So, here we go. Part 1 of the hardware build. I'll save software configuration for another time (in truth, its still ongoing...and probably never stops). Anyway, to start with lets introduce the players. Well, first there's me. Formerly technical, nowadays likes to do interesting stuff when I can, but tends to spend most of his time in email. Then there's Serbrious, my trusty partner in professional crime and guru of all things silicon and digitally based. Finally, there's Dr. MPEG, a veteran of ahem years in research and partly responsible for the standard that goes by the same name as his pseudonym in this blog. So I'm in good hands. Now to set the scene. I had planned to make a start at this after work. However, my two accomplices decided to twist my arm and we tried to do as much as we could over the lunch break. What follows is my best recollection of that...
Case assembly and motherboard fixing
The first thing to say, is obviously, make sure you've got all the tools to hand (jewelers screwdrivers mainly) and anti-static cables/gloves (er, we didn't have the latter). Also, make sure you've laid everything out so you can access it easily and have a printed copy of the motherboard product guide handy. I must make a note here saying that I didn't get any documentation with the case. This may be normal, but to be honest, without Serbrious and Dr. MPEG, I would have been scratching my head at times on this.
So, pressing on. First fit the I/O shield firmly into the back of the case. Be sure to give it an all round firm push until it clicks home. It should look like the following when 'in'.
Next is fitting the motherboard. I should note that at this time, I went through the first of three digital cameras during this build. As such, I don't have a shot for this. However, suffice to say it went in. Its a tight(ish) fit in the case, but a good one. Securing of the four screws neatly holds the I/O ports within the I/O shield and when in it should now look like this.
So, I'm now onto my second camera and we've only secured four screws. This might take longer than I thought.Houston - we have a problem!
Its upon my return that Dr. MPEG and Serbrious have discovered what, in the words of Serbrious, calls a 'problemette'. After offering in the PCI riser (supplied with the case), it looks like the PCI card may sit a little close to the fan. If you look closely at the figure below, you'll see what I mean.
So Serbrious sets about a possible fix and considers mounting the fan on the side.
Its possible, but will need some modifications to make it work. We decide to offer in a spare PCI NIC just to see what the clearance is like. Its in, but with only about a mm gap. I decide to keep with the standard configuration and Dr MPEG advises to stick some insulating tape over the screw which should do the trick. Eagerly we reassemble the fan, pop in the DDR RAM and continue the build.
Posts
3 comments:
Looking good so far, one comment re: the fan - keep an eye on your CPU temps when the weather is hot because you will only be leaving a tiny gap for the fan to suck air in.
If you do decide to move the fan to one side of the heat sink to blow air in, it may be worth getting another one for the other side and have it suck air out just so that you have an even-ish air flow over the whole heat sink.
Your other option if it gets too hot in its current configuration is to consider lowering the CPU clock speed/voltage but this would obviously have an adverse affect on the speed it runs. Regardless of that, I'd try playing with it anyways, run it as slowly as you can for what it needs to do - it'll save a few quid on your electricity bills and may make the chip last slightly longer (although with Moore's Law chip lifetimes are over a long time before they die of old age!)
On a separate, although not entirely unrelated note, I suspected as much with the DDR2 - SPD is one of those things that's so standard nowadays they don't write it anywhere in the product description/packaging.
Looking forward to your next update - roll on tomorrow/today's lunch break!
--VexX
One thing to note... the thing underneath the heat sink that you are blocking the airflow on is NOT the CPU, so adjusting the CPU and under clocking it will not have the direct effect you might expect :)
The CPU is actually under the smaller heat sink, it is the graphic processor and sound card (aka north bridge?? never 100% sure with my north and souths and chip function).
Not sure what temp sensors they are on that chip, so worth double checking rather than relying on the CPU temp sensor!
Now that you have it running I am interested to hear about the temperature and noise levels.
1. Does it actually need the fan?
2. Can you hear the unit or is it silent?
3. Does the hard disk contribute to the noise level?
I am wondering whether it is worthwhile getting an SSD disk for a machine like this in order to make it quieter/silent.
Post a Comment