- Joined
- Jun 7, 2003
- Location
- N.Billerica, MA
Hello,
I'm in the process of designing a new rig to replace my current rather stone age setup. I'm not an overclocker, but I've been getting a great deal of info from this and some of the other OC forums. This board has been one of the most informative, and I want to start by thanking all those who've made it such a great resource.
My needs are a bit different from what I've seen most expressing, so my system (which I've mostly figured out) will seem a bit odd, but has been chosen to meet my needs. (a multi user Linux workstation/server) The design is based in large part on ESR's 'Ultimate Linux Box' and the recomendations from the authors of O'Reilly's 'PC Hardware in a Nutshell'.
It isn't why I'm writing, but comments on the hardware are welcome.
I am planning on a full tower case, with a Tyan Thunder K7X or K7X Pro mobo, (dual Athlon, with the fastest Athlon MP's that are reasonably priced)1 Gig of RAM. Probably staying with the embedded video (4mb ATI Rage) An IDE DVD multi format burner (Probably Sony DRU 500A) and a seperate DVD/CD reader. Hard drives will be Seagate SCSI U160 10 or 15K Cheetahs.
Audio is a bit up in the air. I don't want to go Creative, as I've seen lots of reports of odd problems with their stuff under Linux. I don't want anything fancy, as I don't do much audio. I've heard lots of reccomendations for the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, but that seems overkill.
Even though I'm not going to OC the system, I've been convinced that I need to watercool if I don't want to listen to a jet engine. Since I think my existing P-200 is overly noisy, it was a no-brainer to decide to go hydraulic.
Now for my questions...
I'm planning to make my own waterblocks, both to save money and for the learning experience. Ditto most of the rest of the plumbing, and my questions relate to that. I've read many of the posts and articles here and elsewhere and haven't found answers to the following. I would be grateful for either answers or pointers to additional references.
1. What is the best way to route the plumbing for a dual processor board? I don't think it would be good to go from one CPU to the other, so should I branch the feeds? If so, what is the best way to build a manifold so that both CPU's will get about the same amount of water? I also see a few other things I might want to cool (Drives, other chips, etc.) but probably with a smaller line. Should I have additional branches for them, or put them in line with the CPU's?
1A. What size should I look for in a rad given the two CPU's and hot drives? I'm thinking in terms of a hanging heater core off the back of the case, with the system fans blowing out through it Is this a good plan? Currently I'm guessing on needing about 6" x 9" with two fans going through it based on using something twice as big as I see being used on single CPU systems.
2. I've gotten the Cooling Manual from the AMD website, but haven't had much luck figuring out all the dimensions for the WB's. I would like to use the 4 bolt method of attaching the WB, but I may have to use clips as I don't know if the Tyan mobo's have the holes (I can't see them in the board pictures, and the manuals don't say either way). Assuming I use clips, what are the dimensions of the base, and how does that relate to where the clip pressure point is supposed to be? If I can use the 4 bolt method, what is the spacing on the holes, and how do they relate to the base?
3. Judging from the pictures in the manuals, the Tyan mobo only has one chip with a heat sink on it (Possibly the Northbridge?) and that has no fan. How likely is that chip to need extra cooling? Would it work to just jam appropriate size copper tubing in between the fins, or should I make another real WB for it?
4. What is the optimal placement for thermocouples to monitor the system? Can anyone suggest a good monitor setup with LOTS of inputs for one display? (I've seen a thing called Digital Doctor which claims to have 8 inputs, is this a good unit, or is there something better?)
5. How about cooling the hard drives? I can see making a flat plate WB for the cover side, but how does one cool the controller board side (or is that needed if the cover side is cooled? I'm not sure what gets hot on a hard drive) How about the DVD burner, will that need cooling?
6. Ideally, I'd like to end up with no more fans than the Power supply, one or two on the radiator, and possibly a couple to pressurize the case. Is that reasonable, or am I being over ambitious?
Sorry for being so long winded, but I wanted to get it all out. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Gooserider (atorrey at cybercom dot net)
I'm in the process of designing a new rig to replace my current rather stone age setup. I'm not an overclocker, but I've been getting a great deal of info from this and some of the other OC forums. This board has been one of the most informative, and I want to start by thanking all those who've made it such a great resource.
My needs are a bit different from what I've seen most expressing, so my system (which I've mostly figured out) will seem a bit odd, but has been chosen to meet my needs. (a multi user Linux workstation/server) The design is based in large part on ESR's 'Ultimate Linux Box' and the recomendations from the authors of O'Reilly's 'PC Hardware in a Nutshell'.
It isn't why I'm writing, but comments on the hardware are welcome.
I am planning on a full tower case, with a Tyan Thunder K7X or K7X Pro mobo, (dual Athlon, with the fastest Athlon MP's that are reasonably priced)1 Gig of RAM. Probably staying with the embedded video (4mb ATI Rage) An IDE DVD multi format burner (Probably Sony DRU 500A) and a seperate DVD/CD reader. Hard drives will be Seagate SCSI U160 10 or 15K Cheetahs.
Audio is a bit up in the air. I don't want to go Creative, as I've seen lots of reports of odd problems with their stuff under Linux. I don't want anything fancy, as I don't do much audio. I've heard lots of reccomendations for the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, but that seems overkill.
Even though I'm not going to OC the system, I've been convinced that I need to watercool if I don't want to listen to a jet engine. Since I think my existing P-200 is overly noisy, it was a no-brainer to decide to go hydraulic.
Now for my questions...
I'm planning to make my own waterblocks, both to save money and for the learning experience. Ditto most of the rest of the plumbing, and my questions relate to that. I've read many of the posts and articles here and elsewhere and haven't found answers to the following. I would be grateful for either answers or pointers to additional references.
1. What is the best way to route the plumbing for a dual processor board? I don't think it would be good to go from one CPU to the other, so should I branch the feeds? If so, what is the best way to build a manifold so that both CPU's will get about the same amount of water? I also see a few other things I might want to cool (Drives, other chips, etc.) but probably with a smaller line. Should I have additional branches for them, or put them in line with the CPU's?
1A. What size should I look for in a rad given the two CPU's and hot drives? I'm thinking in terms of a hanging heater core off the back of the case, with the system fans blowing out through it Is this a good plan? Currently I'm guessing on needing about 6" x 9" with two fans going through it based on using something twice as big as I see being used on single CPU systems.
2. I've gotten the Cooling Manual from the AMD website, but haven't had much luck figuring out all the dimensions for the WB's. I would like to use the 4 bolt method of attaching the WB, but I may have to use clips as I don't know if the Tyan mobo's have the holes (I can't see them in the board pictures, and the manuals don't say either way). Assuming I use clips, what are the dimensions of the base, and how does that relate to where the clip pressure point is supposed to be? If I can use the 4 bolt method, what is the spacing on the holes, and how do they relate to the base?
3. Judging from the pictures in the manuals, the Tyan mobo only has one chip with a heat sink on it (Possibly the Northbridge?) and that has no fan. How likely is that chip to need extra cooling? Would it work to just jam appropriate size copper tubing in between the fins, or should I make another real WB for it?
4. What is the optimal placement for thermocouples to monitor the system? Can anyone suggest a good monitor setup with LOTS of inputs for one display? (I've seen a thing called Digital Doctor which claims to have 8 inputs, is this a good unit, or is there something better?)
5. How about cooling the hard drives? I can see making a flat plate WB for the cover side, but how does one cool the controller board side (or is that needed if the cover side is cooled? I'm not sure what gets hot on a hard drive) How about the DVD burner, will that need cooling?
6. Ideally, I'd like to end up with no more fans than the Power supply, one or two on the radiator, and possibly a couple to pressurize the case. Is that reasonable, or am I being over ambitious?
Sorry for being so long winded, but I wanted to get it all out. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Gooserider (atorrey at cybercom dot net)