hold on to your lug nuts, it's time for an overhaul

[k0NG0]

I love the smell of new hardware in the afternoon...

Got everything from the one retailer today. I'm waiting for the RAID card, case and heatsink from the other place and then it's building time. Should be fun! Can't wait.

[k0NG0]

Dude, the Nexus fans come with rubber fan mounts! Welcome surprise.

I hate waiting.

[Gorganzola]

I know the feeling bud. That instant gratification is missing with mail delivery, but the selection is missing with local companies.

Cool on the Nexus fans coming with rubber mounts. My Nexus fan didn't come with any, but the heatsink I have did.

[k0NG0]

Well isn't that just a turd in your sundae.

So I called up the other retailer asking why the hell they haven't shipped the order after having everything in stock on Tuesday according to them (I mailed and asked, then paid when they said it was a done deal).

Turns out they can't find the friggin' RAID card physically even though their computer system says they have one in stock. Which means everything's held back (since I said I wanted to do that when the reported delay was 1-2 days from Thursday last week). Happy fun time. They're splitting the shipping for no extra cost but I'll still probably not have the case and HSF here until Monday because of the weekend (everything shipped by the postal service). There goes the fun of building the computer during the vacation, work starts again Monday.

Wee, etc.

[Gorganzola]

That bloody well sucks. You should have totally hired a project manager to handle this and arrange for everything to arrive on time.

[ctal]

kONGO -- If you haven't seen it already, you'll want to look at this review:

X-bit labs - Adaptec RAID Controllers Roundup

I took a quick glance at the conclusions page, and I think you'll be pleased.

Regards,
-- Al

[k0NG0]

Originally Posted by ctal

kONGO -- If you haven't seen it already, you'll want to look at this review:

X-bit labs - Adaptec RAID Controllers Roundup

I took a quick glance at the conclusions page, and I think you'll be pleased.

Regards,
-- Al

Hadn't seen it. Am pleased.

[k0NG0]

The gods of logistics are smiling upon me. Everything but the RAID controller is here. Less than 21 hours after I called up case+HSF arrived at the pick-up place (a candy store, no less).

I'll play around with this sans RAID for a while, I think. I can't install everything on a single drive and build an array based on that, but I can at least verify that stuff works and that it's very awesome.

[polonyc2]

why not just have it delivered to your house??...what's all this candy store drop off business...sounds shady

[k0NG0]

Home delivery costs on the order of $30+ extra. Most everything in Sweden is shipped using the postal service, FedEx or UPS are prohibitively expensive in comparison, and shipping is almost never free. We used to have postal offices all over the place, but the cost of that system was immense, they were shut down and instead grocery stores and similar can have a small postal desk that fulfills the same role as the postal office of yesterday. In my case, it's a candy store (they also sell magazines, provide betting and such) that has the postal desk.

It's actually an improvement over the old system, since these days the hours are better (postal offices closed 6pm religiously) and there are more of them, usually in more convenient locations. The first reaction to the closing of all postal offices was uproar, but these days I never hear complaints (I think the only organizations still peeved represent senior citizens who generally view any change as negative).

[k0NG0]

ctal, when you applied thermal paste on the OCZ heatsink, did you put a small amount on each heatpipe, spread across the heatspreader or the standard Arctic Silver way of a small line across the heatspreader along the core?

[polonyc2]

so shipping your computer parts via the postal service to your house still costs extra?...how does regular mail get delivered then? do you also have to go someplace else to pick it up as well?...so there are no official standalone post offices anywhere in Sweden?...I've heard of cutting back on government expenditures but this is a bit extreme

I know in the US I would not want to ship anything expensive via the USPS as they are not known for their freight delivery skills...plus I don't know if their insurance policy is very good...sometimes its better to spend a tad more for reliable, safe delivery...thats why most people use FedEx, UPS or DHL here

[ctal]

Originally Posted by k0NG0

ctal, when you applied thermal paste on the OCZ heatsink, did you put a small amount on each heatpipe, spread across the heatspreader or the standard Arctic Silver way of a small line across the heatspreader along the core?

Good question. For an LGA775 dual core, Arctic Silver recommends a small line along the center of the core, on the heatspreader, which as you probably realize is 90 degrees removed from the direction of the heatpipes and the metal that separates them. I had also seen a review of the Vendetta 2, in which they said they put the thermal compound along the pieces of metal that separate the heatpipes (trying to assure that it would spread properly, because if it were applied to the heatpipes directly it might not have been able to spread past that adjacent piece of metal). After considering all of this, what I did was to first follow Arctic Silver's directions exactly, and put a small line above where the center of the core is, while putting a smaller amount along each of the metal pieces between the heatpipes. I got excellent temps doing that on two different builds.

-- Al

[k0NG0]

Yup. Parcels and letters are given different treatment (has to do with thickness - must fit in mail slot, if not = parcel). Regular mail is delivered directly, separately from parcels.

All postal services are handled through the new system. (Some parts, regarding money payouts and such, have been shifted to banks instead. We have a good system of debit card payments which means it's easy to be cash-less here anyway. I think people stopped using cheques here decades ago.)

I've never had trouble with our postal service. They're pretty fast and I've never received packages that were mishandled. The ones I've gotten this time around have been pretty much pristine.

[k0NG0]

Thanks, Al. I'll use that method then.