[geek] How to Spoil a Scrounger: Part One
Jul. 15th, 2004 03:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pseydtonneI couldn't keep my new 2.8 GHz Celeron and its Soyo micro-ATX motherboard in the Antec Aria micro-centric case. The case is a lovely size (slightly shorted than a breadbox) but its specially carved power supply is only 300 watts. The motherboard's manual advise at least 350, preferably 400. I figured "it boots and stays on, so what's the problem?"
Then I ran a test on the RAM and got these errors, but only on the first round of tests. When I repeated the tests, the errors went away (all but one). This suggests the board is spending a good few minutes revving up to an optimal amount of power. This isn't a good idea for long-term stability. So I evacuated the Aria case and donated it to my buddy 7th. He'll probably find a micro board with an older processor that will feel much more comfy in that snuggly box.
I got a 430w power supply and shoved it into my shiny aluminum case. I wired up the CD burner, installed a hard drive but didn't plug it in, and turned it on.
I am so used to the sloth of my older processors. I don't tend to think of it as sloth -- I assume things need optimizing, recompiling from source, or some other hardcore measure. Instead, everything is wicked fast and I am happy. As soon as I can find a quieter CPU fan (as it's now the noisiest thing in the box and it's supposed to be a quiet one) and gaskets for the big fan, I'll have a dream machine. (Oh, and I'll grab a hyperthreading P4 to replace this Celeron once I can get one for less than $80 and Maggie has a job.)
Livejournal loads so quickly that it blows my mind. This is what the 5500-odd BogoMIPS feel like. Wow!
Okay, enough geek drool. I have to find out what temperatures I'm getting from the CPU, run memtest, and then sleep. Maybe I should even sleep first. Still, what joy! I got a new computer for $350 and wound up giving away $120 of that. If I had to do this without a spare case to shove things into nor a hard drive, it'd cost $600. I did well.
-now I'm greasy and sleepy, Dante
Then I ran a test on the RAM and got these errors, but only on the first round of tests. When I repeated the tests, the errors went away (all but one). This suggests the board is spending a good few minutes revving up to an optimal amount of power. This isn't a good idea for long-term stability. So I evacuated the Aria case and donated it to my buddy 7th. He'll probably find a micro board with an older processor that will feel much more comfy in that snuggly box.
I got a 430w power supply and shoved it into my shiny aluminum case. I wired up the CD burner, installed a hard drive but didn't plug it in, and turned it on.
I am so used to the sloth of my older processors. I don't tend to think of it as sloth -- I assume things need optimizing, recompiling from source, or some other hardcore measure. Instead, everything is wicked fast and I am happy. As soon as I can find a quieter CPU fan (as it's now the noisiest thing in the box and it's supposed to be a quiet one) and gaskets for the big fan, I'll have a dream machine. (Oh, and I'll grab a hyperthreading P4 to replace this Celeron once I can get one for less than $80 and Maggie has a job.)
Livejournal loads so quickly that it blows my mind. This is what the 5500-odd BogoMIPS feel like. Wow!
Okay, enough geek drool. I have to find out what temperatures I'm getting from the CPU, run memtest, and then sleep. Maybe I should even sleep first. Still, what joy! I got a new computer for $350 and wound up giving away $120 of that. If I had to do this without a spare case to shove things into nor a hard drive, it'd cost $600. I did well.
-now I'm greasy and sleepy, Dante
