Time for a new one!

[Jakal]

Recorded AMD 64 Cores

I found a pulled cpu on ebay with the CAABC revision. You're right though, it seems the better cores have come out more recently. I just ordered the Opty 150 retail the Zalman and a tube of Arctic Silver 5.

 

[madmat]

Nice! I can't wait to see what your rig does!

 

[Jakal]

I'm going to have to wait until Friday to order the video card. My bank has a $1000 spending limit on my debit card, and I need to put some more money in. I'm not near running out and I could order the rest tomorrow, but I also need to leave some, just in case. It looks like my tax returns will probably cover half the build. Katrina really messed me up with work, and home and everything else lol.

 

[madmat]

The GTX or the GT? I'm kind of lost on this one...

 

[Jakal]

I'm going to order the GTX from ClubIt. I found the $40 dollar discount through Pricegrabber which puts the GTX roughly 10-15 more than the GT. I'm willing to pay that much more.

 

[madmat]

Nice, good deal then, that's definitely worth $10 to $15!

 

[Bobbythecat]

Hmm..I thought Opterons require registered mem..? Perhaps I am ignorant, but I am also wondering whether the DFI board can handle the server CPU...even if the socket matches.

 

[Jakal]

Yes and no. The Opteron 1XX line does NOT require ecc registered memory, where as, the 2XX and 8XX line DO. The Opteron should feel right at home in the Dfi board. The Opty 150 is a single core processor, running a 90nm process, with an E4 stepping. The Dfi goes up to E6, I believe, with the latest bios supporting the FX-60's.

AMD socket939 Athlon FX55+ & Athlon X2 CPU supported

I was concerned with the Dfi not supporting the Opteron processor myself, until I read this from AnandTech.
I should be looking at close to, if not, 3Ghz with the Zalman. I'll possibly add a water cooling system later on. Looking at some of those scores, I wondered if I should have went with the Opty 165 or 170. Then I realized that I'll be able to run any game out there with no problem.

ALSO:
The case and power supply came in today !! I was so stoked when I drove in! That case is a monster though. I didn't realize how big it was! Someone should put an object in these pictures just for size reference. The case was wonderfully packed and pristine when I took it out. The Ultra X2 power supply came in too, and let me tell you, ITS A BEAUT! Silver finish on it with a black grill. It's going to look perfect in that case . Tomorrow I'll be getting in the motherboard, processor, and heatsink. I need to get that camera so I can keep you guys filled in!

 

[Jakal]

NewEgg delivers AGAIN! Received in my Opty 150 today, CABGE 0532MPMW stepping. These aren't the best overclockers but I've seen a couple get to 3Ghz. Looking around I found that a lot of people are using the XP-90 as their heatsink for overclocking, we'll have to see how the Zalman turns out. I'm two pieces away from complete rig.

Which brings me to another thing.. I'm going to have to replace the windshield in my car shortly.. We've had some freezing temps lately and Wednesday driving to work I saw part of my windshield cracking. The laws here in Florida won't let me drive around with a cracked windsheild so I'm going to HAVE to replace it. Looks as though I'm going to have to put off buying the rest until another two weeks.

I screwed up the prices on the GTX, it's a hundred more than the GT. $450, instead of $290. I got to looking and totally forgot how much the GT was. Still, depending on what happens in the near future, I may get it instead. I'd kill for a regular pci video card right now just to see this rig run.

 

[Jakal]

Spent all of yesterday evening running the wires for the case. I think it's going to turn out well. I'm thinking of getting a blacklight for the case to show off the uv reactive wires and board. I turned it on just to get an idea of how loud the case was and I was very impressed. It's very quiet for the amount of fans. Of course the pc wouldn't boot, but it gave me an idea of how it runs. It's got a low hum, but compared to the pc I've got now, it's extremely quiet.

Edit:
Just ordered the video card. I picked up a 7800GT 517 core 470/1100 speeds. should be here Tuesday at the latest. Tack on another $300 for that. I'm just going to use my 80gig for testing to see if everything is ok. Pick up the sata hd and ram later on. I'm itching to see some results.

 

[madmat]

Sux about the windshield but if the crack's not too terribly long it can be fixed by drilling a small hole at the end of the crack with a diamond bit drill then using a windsield crack repair kit or taking it to a place that performs that service. We have those all over here since there is so much crap on the roads and so many trucks kicking it up...

 

[Jakal]

Well it's not one crack.. there's a few spider cracks and spread out about as large as an open hand in the left front corner. Right above the inspection sticker. I'm told that the insurance company will pay for it with no deductable because of that law. Hopefully so.

Edit: This report is the main reason I chose the Opteron 150.
<a href ="http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q2/opteron-x50/index.x?pg=1">TechReport</a>

 

[Jakal]

Spur of the moment buy.. I picked up a Arctic Cooler 5 rev 3 off ebay last night. Roughly 30 with shipping.

 

[Rob Williams]

So that I don't have to go through and pick and choose what you put together, could you list your system specs you are going with?

 

[Jakal]

No problem. I'll be upgrading the ram and hard drive later on.

Thermaltake Armor
Opteron 150 2.4G
Zalman 9500
Dfi Expert
7800GT
Arctic Silencer Rev. 3
Patriot pc3200 2x512
WD Caviar 80G Ata-100

I'll be picking up a 250g WD Sata hard drive with 16mb buffer, and a few weeks after that I'll probably get the G.Skill. Although, the new Mushkin Redline is looking rather tasty.

 

[Rob Williams]

Nice man, that's some wicked stuff. I look forward to seeing what you think of the 150 :-D

I'm also jealous of your DFI Expert board.. nice choice.

 

[Jakal]

Considering the Expert was only $20 more than the original, I couldn't see passing it up. Hoping to get some good results from the Opty.. Looking around today I found a 4200 X2 for almost the same price though. :shrug:
It'll be an excellent system either way.

 

[Jakal]

WHOO HOO! Just got the video card in! I'll be checking back in in about an hour with some results!

 

[madmat]

Yaaaay!!!111!!!oneoneone

 

[Jakal]

Well took more than an hour but the network took the longest to get right.

Problem, at least I think it is.
I've got the Zalman 9500 connected up to the fanmate thingy.. and when the pc boots up right after post the fan completely stops spinning. My guess is that it's because of temps being low. So I connected it up to the motherboard pins instead and set the speed/temps ratio for it to turn off below 25c and to turn fully on at 45c. So I'm watching this little light show from the fan... Could it have been doing the same thing because of the fanmate?

Edit: Memtest was A-OK with the patriot ram.