Problems, linux, collection

My graphics card was broken again for about two weeks. It was changed with the new one (same model). I hope this time it will work more successfully.
I installed Fedora Linux 10 yesterday. Anaconda failed to boot in graphics mode. So I needed to install fedora in a text mode (it was the same with my via board). It is not a big problem to overcome, especially in fedora where you have yum and fedorafaq.org. However, for those people who dislike console it can be a reason to stop. Fedora looks nice and boots visually more faster than previous versions (as far as I know it was one of the main features in this version). I'll try to play with it later.
I have some new CPUs in my collection (several PA-RISC, dual PowerPC board, XBox ES cpus and others), however, I'll probably wait for all items to arrive before making any photos. It may take some time. I am going to stop buying them for half year at least (I need to save money).

Finally everything works

As you know I have bought new Intel Core i7 system. The first blog item about it was more than a month ago. However, the purchase didn't go very smoothly. System didn't boot and we found the reason only several days before the Christmas. It was a memory fault which hadn't been compatible with the motherboard. However, after I assembled the system with new RAM, it appeared that my PSUs are not enough for this system. My video card showed artifacts after several minutes. Because of this, until now I have used PCI video card which slowed down performance. I bought a new 600W PSU only yesterday. Everything went ok and finally I have my new computer in full configuration:
Intel Core i7 920
Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4
3GB(KVR1066D3E7+KVR1066D3N7K2/2G) DDR3 1066 MHz Kingston RAM (triple channel)
MSI R4830-T2D512-OC graphics card (Radeon 4830 512 MB)
FORTRON EPSILON 600W (80PLUS) PSU
Codegen M601-CA ATX case.

HDDs and DVD-RW are from my earlier mini-itx system.

DEC PDP-11 J-11 arrived

I have received my DEC PDP-11 J-11 CPU today. It is really big (for DIP package) and beautiful CPU. Photo shows comparison between DEC PDP-11 J-11 and AMD P8085-2. As always, you can watch my photos here.

Sun, C-Port, NEC, Godson, Intel i960

My cpu collection updated. There are Sun UltraSparc IIi, Nec VR12000, Godson 2-C, C-Port network processor (ES) and Intel i960. So quite a big update :). The number of chips reached more than 30. I'll get one more exception - DEC J-11 PDP-11 in the near future. It's DIP CPU, however, quite big and very beautiful. There will be and more updates (IBM PowerPC, some MIPS CPU, maybe XBox cpus and one HP PA-RISC).

P.S. My new computer with Intel Core i7 920 delayed because of some problems with the motherboard.

Reverse action

I ordered Intel Nehalem platform today. It will consist of Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4 motherboard, Intel Core i7-920 CPU, PQI 3GB DDR3 1066 RAM and Radeon 4830 video card. The other parts will be taken from my current computer (hdds, dvd-rw). It is probably one of the cheapest solutions if you want to create computer with this new platform.

Intel finally released a cpu without FSB and I finally can jump into their platform once again. I considered to buy some new mini-itx solution or Phenom II, however, Intel showed that they could deliver their products fast. Just after an official release I was able to find their cpus and motherboard for sale in Lithuania. After some more time I could choose between five or six motherboards from different manufacturers. In contrast VIA released their VIA Nano long time ago, however, there is only one product announced by them recently (VB8001) which is based on it. And this mini-itx motherboard is still not in volume so it is difficult to buy (if it is possible at all). Phenom II looks quite promising is still several months away. I decided not to wait.

I think that I'll have parts in several days, maybe, even tomorrow. This platform should be main computer for 4-5 years (some updates during this time is possible).

VIA VB8001 - first board with VIA Nano

I was eagerly waiting for the first product based on new VIA Nano CPU. VIA had promised to deliver it in the third quarter of this year, however, until now you couldn't find anyone. VIA showed the first one at the ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) Boston 2008, 27 October 2008. It's VIA VB8001 with 1.6GHz VIA Nano CPU, VIA CN896 north bridge and VT8237S south bridge. Board has PCIe 16x and mini-PCI expansion slots, hdds and optical storage can be attached to two SATA ports or one EIDE port. There are two DDR2 DIMM sockets where you can insert up to 4GB of memory. The disappointing point for me was a back panel i/o. You can find PS2 ports for mouse and keyboard, 1 serial port, 1 RJ-45 (VIA VT6130 Gb ethernet controller), 2 USB 2.0 ports and three audio phone jacks. It is quite minimal set of expansion ports. It would be much more interesting if back panel was similar to VIA EPIA-M700 board (I want at least DVI and two RJ-45 ports). However, everything else is probably ok. I don't know when they will be available in the market but I may consider to buy this to replace my current VT310-DP. Still I hope more products will come in several months (though I am not very optimistic).

My current computer

I've added one more photo of my computer where you could see how it looked now. Yes, I am still using VIA VT-310DP. Yes, sometimes it seems slow like a hell :). However, I can't find anything interesting enough for me to change it. I can still do almost everything on it except watching some heavy HD videos. Fedora 9 showed that it could manage much more videos than in Windows. Anyway, this thread is not about performance.



You can see how it is assembled now. Two CPUs are under the default heatsink, however, default cpu fan is changed with Titan TFD-4020M12B 40x40mm cooler. I also changed cooler in a PSU (an old one became very loud), so you can see black, red and white wires coming from it and attached to motherboard. Though motherboard does not support SATA II hard drives I bought WD Caviar GP 750GB where were two pins for changing mode to SATA I. One more 160 GB HD is hidden on the bottom of the case. I still use discrete GeForce 6200 PCI video, however, sometimes I am thinking that it does not have any advantages against integrated one for my current purposes. DVD optical drive is LG GSA-4163B. Creative Sound Blaster Connect serves for sound (you can't see it in this picture). This is it. Enjoy and wait for new processors in my collection (they should arrive soon).


Current specifications:
VIA VT-310DP 2x1GHz VIA Eden-N (C5P Nehemiah) CPUs, CN400+VT8237R
Changed Titan TFD-4020M12B cooler for cpu
Club 3D GeForce 6200 128MB PCI
Apacer AM1 2x1GB DDR400 RAM
Samsung HD160JJ 160GB
WD CAVIAR GP 750GB (WD7500AACS)
LG GSA-4163B DVD-RW
Q-TEC ADT-300 300W PSU (with changed Zalman fan)
Creative Sound Blaster Connect
Compucase 7628BS-25UG enclosure