Got my box last night. Very impressive how small this unit really is! Still waiting on a few parts to get this thing up and running, but I am quite excited about it.
I got my box running last night. Damn nice little system! It's not a hardcore gaming rig or anything, but it still kicks ass!
Does the retail fan that comes with the P4 cpu's fit in this case?
Mer.
*EDIT* Nevermind... I see it comes with a special low profile HSF.
Mer.
*EDIT* Nevermind... I see it comes with a special low profile HSF.
Wonder whay the black cases cost $20 more than the silver cases? I'm not seeing any difference in the hardware config.
The black ones just weren't on sale. Maybe the other colors weren't moving.... I would have chosen black, but I wanted to use the 20 bucks elsewhere.
Also, check this HDD for the computer:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-146-036&depa=1
A 7200 rpm designed for constant use as in for a blade server or computer like this or a desktop replacement laptop. I got one of these on the way as well as a slim dvd/cd burner. I just hope the hdd it isn't loud...
The computer sitting on my desk empty is killing me, but I just didn't plan right and get all the stuff I needed right up front.
Also, check this HDD for the computer:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-146-036&depa=1
A 7200 rpm designed for constant use as in for a blade server or computer like this or a desktop replacement laptop. I got one of these on the way as well as a slim dvd/cd burner. I just hope the hdd it isn't loud...
The computer sitting on my desk empty is killing me, but I just didn't plan right and get all the stuff I needed right up front.
This thing does not have a cpu? All it has is a mother board ZPCgx type and the special man make case?
It's barebones, so it doesn't have CPU, RAM, HD, or cd-rom.
The black ones are more because they're black--that's it. It seems that black stuff just costs more sometimes.
The black ones are more because they're black--that's it. It seems that black stuff just costs more sometimes.
Glad to hear! (Or not hear, as the case may be. <g>) It's gonna be a while before there's enough (ahem) "disposable income" around here to pick one up. Looks really sweet though.
Ya the only hitch if you can call it that was that the XP install loaded a driver for the network card and said it was working ok, but the sucker didn't work. This took an extra minute as I futzed with it a little and then decided to install the driver supplied on the cd that came with the case.
The readme on the driver cd mentioned that XP would load the wrong driver and to load the one from the CD. After that I was working like a champ.
The fan is variable speed as well (like most other SFF designs) so it works well with operating systems that have the System Idle Process or related cpu cooling programs that shut down portions of the CPU when it is not needed to save heat. (Win98 wouldn't be a good OS for this case because it doesn't do this unless you install a 3rd party program to do it.)
I installed the United Devices Cancer client on my rig to see how loud it would get with a full load. The fan did speed up, but the noise was reasonable. I don't plan to run that kind of load on this computer full time though.
The CPU temp stays at around 104 degrees under light load with the cpu fan spinning at around 2000 rpms.
I am also looking at the possibility of letting it allocate more shared memory to the video, as it defaults to 8 megs for video. I haven't found that setting in the BIOS as yet.
My totals for this if anyone is interrested:
179 for the case
80 for 512 megs of DDR
130 for a slim toshiba DVDRW
140 for a 40 gig 7200 RPM 2.5 inch drive by hitachi
75 for a 2 gig P4 from the FS forum
Total damage= 604
Not the cheapest solution for a budget, but it is a neat setup and I could have saved by going with some lesser items. I plan to use this as my main home computer, replacing my excellent Dell 400sc which will be replacing the aging living room server.
The readme on the driver cd mentioned that XP would load the wrong driver and to load the one from the CD. After that I was working like a champ.
The fan is variable speed as well (like most other SFF designs) so it works well with operating systems that have the System Idle Process or related cpu cooling programs that shut down portions of the CPU when it is not needed to save heat. (Win98 wouldn't be a good OS for this case because it doesn't do this unless you install a 3rd party program to do it.)
I installed the United Devices Cancer client on my rig to see how loud it would get with a full load. The fan did speed up, but the noise was reasonable. I don't plan to run that kind of load on this computer full time though.
The CPU temp stays at around 104 degrees under light load with the cpu fan spinning at around 2000 rpms.
I am also looking at the possibility of letting it allocate more shared memory to the video, as it defaults to 8 megs for video. I haven't found that setting in the BIOS as yet.
My totals for this if anyone is interrested:
179 for the case
80 for 512 megs of DDR
130 for a slim toshiba DVDRW
140 for a 40 gig 7200 RPM 2.5 inch drive by hitachi
75 for a 2 gig P4 from the FS forum
Total damage= 604
Not the cheapest solution for a budget, but it is a neat setup and I could have saved by going with some lesser items. I plan to use this as my main home computer, replacing my excellent Dell 400sc which will be replacing the aging living room server.
chuck2002, you said the system defaults to only 8 megs for video? Where did you see this? I'm running Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament on it just fine. Are you talking about it showing 504 megs of ram in the system properties or is something else showing 8 megs for video?
Ya that, and also Sisoft utilities say 8 megs video.
I looked through the BIOS and manual and didn't see anywhere that I could bump up the memory allocation.
The 8 megs is working fine for me as well, tho I am not playing any games on mine. I am happy with the video performance even if it can't be bumped up past the 8 megs.
My rig is still cooking right along. Ripping DVDs and burning like a champ along with other multitasks.
My only minor issue is that I wish the CPU fan speed would be a little more constant. It fluctuates speed every 3 seconds it seems.
I looked through the BIOS and manual and didn't see anywhere that I could bump up the memory allocation.
The 8 megs is working fine for me as well, tho I am not playing any games on mine. I am happy with the video performance even if it can't be bumped up past the 8 megs.
My rig is still cooking right along. Ripping DVDs and burning like a champ along with other multitasks.
My only minor issue is that I wish the CPU fan speed would be a little more constant. It fluctuates speed every 3 seconds it seems.
My fan does the same thing. I notice it changing fairly often. Is it set up to respond to temperature changes possibly? Or maybe just a crappy fan? Who knows. I love the system though. My old desktop was a celeron 500 with 128 megs of ram so this is quite a jump up. I hadn't updated my system for 4 years.
chuck2002, my display adapter shows as 64megs in the display properties. I'm not sure what the deal is there but I believe it or I don't think Quake 3 arena or Unreal Tournament would run very well. They both run pretty well though!
Anonemous, I'm not sure about that stuff but it's done everything I've thrown at it just fine.
Anonemous, I'm not sure about that stuff but it's done everything I've thrown at it just fine.
I got the following info from going under advanced properties of the display settings, then the Intel tab, then the Graphics Properties button, then the Information Tab, the View Report.
From what you have said, it looks like it might dynamically assign memory, but I don't really know much about this chipset....
All I know is that I didn't set it to 16 anywhere.
INTEL(R) EXTREME GRAPHICS REPORT
Report Date: 05/31/2004
Report Time[hr:mm:ss]: 10:11:56
Driver Version: 6.13.10.3510
Operating System: Windows NT* 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1
Default Language: English
DirectX* Version: 9.0
Physical Memory: 503 MB
Min. Graphics Memory: 8 MB
Max. Graphics Memory: 64 MB
Graphics Memory in use: 16 MB
Processor: x86
Processor Speed: 2261 MHZ
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Device ID: 0x2562
Device Revision: 3
* Output Devices Connected to Graphics Accelerator *
Active Monitors:1
From what you have said, it looks like it might dynamically assign memory, but I don't really know much about this chipset....
All I know is that I didn't set it to 16 anywhere.
INTEL(R) EXTREME GRAPHICS REPORT
Report Date: 05/31/2004
Report Time[hr:mm:ss]: 10:11:56
Driver Version: 6.13.10.3510
Operating System: Windows NT* 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1
Default Language: English
DirectX* Version: 9.0
Physical Memory: 503 MB
Min. Graphics Memory: 8 MB
Max. Graphics Memory: 64 MB
Graphics Memory in use: 16 MB
Processor: x86
Processor Speed: 2261 MHZ
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Device ID: 0x2562
Device Revision: 3
* Output Devices Connected to Graphics Accelerator *
Active Monitors:1
Ya it has got to be dynamic then.... I took a quick peek @ the chipset on intel's site and didn't find anything before getting side tracked. I think that's a neat feature if it is dynamic in some way though. Frees up system memory when the graphics card doesn't need it.
yup you hit it on the head:
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/chipsets/graphics/index.htm?iid=ipp_desk_chip+prod_845gv_ex&
"Dynamically allocates graphics memory as needed to balance memory usage among the operating system, applications, and graphics."
Pretty cool stuff.
This appears to be a game compatibility list if anyone is interested:
http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-010470.htm
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/chipsets/graphics/index.htm?iid=ipp_desk_chip+prod_845gv_ex&
"Dynamically allocates graphics memory as needed to balance memory usage among the operating system, applications, and graphics."
Pretty cool stuff.
This appears to be a game compatibility list if anyone is interested:
http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-010470.htm
No problem. You know, I think this setup throttles the cpu fan too. I was noticing today that the temp was around 40C and the fan speed was around 1800-2100 rpms. I then started doing a lot more stuff, the cpu temp hit 50C(damn) and the fan speed was then around 2300-2600 rpms. Pretty interesting huh?
Ya it definately does that. I ran the United devices Cancer client on mine right after setting it up and it was working that fan hard. I decided to avoid doing that on this computer because of the heat and the noise.
I have been running it with the case off the last couple of days to see how hot things are getting and that 7200 RPM hard drive I put in here gets smokin hot.
Course, I have been ripping and burning DVDs on this sucker like crazy... I doubt the designers figured it would get worked that hard. Oh well, it has been able to keep up just fine, running nice and stable and I'm happy as a clam with it.
I have been running it with the case off the last couple of days to see how hot things are getting and that 7200 RPM hard drive I put in here gets smokin hot.
Course, I have been ripping and burning DVDs on this sucker like crazy... I doubt the designers figured it would get worked that hard. Oh well, it has been able to keep up just fine, running nice and stable and I'm happy as a clam with it.
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