Small build

[LunarMist]

I'm planning to build a compact system, using parts on hand to keep costs down. I have a couple of LGA775 CPUs, various DDR2 modules, video cards and plenty of hard drives. Primarily I'm looking for a motherboard and small, reasonably quiet case that will accommodate 2 hard drives and an optical drive. I saw a tiny motherboard at Fry's one time that looked like a chopped off section of a standard board. Something like that might work.

I'm not sure if it matters, but I will want dual-boobing capability between XP and Windows 7.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[ddrueding]

dual boobs...sweet!

There are different form factors for motherboards. Take a look at these.

 

[Mercutio]

I generally find ITX too limiting, but Antec's ISK300 looks like a pretty nice enclosure overall.

Since LM wants an optical and two hard disks, I might suggest an Antec Minuet with an Intel G43 motherboard. The case is small but well built, and the motherboard is one of those sensible Intel jobs with about 80% solid caps, but also with a full set of sound ports, eSATA and DVI.

Remember to buy a CPU that supports hardware virtualization and you'll be set.

 

[P5-133XL]

I really like the ITX concept and find that for machines that are relatively low-end the compromises are well worth the limitations.

 

[LunarMist]

dual boobs...sweet!

Sorry - I must have been influenced by watching the TV.

 

[LunarMist]

I generally find ITX too limiting, but Antec's ISK300 looks like a pretty nice enclosure overall.

Since LM wants an optical and two hard disks, I might suggest an Antec Minuet with an Intel G43 motherboard. The case is small but well built, and the motherboard is one of those sensible Intel jobs with about 80% solid caps, but also with a full set of sound ports, eSATA and DVI.

Remember to buy a CPU that supports hardware virtualization and you'll be set.

I don't see that Minuet case at the NewEgg. Where do you buy it?

What is the hardware virtualization needed for? I have a couple of the C2D CPUs. One is the original model and one is the wolfberg or something.

 

[Mercutio]

I buy Antec cases from Provantage or Amazon sometimes. Amazon gives me 2-day shipping on everything, so I watch it for sales on Antec cases.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't know what to do now, as there is only one week left. All the boards have so many problems according to the NewEgg reviews.

 

[LunarMist]

Oh crap, the fan I wanted to use does not fit. What is a good fan for 775 that is not the tower style? It can be about an inch taller than the retail one.

 

[ddrueding]

The retail one is actually really good. Are you looking for better cooling or lower noise? Do you think the cooler also needs to cool other motherboard components?

 

[LunarMist]

I actually have 4 retail socket 775 coolers, still with the HS compound on them. Unfortunately I don't know which one was supplied with which CPU, but two have the copper insert and two are all aluminium.

Somehow I thought that Intel retail coolers were considered to be too loud or weak or otherwise undesirable. I've not used a retail cooler since olden {478} times, so what do I know? I'm not expecting very much heat from anything else.

 

[ddrueding]

I use them regularly, even on my higher-end builds. If the motherboard supports smart fan speed control, I wouldn't think twice. The copper-bottomed ones are better, so if you have one of those, use it.

 

[LunarMist]

If the motherboard supports smart fan speed control, I wouldn't think twice.

I don't know because the mobo is a delivery exception.

Why do they ship a 4-item order in three boxes from two locations? It's crazy arranging to pick up boxes that are supposed to be delivered on one day, yet will show up on three days.

 

[P5-133XL]

Retail fans are fine. One can usually do better but it certainly isn't necessary unless you are OC'ing.

 

[LunarMist]

Remember to buy a CPU that supports hardware virtualization and you'll be set.

The CPU is an E7200 that has been sitting unused since last year. According to the Intel it has no virtualization. I don't understand the implications - cannot boot Win7 or what??? I could replace the CPU later on, but the goal is to keep the project reasonably inexpensive.

The fan is sufficient at lower speeds and the smarter control is decent. O/C is not the greatest with the small cooler, but good enough considering real-world usage will not heat the CPU excessively.

The device manager indicates there is a Intel G45/G43 Express so the digital video is fine, at least on the 1200x1600 monitor I have here.

Now it is time to work out the HD configurations. I'm leaning toward recycled WD3000GL boot and random 1TB data drives, both backed up with a Samsung 1.5TB 5400RPM drive.

 

[LunarMist]

:cursin: The eSATA port is useless - no hot swap. So now I'll have to add a card.

 

[ddrueding]

Don't worry about the virtualization, it is future-proofing, and if you already have the CPU, you don't need to sweat it.

Make sure the SATA ports are set to AHCI or RAID mode, then it should support hot-swapping. In IDE mode you can't.

 

[LunarMist]

I tried the ACHI, but it crashes and reboots right after the logo starts.

 

[Stereodude]

I tried the ACHI, but it crashes and reboots right after the logo starts.

That's because you didn't install the OS correctly. You have to install the OS when it's set to AHCI mode and do the F6 thing, or use a WinXP disc that has the drivers integrated into it.

Or, you can roll the dice afterward and do this.

 

[MaxBurn]

Windows XP right? How about a repair install?

 

[LunarMist]

OK, I'm a dufus. I'm not sure if it is worth starting all over it after spending a few hours installing OS and many of the apps. I have not activated anything yet. The disc is the old XP32 SP2 OEM version and I don't have a floopy disc. Do I really need ACHI? I don't have it on my main system, but the 8 hot swap drives are on add-in controllers rather than on ICH 10R.

 

[LunarMist]

Or, you can roll the dice afterward and do this.

I have TI 2010 installed, so there's no risk. But damn, those instructions look complicated for a lay person.

 

[Stereodude]

AHCI does offer better performance with SSDs per some benchmarks.

 

[LunarMist]

I tried it with no luck. I'll not waste any more time. The ACHI part in the BIOS takes some seconds, certainly no less than the BIOS of a controller card. I have several of the 2/4-port SATA PCIe 1x cards lying about.

 

[LunarMist]

The computer does not display anything (black screen at POST) with a 1x PCIe card in the 16x slot. Is that normal for a system that has integrated video? Being a µATX motherboard, it has only one 1x PCIe slot so I was hoping to use the 16x as well, but not for a video card.

 

[ddrueding]

You may need to go into the BIOS and change the integrated GPU setting. Make sure it is set to "onboard" even if a card is detected. Sometimes it will disable the onboard if a card is detected.

 

[LunarMist]

Yes I did that already. Here is the board in question. I wish it had two PCIe 1x slots. I don't need the two old-fashioned PCI slots.

 

[LunarMist]

(Note) The PCI Express x16 slot share the PCI Express x16 bus with the HDMI and the DVI-D ports. When the PCI Express x16 slot is in use, the HDMI and the DVI-D ports become unavailable.

Well, f*ck me. :frusty:

 

[ddrueding]

ugh. How expensive can it be to simply add 20 more PCIe lanes on a northbridge? This seems to be a problem all over the place.

 

[Stereodude]

How can that be? Aren't the graphics integrated into the chipset. How does that need to use the PCIe bus when it's built in. What's the connection to the DVI / HDMI vs VGA?

 

[ddrueding]

It could be on-board, but not integrated?

 

[LunarMist]

I thought the G45 was integrated.

 

[LunarMist]

P 8.

 

[Stereodude]

Weird...

 

[Mercutio]

Or, you can roll the dice afterward and do this.

Technically, there's a right way to do that, but I've not invested the time in figuring out how it works. What you're really supposed to do is use the OEM Preinstall Kit to set up things like AHCI/RAID-mode devices so that Windows can recognize them.

Now that I've actually done that procedure, though, I'm pretty comfortable doing it the way the link describes. It's not as hard as it looks.

 

[LunarMist]

What you're really supposed to do is use the OEM Preinstall Kit to set up things like AHCI/RAID-mode devices so that Windows can recognize them.

Sure, but I have not a clue about that.

Now that I've actually done that procedure, though, I'm pretty comfortable doing it the way the link describes. It's not as hard as it looks.

The procedure is not difficult, but it did not work for me. Perhaps I was using the wrong registry code or driver. Did you follow the procedere for the ICH10R? The part of the thread I read was for the ICH9R.

 

[Mercutio]

Yes, I had to adapt it for the machines I had.

 

[LunarMist]

The system is finished for now since it must be shipped by Monday. There is one oddity however. It is impossible to resume from suspend mode. The computer turns on for a few seconds and then shuts off, and cycles again. The BIOS does nothing. The power supply must be turned off for a few seconds to start it again normally. The "bug" is not a big deal, but rather annoying. :frusty:

 

[LunarMist]

It may need a better heat sink. Temps for the two cores are 58/63 °C at 76% CPU after about 20 minutes and 5-7 °C higher at 100%. Is that OK?

 

[Mercutio]

It may need a better heat sink. Temps for the two cores are 58/63 °C at 76% CPU after about 20 minutes and 5-7 °C higher at 100%. Is that OK?

Actually, it's acceptable. It's not ideal, but you're well below what the CPU can tolerate.

And for what it's worth, I have yet to encounter hardware that will properly hibernate or suspend and resume under Windows 100% of the time. My Thinkpads under Win7 don't resume maybe one time in six, and under XP/Server 2003 maybe one time in 10.