Iwill Dualy Opteron

[dekard]

Hey, Iwill's Dualy Opteron sys is seriously powerful. A customer asked me to put one in his Nissan Titan and I jumped at the chance... A dually opteron as a truck PC would have to be a the most powerful system you could get off the shelf. Built in wifi and candy apply red case should make this the system to beat. I'll be putting a Gps with it and I'm debating some voice control software coupled with a nice mike.

here's the system config I put together.

2 x AMD Opteron Model 242
2 x PQI TURBO Series Dual Channel Platinum 2g Kit ECC Registered DDR PC-3200
2 x Western Digital Raptor 74GB in RAID 1 config
Plextor 12X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model PX-712A
nVIDIA GeForce FX5900XT Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out
Gyration ULTRA GT Cordless Mouse and Mobile Keyboard
Delorme Earthmate GPS receiver with Street Atlas 2005
Win xp pro and office 2003

Total hardware price looks to be $2200 + installation and setup. What do you think? Would you do it differently? Have you done this already, if so how hard did it hit?

--Dekard--

Abit ic7-max3 - p4 2.8c - 6800 - 1g corsair - raptors in raid 0 - 19' flat - Klipsch surround

 

[IdiotInCharge]

1. Why all the added noise, heat, and power consumption of dual raptors? I know it will add a couple inches to your penis, but this is an SFF here- think low power, low noise and low heat. I'd go for the largest Seagate I could find, or maybe that Hitachi 400gb if you're spending that kind of cash. I know you might notice the difference, but I gurantee you I'd notice the space first.

2. 5900XT- you kidding? Yes, the 6800's are awesome. No, anything before that is not. Remember how bad they lost that battle? And you want to give that to a customer? Also, again, think noise, power consumption, and heat output. If you can find a 6800, or even a 6600 (which competes well with the 5900 for the same price), or if you're not a complete nvidiot and are willing to give the X700 a try, I'd start looking there.

3. PQI? Who the hell are they? Just now warming up to OCZ (after having been burned).

Now, I have to say, that given I don't know what the box was intended for, I do agree that all of the components are good, high quality parts, if a little mismatched. My perspective comes from wanted to do the absolute best for the customer, and not recommending anything that I would have doubts about using myself, or doubts about the actual benefits vs. potential costs. Consider if you overwork the PSU, and it burns out? Will you know what to change to correct that problem? Things like that sit in the back of my mind.

 

[Warriorprophet]

PQI are actually like the new OCZ, and are making big waves in PC4000+ ratings and dual-channel ready SPD settings in 3200 and up that performs the same on either platform, which is something most people aren't accomplishing until you get to hyperx or XMS. they're also making big moves in overclocked DDR2.

But anyhow, I also vote for higher capacity and 16mb buffer drives, also lower RPM = less chance for vehicle vibrations/potholes to cause catastrophic failure. Plus if he's going to store any media... I mean he who dies with the most "media" in his carputer wins.

Also I vote 9600 Pro with a passive heatsink if minimizing heat/noise are of any concern to you.

Also, I'm sitting here wondering "where is the 802.11A for sending media over the home network?". And if you say why "802.11A?" I say range, better service through multiple walls or thick walls (brick/concrete garage walls or metal garage doors), and less chance of interference from 2.4ghz devices like GSM/3G cell phones, etc.

But anyhow, someone is going to have one nice setup in one damn fine truck, rock on!

 

[IdiotInCharge]

But anyhow, someone is going to have one nice setup in one damn fine truck, rock on!

Sorry, I forgot that part- man, I want that truck... Titan's are awesome...

 

[dekard]

1. Why all the added noise, heat, and power consumption of dual raptors? I know it will add a couple inches to your penis, but this is an SFF here- think low power, low noise and low heat. I'd go for the largest Seagate I could find, or maybe that Hitachi 400gb if you're spending that kind of cash. I know you might notice the difference, but I gurantee you I'd notice the space first.


Something to think about... I''ll be honest, he's not into storing media on his computers, this guys got a wife and 3 kids.. he's getting this as an ultimate work computer. So, the added space of the larger driver would really be wasted... but I'll take a look at power consumption and heat....

2. 5900XT- you kidding? Yes, the 6800's are awesome. No, anything before that is not. Remember how bad they lost that battle? And you want to give that to a customer? Also, again, think noise, power consumption, and heat output. If you can find a 6800, or even a 6600 (which competes well with the 5900 for the same price), or if you're not a complete nvidiot and are willing to give the X700 a try, I'd start looking there.

its a cheap card thats why I'm getting it... he's not going to be gaming at all.. period... I think I like the idea of a fanless 9600... Can anyone link me to one of those?

3. PQI? Who the hell are they? Just now warming up to OCZ (after having been burned).

Now, I have to say, that given I don't know what the box was intended for, I do agree that all of the components are good, high quality parts, if a little mismatched. My perspective comes from wanted to do the absolute best for the customer, and not recommending anything that I would have doubts about using myself, or doubts about the actual benefits vs. potential costs. Consider if you overwork the PSU, and it burns out? Will you know what to change to correct that problem? Things like that sit in the back of my mind.[/QUOTE]

thanks!

 

[dekard]

PQI are actually like the new OCZ, and are making big waves in PC4000+ ratings and dual-channel ready SPD settings in 3200 and up that performs the same on either platform, which is something most people aren't accomplishing until you get to hyperx or XMS. they're also making big moves in overclocked DDR2.

But anyhow, I also vote for higher capacity and 16mb buffer drives, also lower RPM = less chance for vehicle vibrations/potholes to cause catastrophic failure. Plus if he's going to store any media... I mean he who dies with the most "media" in his carputer wins.

Also I vote 9600 Pro with a passive heatsink if minimizing heat/noise are of any concern to you.

Also, I'm sitting here wondering "where is the 802.11A for sending media over the home network?". And if you say why "802.11A?" I say range, better service through multiple walls or thick walls (brick/concrete garage walls or metal garage doors), and less chance of interference from 2.4ghz devices like GSM/3G cell phones, etc.

But anyhow, someone is going to have one nice setup in one damn fine truck, rock on!

Thanks for the input.. Great suggestions. I''m considering the slower drives for many of the reasons you mention, including price..

He's going to want to stick to 802.11b\g because he's interested in accessing hot spots etc, and already has a deployed wireless network at his office.. none of those are 802.11A, unfortunately... besides .11a is such a dead technology, all the development I hear about is taking place on the .11b\g\n side of things..

What I'd really love to get is a link to one of these fanless 9600 your talking about.. would be a great way to save heat and power... Seems like we're talking about a 300w power supply and it could be overwhelmed by this hardware...

 

[vapb400]

if its going in a car make sure to get hard drives with the ability to take vibration, some are better than others.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

if its going in a car make sure to get hard drives with the ability to take vibration, some are better than others.

I.E. Seagate. Wouldn't trust anyone else, really; the current 7200.7 is more than fast enough for any application, and cheap as hell while being cool and quiet... oh and it has a 5 year warranty.

You can get a base 9600, with a simple heatsink for $95 at the 'egg. Or, you can spend a few more for an XT, with a Zalman heatpipe on it. But I'd just go with the basic 9600 if no gaming is involved, really. Even Intel's integrated video is more than enough for any desktop application, lol.

 

[Warriorprophet]

Here's the $135 passive 9600:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-342R&depa=0

They got 9800s in same brand too but they get expensivish for what you're going to be doing, which is probably relatively low res LCD I'm guessing, maybe even touchscreen?

Anyhow.
.11b/g will only run at like 1/10th speed through concrete, steel garage doors, or anything more then 2 walls, even with 4x bursting you might get 1mb/sec, if he wants to transfer media thats hella slow. As for hotspots, plenty of adaptors support all 4 modes so that isn't really much of an issue at all.

Anywho, gj.

 

[dekard]

Here's the $135 passive 9600:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-342R&depa=0

They got 9800s in same brand too but they get expensivish for what you're going to be doing, which is probably relatively low res LCD I'm guessing, maybe even touchscreen?

Anyhow.
.11b/g will only run at like 1/10th speed through concrete, steel garage doors, or anything more then 2 walls, even with 4x bursting you might get 1mb/sec, if he wants to transfer media thats hella slow. As for hotspots, plenty of adaptors support all 4 modes so that isn't really much of an issue at all.

Anywho, gj.

touchscreen is right... we're looking at a 7 or 10 " touchscreen... its a shame how low the res is tho... 800 x 600 on the 10 and 800 x 480 on the widesreen 7".

 

[Warriorprophet]

Yeah resolution is terrible on touch screens still, so sad.

 

[MortalSyn]

I looked for a price on that little box but I couldn't find anywhere that was selling it. Damn me! I just bough dual opteron with a K8w tiger and a $150 case!

 

[berzerker]

I looked for a price on that little box but I couldn't find anywhere that was selling it. Damn me! I just bough dual opteron with a K8w tiger and a $150 case!

Yeah, I had been looking for this one too before this thread but couldn't find it either.

Where are you planning buy from? Or has it not been released yet?

 

[dekard]

Yeah, I had been looking for this one too before this thread but couldn't find it either.

Where are you planning buy from? Or has it not been released yet?

It's not released yet.. looks like the beginning of november... Normally I wouldn't make such detailed plans for a 'soon-to-be-released' piece of hardware. But hexus has such a great write up showing final hardware I'm very confident in this one.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

What scares me most about any SFF is the PSU. Even if it works, even if it is stable loaded down, how long will it last being stressed? There is no margin of safety there- what else will it take with it? I'd like to undershoot requirements, but that makes it difficult to put in current gen hardware.

 

[berzerker]

It's not released yet.. looks like the beginning of november... Normally I wouldn't make such detailed plans for a 'soon-to-be-released' piece of hardware. But hexus has such a great write up showing final hardware I'm very confident in this one.

Ok, thanks, that's what I figured. Yeah, this one really looks nice.

http://www.iwill.net/product_2.asp?p_id=36

http://www.amdboard.com/iwill_zmaxdp.html

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD03NzM=

 

[Dillusion]

think about heat also. cars get hot in the sun. computer parts fry in heat. so you have to make a good noise/heat ratio, dont try to make it too silent to where it crashes from heat.