[shifuimam]

And here it is booting for the first(ish) time ever:



I don't know what the heatsinks are like in the Mac Pros, but the Intel heatsink I had to install was a real bitch to get attached correctly. I didn't have it seated properly the first time I booted up, so the BIOS was reporting my CPU running at 185 F! I got it seated properly and am now averaging 95 F on each of the two cores.

The case I got is freaking awesome. It's the GMC R-2 Toast. The ODD sits vertically at the front of the case, so that the drive pops up...just like a piece of toast. Plus, it's bright blue, and I've always been a sucker for color on crap I buy.

This is the first machine I've 100% built from scratch. I'm really happy with it. Now I just need to spend the next week installing all my crap on it and getting my old machine configured to run as a file server. Hooray for new geek toys!

[Big Mac]

Congrats. Are you going to Hackintosh it?

[Maflynn]

Nice setup, what's the specs?

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Congrats. Are you going to Hackintosh it?

If I ever used dual-booting, I might, but I've discovered that no matter what other OSes I have installed, I just don't reboot often enough to do a dual-boot setup.

I do, however, have a Hackintoshed VMWare Virtual Machine, plus my PowerMac G4 sits right next to this thing at my desk, so I can switch into it pretty easily.

Originally Posted by Maflynn 

Nice setup, what's the specs?

• Intel 2.66GHz Dual Core (BF upgraded his machine to a quad core, so I got his old processor)
• System drive is a 10k RPM 74GB WD Raptor
• Data drive is a 7200RPM 320GB WD something (pulled it from my Acer HTPC)
• 2GB (2x1GB) Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 RAM (I'll probably add another 2GB soon)
• ODD is a SATA LightScribe-capable DVD-RW that I got from the boyfriend's machine (my PATA drive was a little too long to fit in the case)
• Motherboard is an Asus P5Q SE/R...I'm very happy with that choice. Lots of headers on the board for stuff, and a 1066MHz FSB. Also supports some overclocking.
• XFX nVidia GEForce 9500GT 512MB DDR3 VRAM video card

Total cost (after rebates on the motherboard and the case) was under $400. I saved a lot by getting the processor essentially for free. I splurged a little on the hard drive and the video card. I don't need SLI capability and I'm not a heavy gamer, but it was a good price for the card and it's got a lifetime warranty, so I figured I might as well buy high now to avoid having to upgrade for awhile. The Raptor was $100...also a bit of a splurge, but I should see some decent performance boost from it. I hope.

My old machine is getting Windows Server 2003 and is going to be our central file server. We also got a couple Netgear ProSafe five-port gigabit switches and are doing wired LAN in the living room and office on all our gigabit machines, so data speeds on the LAN for file sharing should be plenty fast.

[Salty]

I'm debating building my own comp soon/this summer. Sounds like a fun project and I'm sure I'd learn a lot

[Mac User #001]

It really is, and you do learn a lot. I don't know exactly how much you know, so I'll point you to this if you need/want help. I used the sites first Hardware Confusion article and it helped me out quite a bit. You really learn the workings of your computer and become more able to fix problems that may arise yourself.

As for Shif, you've got a pretty decent computer there, nice. That TV should be sweet! I still have an old tube, so haven't even bothered attaching my computer to it. But if or when I upgrade my TV, I'll make that one of my priorities.
Oh, and your case makes me a bit jealous!

[Maflynn]

I used to do that a lot, in fact I used to work at a computer store building computers, back in the 286/386/486 days. I've done it so much, that I'm pretty much done with that, more so now that apple has gone to the intel platform, there's less of a need for me to have an actual physical pc, vmware does it all for me.

[goMac]

I built my own back when it was obvious Intel was skewering everybody else (including Apple/PowerPC). When Apple went to Intel 6 months later, I switched back.

Something about the Mac Pro, it's just such a solid machine... (Yeah, I know it's much more expensive...)

Although to be fair, my machine at first had an ECS motherboard, which majorly contributed to suckage. The mobo died after a bit, and I got an Intel "Bad Axe" mobo, and boy, does Intel know how to do mobos...

[shifuimam]

I just had it on the tv to test it ( I had to assemble it in the living room to keep the cats out). My normal setup is with a couple cheap 17" LCDs.

My 400sc lasted more than 4 years before I upgraded... I expect to keep this as my main machine for awhile.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

[*]ODD is a SATA LightScribe-capable DVD-RW that I got from the boyfriend's machine (my PATA drive was a little too long to fit in the case)

Wow, he gave you an optical drive this early in the relationship? As someone that often peruses the internet, I have an opinion on this matter and its implications towards your dating relationship, and my opinion MUST be heard.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Wow, he gave you an optical drive this early in the relationship? As someone that often peruses the internet, I have an opinion on this matter and its implications towards your dating relationship, and my opinion MUST be heard.

I dated a girl once whose iBook was missing a key. So a few months in I bought her a new one and presented it to her in a wedding ring case... It was almost worth seeing the shock on her face until she opened it... (and she was glad it wasn't a wedding ring...)

It was actually the U key she was missing, so from then on she called it the "I love U" key...

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Wow, he gave you an optical drive this early in the relationship? As someone that often peruses the internet, I have an opinion on this matter and its implications towards your dating relationship, and my opinion MUST be heard.

The Spaghetti Monster (RAMEN), has a clear pronouncement on such things. You may share install disks early on the relationship, but actual optical drives is a no-no.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Wow, he gave you an optical drive this early in the relationship? As someone that often peruses the internet, I have an opinion on this matter and its implications towards your dating relationship, and my opinion MUST be heard.

Well, at least you made me LOL.

On the inside.

He had a second burner from another machine, anyhow...it's a nice one, too. It's IDE, but he rarely burns anything.

Plus it's already come in handy to have my ODD be SATA - there's an opening on the underside of the faceplate where I can reach in there and unplug the cables so that I can plug in a SATA hard drive without cracking open the case.

There's a coverplate for the ODD slot, but it's not designed to be mounted on the drive tray itself. My next goal is to mod that so that when the drive is closed, it looks like there's no drive at all.

[angelmb]

shif, what's that purple/blue piece of furniture at the right margin of the pict? (Wiifit is under it) Looks too cool to be a table.

[Stogieman]

Is that a mac mini docking station in front of the case?

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I don't know what the heatsinks are like in the Mac Pros, but the Intel heatsink I had to install was a real bitch to get attached correctly. I didn't have it seated properly the first time I booted up, so the BIOS was reporting my CPU running at 185 F! I got it seated properly and am now averaging 95 F on each of the two cores.

Nice machine!

Intel stock C2D heatsinks are the worst design- such great processors, and yet such a crappy plastic-tab mess for the heatsink. It's the one thing AMD does better. Ironically, dual processor 771 boards are a lot easier to install- the heatsinks logically screw into place with connectors under the board.

[Cipher13]

Honestly, I'd be tempted to replace the stock HS with an Ultima 90 or Xigmatec HDT-1283 or something.

Been meaning to do that to mine for ages... Australian summers kill CPUs.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by Cipher13 

Honestly, I'd be tempted to replace the stock HS with an Ultima 90 or Xigmatec HDT-1283 or something.

Been meaning to do that to mine for ages... Australian summers kill CPUs.

You don't have air conditioning?

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by angelmb 

shif, what's that purple/blue piece of furniture at the right margin of the pict? (Wiifit is under it) Looks too cool to be a table.

It's one of these:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20078234

In blue. It's awesome when you're using a laptop on the couch or whatever.

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Is that a mac mini docking station in front of the case?

Nope. The optical drive ejects vertically into that white area. Hence the name of the case...the toast.

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

Nice machine!

Intel stock C2D heatsinks are the worst design- such great processors, and yet such a crappy plastic-tab mess for the heatsink. It's the one thing AMD does better. Ironically, dual processor 771 boards are a lot easier to install- the heatsinks logically screw into place with connectors under the board.

I don't think I'd like that so much, considering I install the motherboard before attaching anything to it.

I liked my 400SC's configuration..after you put the heatsink on the processor, there was just a clip that went around it to secure it. Easy and painless. This one was a real bitch to install.

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

It's one of these:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20078234

In blue. It's awesome when you're using a laptop on the couch or whatever.

Thanks, really nice.