Project: Anubis

[oolon]

Builds where you don't have to mod anything are easy right? *Sigh*

Spec Summary:
Processor: Xeon W3550
Mainboard: Asus P6T6
Graphics: ATI HD4890
PSU: Corsair HX850
Memory: Kingston 1333Mhz ECC 3*2GB (KVR1333D3E9SK3/6G)
Storage: 1xIntel X25-M 160GB G2 (SSDSA2MH160G2C1), 2xHP 36GB 10k SAS drives
Case: Antec P183
Optical: LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray rewriter
OS: Centos 5 and Windows 7 Ultimate (On preorder)

The Wait:
Ok! I had not had a new desktop machine for 4+ years, my old P4 sucks, to be frank it caused problems since day, and this put me off getting a replacement. The problem with it was it had memory problems with dual channel used it a while before I realized it was causing corruption. changed board... changed memory... nothing helped... underclocked memory and hated system as it could reset to default setting that corrupt! I decided the next desktop I would get would have ECC memory, the problem is I am an Intel fanboy.

The Selection:
The project took a while to get started, quite like the core 2 chips, no ECC, xeons require a not very good chipset... Wanted a motherboard with 1x16, 2x4 Pcie, for fibre channel card and sas controller. It got put off as I didn't like things.

Optical: LG Blue-ray Disc Rewriter GGW-H20L
First Order: Dabs 2009-03
To be honest I was owned some money and was repaid in kind.

Still was not sure about processors then things all changed along came core i7, w35xx and X58! Thats exactly what I need... Chipset had many more lanes, a range of processors with ECC for little more than the desktop processor. Even better the desktop chip was the same.

Second Order: Scan 2009-08-05 Windows 7 Ultimate Pre-order, well I needed a 64bit windows, missed vista completely, so it main sense putting it off would just have cost more.

Graphics: HD4890
Much consideration, knew DX11 was coming out, probably very expensive not sure the time scales... considered a HD4770 Sock gap, perhaps two in crossfire, then along came scans offer for a HD4890 for £120, seemed a great choice at the time, later I read more reviews and heard it was rather loud/buzzing caps, and got quite worried about my choice, however having some of the bits I thought would drive me on. Seeing the pricing for the new ATI cards I think waiting till late next year to get a DX11 might be good.

PSU: Corsair HX850
Easy really, like the idea of a modular PSU, never had one before, like the reviews for the HX850 on HeXus and Johnny Guru. Sorted... It comes in a velvet bag... velvet bag! I ordered it at the same time as the graphics card because it was out of stock so I thought the delay would be good.

Third Order: Scan 2009-08-06
Powercolor HD4890 and Corsair HX850.

And now a word from my sponsor.. oh right that's the bank of me... I better get on with it then.

Processor: Xeon W3550
This is where it all fell to bits. I tried to find a UK retailer for over a week, for any processor in the w35xx range, even PMed scan people on here and messaged the forum, didn't even get a reply, a simple no get lost would have been nice. Disappointed decided gray import was my only option, fortunately I have a friend in the states who agreed to receive and send things on to me. I felt this was better than trusting someone on ebay. Why to be honest I would have been happy with a W3520, as i was going to the trouble of importing with extra fixed costs involved, I should probably get a better one. The new ones came out I thought great I can get a w3540 cheaper however the replacements seemed to be the same cost. As the slightly slower ones, so getting the new range seemed to be the right thing, toyed with the idea of a W3580 but really could not justify it! So got me a W3550.

Forth order: Amazon.com 2009-08-16 W3550
Amazon (US) had the W3550 in stock and even dispatched same day on a sunday! Of course a courier took a week to drag it across the states. It was sent on to me on 2009-08-25 and finally landed in the Uk cleared customs in 2 days and was available on monday 2009-09-07, where it sat, Parclefarse sent me a letter about a customs charge (not surprised about this) however this letter never arrived. I am in the mean time getting worried, get the customs number and receipt from my friend. After much searching discover putting the US customs number in the parcel farse tracking box gets you the complete package history. So finally track down its sitting in action waiting for me to call them! 4 Days for a letter not to make it from West to North London Well done Post Office your worth every penny! Speak to some nice people fo give me the code from my "letter" so I can turn up in action to pay and collect, finally arrives arrives 2009-09-10!

Note importing isn't quicker or cheaper than if I had bought it here it probably costs me 60 pounds more, however it did know I was going to get the item eventually, they still are not listed in the UK. So it was the right decision. Good!

To stop me making the same mistake as with the graphics card I waited until I had possession of the processor before getting anything else.

I have 4 things to get case, ssd, motherboard, ram so try the combinations in a number of sites. For the SSD and motherboard scan was best option. Scan did not list the P6T6 in stock, however was the cheapest but a reasonable amount. Also the scan-care cover on it seemed like a good idea as I have not build a grid array chip computer before (Hints for CPU handling are welcome). So decided the split the SSD into a separate order, on the grounds, that I could move the motherboard to another supplier if needed without impacting the rest of the order. However by the time I had complete the order, and started to put the second one through the P6T6 was in stock and 1 pound cheaper. Great!

I would love to know why (unlike every other e-taylor on the planet) orders placed with scan are taken and confirmed them seem to disappear, then take ages to re-appear in your account, for us nervous people you spend the time thinking you might have made a mistake.

Storage: Intel X25-M 160GB G2 SSD
One of the advantages of the delay this beauty became available. I kind of promised myself I would only use mirrored drives after suffering with a few problems. However rules are made to be broken! It was two 15k SAS drives or this. Getting a pair didn't sound a good item as the cost made it prohibitive, and it did not know if TRIM instructions would make it through mirroring, which would lose a lot of the advantages of the G2 drive. I am also going to throw a couple of SAS 10K drives into the mix which I have sitting in a draw at the moment.

Fifth Order: 2009-09-10 Scan Intel X25-M 160GB G2 (SSDSA2MH160G2C1)

Motherboard: P6T6
As soon as I saw this board, I knew this was what I was after, lots of x4+ (Electrical) length PCIe slots many board have additional 1x slots. Before X58 only one board and 4 slots, Asus are still the winner with 6(7), I didn't go for the supercomputer board as its slightly larger than ATX so didn't know it would work with the case, and significantly more expensive providing a slot I was not going to use. The other advantage of the P6T6 was it was one of the few X58 boards which formally stated w35xx compatibility. Only problem was the w3550 and w3580 were not on the list the equivalent desktops were, anyway I felt the chip would take a while to arrive, hopefully it would be listed as supported by then. hmmm it still isn't I hope getting the w3550 insted of the w3540 as they were the same price does not come back to haunt me. I did check the web and could find someone who seemed to be using a w3550 with an ASUS P6T however this was an ES so I am unsure! Guess I might have to come begging to borrow a CPU for a reflash if things go bad.

Sixth Order: 2009-09-10 Scan Asus P6T6 WS Revolution

Now we are on the home straight. Case and RAM easy ...

Case: Antec 183
I wanted a case with noise dampening as I don't wish to live in the a wind tunnel, there were 3 cases I considered however quite quickly it came down to Antec ones. I noticed how crampt my current desktop is with a large graphics card and so though I should the bigger Antec 183. This also has 2 mounting points for 12" fans, I want a quiet case, if my graphics card and processor cooler prove to be too loud I am considering water cooling the system and this will get me two places to mount radiators without cutting the case up. I am just using the water cooling to move the heat sources to the end of the case (not overclocking). Plus to do have a T-balancer which can use flow sensors.

Memory: Kingston 1333Mhz ECC (with therminal sensors!) 3*2GB (KVR1333D3E9SK3/6G)
Ok I wanted to get a triple channel kit, so if there are problems I can say it was being used in a supported environment, Kingston listed this part as compatible with the P6T6 which was a good reason to get it, you will notice this is ECC memory. 6GB seems the size to go for as 4GB Dimms seem very expensive, and I really do see I need more than 6GB at this time. Only thing is my chip as a QPI of 4.8 (1066 Memory, not an extreme one) however the 1066 part isn't listed anywhere, I hope it has SPD settings for 1066 and the motherboard downclocks it correctly.

Seventh Order: 2009-09-10 Ebuyer Antec 183 and Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK3/6G
Its in stock, great all done and ordered... wait what is an email from ebuyer... saying the memory part has been discontinued... and suggests I go change it, nothing suitable is listed on the ebuyer site through kingston find the distributors. None of the triple channel kits in stock, can buy the parts as singles, ok I guess but its 30 quid more expensive so I go to ebuyer to cancel the line, and it has changed to picking in progress with supplier!?!? So not discontinued then? Guess I will phone tomorrow.

When I have more boxes I will post some pictures.

Will the memory arrive? Will it work? Will the board recognize the CPU? Will I get a nice electrical burning smell? Will I ever play Fallout 3? Does anyone care? To be continued!

[M0nkeyb0Y]

What a tome! Good luck with the build mate - and be sure to post some pictures.

[circuitmonkey]

sounds like a great built, good luck with it mate!

[Pob255]

Interesting choice going for the xenon & eec, granted I've never had the memory hassle you've had in the past.
I've had a graphics card with a stock cooler cook it's own memory, which has left me rather suspisious and careful over graphics card coolers, so I do understand.

PS you do realise there's lots of postal strikes going on atm, so your card from parcelfarce could be in the backlog
But at the same time, parcelfarce has been messing my otherhalf around a lot recently with her US shipments (fabrics not pc bits)
Only nice thing I can say about them is they leave parcels at a near by post office for collection if they fail to deliver, but the last couple of parcels they didn't even bother to try to deliver just dropped them at the post office

Even without customisation it'll be nice to see how this build goes
Be intresting to see how the new xenons perform.

[oolon]

Just a little update, I am still waiting the last pieces to arrive, but things seem to be working out. Ebuyer has said the email was a mistake and I should get the ram on friday.

My processor has made it onto the formally supported list for the P6T6, as my board has not been sent out yet I am getting scan to update the bios to the latest version (0507) for me for a very reasonable £10+vat, which save me a lot of hassle finding someone with an i7 to borrow, and installing enough of an OS to compete the flash. Now I will just have to install the final chip once myself, and have offloaded the socket damage risk to someone else. Of course I will now worry they will flash the right bios...!

So should I spray paint the inside of my P183 black or leave it bare? What sprayes should I used? Basecoat, matt black and lacquer? Or just a black spray?

On a final note my Parcel force card still hasn't arrived, only a week overdue now! Good thing I don't need it.

[Infinite]

Considering it doesn't have a window, I would say there isn't much of a point unless you like to show off the insides by taking the side of the case off, but then you might as well have bought a windowed case in the first place.

[oolon]

Considering it doesn't have a window, I would say there isn't much of a point unless you like to show off the insides by taking the side of the case off, but then you might as well have bought a windowed case in the first place.

Reasonable point of view, I didn't get a windowed case because I wanted the silencing more than a window. Just seeing some of the cases on here with the side off I thought they look rather good. However you are right and one less thing for me to do.

[oolon]

Boxes have been arriving over the last few days, it feels like Mithras day! My case an Antec 183 arrives yesterday (2009-09-15) 3 days early, nice going for ebuyers supersaver 5 day deliverly. And the motherboard arrived today 2009-09-16.

The Anubis build boxes + Script Kitty.



Some close ups, CPU plate


Mother Board Asus P6T6


Graphics Card Power Colour HD4890


Power Supply - Corsair HX850


Blu-ray drive


Massive 32Gb 10k SAS drives!


So outstanding I just have the memory should arrive from ebuyer on friday and the SSD that should arrive from scan next month Doh! I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with scan, I asked for a specific BIOS version to be put on the board, and they could not confirm which one was installed, guess I will have to wait till friday to find out if it has been done right. Likewise I ordered a intel SSD from scan, and it was in stock when I ordered it however because I selected a delivery on wednesday (today) it went out of stock and I have missed out, guess they don't hold stock for you...Beware! The thing that really annoys me however is I wrote a query on here in the scan forum and no one from scan could be bothered to even answer me. *Sigh*

[Pob255]

I've never had to wait the full 5 days for ebuyer's supersaver delivery
As to Scan's stock system, they don't use a dynamic system so things can go out of stock before your order is processed, esp over night/sunday

As to sparying the insides black, The antec p18x series don't come fully apart, you'll need to strip it down as far as possible and mask off.
You can just use a can a black spray paint but it will be more prone to scratching/chipping.
Although personally it's not that bad as it's inside and not that prone to handeling

To do it fully, you need to give it a light sand, then clean it off, use some self etching primer, leave it to fully dry, then 2-3 coats of black, leave it to fully dry overnight and finally 2 coats of clear lacquer and again leave to dry over night.
It takes some time to do a full paint job.

[barwell1992]

^^ im sure you could just drill out the rivets like it did with my gigabyt aurora 570



this is the finish using simones grey acrylic primer and gloss black acrylic spray paint



ps black cases look great


will post a pic of it finished if u like ?

[oolon]

Sure, always interested to see peoples mods. Your welcome to post it here or perhaps better to put it in the case mods gallery.

[barwell1992]

well wont steal your thread so hears one pic

nearly finished dosent have HDD's in there or the fans (the green one will be replaced as well) as im wating for bits from scan



the other pics are in the mod gallery

ohh and the marks all over the paint are finger prints just need to wipe them off lol all the cables are routed in just wating for the bits to pluge them in to, ohh and that screen in the pic is not my main monitor lol its 15inch i have a 26inch as main one

[scaryjim]

I take it you mean registered/buffered, rather than ECC? My £27 Sempron 140 supports ECC memory (I'm using some at the minute, although that was an ordering mistake tbh! ) ...

Looks like a nice healthy build though, once you'd got the ordering out of the way! I'm never sure whether I can put non-modded builds in here, but now someone else has maybe I'll stick my HTPC rebuild up...

[oolon]

I take it you mean registered/buffered, rather than ECC? My £27 Sempron 140 supports ECC memory (I'm using some at the minute, although that was an ordering mistake tbh! ) ...

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. I had lots of problems with memory corruption in my P4 system, so I wanted ECC memory even if it is a bit slower. 200% rock solid and boring is what I am after with this system.

On a side note got a txt from scan to tell me the SSD will be delivered tomorrow... Great! much better than the end of the month.

[oolon]

Looks like things are drawing to there conclusion now, I received my SSD from scan on friday (2009-09-18), only 2 days over the delivery date rather than the 2 weeks I was expecting, the my memory from ebuyer also arrived (the final part in the build), I am starting to know the Citylink guy quite well!

Looks like I will not get to escape doing some modifications, something I didn't realise is the Antec P183 bottom drive bay mounts the drives vertically not horizontally. I don't know why but I just don't like mounting drives that way. My better when the bays put the 3.5 drives across the case rather than depth wise. I could use the upper of the 2 bays however this would be rather stupid as it would looks the advantage of the lower compartment. I my case however this is all a bit mute, as I wanted to install 2.5 inch drives anyway. In the worse case using gaffer tape for to start with. I had kind of hoped I could find something appropriate on the internet however nothing looked particularly good.

So spent my Friday making my own. My first attempt modifying a removable 3.5 inch drive bay from an old case (I had already sent the motherboard tray to MonkeyBoy). Proved to be rather a fail, to be honest the metal was rather difficulty to work (being quite thick) and as I don't own a press. I ended up rather over trimming it down so decided to start again.

My second attempted proved much better, started with an old wreck of a case that was falling to bits, rather than using the 3.5 inch section I used the 5.25 part as there was more metal work for mounting inside the existing box. Using my trusty angle grinder to cut up the case then a drimmel and countless cut off wheels, I managed to cut the metal work down to size. Not having a press, a vice and hammer worked ok to remove some exisiting bends and install new ones. The 5.25 bay choice was rather good as there are more mounting holes than that of a 3.5.

Here is a shot of the brackets on their own.



And a couple of them with the drives install and the 2.5 inch bay installed inside the antec P183 3.5 bay.





I must admit I am rather pleased with this, I know its not particularly pretty however is rather effective and still allows for 2 more vertically mounted 3.5 inch drives and more 2.5 inch ones. I do think however there is a gap in the market with 2.5 in desktop machine becoming more common, antec could sell a nice multi drive converter for its cases. seperately converting 3.5 bays to 2.5 wastes lots of space.

The physical installation proceeded without any problems, the good advice of installing the CPU and the heat sink while while the board was out of the case was taken and I am pleased I did, as I could check the heat sink was properly fixed. Anyway here is an "action" picture of the insides.



And now the case in pride of place under my desk... hmmm it appears to already have cat fir on it! (Anubis is the one on the left!)



Firing it up, I am very happy with the case choice, I would not have considered this one without the advice from Pob255, the noise level is very comfortable even even when gaming. My plan is to have dual boot system Windows 7 and Centos 5, while I wait for Windows 7 to come out the system is running WinXP 64.

First game I installed was "Overlord 2" and that worked very nicely even with all the eye candy turned on, this was in fact the first time I drove my monitor at its 1920x1200 native resolution. It looks lovely, however I do get black blank screens (as someone else observed with dell monitors) every once in a while, however not often enough to be annoying. Next I thought I would try out fallout 3... did the update... dll problem with windows live... !?!? Anyway downloading a newer version and signing up for windows live made it go away, not sure I am conviced about windows live having to be there when playing an offline game but thought I would give it a try.

Centos 5 install went ok, sadly I did not seem to be able to get the P6T6 to boot from network, so could not do my standard kickstart build. However installed ok, one disappointment was Centos didn't seem to be able to detect the SAS mirrored pair correctly, however this is not a pressing issue at this time as I was only going to use them for log and swap space. I am however very pleased I picked the gen 2 install SSD over 2 sas drives! I would have been very upset, if I had this problem with my main drives, also I would have had to mount 2 3.5 drives vertically in the bay so all in all, the SSD was the best way to go. It certainly is very interesting the difference, game saves in fallout are so fast you can't really see the picture properly, and the boot time from window going graphical to the login is very fast. However I have been using a 1.6 Ghz laptop for over a year now, so the processor speed boost is very noticable.

For the moment I have been using the built in sound card on the P6T6 which generally seems quite good and is 7.1 (Though I only have 5.1 speakers), in my old system I had a PCI X-Fi card not sure if I miss it, I have had sound stuttering using loading a couple of times (Level loading on overlord 2), however that might be due to things being too fast! I am going to stick with it for a while however I might consider one of those Asus Xonar sound cards, as they look rather nice, the creative ones seem to not have changed in years. However I am not sure about the new ones of those as they appear to have fans?

Any opinions about some benchmarks I should run?

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Re the Asus Xonar - I've seeked confirmation as to whether it's a fan, but I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would add a fan to a sound card!?!