HP Laptop

My New HP Laptop
This is my second laptop this year, a upgrade from my Toshiba. Toshiba was excellent and still runs good at its new home.

Amd Turion x2 TL-56
2GB DDr2 RAM
160GB HDD 5400rpm
Nvidia 6150 Graphics
17" Widescreen LCD Bright
LG DVDRW + Lightscribe

The Laptop is amazing, the bright 17" lcd is really nice for gaming and everyday computer use. Really big touchpad, unlike my old Toshiba laptop. Quality Altec Lansing speakers buildin. Only downside I can think of, wireless Broadcom card doesn't work too well, and no Gigabit Ethernet.

This is not really the Laptops fault but Vista is not yet stable and crashes alot. I tweaked it a bit to make it fast. But overall I really like the Vista Aero and the sidebar.

Gigabit is "crazy" FAST

I did a quick test of Gigabit Ethernet and I find it fast.

Quick file Copy test (165MB)
PC 1 TO PC 2 ~50MB/sec Transfer
PC 2 TO PC 1 ~45MB/sec Transfer

System Specs

PC1
Q6600
4GB Ram
Western Digital 250GB SATA2 HDD

PC2
Sempron 3400+
512MB Ram
Western Digital 160GB IDE HDD

Even with slower IDE and SATA hard drive Gigabit is fast. Gigabit should be able to do 1000/8=125MB/sec. Way faster then wireless 802.11G or 100mbit Ethernet. Only if the INTERNET were this FAST.

I believe with RAID0 or with some fast SAS drive true Gigabit speed can be reached.

Gigabit is very useful for those of us who transfer large files. But I am not one of them.

Windows Home Server should really benefit from Gigabit when backing up your computers.

Silence is not Easy

My current Q6600 Rig is still not silent. The loudest device right now is the Western Digital 250gig KS.
I probally need to change the case to the Antec Solo, price at this time $80.32. This case will be silenced using Nexus Damptec Noise Absortion material, 3 sheets 40x50CM $47.80 + $20.87 for the 5.25 and 3.25 drive bays.
Overall total $80.32+$47.80+$20.87=$148.90.
I could possibly also replace my hard drive for a Samsung hard drive, but cannot find anywhere now.
OOPS!! Lets now forget the power supply, Seasonic S12II 380 watts $58.32, so new total $148.90+$58.32=$207.22.
Thats all for now, lets hope its going to be silent, but since money doesnt grow on trees, silence will have to wait.
Thank you

Silence is not Easy

Intel Q6600 Rig
(seti@home via BOINC rig)

Asus P5B
This is a nice budget board, based on the Intel P965 Express chipset. It supports FSB upto 1066 (officially), and possibly can overclock to 1333. It supports upto 4 gb of ram, and core 2 duo cpus, including quad core.

Intel Core 2 Duo Quad Core (Q6600)
Intel's lastest price drops made the quad core cpus very affordable. The best bang for the buck cpu right now is the quad core Q6600, clocked at 2.4 gig, 1066mhz fsb, and 8meg cache. Amazing cpu for seti, does about 2400-3000 RAC.

Scythe Ninja (Rev. B)
The Scythe Ninja seems to be a good choice for cpu cooler, it will allow me to keep my cpu cool, at a low noise level. The stock Scythe fan was replaced with a Noctua NF-S12-1200. Noctua is a Austrian designed fan, which is very quiet, while providing suffecient airflow. Along with the Ninja and Noctua, Zalman thermal grease is used. The speed of the Noctua is lowered using a Zalman fanmate.

Patriot DDRam (Pc2 6400, cas5)
The Patriot DDram was the most affordable ddram at the time of purchase. Dual channel kits, 2gig DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) was ~$80 a kit. Baught two kits to give 4gigs of ram. This will provide a future proof system, and sufficient memory for multitasking.
Western Digital 250gig KS The hard drive of choice was the Western Digital 250gig KS sata2, with 16meg cache. The hard drive is LOUD, and not whisper quiet like Western claims. This hard drive is kept quiet using the Scythe HDD silencer.

Nvidia Quatro NVS
Since I am not a gamer, any PCI-express video card, was acceptable for this rig. The Nvidia card is 128mb ram, which will allow Aero for the future Windows Vista. This video card is passive cooled, this will keep the system noise even lower.

Coolmax Power Supply
The Coolmax power supply is nothing special. Its only 450watt with 18a on the 12v rail. Again this power supply was not silent, like the manufactur claims. The stock 120mm fan was replaced, with a Scythe D12SL. This should be a temporary power supply, until it will be replaced with the Seasonic S12-II power supply.

Full Specification overview
Motherboard: Asus P5B
CPU: Intel Q6600
Hard Drive: Western Digital 250gig KS
Video Card: Nvidia NVS
Power Supply: Coolmax 450watt

Extras
Cpu Cooler: Scythe Ninja Rev. B
Thermal Compound: Zalman
Hard Drive Silencer: Scythe HDD Silencer
Fans: Noctua (CPU), Scythe (PSU)

Studying hard or hardly studying? - is the question


I am studying at TRIOS college as a Network Administrator. Hoping to get all my CERTS and get high marks for my DIPLOMA. Most importantly I wish, my self and anyone else studying for networking or studying to get CERTS

@@@GOOD LUCK@@@

New Q6600 on the way

I just placed the order of my Quad Core Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600 CPU. I am hoping to make an fast and silent rig for seti@home via BOINC. I will be posting full system specs, once I have the rig UP.