Ubuntu Desktop

I just did a system upgrade to my Ubuntu computer. I had an old Dell Optiplex GX-150 that had an 866mhz Coppermine processor in it.  I took that proc out and placed it in the Linux box.  I also changed out the Cd-Rom drive for a DVD-Rom drive and placed more RAM into the box as well.  It had a 1gig Celeron and it was slow. The 866 is much faster and more responsive than the Celeron.  I will give more updates as I play with the box more.

 

RMStringer

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"We are all geniuses when we dream"

- E.M. Cioran

 

I TB Drive...

Remember when a 2 GIG drive was BIG?

Read This!!!

Struggling for to store all those photos, videos and music files? Philips might have the solution, with the launch of the SPD5130 external hard drive, packing in one terabyte of storage.
The new drive features an ultra-fast eSATA interface that is six times quicker than USB 2.0 and a small footprint, due to it beings a single-disk unit, as opposed to the double-drive devices usually seen with this capacity. There's also a 32MB buffer for reliable transfer, an extra thick shell for quietness and a suspension system that protects from knocks.

One terabyte, if you're not sure, should store around one million photos, 250,000 songs or six weeks of uncompressed video. It will be available to buy in Europe and the US in May, priced at the equivalent of 449 Euros.

What is your opinion?

Funny Spoofs...

All of you know that i am not a big I-Products person. Tonight i found a few more funny Apple spoofs as well as some other funny stuff. I hope that you like them...

What is your opinion?

More Computer Sutff...

This is what my tower looks like.

It is a Soho File Server Plus case by Antec.

I also have enclosed a Mechnicial drawing of the tower as well.

So today, I took the fan that was on the side of the tower (80MM Blue) which had been blowing out as to evacuate the hot air from the inside. I turned it around which made the fan blow into the case. This made more air cool the Motherboard and RAM as well. I have 2 fans in the front holders that force air in from the outside, and two (80mm Blue) fans blowing out the back of the case.

My power supply is an Antec 480 watt True Power supply. It has a 120mm fan and an 80mm fan built into it.

So with the power supply that is a total of seven fans in the case. Also my GeForce 6200 has a built in fan on its GPU as well as my AMD processor has a fan (50mm) on it. Having said all of this, I found that my system HD (40gig WD) was running very hot! It was around 126F and that is very hot to run a drive. The main reason is that the bay that it is in does not have a fan associated with it.

So, I crammed a fan into the case in between some IDE cables and it is set to blow onto that drive. I am going to do some moving around of some drives next week and place it in the lower bay that has a fan set in the front of it. The temp went from 126F to about 115F in about 10 mins.

Anoter interesting observation, 2 nights ago, I had the side fan blowing inward; the Motherboard temp went down to about 93F!! When I turned it around where the air was blowing out, the temp went up to 101F. So, I turned it around today and the temp has gone back down.

It has become very clear that cooling is of paramount importance when running a High-End computer. I hope that this gives some of you insight as to cooling designs that can be done in one type of an after-market computer case. Also, I am using the Speed Fan app to monitor all of these specs.

Tell Me What You Think...

Computer Tools...

All the time great apps are created for computers. Some help you check for system errors, while others help you monitor such things as Temp and Fan speeds or Voltage on your motherboard.

One such app that I have used before and that I am now using is called Speed Fan. It is a Freeware prog meaning that you do not have to purchase it from the designer. All motherboards are designed with sensors as well as most Hard Drives that will monitor Temp, speed and voltage. Here is a screen shot of the app:


While using this prog, I found some Temperature issues with some of my Hard Drives. I have made some configuration changes and in doing so, have lowered the temps to the Good Spec range. I will be doing some more reporting about this app as time goes by and i make more adjustments. In my opinion, if you run a High-End computer like me, it only makes sence to run this app to monitor your computer. Here is a download link for the prog.
Speed Fan

From the Creator: Alfredo Milani Comparetti
"If you need a tool that can change your computer's fan speeds, read the temperatures of your motherboard and your hard disk, read voltages and fan speeds and check the status of your hard disk using S.M.A.R.T. or SCSI attributes, then you came to the right place. SpeedFan is the software to go. It is fully configurable and you can create custom events to handle every situation in an automated way. SpeedFan works under Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003 XP. If you are planning a hardware upgrade and would like to move to Vista, consider that SpeedFan is compatible with it too. The 32 bit version works fine. For the 64 bit version I need to purchase the driver signing certificate, but I already made tests and SpeedFan works fine on it too. And this all costs you absolutely nothing! "

All I want to say to the creator is Thank You very much for this new version!!

Tell Me What You Think...

New Toys...

All of this is on my Main Workstation. Well, I said that I was going to post some links to my new gear. Here is the first link. I purchased a Viewsonic 22'' LCD HD display for my computer. I am TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY by the quality and clarity. It is so CLEAR and CRISP. I am running straight DMI (Digital) signal to it using my NvidiaGEForce 6200 video card (128mbDDR, 8xAGP).

I also purchased (2) 320gig WD Caviar® SE16. They are SMOKING FAST!!!!!! Also I bought my new Logitech mouse, the Logitech® MX™ Revolution!!! I love it. It is a very smooth flowing mouse and the Scroll Wheel is amazing. My last purchase was a 4gig Cruzer Micro. It is nice and LARGE!!

The rest of my hardware set-up is as follows:
MOBO - DFI Ultra Infinity II 366FSB
PROC - AMD 3000+XP OC from 2.1 GHz to 2.3 GHz
Power - ANTEC 480w True Gold
CASE - ANTEC Soho FileServer Plus
Fans: (3) 80mm Blue light, (2)80mm black, (1) 120mm on PS and (1)80MM on back of PS
(1)40mm on Processor
HD: (2) 320gig SATA
(1) 100gig SATA
(1) 160gig EIDE
(1) 80gig EIDE(Swapable)
(1) 40gig EIDE (System)
Total Capacity: 1.02 TB
RAM: (2) 512meg DDR (Dual Channel Enabled)
(1) 256meg DDR

(1) NEC 8x 2500a +/- DVD/CD burner with flashed Firmware to a Dual-Layer 8x DVD burnerwith no RIPloc or Region Code.

(1) Hitachi DVD-Rom

(1) Belkin 7 port 2.0 USB hub

I welcome Comments to my BLOG.