Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Update - OS installed and basic system is Operational
Well, it's been a couple of days since I posted - everything is going good, just somewhat time consuming. The hardware build for the basic system is complete, the OS is installed and the system is up and operational. The HTPC project though, has a ways to go yet.
The OS install was somewhat complex and time consuming, but thanks to PD the install guide he steered me to was outstanding. The install went as planned with no significant problems. The few problems I encountered were a result of my own impatience and lack of careful reading. Hooray though, it's there and it works.
I've completed 6-8 hours of stress testing and the system remains stable.
The next major task is to install the two 200GB SATA drives and implement the RAID 1 array. With help from the folks at the ABXZone and TechSupportForums, I've found that I can implement the RAID 1 array using the Intel controller ( this was my desire all along) with an ASUS BIOS upgrade to v1016. I successfully flashed the bios yesterday to v1016 using the ASUSUpdate utility.
I have a bit of a concern regarding temperatures:
With the side panel off the case:
CPU Temp is 28C at idle and 44C under load
MB Temp is 27C at idle and 29C under load
HD Temp is 37C at idle and 46C under load
With the side panel on the case:
CPU Temp is 34C at idle and ? (not tested yet)
MB Temp is 29C at idle
HD Temp is 42C at idle
The above temps are with all fans running full. Since I'm after "quiet", I would like to reduce the fan speed to reduce noise. It's quite noisy right now, and I have 2 more 7200 RPM drives to add. I don't know why all the temps are in Celcius instead of farenheit. The conversion formula is ((Cx9)/5)+32=F -- Now that's carrying the GEEKY part a little too far.
Oh Well, I'll keep testing, and will update again once the 200GB SATAs are in place.
Overall, I'm very pleased.
The OS install was somewhat complex and time consuming, but thanks to PD the install guide he steered me to was outstanding. The install went as planned with no significant problems. The few problems I encountered were a result of my own impatience and lack of careful reading. Hooray though, it's there and it works.
I've completed 6-8 hours of stress testing and the system remains stable.
The next major task is to install the two 200GB SATA drives and implement the RAID 1 array. With help from the folks at the ABXZone and TechSupportForums, I've found that I can implement the RAID 1 array using the Intel controller ( this was my desire all along) with an ASUS BIOS upgrade to v1016. I successfully flashed the bios yesterday to v1016 using the ASUSUpdate utility.
I have a bit of a concern regarding temperatures:
With the side panel off the case:
CPU Temp is 28C at idle and 44C under load
MB Temp is 27C at idle and 29C under load
HD Temp is 37C at idle and 46C under load
With the side panel on the case:
CPU Temp is 34C at idle and ? (not tested yet)
MB Temp is 29C at idle
HD Temp is 42C at idle
The above temps are with all fans running full. Since I'm after "quiet", I would like to reduce the fan speed to reduce noise. It's quite noisy right now, and I have 2 more 7200 RPM drives to add. I don't know why all the temps are in Celcius instead of farenheit. The conversion formula is ((Cx9)/5)+32=F -- Now that's carrying the GEEKY part a little too far.
Oh Well, I'll keep testing, and will update again once the 200GB SATAs are in place.
Overall, I'm very pleased.
