Wooden Case and HAL 900 Mod

[Gulp35]

their project logs are beginning on my site, linked below, but right now are only picture galleries, feel free to look around, please don't knock on the pics, I can't hold a camera steady to save my life.

https://home.comcast.net/~gulp35/computer/

Please post comments and critiques about the mods and the site.

I should Have my WC'd PC60 up pretty soon but working on the wood case and geting HAL done before college is getting hectic.


UPDATE:
Just finished up the Wooden Case Computer's Twin, The 4U Twin CPU Heavyweight. What I am really proud about though is the wiring job. My 8RDA+ in the PC-60 has all of its connectors down near the Hard-drives so that there is always a "rat's nest" down there. Gaze upon these...


UPDATE (part Deux):
You will probably find a more up to date post of mine in the worklog section of forums.Bit-tech.net , Hardforums.com, or ocforums.com

[CYberDruid]

What a beast! I'm planning a dual CPU build right now so your post was very helpful. I am trying to decide between Xeon or Opteron--it seems AMD has the edge--what do you think?
I plan to watercool and OC the monster so is Tyan good for OCing? Thanks!

[Gulp35]

I got a really good deal on those opterons (500USD For the Mobo and chips) so in that way I definately think that Opterons have the edge (Hint: you may want to look on ebay for good prices *i.e. half off of retail*)

The Tyan can't OC at all. That is the main downside of the board (besides not having AGP or PCI-Express * PCI-X is not PCI-Express*) I have heard that the Asus NForce4 server board (K8N-DL i think) can overclock a little, but it is nothing like the DFI.

If you are going to overclock try to get the newer cored Chips (i.e Winchester or Venice)

[Gulp35]

OK, So I finished up the GPU Cooling today for my HAL 9000 Mod. And all I've got to show for it are these two lousy pictures.




For those that want to do a similar mod I have three bits of advice:
1) cut the first mounting hole, then line up the second hole
2) Don't use a drill to cut out the fins
3) check if your GPU clears the shim by covering it and the shim with TIM then place and remove the HSF. If the core does not make a good mark, draw around that area w/ a marker, wipe off the TIM and dremel off the interferance. Luckily it seems that the 9800 Series' GPU DOES clear the Shim so no gorging of the HSF is needed.