Project: Anubis

[scaryjim]

Nope I really mean ECC (Error Correction Codes) memory, that is after all why I got a w35xx rather than a i7 processor. After all they are the same thing, except that feature.

Core i7 seriously doesn't support ECC memory? I really don't get some of Intel's featureset decisions...

Nice work on 2.5" drive cage, that's a really good mod! How many 5.25" drives-worth of cage did you use to make the 2.5" cage? I've got a couple of spare laptop drives (ripped from failing machines) that I fancy using as extra storage, and a cage like that would be ideal...

[oolon]

Sadly I had already cut up the case and started bending the metal before I thought it would have been a good idea to take more "action" pictures. I used a cage from a midi server case, it had to flanges (bent sections) at the top and the rails were joined together at the bottom. I ended up keeping the flanges at the top and 3.75 of the bays. The reason why I did not use 3.5 sections the hole spacing for 2.5 inch drives is different, the 5.25 one had nice slots for variable mounting. The 5.25 has dual holes so the drives were more closely spaced, and finally the 3.5 inch section did not span the whole drive as only 2 of the closer holes were used for mounting, this would have worked however it would mean that the bay was only screwed in place at the front or back. If you bolt it in like I did your need to give yourself space above and below the drives to insert the nuts/bolts. Also I will have to remove the whole bay to install more drives, as I cannot get access to the side screws through the housing. However that does not bother me too much.

I don't understand why either particularly when the price difference is 20 pounds on a high end processor, there must be saving from not having to manufacture two almost identical products. I guess they don't want people to get the idea you can use a "desktop" processor in a "server".

[Pob255]

No issue with running hard drives on their side.
You can sometimes get problems if a drive has been running in one orientation for a while (ie months/years not, an hour or two) and is then moved to a different orientation.

That side cage does make sense with 3.5" drives, it lets you fit in 4 drives with plenty of space around them for both air flow and the vibration damping.

However as you're using small 2.5" drives your methord is a better idea for that cage.

Actually you may be able to get two drives in side by side.

Here's an idea for you, if you look at hard drives they have 4 screw holes in the bottom as well as the top.
So if you made up a couple of flat lengths of metal, put some holes in the bottom, then you can screw them onto the bottom of the drives.
Look at the middle drive cage and see how the drives attach to the trays in the bay, same idea but made for 2.5" drives instead, screw the shelves into the cage and use grommets on the screws that hold the drives on to each shelf.

[oolon]

Actually you may be able to get two drives in side by side.

Yes there is enough space for 2 2.5 side by side, the reason I didn't make a cage that did that it I really don't need that number of drives in the case as I have lots of storage elsewhere (namely a SAN). Also its alot more work, and this way if I change my mind (very common as my needs change) and do want big storage in this machine I can mount a couple of big drives in the bottom section of the case as well, rather than buying lots of 2.5 inch drives.

Here's an idea for you, if you look at hard drives they have 4 screw holes in the bottom as well as the top.
So if you made up a couple of flat lengths of metal, put some holes in the bottom, then you can screw them onto the bottom of the drives.
Look at the middle drive cage and see how the drives attach to the trays in the bay, same idea but made for 2.5" drives instead, screw the shelves into the cage and use grommets on the screws that hold the drives on to each shelf.

I noticed them, the hole spacing is not the same as for 3.5 inch drives. However this is similar to the quick and easy idea I had was to just drill holes in the cage to mount the drives all around the edge of the cage! Like a SSD is going to care if its upside down! However this would wreck a nice new case, so I made an insert instead. I don't really like using a metal shelf and the bottom screw holes as a conductive plane would be very close to the electronics, to get round this I did think of using non conductive washers as spacers, as I don't have access to the tools to make a nice punched out section.

Either way Its built now so I not going to change, there is enough space for another SSD, which is all the expansion I think I need! However rather annoying when I came to build it, I thought I had some pre-drilled plate from an old tower which would have been perfect and not involved me cutting up a case an a blood sacrifice to server god. I looks however like I throw it away when doing some decluttering. Damn!

[oolon]

Somewhat hilariously today 2009-10-17 I finally received a letter from parcel force telling me I had a parcel with a customs charge on it (letter was dated 2009-09-05!)! The worrying thing is it says parcels will be kept for 20 days before being returned to sender! Good thing I tracked down my parcel and didn't wait for the letter as they would have lost my processor! Useless, next time I will use a more expensive service that actually takes care of my package.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

why am I not surprised?! If you weren't 100% honest they'd probably believe you if you told them you never received it and demanded a refund

[oolon]

Time for a few upgrades, needed to do some data recovery work so put a sammy 2TB drive in it (hope I don't need to call the the scan warranty), the Intel Westmere 6 core processors were to tempting. So now I have a nice shiny new w3680 in it (i7 980x with ECC), and put in 12GB of memory now the prices are a bit less insane. Thanks scan for stocking the processor, I had the new processor in 5 days and did not have to deal with importing it this time, so much easier.

The graphics card needs to be replaced with a nice DX11 one, I have a Vapour HD4890-X from a swap however it is from a batch that fails to cold boot some of the time (at least its quite), the card was always going to be a place holder anyway but is getting annoying, have to see how the new ATI^H^H^H AMD range looks like come Mithras.

[nibbler]

Do you use 12GB of RAM?

[oolon]

Do you use 12GB of RAM?

No not at the moment though machine was very fast as everything I did got cached, so I did actually notice the difference. Due to building a machine for my father I could either have bought him another 6 GB of memory, or give him mine and replace mine with 12GB. As this was a chance for an upgrade without having the old items lying around I took the opportunity (The reason for the processor upgrade as well).

[nibbler]

Piccy of build?

[oolon]

Piccy of build?

It does not "look" any different (except for graphics card) from this picture, even though actually I changed the motherboard, ram and cpu! I do so hate putting in CPUs always worried I will bend the pins, or incorrectly mount the CPU fan causing an over heat. Sadly the new cpu fan cable was to tight (rubbed the fan on switch on) so I had to unclip the cable so it looks a bit messier, I didn't really with to remove the CPU fan and fit it with another quarter turn, cat fur will kill the cooler soon enough, and I will fit a nicer after market cooler then.



I probably should do a new shot of the CPU plate, that is about as interesting as it gets!

[nibbler]

Nice build.

I like your cat in the earlier pic

In my current build I bent pins and got thermal paste on the CPU pins lol
Still worked

[Pob255]

Intel don't have pins on the cpu they are on the socket instead

Cat hair should be much of an issue with the filters on the p183 just remember to clean them
I also pop off the doors and rinse them under a tap now and again on my p180

[oolon]

Intel don't have pins on the cpu they are on the socket instead

In know! However there still are pin to bend and the keep getting smaller, the triangle and bumps however does make it pretty hard to fit incorrectly.

Cat hair should be much of an issue with the filters on the p183 just remember to clean them

I gave it a full clean at the weekend, the front looked pretty bad however the blower on the GPU was almost clean, and the CPU had a little mat build up. (some of this could have been due to running with the side off some of the time). However this was much better than my previous case. Fortunately I don't smoke around my computers any more that was the worse as it gave dust something to stick too.

[Pob255]

Fortunately I don't smoke around my computers any more that was the worse as it gave dust something to stick too.

Cat hair + ciggy dust
I know that one well