JRRZZ blog

What’s a geek without his box? My box made Linux go like “this is not a software problem”, so I thought it might be time to replace my hardware. Plus, I was running all of my stuff on a single 7.200RPM S-ATA disk, including my jbisc project files. No, I know what you’re thinking. I hate waiting for rsync at shutdown. Not that this box is old or slow, oh this X2 4400+ still packs quite a punch and 2GB of RAM ought to be enough for everyone (pun intended).

So I went out shopping. Normally I’m an AMD guy but this time Intel’s performance advantage couldn’t be ignored. I’ve got the following setup, I hope you like it as much as I do. The motherboard is an Asus P5Q Premium, with an Intel P45+ICH10R chipset. It’s got lot of nice stuff on board, like that live Linux image boot splash top thingy. Of course the standard stuff like software S-ATA RAID, 4x Gigabit LAN and some Realtek audio chip. This board should support an 1600MHz FSB and it gives me the tools to OC the hell out of the Intel CPU on top. Not that I’m into OC’ing anymore. You know, stability uber alles. Speaking of which, the CPU is an Intel Core2 Quad 9550 running at 2833MHz. They say it’s fast, but I haven’t tested it yet. To add some spice to the mix I’ve added two 2GB DDR2-1066 GEIL memory modules, with those nifty mini heat pipes and LEDs. The memory timings on these modules are quite OK at 5-5-5-15. A Club3d HD4870 OC is responsible for drawing nice pictures on my screen. This is my first ATI since a long time, I love their renewed F/LOSS commitment. To make sure I can get to my files fast without losing them I’ve added a Promise SuperTrak EX8650 SAS RAID controller. It should be connected to two Seagate Cheetah 15K.5 300GB SAS disks at RAID level 1, both spinning at 15.000RPM. This whole lot is powered by an Antec TruePower Quattro 1000W, which should keep it all from powering down while decoding my National Geographic alternatives. To keep this pile of PCBs together I’ve bought a Lian Li PC-V1000z, and like Borat would tell you, it’s niiice.

Earlier today the lot was delivered to my residence. This is the result. You might think “but dude, where’s the case?”. Some guy somewhere along the supply chain thought it was OK to remove the HDD and PSU brackets out of the Lian Li box. So now I’m stuck with a useless, but still gorgeous, case. Some of you, but not many, might say “but dude, where are the hard disks?”. Well, somehow Promise thought I needed multi-lane cables, while they damn well know nobody needs multi-lane cables. So I’ve ordered a couple of multi-to-single-lane cables to get those hard disks to work.

So today I’ve only PXE booted the thing into memtest86+, which is passed flawlessly. I can’t call this my new rig just yet, it’s not even close. I could call this my new boards ‘n cables, but that doesn’t sound tough enough.

Tags: Tech //