On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0400, Automatic digest processor wrote:
> Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 07:54:35 -0700
> From: John Oram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Surfin' survpc's
> Geez what has this list come yo with DDRRAM heatspreaders. I can hear
> them 386 4MB folks falling off their three legged stools <BG>
Actually, the DDRAM heat spreaders are on the kid's XP "killer system"
... but they also fit DIMM SDRAM sticks.
> First off which brand & what speed of 1GB 184 pin DDRRAM did you
> purchase? Was it ECC Registered or probably not? Heatspreaders are
> factory installed and some are a real pain to re-install if you pull
> them off to look at the 184-pin DIMM - learned the hard way on this
> one. I would leave it alone if it were mine.
The kid's DDRAM chips came 'fully dressed' but DIMMs are naked. I
was looking into the possibiity since the cooling on the system is a bit
less than "MEGA!" The real room heater is (once again) the kid's system
... it has four intake fans with a large exhaust fan on the top ... plus
a cooling fan built into the video card for that processor! It has a
'see through' side and pretty blue lights, too.
Do y'all realize that the computers kids (well, young adults)
have these days wouldn't be acceptable 'science fiction' 30 years
ago??
Back to the stick ...
Micron 'Critical' 168pin SDRAM DIMM 1GB 8x64 ECC Registered
(I may shop eBay for price, but I do try to do things half-way right...
am I correct in thinking this is decent RAM? Did I get a good price
with it -- total including S&H -- for $161.50?? Dalco wants $115+tax for
a 512MB SDRAM DIMM.)
> Simplest way to take care of extra heat in your case as a rule of
> thumb to get airflow from low at the front of the case towards the
> power supply as the outlet fan. The science of heat flow paid my
> retired buddy at Intel-Folsom over three million bucks in stock
> options = so best to find a site where the folks know what they are
> doing a read for awhile.
Right now I don't have a cpu cooler on *this* system (it was 'optional'
for slow old PII 233MHz processors) because the replacement I bought was
the wrong footprint ... but in the meantime we did find a way to install
an intake fan (60mm?) that blows over the cpu heatsink (we pulled the
non-operative fan to increase airflow access) constantly, while the
power supply fan works as exhaust. On the "new" system I have to put
the Artic Silver on the cpu still ... figure I'll do that when I crack
the case to put in new memory stick. The cpu sits near an intake vent
in the case, and that power supply fan is also the 'exhaust fan.' I
don't remember if the video card cpu has its own fan ... NVidia GForce
with 64MB ... but I don't think so. The system can always be tweaked
later, and should handle fans that are temp/velocity controlled, since
the 'setup' screens do show processor temp etc.
> The simplest way to save money and time is use one of the ole 486 heat
> sink fans and blow air across the memory and at the CPU. Should be
> able to plug into one of the extra power locations for fan on your mobo.
I was thinking about doing just that ... since I'm doing something similar
with the cpu on this system.
> What brand of Mobo do you have? Does your mobo Northbridge have a fan
> or heat sink?
I have an MSI mobo in the newest system, and in this one AAMOF. (The
kid, of course, has a Megabyte or somesuch name ...). Chipset is Intel
and I haven't gone to the MSI website yet to see if there are any BIOS
upgrades I need to apply. When the system wasn't in use for so long, I
didn't bother with firmware etc.
> What size is your power supply? Does it have one or two fans?
Not sure of size ... 1 fan, single speed AFAIK
Reason I asked in the first place is that I don't have a very large
income, and regardless of how good a price I got on the memory stick it is
still the equivalent of two weeks worth of groceries ... and I can't
afford to have it burn out on me. Despite rumors to the contrary being
spread by my youngest child, I did *not* get a 1GB DIMM just so I had more
memory than he does ... <G> He has 512MB of the DDRAM, so it's an
equivalent to mine -- according to him. <BBG>
FWIW, I had to 'upscale' if I'm going to have a computer and this
wonderful 10Mb down / 3.5Mb up cable modem system on a hybrid fiber optic
WAN owned by the city and sold as just another utility on the electric
bill... That means I have to make the computer make money, and that is why
I own a couple of new domains that could make it possible. I really don't
want to sell all the family heirlooms just so I can afford to insure
everything else. <g> But I do need to get a couple of items up on eBay
pretty darn soon ... my electric bill ate a week's worth of groceries each
of the last two billing cycles, and I don't like a purely vegan diet.
Every time I think of the fact that a computer was the size of a football
field when I was born, and now watches and cell phones have more powerful
easily programmed CPUs, I wonder just how far technology is going to take
us. Ten years ago everyone agreed that to break the GigaHertz barrier
would absolutely require a refridgeration unit similar to Cray ... and now
1.2GHz is the size of a 50cent piece (What ever happened to them??) and
cooled by a small heatsink and fan. Right now, in this household, we have
more operational computer 'strength' than Mission Control Houston and Cape
Canaveral had *combined* for the Apollo missions... and we don't have ALL
the systems up and on the network (they will be truly SURVPC, running
Linux once I learn how to manage it ... one will take up the chores of
being a server, while another will be strictly for shared data. What's so
damn scary to me is that we take it all for granted!!
100 years ago man finally learned how to fly. Today I can turn on a
computer and link to animated films taken by a robot exploring Mars.
Sorry ... guess I went 'a little long' ... we now pause for a word from
our sponsors.
l.d.
-- Arachne V1.71;UE01, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
