'll probably be able to make up yet another excuse for the wife.....any married guys got some good ones to share?!!?

[Omega65]

Very nice rigs, Geeky! I'm jealous, but not in mean way.

I'm waiting for a Nforce4 with an AMD 64 CPU and PCIe before I plunk down some more money on a computer. By the time they come out I'll probably be able to make up yet another excuse for the wife.....any married guys got some good ones to share?!!?

Unplug the Power On plug and tell the wife the motheboard/CPU died and you have to replace it!

Afterwards sell it to recoup some of the costs. :)

[Preacher]

Unplug the Power On plug and tell the wife the motheboard/CPU died and you have to replace it!

Afterwards sell it to recoup some of the costs. :)

Devious....
Dishonest...
Underhanded...

I LIKE IT! :rarr:

[Geeky1]

Cheaper than my solution, too. I was gonna propose a large diamond. :D

[Omega65]

Experience my man Experience. I've had my significant other squeeze $200 out of me only later to find out she had it herself all along.... :rant:

All's fair in love, war and computer equipment. :)

[Preacher]

....All's fair in love, war and computer equipment. :)

I'm going to give you a "Hell ya and AMEN" on that quote Omega.

[^Ben]

Geeky MAN THOSE ARE SWEET!

Let me crash this topic into offtopicness for a moment.

The 2 dual modded XP's can you still do that with newer cores?(Looking at the moment for info)

[GnomeWizardd]

damn It almost makes me want to drain my " gnomes own house or apartment Fund " and go out and buy a dualie but I think Illget by with my system for alittle longer

[TheGr81]

damn It almost makes me want to drain my " gnomes own house or apartment Fund " and go out and buy a dualie but I think Illget by with my system for alittle longer
Get by? I need a job don't I? I suppose I could "get by" with a 2 ghz intel machine. ;D

Geeky, man those rigs look SWEET! Do you use applications that can actually use up all that power or was that just for your pleasure or for folding?

[Geeky1]

Geeky' me old matey... all I can say is - :hitit2:
:wtf:
*grabs computers- one under each arm- and backs slowly away from Spinner*
;D ;D

Maxanon: they're both pretty quiet. They're audible, for sure, but they're quieter than my NF7-S/2600m system...

GH: The Xeon system's wiring job is cleaner for a couple of reasons:
-The rounded cables in the dual athlon system are out of its old case, which is far, far larger than the one its in now, and the cables are far longer

-The athlon has more drives in it, and a pci card for some of them, which the dual xeon system doesn't have

-I just took more time wiring the xeon system than I did the athlon system

-Some of the power connectors for stuff in the dual athlon system are in very bad places

^Ben: If the CPU is one of the new ones in a sealed package, then it's going to be basically impossible to do. :(

TheGr8One: No, I don't actually do anything that requires two CPUs (nevermind two hyperthreaded CPUs) except some light multitasking and some occasional photoshop work, both of which even the 2.4GHz, non-HT P4 in my old laptop handled quite happily. However, stuff runs noticeably more smoothly on a dual cpu machine. Besides, I like dual cpu machines. And yeah, I wanted the extra folding power too. Part of the reason I was so pissed when I found out my dorm didn't have AC is because I was looking forward to putting F@H on theese things and leaving it running 24/7.

and thanks for the compliments guys :)