Re: [tlug] New computer parts

["Daniel A. Ramaley" <daniel.ramaley@example.com>]

On Friday 24 August 2007 03:57, Jason Hall wrote:
>I'm currently looking to put together a new computer and don't know
>all the details on the latest and greatest hardware. It's been years
>since I built a machine.

I'm a bit late to the discussion, but around the time you posted this i 
was ordering parts for my new machine. 9 years had passed since i built 
my former machine, so it was starting to feel a bit slow. The 1/2 GB of 
RAM the old one had which seemed insanely huge at the time i built it 
was beginning to feel a bit tight. So i built a new one. And now i've 
been running it for a couple weeks and it works great.

My philosophy when building machines is to use server-grade hardware as 
much as possible, and then run them for several years beyond what most 
people would consider reasonable. Since i try to use higher-quality 
components, i usually don't have the small-but-annoying hardware 
problems that tend to plague older equipment. For this machine i also 
wanted it to be quiet. My former machine had to live in a closet with a 
hole drilled in the wall to run the cables out because it was so loud. 
I wanted this one quiet enough to keep in my bedroom. Here's the parts 
list i settled on for the core of the computer:

Motherboard: SuperMicro H8SMA-2
CPU: AMD 2.1 GHz Ahlon X2 Dual Core 45 Watt (ADH2350DDBOX)
RAM: Crucial 8 GB ECC
Graphics: Asus EN8600GT Silent
Audio: M-Audio Audiophile 2496

I put all that in an empty rackmount case i had on hand. I also added an 
SATA DVD writer and hard drive, though i actually purchased those 
awhile ago and don't want to dig out the receipts to see what they are. 
I think the DVD drive was a Plextor and the hard drive is most likely a 
Seagate. It was one of the SATA drives that are built to SCSI build 
standards (and it is 72 GB, a size more commonly seen on SCSI 
equipment), but they slapped an SATA interface on it. So i'll 
(hopefully) get the reliability of a SCSI drive without the expense of 
a SCSI controller or the ventilation-blocking SCSI cables. I don't 
think there are many compatibility issues with DVD and hard drives, so 
anything should work.

The low-power 45 watt processor was chosen to help keep the machine 
quiet. I installed an over-sized heatsink on it and have it cooled with 
a slow-spinning fan. I used a super-quiet power supply and used large 
slow fans in the case. The graphics card is one of the few that does 
not require a fan. The end result is a machine that makes an audible 
hum, but it is not overly loud. I have no trouble sleeping in the same 
room as the compute when it is on. The loudest component is the hard 
drive; i can hear when it seeks. My previous computer was quite loud 
and the hard drive was not easily audible over the cooling fans. Well, 
not until it was several years old and the bearings started to wear out 
a bit and it started making the loud whine that old drives do.

My only complaint is the graphics. I chose the specific graphics card 
because it doesn't have a fan and because it has 2 DVI outputs. And 
since i've experienced the pain of ATI's proprietary drivers, i didn't 
even consider anything with an ATI chip. However, i really wish Intel 
made a standalone graphics card so i could buy something with 
open-source drivers. So far the nVidia drivers seem to work OK, but i'd 
really prefer open-source. I have a MacBook with Linux on it that uses 
Intel graphics and i love it. The MacBook isn't the best for running 3D 
games, but i don't do a whole lot of that anyway. I mostly use the 
graphics for occasional OpenGL programming and for eye candy such as 
pretty screen savers.

The sound card i bought is probably overkill for most people. I chose it 
because i do some recording and from reading reviews i decided that 
card should be able to produce good-quality recordings and that it 
would work well with Linux. So far i've been very happy with it. I'm no 
audiophile and certainly do not have "golden ears", but the output 
quality is noticeably better to that of my old computer which used a 
Creative Labs SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold.

>a) It must run 2 19" LCD monitors (that have both VGA and DVI
> connectors). I don't run games though so don't need the best and
> fastest graphics, though I do intend to edit some home video.

The graphics card i chose has 2 DVI outputs and comes with one DVI->VGA 
adapter; if you needed to attach 2 VGA cards you'd have to buy a second 
adapter separately. So far i've been quite impressed with how fast the 
card is, especially since it was designed to run fanless. It does come 
with a giant heatsink though, that makes it take up the space of 2 
cards. Right now i'm only running 1 monitor, but in a few months after 
my finances recover from the initial purchase i'm planning on buying a 
second one.

>b) I will use existing IDE drives so I want more than just the single
> IDE connector as most new motherboards seem to have.

You wouldn't want the specific motherboard i bought then as it only has 
one IDE connection. I was specifically trying to avoid IDE as i intend 
the machine to last long enough that IDE will hopefully be a distant 
memory by the time i retire it. I think SuperMicro makes other boards 
that have more than 1 IDE though. This board has 6 SATA connectors, 
though, which i think is quite nice. My past experience with SuperMicro 
has been that their boards Just Work. Once i botched a BIOS update on 
my old machine and SuperMicro's service was pretty good too (i called 
them and they overnight shipped me a replacement chip).

>c) I want an external firewire connector for a digital video camera.

This machine has no firewire. You'd have to add another expansion card.

>1) Is it better to find a board with two IDE connectors or is it any
> problem to add a 2,000 yen PCI card to get a couple more? (In that
> case, can I connect 6 drives or just 4?)

Adding a PCI card would work just fine. It might be easiest to boot off 
of the motherboard's built-in connector though. If the motherboard 
supports 2 drives and the PCI card 4, it should not be overly difficult 
to attach a total of 6. Make sure you get a strong power supply if you 
plan on actually putting that many hard drives into a machine, though.

>2) Same for the firewire. Any significant difference between onboard
> or an added PCI card?

I've not worked much with firewire under Linux, but would expect there 
to be no significant difference.

>3) Would I be better off with 2 identical video cards with VGA/DVI
>connections or a single card with 2 connectors? (Ideally I'd like to
> have the option to run VGA if necessary.)

Single card will probably be easier to configure, though both methods 
should be possible.

>Other than that, I'll get whatever memory & CPU the board requires.
> (Any opinions either way between AMD & Intel?)

I went with AMD because of the 45 watt CPU. And from what i understand 
of the way AMD and Intel measure power consumption, AMDs current chips 
have a higher watt number attached to them, but actually use less 
power. If i understand correctly, Intel reports the power consumption 
under a "normal" load, while AMD reports the maximum. Of course, most 
of the time in a typical desktop workstation the processor will not be 
fully loaded (unless you are running a distributed computing project) 
and so the actual power draw will usually be well under 45 watts.

If you haven't built your machine already, i hope this helps. Good luck!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake University
Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
+1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA