Possible Conroe setup opinions?

[3 of 7]

Originally Posted by Fraoch

Hey 3 of 7, have you ever done this before?

Yes, I've sold my house after the market has dropped
I'm not too sure how long after a manufacturers drop NCIX follows, but they sure have competitive pricing, I would expect it to follow as soon as new stock at the lower price arrives.

[Fraoch]

A little bit of a development: I've decided that my new hardware won't ever see Windows.

That secondary PC I have (1.2 GHz AMD Duron, ECS K7SOM+ motherboard) was running Ubuntu Linux 6.06. I brought it back up to act as a SlimServer to feed my audio hardware. My tunes are on a 250 GB drive, I was missing them! This worked very well but for a while I continued to use my laptop.

Then I tried out a few more things and solved a few problems with info from the Ubuntu forums, and before I knew it I was hooked! I applied all the updates, even updating from 6.06 to 6.10 (not without incident, see below, but it all worked out). I've turned it into a testbed, seeing what I can do with it to see if I could replace Windows with it. And I can. I can rip CDs, edit music tags, rip DVDs, install programs, etc. etc. There's very little that remains to be done in order for me to switch completely and permanently.

What impressed me was that, although things broke as I was playing with it, sometimes severely, everything continued to run and I was able to fix it and recover completely. The most serious problem occurred in the upgrade from 6.06 to 6.10 where it crashed halfway through. I thought I flew too close to the sun and I thought I was done for, but no, it came back up and realized there were...349 more updates to go! I updated and everything came back up as a clean 6.10 install.

I didn't realize - I was getting tired of Windows XP. I won't ever install Vista and I was always thinking of switching to Ubuntu. Ubuntu just seems so much fresher, so much more responsive, so much more fun, so much more exciting. I've learned a lot in the last few days.

On Linux I find that hardware speed isn't as noticeable. Sure, things are slower, but they're not unbearable by any means. I was entertaining the thought last night that I could stay with that secondary hardware for about 2 years or so until financial conditions improve.

But tonight I'm not so sure. It's a case of pay a little now, pay a little over time...or pay a whole lot later. If I don't take advantage of the ASRock motherboard I'll have to get a new motherboard, CPU, memory and video card (and probably power supply!) all at the same time. That will be $750+. If I get the CPU and motherboard now, $425. 6 months or a year from now, upgrade to 1-2 GB of DDR2-533 memory. Perhaps at the same time, get a PCIe video card, or defer that until the next upgrade.

Anyway I'm still thinking about it, and though the Intel price drop is this weekend, I see no sign that retailers here will lower prices anytime soon. I may stay with this hardware for another month.

Looking forward to Ubuntu 7.04 tomorrow!

[Fraoch]

Order placed! E6600 with 4CoreDual-VSTA. The price drop was too good to resist and it came in first thing this morning, the next business day after Intel planned the drop.

Though the price has come down considerably on the E6700 as well, the cost differential between it and the E6600 was $105 CDN. Since the cost differential between the other models is $30, this is too much for a 266 MHz speed increase. This is always the way, though - the top-end part carries a significant cost premium. BTW for those looking at the Q6600, it came down 50% and the cost is what the E6700 was before the drop.

I decided to upgrade because the motherboard offered a unique opportunity for a stepped upgrade. Otherwise it would have been $750 in one shot. So for $400 with shipping and tax, that's the right decision.

So excited!

[Drufuss]

Congrats on your decision for the new hardware and for using linux with it Fraoch. (Nice "tuxard"-avatar you got there too)

I have Ubuntu 7.04 running on a rig here at work, at home i'm mainly using openSuse now (i'm too lazy too install ubuntu as i'd have to use some wired keyboard and mouse for the installation because ubuntu doesn't really like my bluetooth mouse/keyboard combo i have).

Be sure to install the x86_64 version of ubuntu too make full use of your Core2Duo.

Greetings

Dru

[Fraoch]

Originally Posted by Drufuss

Be sure to install the x86_64 version of ubuntu too make full use of your Core2Duo.

That's the first thing I want to try because I want to unleash the awesome POWER!!

I have been warned off it by someone on another forum though. There may be some issues with programs not working and additional difficulties.

But I have an almost perfectly-working secondary computer that's got me by for weeks. I'll continue using that for everyday tasks and slowly tweak the new setup until I get it to "production" standards.

BTW the motherboard was here in record time. Shipped air, 4500 km in about 24 hours. Unfortunately I've waited for the processor since then. But finally it's on its way to me, so it looks like I'll be able to get it set up this weekend!

" TRACKING DETAILS

Status Shipment In Transit
Date/Time APRIL 27, 2007 AT 07:12
Depot LONDON, ON"

[Drufuss]

Originally Posted by Fraoch

That's the first thing I want to try because I want to unleash the awesome POWER!!

I have been warned off it by someone on another forum though. There may be some issues with programs not working and additional difficulties.

Haven't tried ubuntu 64bit myself, but when i installed openSuse on my new rig for the first time i wasn't sure so i selected 32 bit. Did a fresh install with 64bit some days later (had to because i destroyed my MBR in a very stupid attempt to get dual boot running the way i wanted it) and i had the feeling that the installation process itself and the running system are somewhat faster then before.

Greetings

Dru

[Fraoch]

IT'S HERE!

What are people's opinions on TIM? I have some Arctic Silver 5 but I notice the preapplied TIM is awfully thick. I'm concerned it's there to provide a "shim" if you will.

Although on second thought it's designed to melt-in, so it can't act as spacing because it's designed to turn to liquid and spread around.

[k0NG0]

FYI: Arctic Silver Incorporated - Arctic Silver 5 Instructions

[Drufuss]

Originally Posted by Fraoch

IT'S HERE!

What are people's opinions on TIM? I have some Arctic Silver 5 but I notice the preapplied TIM is awfully thick. I'm concerned it's there to provide a "shim" if you will.

Although on second thought it's designed to melt-in, so it can't act as spacing because it's designed to turn to liquid and spread around.

Noticed that i haven't even bothered to put the original Heatsink out of the box. I just applied Arctic Silver 5 (following the instructions in kONGO's link) and installed a water cooling block.

Greetings

Dru

[Fraoch]

Oh yeah, I know how to use AS5, even read up on it for the Core 2 Duos.

I'm just wondering if I should as the TIM looks really thick. Much thicker than the stuff on my Northwood and others I've seen. There's 1/16" of material in 3 strips.

[k0NG0]

Figured as much. Just threw it in there as a Just In Case sort of FYI, IYKWIM, LOL.

[SpeedDMN]

Originally Posted by Fraoch

IT'S HERE!

What are people's opinions on TIM? I have some Arctic Silver 5 but I notice the preapplied TIM is awfully thick. I'm concerned it's there to provide a "shim" if you will.

Although on second thought it's designed to melt-in, so it can't act as spacing because it's designed to turn to liquid and spread around.

If using the stock cooler I would probably go ahead and use the stock compound as well. I think it does work as a little bit of a gap filler. I persoanally hate the Intel stock coolers and would always get an OEM CPU. WIth the money saved you can just about have enough for an aftermarket HSF without having to shell out much more anyway. I just don't think the 4 lame little push pins and springs are enough and makes it totally unforgiving to any warping. People talk aboput lapping kits and such, but if you can clamp in down I think that laps it right there.

[Fraoch]

Originally Posted by kONGO

Figured as much. Just threw it in there as a Just In Case sort of FYI, IYKWIM, LOL.

I'll do it. I just hope it won't void the Intel warranty. I know if you lap the heatsink it does. I won't be doing that.

[yamawho]

My 4CoreDualVsta just arrived today.

I want to mount the Zalman CNPS9500 AT that I tweaked and used on a socket 478 install. I know the CNPS9500 AT is only for 775 but with afew extra Zalman parts, anything is possible

Anyways, I couldn't find the mounting bracket and I remembered that I used it when mounting a 7700Cu. I just found a bracket for the 7000 to mount on 775.
I hope to be able to use this to mount the CNPS9500 AT.

I don't want to use the stk Intel ... I hate the push pins.

[Fraoch]

Originally Posted by SpeedDMN

If using the stock cooler I would probably go ahead and use the stock compound as well. I think it does work as a little bit of a gap filler.

Yeah, it must. There sure is a lot of it. It'd be a pain to get it off too.

It would be most convenient to leave it on. I know AS5 would be superior but it is an odd-looking arrangement - it may need that much TIM by design.

Perhaps I'll put on AS5 when I do some upgrades in about a year. It would be a lot easier to take off when melted.