Initial requirements

• a motherboard with RAID built in - 925X Neo Platinum-54g
• 1GB 533MHz DDR2 RAM - from Kingston
• A mirror drive - 120 Gb from Western Digital
• Up to date graphics - RADEON X800 Pro Sapphire
• Intel Penium 4 processor - at least 3 GHz
• And, where would the machine be without a case supporting some neon?

Question is, will that cut it with the new breeds of games and software coming in the next few years? I know too that it's missing a sound card but I think that's covered on the motherboard itself.

Price estimate

Component Cost motherboard 925X Neo Platinum-54g $192 1GB 533MHz DDR2 RAM from Kingston $130 A mirror drive 120 Gb from Western Digital $87 Up to date graphics RADEON X800 Pro Sapphire $245 Intel Penium 4 processor 3.2 GHz $275 Case supporting some neon $63 Total $992

July 22^nd 2005

Looks like the first two components will be ordered this weekend. The 925X Neo Platinum-54g looks to have dropped in price but I've set my sights on a nicer case: the ASPIRE X-Navigator ATXA8NW-AL/500 Silver/Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply. So far, looks to be costing $85 more than initial estimates.

The system was planned to re-use the CD-burner and DVD-ROM from our current machine. In actual likelihood, we'll add a media reader, for instance the SOYO BayOne Extreme (BK) 9-in-1 USB2.0 Card Reader that'll add another $20 to cost, along with a DVD burner (another $50).

July 28^th 2005

I cant wait - FedEx tracking is evil - tantalizing me with details saying that my stuff is within walking distance of my house but not yet delivered!

Date/Time Activity Location Jul 28, 2005  6:31 AM On FedEx vehicle for delivery   MAPLEWOOD, MO  6:08 AM At local FedEx facility   MAPLEWOOD, MO  5:59 AM At dest sort facility   BERKELEY, MO  Jul 27, 2005  6:54 PM Departed FedEx location   INDIANAPOLIS, IN  7:46 AM Departed FedEx location   LOS ANGELES, CA  Jul 26, 2005  2:48 PM Package data transmitted to FedEx   11:37 AM Picked up   CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA 10:39 AM Arrived at FedEx location   LOS ANGELES, CA  6:21 AM Left origin   CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA

Feb 8^th 2006

Although I worked some overtime, I didnt bother buying any components for a long while mostly due to the insane summer schedule of my previous client site. Christmas came and went with a planned trip to England eating extra cash. In the meantime prices and plans changed.

RAM and processor were ordered and arrived in great time:

Date/Time Activity Location 2/7/2006 11:54:00 AM Delivered ST LOUIS, MO 6:45 AM On FedEx vehicle for delivery MAPLEWOOD, MO 6:11 AM At local FedEx facility MAPLEWOOD, MO 5:41 AM At dest sort facility BERKELEY, MO 2/6/2006 9:16 PM Departed FedEx location INDIANAPOLIS, IN 2/4/2006 5:55 PM Arrived at FedEx location INDIANAPOLIS, IN 5:29 AM Departed FedEx location LOS ANGELES, CA 2/3/2006 8:48 PM Arrived at FedEx location LOS ANGELES, CA 7:48 PM Package data transmitted to FedEx 7:31 PM Left origin CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA 2:45 PM Picked up CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA

I spent a little more and got a different specification than originally planned

• Processor: Single core 3.4GHz Pentium 4 (cost $289, not the originally planned dual core for $275).
• RAM: 2Gb (cost $235, not the originally planned 1Gb for $160).

Overall, counting the case, that puts me $174 over initial estimate for the machine.

Feb 22^nd 2006

Ive been assembling the machine for the last couple of days, stripping our old desktop machine for parts as I go. The MSI motherboard went into the case like a dream. I was nervous while mounting the processor in place but that went OK. It was when I got to the heatsink that things went wrong - I managed to bend one of the plastic peg-legs of the Intel CPU cooler and consequently it didnt sit right down on the processor itself. I fired up the machine intending to look at the BIOS and it kept shutting down after about 7-10 seconds. Pushing on the heatsink got a partial connection that resulted in the machine staying alive but the BIOS reported that the processor was running at a temperature of 79°C (that is, 175°F).

After a little research I decided to buy a new heatsink / CPU cooling unit from a local store and settled on the Cooler Master Hyper-48 model

That added an extra $60 to the price of the computer overall, but the CPU temperature dropped to a mere 31°C once it was installed in place of the Intel one. Plus, this cooling unit looks extremely cool with the copper heat-pipes!