My "MegaRig" Build/Mod Log

[Gig-O-Ram]

Hey there all...I wanted to go ahead and share my project log with you. I don't think I'll post everything at once, just so I can see any feedback you guys might have to offer. Enjoy! :D

The Goals of this Project Log: In words and pictures, to profile the creation of my first DIY computer of any note, which I am very proud of, affectionately known as "MegaRig".

Log includes:
- Commentary of the build progress/issues I ran into
- Commentary of the first and second parts of the case mod
- Pictures of the system build start to finish
- Pictures of the first part of the case mod plan, some minor aspects of which I've altered for the time being, and of the panel mod. I did seperate logs on the two parts of the case mod at OCF, but I'll include both here. Makes for a more complete log, methinks.


*With the help of a Christmas bonus from my employer and some Christmas gifts that were in the form of cold cash (and believe it or not) some money that came in the form of refunds for parts I rma'd for one reason or another...I have finally gotten my long-talked-about "MegaRig" project going.*

First, the new parts:

[Gig-O-Ram]

System Build -

Feb 26, 2006 was the date it actually came into being. I was working on it on the 25th, and would have probably had the system going then, but I had a problem moving my hdd from the Intel system to the new AMD setup, and getting it to boot up. The DFI/A64 system just wouldn't boot windows.



But a quick (?) wipe of the hdd and a nice fresh reinstall of XP fixed that little problem.

At first, (on the 25th) I tried just taking the hdd out of my case - Intel P4 system still residing there at the time - and hooking it up to the DFI board. But it wouldn't boot, giving me a “Media Test Failure� message. I tried it again, and got the same message.
That's when I came in here and asked what I could do about it. As I thought, I was advised to do a wipe/reinstall. So, that night I ran the wipe with Killdisk and then took a break until the next day. It was late...

Not too long after waking up, I had ALL the drives out of my case and the new PSU hooked up to the new board so I could, hopefully, run the XP install.



When I booted the system, with just one of my new RAM sticks installed in slot #1 for test purposes, I got a screen that suggested using 2 sticks in slots #2/#4 for dual channel operation, instead of the single channel mode I was apparently in.



So I obliged the system, and plugged both sticks into the orange slots. After that, no problemo. Before I ran the install though, I went into GenieBIOS and ran Memtest86. I ran it for a full pass through, (which took about an hour) and the memory passed 100% with no errors @ the stock 200Mhz 2-3-2-5-1T settings, which was good.

[Gig-O-Ram]

The day before, I ran the windows version of memtest on my Intel system to test the sticks, and that went fine too. But I wanted to do it on again on the new board. When that was done, I started the XP setup. I put the Windows disc into the CD drive and got the setup screen. It was off to a good start, at least. To my relief, everything else about the setup went as it should, and then I was off and running.

[Gig-O-Ram]

After the setup was completed, and I rebooted the system and was sure XP was doing what it should do, and had all chipset/video/etc drivers installed, I proceeded to take everything of the old hardware that was left in the case out, so the new hardware could move in. In this case, new hardware being the LanParty board, CPU, GPU, PSU, RAM and the good ole Big Typhoon, which, with a dab of AS5, replaced the stock AMD HSF that I had been using only to make sure everything would work.











Of course, I made sure to clean off whatever cheap TIM there was on the CPU before installing BT. Along with the new hardware, the "old" 120G Maxtor, opticals and floppy get to stay, though the floppy eventually gets replaced with a black one that matches the case.

[Gig-O-Ram]

The BT did a good job of keeping my P4 cooler than most other things did and I liked the four screw retention. It seems to be doing fine on the 3700+, but I have to admit I'm not a fan of the two screw retention method that must be used. But, believe me, I made sure that BOTH screws on the retention bar were nutted down firmly. Before replacing the Maxtor, I fitted it with its new Zalman heatpipe cooler, which wasn't too difficult. I saw some reviews on Newegg where some people said they had trouble attaching the ground wire, but I didn't see any problem. It also has vibration damping, and I can barely hear the thing now. But because the cooler essentially makes the drive wider now, I had to move it upward to one of the 5.25" bays. So now, if I remove one of the bay covers, there is the Hard Drive for all to see. At least it looks cool now with the new thing on there.



Then I sort of sloppily redid the PSU wires and all the drive cables (aka, rats nest) just so I could put the rig back at my desk and start installing some software and benchmarks and stuff. Final wire management will come later.

[Gig-O-Ram]

I also wanted to go into BIOS and make any changes I wanted/needed. There are still some things in there I don't understand (and a few I've since been advised to never touch), but I looked over the things I do get, and made any necessary changes. I tried an overclock, but did it backward and ended up with a CPU speed of 800Mhz. Way down from 2.2Ghz stock speed. Oops. I didn't realize the multiplier was already set at the highest level (x11), and changed it to x4. I thought it started at x1 and went up from there. 200Mhz FSB x4....well, let's just say I was confused.

I still have not downloaded any firmware or a BIOS update, or run that many bench tests yet, but I can tell you what score I got in 3DMark05. I ran the test a first time, and just before it was going to give me my score, the program hit a glitch and it had to shut down. That irritated me a little bit. I ran the test again a little while later and that time, I got my score: 7,419 3D Marks on stock 470/1100 speed. That's almost twice the score I could get on my AGP 6800GT.



I did not look at the CPU marks. I'll had to run it again to see what that numbers were. Pre-Case-Mod, the CPU was running pretty cool on idle at 33-35°C, and due in part to the mod, which I will address later, it idles at 30-31°C, and will even dip to 29°C if I turn up the fans. Again, more on mods later. It loads @38°C, which I have seen as tested on “FarCry� and “Roller Coaster Tycoon 3�. And the GPU, pre-mod idled @46°C. Post-mod, it is running even cooler than it did at first @42°C idle, and as high as 57-61°C on loads tested with RCT3 and FarCry. FarCry definitely makes it run hotter. The PSU seems to dip a little bit on the main rails, but so far it has not seemed to matter much. I have not tried any OC's yet, but I may try to bump it up a Mhz or two, just to see what it's about. I also don't know if that would be the way I'd always run it, because TBH, I can't afford to replace stuff if I burn it out. I tried an OC - the right way this time - and I thought what I would get would be a 2.4Ghz OC (to go for the speed of the 4000+, which is the CPU I was going get originally). The system said "Nope! Not gon'do it!" So I had to go back and reset to default speed. I think I went too high. I'm gonna have to mess around with it and take smaller steps I guess. I ran Registry Mechanic, and it found about 60+ errors, so I got that cleaned up and all nice and shiny. I also had to do a defrag after installing FarCry, which apparently did a real number on the system.

[drew and not u]

looking good!

[Tyreal]

Good job "Ray". :)
That memory looks familiar... I used that particular kit a few days ago on a friends build.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Gig-O-Ram

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5.../Pic81_BT3.jpg

Hmmmm, like Pepsi much? :P

Nice build though. Taht's an awesome system you managed to put together there. It always suprises me to see how big that Tt Big Typhoon reall is :shock:

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Hmmmm, like Pepsi much? :P

Nice build though. Taht's an awesome system you managed to put together there. It always suprises me to see how big that Tt Big Typhoon reall is :shock:

Thank you. 8) It's that much sweeter when you consider that less than a year ago, before I started learning more about this stuff at OCF, I doubt I would've been able to do any of this. The most I ever did before that was replace a ROM drive in my wife's computer.

I didn't understand your pepsi comment at first, then I went back to the picture in your quote, and noticed a bag full of cans...yeah, we like pepsi, but I'm trying to cut back on it...don't really need all the sugar.

More on the build soon...stay tuned...