InactiveX's BP6

Cool cases? Different resistors? More airflow? Show us...
Post Reply
InactiveX
BeOS Forever
Posts: 1385
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:25 am
Location: UK

InactiveX's BP6

Post by InactiveX »

Finally, after a few weeks of broken promises and general life getting in the way, may I proudly present to you my BP6 in it's modded case.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bp6.com/board/album_personal.php?user_id=10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before I outline the modifications I have done, a little about my BP6 computer:

2 x Celeron 366Mhz @ 500MHz
ABit BP6 Motherboard
768MB PQI PC133 RAM
Promise TX2 Ultra ATA/100 Controller
Quantum Fireball 40GB ATA/100 7200RPM HDD
Pioneer DVD-ROM DVD-500M DVD
Mitsumi CR-4804TE CD-RW
Netgear EA201 NIC
Creative 3D Blaster TNT2 Ultra
Creative SoundBlaster Live! Value
Creative External ModemBlaster
MS IntelliMouse With IntelliEye
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
2 x GlobalWin FEP32M CPU Cooler
GlobalWin LAC08 Northbridge Cooler
3 x 80mm Intake Fans
2 x 80mm Exhaust Fan (One With 4 Blue LEDs)
1500uF 6.3V Capacitor at EC10
Meridian 300W PSU

This computer has been running BeOS almost exclusively for over a year now, and was running Windows NT derivatives in the 3 previous years. If you're interested, I jumped the MS ship because of their unethical business practices, and was pleasantly surprised by the responsiveness and stability of BeOS. Today I would use nothing else. But that's a different story...

OK, the case is a Cooler Master ATC 710-GX2 based on the standard Chieftec chassis that you see a lot of these days. It is very easy to work with, and includes quick-release drive rails for the 5.25 inch bays. It is supplied without a window, PSU or cooling fans. The blue power LED is particularly bright and eye-catching.

I would love to say that I installed the window myself, but I'd be lying. I bought a whole replacement side panel which had a window pre-installed by Chieftec, and included an 80mm intake fan which blows cool air over the GPU. The finish is extremely professional, and was sent with a protective plastic sheet. I have attempted my own case-mods before, but my dremel skills are worse than useless. Some will say it's cheating, but I'm just not cut out to cut out. :-)

The blue LED fan is a perfect compliment to the case's power LED. The fan has a speed control, and is set to the slowest setting. All the other fans are run on a reduced 7V supply (they are rated for 12V). This quietens the noise significantly, while making negligable difference to cooling efficiency. See http://people.freenet.de/s.urfer/7vtrick.htm for more information on the "7V Trick".

The video card has a Blue Orb cooler attached to it with Arctic Silver thermal epoxy. It was originally used to cool the BX northbridge chip, but it fell off. I then realised the contact surface was far from flat, so I lapped the Orb before fixing it to the GPU. The original cooler from my video card was then attached to the Emu10K chip on my soundcard, which I noticed had been getting very hot.

All in all, the case offers excellent ventilation. My CPUs average at 34 degrees celsius under normal load, and anywhere up to 55 degrees celcius under extreme load. Due to the excellent SMP optimisations of BeOS, the CPU temps are always within 1 degree of one another.The 2x80mm front intake fans cool my hard disk drive, and the 2x80mm rear exhaust fans draw out the hot air from near the top of the case.

The case and replacement side panel were purchased from www.overclockers.co.uk with whom I have dealt with many times in the past and can wholeheartedly recommend to UK purchasers. The case costs £90.53 (UK) and the side panel £34.08 (UK).

I hope you are inspired by my tricked-out BP6, and maybe some of you will attempt something a bit out of the ordinary and post the results on BP6.com.

InactiveX.

(Thanks to Sam Lane for taking the photographs.)
Derek
Site Admin
Posts: 2489
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 3:55 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by Derek »

That is, truly, an awesome machine! I can’t imaging all the work (and money) you’ve put into it. It looks like it all paid off ;)

Four thumbs up! :whoops:
InactiveX
BeOS Forever
Posts: 1385
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:25 am
Location: UK

Post by InactiveX »

Why, thank you! :D
Tom_Artosorse
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2002 8:51 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Post by Tom_Artosorse »

Hey InactiveX - nice to see I am not the only bloke who likes to show off his modded BP6 machine! Keep up the good work fella ;o)

See you in BeShare . . .

Psst! Anyone who liked InactiveX's piccies - click below for more BP6 eye-candy!

http://sdo.dyndns.org/configurations/to ... llery.html
InactiveX
BeOS Forever
Posts: 1385
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:25 am
Location: UK

Post by InactiveX »

Too cool, Tom_Artosorse! :-) Chat later, mate.
johnli
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2002 4:39 am
Location: Midlands, UK
Contact:

Post by johnli »

Do you think the cooler on the EMU10k1 has made any improvement (stability, etc), when I used to have one I noticed it was rather hot, but I've since ditched creative and am now happy with my Yamaha SW1000XG :P so I can't test it myself.
Regards,
John
hyperspace
Board Admin
Posts: 1395
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 7:39 am
Location: Lincoln, NE USA
Contact:

Post by hyperspace »

Great Rig, InactiveX!
Last edited by hyperspace on Fri May 09, 2003 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Quantum WormHole

Image
lost in hypertime...
Derek
Site Admin
Posts: 2489
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 3:55 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by Derek »

This is my fav pic:

Image
-Derek
Slagathor
Posts: 456
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 5:21 am
Location: Merrill Wisconsin

Post by Slagathor »

Yes, it is an awesome looking system.........
I like that pic too, it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie......heh
The BP6 that tried to Take Over the World.......
Image
DFI 790FX-M2R
AMD Phenom 9850BE
2x2gb Mushkin Redline@1066 5-5-5-16
2x 250GB WD 16mb SATA Raid 0
eVGA 8800GTS SC
Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty
InactiveX
BeOS Forever
Posts: 1385
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:25 am
Location: UK

Post by InactiveX »

johnli wrote:Do you think the cooler on the EMU10k1 has made any improvement (stability, etc), when I used to have one I noticed it was rather hot, but I've since ditched creative and am now happy with my Yamaha SW1000XG :P so I can't test it myself.
My soundcard has always worked reliably. The main advantage is that it (may) last longer. Can't really hurt, I suppose.

Thanks for all your positive comments, everyone. :D
kuun
Post-O-Matic
Posts: 1566
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2002 5:26 pm
Location: Tennessee
Contact:

Post by kuun »

lol slagathor

it looks to me like it's a fan thats aboutt o do a supernova..

that or a fan that's about to hit hyperdrive speeds

it's sweet

all of your cases are sweet

mine just looks like crap (dual cases tied together with plastic wireties :P)

Kuun
!!! WARNING !!!
The following forums: www.bp6.com
are infected with the following VIRUS(s): Kuun.infected.all.posts.Win2K.user

The following IRC servers has been exploited: irc.bp6.com
with the Following Exploit: Kuun.lurks.using.mIRC.v5.82.exploit
frank2
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 1:59 pm

Post by frank2 »

inactivex will all the stuff u have in ur pc i think u could do with a better power supply 300w is a bit naf ;)
Derek
Site Admin
Posts: 2489
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 3:55 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by Derek »

frank2 wrote:inactivex will all the stuff u have in ur pc i think u could do with a better power supply 300w is a bit naf ;)
Those are fightin' words :lol:

Welcome to the Message Board frank!
-Derek
davd_bob
Confused
Posts: 1043
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2004 2:30 am
Location: Houston, TX

Post by davd_bob »

awsom pics,
wish i had thought to take pics of the system that got me started on pc hardware.

8088 cost $400
128 KILObytes of ram (wow) traded a sailboat for this
HUGE 360k floppy (who needs a hard drive)
85watt ps. no one could ever need more then that!!!
what case...I had the motherboard in my top dresser drawer.
oh yea, the video was a...monochrome green screen that was not
capable of graphics. the video card has a woppping 16k of ram.

no mouse...
There are *almost* no bad BP6s. There are mostly bad caps.

No BP6s remaining
Athlon 2800
Sempron 2000
ViaCPU laptop with Vista.(Works great after bumping ram to 2Gig)
P-III 850@100
vultura
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: UK

Post by vultura »

Thanks for sharing specs and pics with us InactiveX :)

Edit: Dang typos
Last edited by vultura on Sat Jul 17, 2004 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
InactiveX
BeOS Forever
Posts: 1385
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:25 am
Location: UK

Post by InactiveX »

No problem! Glad you like it.
Like BP6.com? Not a member?
Then why the hell not? It's great!
-> BP6.com Membership <-
Holodeck2
Modder Extraordinaire
Posts: 256
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:57 am
Location: Purdue University
Contact:

Post by Holodeck2 »

BLING BLING :mrgreen:
yea, back from the dead

If it ain't broken, mod it until it is
Post Reply