Bought a 2347

G

GenesisFactor

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
1,262
Yes...it's another I GOT THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY thread. :D

Actually, i got something else, but it's similar. I was too poor to get the original deal when it came out, so i read the thread, did the research, and jumped in when that deal died and a new deal came on. Instead of buying the 8346, i got the 2347. I just needed compatibility. What? I'm a poor college student? I can't waste money on unnecessary frivolities...

But thankfully, i was going to buy a new computer when this deal came up and mobo and processor were the two things holding me up. I already had the case and PSU. After i figured out what i was going to get, everything would fall into place nicely.

So, enough backstory, let's get down to my overall system

So what can this sucker do?
Any damn thing i want.

What will i use it for?
Any damn thing...oh wait, you want a real answer.

I will be using it for computer repairs, light gaming, simulations, and my future projects.

okay, i'm done bragging. If you don't get it, sucks to be you :). If you do, here are the specs. Total cost of the project shall not exceed $500 in new parts. shouldn't be too hard.

Here already
not here yet
latest updates

i swear, i'm not italian.

ALREADY PURCHASED/RECYCLED FROM OLD SYSTEM
Specs:
2x 2347HE Opterons
6GB of DDR2 PC5300 ECC Registered RAM (ATM, will be 8 soon)
Audigy 2 ZS Platinum with IO Drive
HDTV wonder with remote and ASTC antenna
7800GTX 512 MB. ***May upgrade to a quadro and SLI it, or a new FirePro...or an older FireGL***
MSI Sppedster K9ND
DVD/RW DL with light scribe and securedisc
2x 300gb Maxtor SATA HDD
2x 320gb Seagate IDE ***1 going in as storage, 1 on the NSLU2 or just USB 2.0***
1x 160gb Seagate ***OS drive that will translate to SAS backup drive***
2x 18" 8030 LCDs
1x 15" ELO dell touch screen monitor
1x 12" ELO touch screen ***I like touchscreens :)***

TO BE BOUGHT WITH CASH NOW
Some kind of scanner

TO BE BOUGHT WITH CASHBACK FROM LAST ROUND
***buffalo linkstation pro NAS--Bought at Buffalo Linkstation Pro 250GB with gigabit. will be shipped soon
gigabit swtich. ***i think i found the on i want. $20

TO BE BOUGHT MUCH LATER
another 4-12 gbs of RAM
Better video card
Nvidia Tesla (yeah right...)

DEBATING
SAS system with RAID 5
37-65" 1080P LCD
a few terabyte drives
BluRay HdDVD + DVD burner

ON NSLU2 (so you guys don't think i'm skimping on the storage. may upgrade to a linkstation pro with gigabit)
My FTP/Webserver, hacked with uNSLUg 6.x
120GB Maxtor
160GB Western digital mybook
200GB Seagate Free Agent
Rocketfish enclosures with whatever random drives i get .
HP1200 laser jet printer

PERIPHERALS LIST
XP only
Win2K8 only
Both

Sandio 6DOF Mouse
Gyration Ultra GT mouse (leaving the keyboard out of this)
P5 Glove
ShuttleXpress
PC104 development system
Slingbox AV (for on demand)



​

If i go SAS, i will need a 4 in 1 system. I don't mind that, as i have a 4+6 bay ATX case, but 1 bay goes to optical drive, 1 bay goes to the vizio enclosure for easy SATA, 1 bay goes to the Audigy IO drive, and 1 bay goes elsewhere. It can easily be argued that i should get rid of the Vizio enclosure, and i would agree with you fully, but SAS is a 160 expendature, 135 without the enclosure. Do i really want to spend that much on 150GB worth of drives? Maybe...

Oh, and my case...yeah...it is a crazy thing i got in a bulk lot ebay purchase. It's got cathode tubes and what not. I don't dig lights as much as i dig sleek design and easy removal of items, which this case DOES NOT have. But here i am complaining about free. Whatever, if i can make it do the whole heart beat thing in relation to the speed of the CPU, that would be REALLY cool and maybe worth it...

CURRENT STATS
11/13/08 Basically i'm almost done and i'm really happy and excited. I just am waiting for some goodies to show up so i can get a solid boot.

Here already
not here yet
latest updates

i swear, i'm not italian.

Specs:
2x 2347HE Opterons
10GB of DDR2 PC5300 ECC Registered RAM (ATM, will be 16 soon)
Audigy 2 Platinum with IO Drive
9800GT 512 MB. ***May upgrade to a quadro and SLI it, or a new FirePro...or an older FireGL***
MSI Speedster K9ND
DVD/RW DL with light scribe and securedisc
3x36GB Ultra320 10K RPM SCSI
2x 300gb Ultra320 10K RPM SCSI
2x 18" 8030 LCDs
1x 15" ELO dell touch screen monitor
1x 12" ELO touch screen ***I like touchscreens :)***

TO BE BOUGHT MUCH LATER
another 4-6 gbs of RAM
Scanner
Bigger LCD?

DEBATING
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1364835

***Buffalo Linkstation Pro 250GB with gigabit
My FTP/Webserver, hacked with Freelink and Webmin
120GB Maxtor
160GB Western digital mybook
200GB Seagate Free Agent
2x300GB Maxtor SATA
2x320GB Seagate IDE
HP1200 laser jet printer

PERIPHERALS LIST
XP only
Win2K8 only
Both

Sandio 6DOF Mouse
Gyration Ultra GT mouse (leaving the keyboard out of this
ShuttleXpress
PC104 development system
Slingbox AV (for on demand)



​
 
Bought the MSI speedster and the DVDRW. I don't know if i should go SAS or RAMDISC. hehe...i'm hearing good things about both.

Also, i'm picking up a buffalo linkstation pro to replace my NSLU2. With gigabit, i might as well upgrade my router network system, right? hells ya.
 
Well, I was told that can't change my title any more to something better, and i don't want to incur the scorn and wraith of a woman - heard something about comparing it to "hell's fury"...- so i guess my title will continue to suck. oh well. At least it wasn't deleted and i was banned, right?

Anyways, on to the build...

GPU and RAM Set 1 came. Still looking for a cheap stick for my last stick of 2GB DDR2 ECC reg. That single stick that i bought was a steal at $25 shipped - 30%. I probably won't find that again.

The computer is put together. picks will be up soon. i already sold my old workstation, so there is no going back to the way things were...

The most annoying part of my case is that it uses ancient Cathode tubes instead of efficient LEDs. I'm this close to buying a barebones kit, slapping one of my unused licenses of XP on it and selling it to someone for cheap. Unfortunately, my little brother is just not making money at McDonald's fast enough. It's perfect for him- he likes shiny things...

I lost BOTH SAS items i was looking to get before getting the drives However, the experience has taught me some valuable things. first- MS sucks when they owe you money. However, second, and most importantly, RAID 5/6 is exactly what i've been looking for and i don't think i can be held back anymore. I haven't made the step to RAID 0 because i was afraid of losing EVEYRTHING. I've done that before and it's not a good experience. Thank God for backups, but sometimes you don' quite get everything.... RAID 5 is like that bowl of porridge that is just right. The next time a SAS deal like the three i found comes up again, i'm jumping on them.

Pics will be up weekend. Hopefully the mobo will be here then too. If not, i'll pretend i'm cool and rape other people's build threads ;)

***EDIT***
Processor delivery 10/23, mobo delivery 10/24. Screw going into the city this weekend! MUST...BUILD...MONSTER!!!!
 
Updated the items that arrived and stuff. I made a leap and i bought a Linkstation Pro 250 NAS. 90 days of checking out the factory goods before the warranty is up, then hacking the crap out of it wiht OpenLink and my old NSLU2 stuff. I have decided, after searching aroudn the web, that there havne't been enough trials with Gigabit yet to justify it. Sure, i gt a 24MB/s write, and a faster write speed, but until i figure out if there will be drive caching, in the hacked forums, it will almost be a mute point, even with the cat 6e cable, atleast unless there is a killer gigabit switch deal. I will keep my eyes open, though. It's just not neccessary until i see how the thing performs on my current network. Basically, as long as i can stream a DVD, i'll be fine and dandy.

My last 2GB stick of RAM arrived, as well as my LG burner. It sucks not having the mobo or processor yet. All i want to do is plug these bad boys in, but i totally can't until friday. it's like waiting for Christmas. Processors are here tomorrow. Hopefully the fans and stuff will be too.
 
i was told that they were backwards compatible

Hmmm...

Sigh, no build this weekend, have to be in the city.
 
er, Cat5e. .. I had Cat6a on the brain when I typed it. I am in the process of setting up some 10gb stuff, so thats why I even knew.
 
hehe i'm glad you guys sorted that one out. It's not a problem though, i just have a CAT 6 crossover cable. that is why i will be using it.

In other news...minor thing happened today

EVERYTHING CAME

well, almost everything. No HSF or fan. Just ordered the EPS cable adapter. I thought that it would have been a 20 pin board, not a 24 pin board, and the p4 adapter that i have isn't keyed to the right side of the EPS socket. bah. I will boot to see if it posts though. I have an extra 2GB stick (at 512 each core currently, so hopefully this helps), but i want to do a ram drive maybe? whatever! pics later!!!! It will not be impressive, but it will be cheap. well, almost everything. No HSF or fan. Just ordered the EPS cable adapter. I thought that it would have been a 20 pin board, not a 24 pin board, and the p4 adapter that i have isn't keyed to the right side of the EPS socket. bah. I will boot to see if it posts though. I have an extra 2GB stick (at 512 each core currently, so hopefully this helps), but i want to do a ram drive maybe? whatever! pics later!!!! It will not be impressive, but it will be cheap.

The MSI speedster was real brand new. I felt giddy popping up the CPU soockets and then IMMEDIATELY being able to populate them. I was slightly afraid of the pressure what clamping them down would have on the processor pins, but, i guess theses aren't made to keep swapping about, huh?

I, however didn;t likethe solder job on some of the caps as touching them made them wiggle. It does, however, have 2x 16x PCI-X and 1x 8x. That 1x was immediately covered by the 7800 GTX. I'm still waiting for a ,manufacturer to realize this and just make the first slot a touch higher so you don't seem wasteful.

I was an idiot building it. half way through, i realized that i forgot all about the IO Shield and took the whole thing apart again. Bah.

I have til 8AM tomorrow to finish the construction and get it POSTing before it is City time. Til then, see you guys in a bit
 
Ouch, okay, so cuts on my hands and everything, but all the basic stuff is in. I sitll have to put in the IO drive and what not, but i managed to make everything fit. I however, have no open slots at all anymore. It is a good thing i didn't go SAS or RAID 5. Sigh. next time. Seriously, the USB2.0 4 port header couldn't fit where the memory was, so i decided that, until i get another 8x PCI-X card, it will rent that bracket. The sad thing is that i probably will. I need to display 3-4 lcds. Sure, a triple head by matronix would do it, but i need independant displays. I guess no touchscreens for now. That is good though becuase once you get used to touchscreens, you end up hurting yourself by tapping non touchscreen LCDs.

I am waiting for my HSFs still. I just hope that i won't have to tak ethe whole damn thing apart agian. I know that i suck at taking interesting pictures, but screw it. It's not like you haven't seen a 7800GTX before. :)

Once this is done, it's time to get the peripherals together. Believe it or not, i totally haven't even listed them yet. I have to see which works for vista for windows server 2008. I'll get that list together. It is....interesting.

Still no scanner. I just haven't found the one i want yet. I'm aiming for a good photo scanner, but we'll see.

I am also waiting for my NAS to arrive. When that arrives, i will populate it with about 500-700GBs of info. I just HOPE that, after i hack it, i will be able to get it to read NTFS natively, otherwise it's back to my NSLU2.

I got myself a domain so i will be doing DNS tunneling and FTPing and web servering on a few things. Slingbox, NAS, my website, friend's websites. whatever. Was that redundant?

Sigh, not bad for 5 hours worth of work. no beer like sabregen, but i didn't get a free 8800GTX either. lucky...
 
When [H]eaVy B said that the donated the GTX, all we meant was that it came from him. He just grabbed a GTX 280, and didn't need his 8800GTX anymore. I had sold off all my desktop graphics cards a few months ago, since I roll with a laptop that has a Q6600, 4GB of RAM, 3x 160GB drives, an 8800M GTX 512, and a 1920x1200 screeen...that's been my gaming rig for almost a year. I bought the 8800GTX from him. I wish it was free!
 
haha geez, my comment didn't show up. love that. you sell all your stuff because you never think you're going to need it again.

BUT DAMN, WHAT A LAPTOP!!!!!
 
time for pics:

IMG_0967.jpg


okay, so only one of them acutally made it. i don't get it because i took three. Worse, that one wasn't the most recent one.
 
okay, soooooo here's what

STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN HOME, but updates. I haven't booted he computer yet, but that 7800GTX has to go. There are several reasons

CUDA
I want all my PCIX slots and it takes up 2 brackets
there are much faster cards on the market right now for similar prices

therefore i'm doing a staggered GPU upgrade. I'm thinking of the 8600GT/S with 1GB of DDR3 and then a Quadro card when i get the cash. basically i want Nvidia PhsyX and a CAD graphics card, all that take up one bracket each. I not looking for best of the best because that would cost 900% more than the cost of the computer (5600 FX @ $1500+).

okay, minor update. hopefully all my parts are in. then i build yay!!!
 
Sooooo...I'm either really lucky or really stupid. I ended up buy a 2 bracket workstation card at a steal. It's an FX 4400 (6800 equivalent). I'm just upset that i couldn't free up my PCIX x8 :-P i guess there are worse things to be upset about. OH...yeah...when i whip out my camera, i will be doing my first boot. My 8 pin adapter came this morning:)
 
You don't have any PCI-X on that board, but you do have 2x PCI-E x16's and an x8
 
my bad, thanks...still wqorking on it. just dremmeled the crap out of a bracket and am searching for my paste. btw, does any one know how to attach a fan to a thermaltake SI-120?
 
well that was anticlimactic. I finally finish the build and the sucker didn't even display post....or did it? Hell most of the fans didn't even turn on. I did learn a few things
a) the 7800 GTX really is broken and i get to return it...or i just suck at building and have no way to test until i swap out a few things
b) Fan s work best when they are plugged in
c) Dreds get caught in electrical components quite easily
d) Fans attach best hwen you read the instructions and open all the compartments of the boxes to find out where the fan clips are.
e) I like pretty lights. Really...and as much as it disgusts me...they're shiny!
f) my case is noisy. It is also packed.

I took lots of pics. I did a bit of modding. Too tired to really do anything baout either right now. I'm going to go to bed and then i'll post up things tomorrow before i attempt to POST.
 
so mad...so mad....so mad.....

first...you know how you forget to do one little thing and it comes back to bite you in the butt? i forgot to get the 8MB BIOS chip. GAHHHHHH

This means that i have to wait for it to ship form the netherlands before i can even boot. GAH.

This means my 7800GTX works and i'm an idiot...so it's up for sale!

While i wait, i will be setting up the NAS and stuff. I have a for sale thread in order to fund me buying a 8800GT 512. and a new PSU (because i will need it with the quadro and the 8800GT)

in the mean time, let me show you my build in my next post below
 
The cards, lined up
go here instead.

Hmmm..i do like the scrolling...i may bave to do that more often :)
IMG_0991.jpg


Adding the 5.25 drives
IMG_0989.jpg


Popped in the mobo
IMG_0967.jpg


Realized that i needed to change the brackets
IMG_0970.jpg


The old ones...
IMG_0971.jpg


Doesn't fit...
IMG_0976.jpg


Start Modding
IMG_0978.jpg


Dremmel Goodness
IMG_0979.jpg


It fit!!!
IMG_0980.jpg


But the screws were too long!!!
IMG_0981.jpg


Hit Home Depot...
IMG_0994.jpg


Screws were flush, installed HSF
IMG_0996.jpg


8 pin adpater so i can power the board
IMG_0968.jpg


Everything's in!!!
IMG_1000.jpg


Power on!!!!!
IMG_0997.jpg


GLOW BABY GLOW!!!!
IMG_0998.jpg


all that for nothing....
IMG_0999.jpg
 
suggestions:

1) resize your pics to 1024x768
2) put matched heatsinks on
3) get a better PSU
4) if you have 2 CPUs installed you will need 2 sticks of RAM...or to remove a CPU. You have to give each CPU it's own RAM. Try booting with two sticks, or one CPU
 
Get a real PSU before you kill the system using that POS, then make sure you've got the RAM set up correctly. Install all of the ram in pairs with opterons, 3 sticks are probably making the system puke so read the manual and find out where to put only 2 sticks (there should be a chart in the manual).
 
ahhhh...responses to above :)

Booting issuses:
I spoke to Soc since he had a speedster as well. I really did forget to buy the 8MB Bios chip. it's being shipped now. It's how he got his speedster to boot :).

Pic comments:
Sorry i keep forgetting how wicked high my res is on my laptop, i will resize them

go here instead. scope out my album if you want, i don't care
http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/GenesisFactor/Web posts/

Construction comments:
That is the largest PSU i currently have available :-P with PCIE power, 24 pin, and SATA. I let my friend borrow my truepower 430, but it won't power it in SLI. I just missed a bid for some truepower 550, but i want a 650 or higher for massive calcs. This will not happen until mid november though (when payments are supposed to arrive)

The heatsinks block the second row of DIMMs. I have 4GB in there, for a total of 6. The other side is matched high quality ram. I am trying to get a set of RAM right now

I can't fit another SI-120 in there lol. BTW, what would having mismatched heatsinks do?
 
you'll have more heat in one CPU, and create a hotspot in your case. You'd be better off getting two matched heatsinks for airflow reasons, and so you don't create a heat pocket, which could cook something more sensitive to the heat than you CPU is...like motherboard surface level components.
 
gah, stupid photobucket, i'll try again after work. it reset the upload size.

I see..a heat pocket...But there are about 7 fans total in that case...3 exhaust, 2 intake, and 2 on the HSF (one being really freakin huge and actually made my leg cold...WHILE THE COMPUTER WAS ON THROUGH THE COMPUTER. sorry...that was a freakin first for me. i was like...CRAP.

Not ignoring you, but i have hit a financial dry spot for about a week. Not that it matters...the computer will not be on, but when the finances call for it, i will try to make a change :). Thanks for letting me know though. Oh, and your HP netserve thing...i will be calling you on that...esp if you ant to trade my 7800GTX for it + cash for that and your OCZ PSU
 
I understand on the finances thing...then again, I just bought another 74GB 10k 2.5" SAS drive on an auction that I won this morning...and a GTX260...shutup. :p I had my old dual socket940 board up on eBay for over 2 weeks, and it finally sold this morning. My 8800GTX is up for sale now. I don't think I'll need another uber gaming card for a while. Anything else from here on out is likely gonna be low power (no PCI-E power in required) for Physx and HD content offloading.

Also, I don't have an OCZ PSU. The HP NetStorage 12 is still for sale. The shipping is usually the killer for most people, as it's about $75 to ship (because it's over 100lbs) ground.
 
geez man...

no really, get an 8600Gt or higher. i sent you that link for the calculating. Yeah, i can't afford that anymore. bah!

congrats on your GTX...punk lol. I'm just happy i won two quadro cards. I would have gotten the 8800GTX off you but i have no more brackets
 
okay updates updates...

I have an OCZ Stealthstream 600W PSU coming in. SLI, all the pins i need. yay.

I have my Quadros coming in. One is AGP Quadro 4 900 for my old workstation, one is a PCI-E FX4400 for my new one.

BIOS chip is enroute

I am in negoatiations for 2x 300gb SCSI and an Adaptec 2120S, which is a PCIX / PCI version. If i can get a third one, i can do RAID 5. This means that i need to sell my HDTV wonder tv tuner. whihc not a HUGE deal, it is annoying because i wanted an HDTV tuner. i t looks like i should go usb? i have a regular NTSC USB TV tuner from Avermedia, but nothing ATSC digital. What are you going to do...

Pics are up

After much deliberation and research, i have decided upon either a cheap 8800GT 512MB video card or a 9800GT 512mb/1gb video card. The 8800GT would be ideal, but a 9800 would be nice.
 
Soooo...the 7800GTX is gone. so sad. in it's place, is the following...

2x 300gb 10K SCSI drives
5x 36GB 10K SCSI drives
Adaptec 2120Sdrive controllers

and there's a host of other goodies :) Props to Patryk. Don't worry, he has a good deal of goodies from me too

The OCZ showed up. Pics on the way. It really does look nicer and the cable organization is awesom..orck may get a run for his money.

Funny enough i also found a supermicro 1U case with PSU. I don't know what to do with it...
 
GenesisFactor

Check your PM I want to know where you got your BIOS chip from. My L1N64 is hard freezing on me and it's getting annoying I think i'll return it. I want to get an MSI board because i've had good experience with them and it has SLI support.
 
Hey man. i got your PM, but i didn't want to reply until i was squared away. Mine didn't POST yet and i've contacted the seller. I should have told you that, but i've been busy today. sorry!
 
Okay, i'm ASSUMING that mine didn't post becuase i only have 1 slot filled on the board. I get post error codes...so i'm not sure at the moment what is wrong

In other news...
I got an nvidia 9800 GT and another 4gbs of goodness coming.

IMG_1002.jpg


IMG_1003.jpg


IMG_1005.jpg


my NAS is set up almost all the way. Graduated from Linux console to Webmin GUI-- and it is HOTNESS. Apache, Samba, and some great stuff are installed. My printer is ready and printing. I just need to do some more research and i'll make a nice web accessible FTP. for some reason,my thinkpad refuses to join any network i put it on. bah.

webmin.jpg


Osrk, pm me later...if you do decide to get the speedster, and it works, i can refer you to a few chip people

Also, due to my new build, i have parts of my old build that won't fit anywhere. To that end, i created a FS thread. I have special items i haven't listed, like scsi drives, controllers and cables. All purchases help fund the project, and then, when it's over, fund my edumacation :).
 
Can you post details on how you got the bios chip to make a speedster 1 go to a speedster 2?
 
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