365 days of silence.
The most painful 365 days. Ever.
Why were we forced to endure this torture?
2 words:
Senior Design.
Glad that is over!!! The fresh breath of life fills me with hope and energy!
I cant wait to fill everyone in on what has changed!!! Oh what an adventure!
Onward to bigger and greater things! Hello to everyone!!! How I have missed you so!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A Tale of Two Slotkets
Ya know, sometimes I get a lotta crap for what I do. My brother, for example, says I collect old worthless junk for no good reason. Maybe so, maybe so. I tend to look at it this way: I get an old and outdated computer given to me because the owner doesnt want it anymore. I can tinker, tweak, and completely rail on it shamelessly, squeezing out every ounce of performance I can while learning new techniques and tips. If I burn it up, so what? If I jump on my i7 and do the same thing... and burn it up... Well... thats a very expensive lesson to learn! Since he is by no means a tweaker (plays WoW... poor kid) its easy to see why he doesnt understand.
Anyway, enough of that... Today we take yet another look at old Slot 1 systems. Remember the Cheap 'n Dirty build with its Celeron 300A? That Celly is out, slotket CPU upgrades are in!
Now, just what the heck is a SLOTKET?
Simply put, a Slot 1 processor card with a Socket 370 stuck on it. Slam your favorite Socket 370 CPU in, and ya got yourself a Slotket! I own 2, one running a Pentium 3 Coppermine 1 GHz CPU, the other running a Celeron Tualatin 1.3 GHz CPU. Lets have a look:
Heres the Coppermine. This motherboard only supports Pentium 2 processors, so this slotket doubles as a compatibility adapter allowing the mobo to use a Pentium 3, even the Coppermine (obviously) CPUs. The performance over something like the Celly 300A is astonishing.
Performance is great, but sometimes comes at a price. Even though Coppermines run on only 1.75V (as opposed to 2.0V required by the 300A), they draw significantly more amps. Heres the stats:
Celly 300A:
20W/2.0V = 10A of current
Coppermine 1 GHz:
35W/1.75V = 20A of current => double the draw!
Now, remember this mobo is designed for processors like the 300A. Sure the Coppermine RUNS on the mobo, but stresses the onboard power MOSFETS, which often times leads to the board burning (literally, smoke and all) out prematurely.
So whadda ya do? 300 MHz just doesnt go very far anymore.
Enter Powerleap's solution:
Check it out: This slotket has its own power circuitry onboard and an external power supply cord, thus relieving the motherboard of the duty of solely supplying power to the CPU. The MOSFETS on the Powerleap are also beefier and made to take the heftier power loads:
Finally, in our list of CPU power draws:
Celeron Tualatin 1300:
32W/1.45V = 22.07A of current
My Celeron runs at 1.46 GHz, so it will need a little more juice, probably in the 34W range... Still, the amount of current needed greatly exceeds the recommended specs of the onboard MOSFETS.
When the Celly Tualatin is placed in the slotket at the top and the PC is powered on, the mobo MOSFETS get hot enough to instantly burn when touched (> 70C!). The Coppermine heats them up to a toasty 50C, but they will tolerate that more easily. Throw either processor in the Powerleap adapter, and the temperature of the onboard MOSFETS drops to a chill 29C, a temperature they can run comfortably at all the time. The MOSFETS on the Powerleap warm to around 40C, which is in no danger of burning up.
We saw another spat of this recently with AMD motherboards around the release of the Phenom 9850 quad core. That and the 9950 ate motherboards power chips for lunch, and eventually motherboard manufacturers began including Phenom compatibility stats as part of the specifications, stating whether users were safe stuffing the power hungry CPUs in them. Power often gets overlooked, but when choosing a motherboard for a build, be sure that board is up to the task!
Until next time, stay classy!
Anyway, enough of that... Today we take yet another look at old Slot 1 systems. Remember the Cheap 'n Dirty build with its Celeron 300A? That Celly is out, slotket CPU upgrades are in!
Now, just what the heck is a SLOTKET?
Simply put, a Slot 1 processor card with a Socket 370 stuck on it. Slam your favorite Socket 370 CPU in, and ya got yourself a Slotket! I own 2, one running a Pentium 3 Coppermine 1 GHz CPU, the other running a Celeron Tualatin 1.3 GHz CPU. Lets have a look:
Heres the Coppermine. This motherboard only supports Pentium 2 processors, so this slotket doubles as a compatibility adapter allowing the mobo to use a Pentium 3, even the Coppermine (obviously) CPUs. The performance over something like the Celly 300A is astonishing.Performance is great, but sometimes comes at a price. Even though Coppermines run on only 1.75V (as opposed to 2.0V required by the 300A), they draw significantly more amps. Heres the stats:
Celly 300A:
20W/2.0V = 10A of current
Coppermine 1 GHz:
35W/1.75V = 20A of current => double the draw!
Now, remember this mobo is designed for processors like the 300A. Sure the Coppermine RUNS on the mobo, but stresses the onboard power MOSFETS, which often times leads to the board burning (literally, smoke and all) out prematurely.
So whadda ya do? 300 MHz just doesnt go very far anymore.
Enter Powerleap's solution:
Check it out: This slotket has its own power circuitry onboard and an external power supply cord, thus relieving the motherboard of the duty of solely supplying power to the CPU. The MOSFETS on the Powerleap are also beefier and made to take the heftier power loads:Finally, in our list of CPU power draws:
Celeron Tualatin 1300:
32W/1.45V = 22.07A of current
My Celeron runs at 1.46 GHz, so it will need a little more juice, probably in the 34W range... Still, the amount of current needed greatly exceeds the recommended specs of the onboard MOSFETS.
When the Celly Tualatin is placed in the slotket at the top and the PC is powered on, the mobo MOSFETS get hot enough to instantly burn when touched (> 70C!). The Coppermine heats them up to a toasty 50C, but they will tolerate that more easily. Throw either processor in the Powerleap adapter, and the temperature of the onboard MOSFETS drops to a chill 29C, a temperature they can run comfortably at all the time. The MOSFETS on the Powerleap warm to around 40C, which is in no danger of burning up.
We saw another spat of this recently with AMD motherboards around the release of the Phenom 9850 quad core. That and the 9950 ate motherboards power chips for lunch, and eventually motherboard manufacturers began including Phenom compatibility stats as part of the specifications, stating whether users were safe stuffing the power hungry CPUs in them. Power often gets overlooked, but when choosing a motherboard for a build, be sure that board is up to the task!
Until next time, stay classy!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Back From The Dead!
So ya know that feeling when you are... like... sitting in a chair... for a very long time... and then suddenly you leap up only to discover in despair that your legs had fallen asleep and you fall on your face?
This blog is totally feeling that now...
Forgive me for I have sinned (and lets hope I stay a little more in touch this time...)...
So much has changed around here... where to start???
Oh yeah! Remember that XPS 420 project I did? That cheap Intel E5200 processor mixed with a little repair kit yielded 4.16 GHz overclock on a basic, BIOS-locked Dell! Well Amy got retired to another family and Shasta took over as the server downstairs. Now 2TB worth of drive space over twin networks serves the house and slowly over the internet with Opera web server. Its so nice not having to worry about running out of power! Even after 3 months of HARD running and computing, I've yet to experience one freeze or blip. When instructions-per-second counts... this desktop doesnt do so bad!
Okay, what else? I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas break and enjoyed a Happy New Year as well! I sure needed the time off of school... However I spent a lot of my time working. Everybody was having their PC's repaired and I put quite a few hours in working tech support. Here's an important lesson for everyone to pull away from this story:
I received a PC that wouldnt boot and they wondered if it could be saved... Pulling off the side panel this is what I found... Dust, dust, and more dust! Even when I pulled the panel off a small cloud of dust came erupting out of the case. Its fair to say this thing had been overheating for several years now. In fact after removing the dust and pushing some messy cables aside, I found a dozen capacitors that had blown or swelled, which is basically a nail in the coffin for any computer.
I was able to recover the data... but as for the rest of the tower now it only serves as a harsh reminder of the loss of quite an investment only because nobody had ever run a $2 can of compressed air through it.
If you own a desktop, please dont let this happen to you!
I suppose this brings me to my question: If you own a computer (you almost must if you are reading this), how often do you clean it thoroughly (blow the dust out and all)? And if you havent.... why not?
This blog is totally feeling that now...
Forgive me for I have sinned (and lets hope I stay a little more in touch this time...)...
So much has changed around here... where to start???
Oh yeah! Remember that XPS 420 project I did? That cheap Intel E5200 processor mixed with a little repair kit yielded 4.16 GHz overclock on a basic, BIOS-locked Dell! Well Amy got retired to another family and Shasta took over as the server downstairs. Now 2TB worth of drive space over twin networks serves the house and slowly over the internet with Opera web server. Its so nice not having to worry about running out of power! Even after 3 months of HARD running and computing, I've yet to experience one freeze or blip. When instructions-per-second counts... this desktop doesnt do so bad!Okay, what else? I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas break and enjoyed a Happy New Year as well! I sure needed the time off of school... However I spent a lot of my time working. Everybody was having their PC's repaired and I put quite a few hours in working tech support. Here's an important lesson for everyone to pull away from this story:
I received a PC that wouldnt boot and they wondered if it could be saved... Pulling off the side panel this is what I found... Dust, dust, and more dust! Even when I pulled the panel off a small cloud of dust came erupting out of the case. Its fair to say this thing had been overheating for several years now. In fact after removing the dust and pushing some messy cables aside, I found a dozen capacitors that had blown or swelled, which is basically a nail in the coffin for any computer.I was able to recover the data... but as for the rest of the tower now it only serves as a harsh reminder of the loss of quite an investment only because nobody had ever run a $2 can of compressed air through it.
If you own a desktop, please dont let this happen to you!
I suppose this brings me to my question: If you own a computer (you almost must if you are reading this), how often do you clean it thoroughly (blow the dust out and all)? And if you havent.... why not?
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Little Bottle of Magic
So, let me pose a question to ya:
Where do you go to get stuff to upgrade and crazy mod your PC?
Did anybody guess the local auto parts store? I wouldnt have either...
Feast your eyes on this. Its a bottle of Quick Grid made by Permatex. Now this thing is small... Like, half the size of my thumb... Its about 10 bucks of goodness.
Normally used to repair the rear window defrosters in vehicles... I used it for something different... Drawing new traces for the BSEL mod on the processor!
Remember how it took me like an hour full of troubles to make that little metal sliver last time? This time I cut a piece off of a folder to make a sliver to draw the tiny lines, like a small paint brush. Shook the bottle up and 20 seconds later I had a brand new trace running where the metal sliver had been. Worked like a charm!
Now I hit the webs and pulled up a page for a 1.35V BSEL mod and I went for the big hit: 200 to 333 MHz bus speed, or from 2.5 GHz to 4.1 GHz. One quick word: Dont use cheap USB keyboards... They do dumb things like make the computer beep and fudge results... I fought one for an hour before it found a new home in the dumpster and I went and got my Rocketfish Bluetooth one. All in all it seemed to go pretty well... They say a picture is worth 1,000 words:
O... OMG.... LOLOMGROFLMAO!!! Let me tell you Shasta is FAST and completely stable! Who knew??? Dell obviously did their homework for this board! That's a 65% increase in speed!!! I seriously didnt think that was possible out of a Dell mobo that cant overclock! Even at 4.1 GHz it sips only 75 watts of power and runs at 33C! That's darn good! Some stress testing and then it might be time to bestow the mighty server hard drive and retire Amy. What a fun project!
Where do you go to get stuff to upgrade and crazy mod your PC?
Did anybody guess the local auto parts store? I wouldnt have either...
Feast your eyes on this. Its a bottle of Quick Grid made by Permatex. Now this thing is small... Like, half the size of my thumb... Its about 10 bucks of goodness.Normally used to repair the rear window defrosters in vehicles... I used it for something different... Drawing new traces for the BSEL mod on the processor!
Remember how it took me like an hour full of troubles to make that little metal sliver last time? This time I cut a piece off of a folder to make a sliver to draw the tiny lines, like a small paint brush. Shook the bottle up and 20 seconds later I had a brand new trace running where the metal sliver had been. Worked like a charm!
Now I hit the webs and pulled up a page for a 1.35V BSEL mod and I went for the big hit: 200 to 333 MHz bus speed, or from 2.5 GHz to 4.1 GHz. One quick word: Dont use cheap USB keyboards... They do dumb things like make the computer beep and fudge results... I fought one for an hour before it found a new home in the dumpster and I went and got my Rocketfish Bluetooth one. All in all it seemed to go pretty well... They say a picture is worth 1,000 words:
O... OMG.... LOLOMGROFLMAO!!! Let me tell you Shasta is FAST and completely stable! Who knew??? Dell obviously did their homework for this board! That's a 65% increase in speed!!! I seriously didnt think that was possible out of a Dell mobo that cant overclock! Even at 4.1 GHz it sips only 75 watts of power and runs at 33C! That's darn good! Some stress testing and then it might be time to bestow the mighty server hard drive and retire Amy. What a fun project!
Just a Bad Day.
Oh man that just HURTS.....This post directly follows the RAM one...
I thought surely I was in the clear... Had temporary working RAM and the Western Digital Raptor hard drive. Man I was gonna get me some Windows XP installed!
Popped in my Windows XP Pro (original) and was greeted with.... ^ What do you do?
I did what any nerd would do....
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
I tried different RAM, I tried different hard drives, I tried a different CD drive, I even ripped off my BSEL mod on the processor (...sniff... sob...). Still every time I would boot the computer would BSOD.
Well Google fixed my last problem... How about this one?
Sure enough! It turns out that in some cases the original edition of XP Pro will bluescreen because of the PCI-e slot this computer has. Fair enough, I have an XP Pro SP2 disc. I popped that in and in 20 minutes was greeted by Windows XP Pro SP2. We are ready for benching now!
The Real Ram Wreck
4GB of awesomeness arrived in my mailbox.G.Skill DDR2 RAM running at 800 MHz with 4-4-4-12 timings on only 2.0V. This is about as good as it got, and seemed compatible enough to shove in the XPS. They have very attractive black heat spreaders with the company logo in glorious polished and machined aluminum... Oh such a beautiful sight!
The XPS thought otherwise.... I popped in all 4 sticks and powered her on. I was greeted by roaring fans and unhappy beeps. Looking closer, diagnostic lights 2 and 4 were lit on top and the XPS Miniview informed me that the computer detected that RAM was installed... but there was a problem and the computer could not be started... Okay... I reseated the RAM.... Nothing.Okay, this is annoying. My buddy's gaming PC had caught a virus last week so it was in my shop getting repaired. I stole its OCZ RAM for reference... The XPS fired right up!
Huh.
I decided well maybe I will just swap the RAM... But my buddies machine also greeted me with the same angry beeps (no codes, its a custom build).
Quickly Googling the result gave me this: Post #3: Cons: Does not play nice with current model Dell XPS 420.
That could have saved me quite the headache. I guess I will Google for issues in the future...
Having learned my lesson, I ordered 4GB of Crucial Ballistix to go in this thing instead. Meanwhile, I have the RAM out of Kaitlin's desktop again... What a mess! I hope everything else goes smoother than this.
The end is near... Or is it?
-
interesting, im gonna miss your blogs when this is over
In a way after starting this blog and putting time and effort into it, I almost feel obliged to keep trucking forward.
Plus the XPS is far from finished... I am still waiting on parts, I still have cool stories to share, and still have to show off my totally awesome photography skills (pffft).
Plus its handy! I can share something nerdy and totally sweet with all the subscribers or show, with pictures, how to do something cool, like build a PC or mod a cheapo to get some serious bang for your buck...
Just a hint... I am typing on the XPS now. It is 100% up and running... It just shows you how far behind I am on blogging... Thats okay, keeps you guys tunin in if you suspect there will be more to come...
So stay close: Its far from over.
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