Project: ORAC part 2

Yesterday I spent about 8 hours on my computer re-build project.  I've decided to name him ORAC.  Double-geek points if you know what ORAC is without following the link to Wikipedia.  

Eight hours was long enough to assemble the whole thing from the parts and get Vista installed (thought not completely working, yet). I didn't run into any insurmountable obstacles, but this is by far the most complex computer build I've done to date.  Lots of little, sensitive pieces.  A few highlights:

• Quad-Core (Extreme Edition) Intel CPU
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• Asus Formula Extreme Motherboard (including water-cooled North-Bridge)
• Two 750 GB Hard-Drives in RAID 0 configuration
• Two ATI Radeon 3870 Video Cards

The CPU, as well as the Motherboard, are water-cooled, which means that water is pumped in a loop through two copper water blocks and then through a radiator on the exterior of the case. Because water cooling is much more efficient than water, the components will stay cooler, last longer, and can also over-clocked well beyond factory specs. Normally, my CPU should run at 3.0GHz, but with water cooling I should be able to manage 4.0GHz easy.

Of course, running plastic tubing with pressurized water through a case of precision electronics is a little nerve-wracking, but I managed it with only one leak! Luckily, I used a non-electrically conductive fluid in the loop--specially made for the task. This stuff also changes color from orange to green depending on the ambient light spectrum (cool, heh).

This whole system comprises a blazing fast workstation that will be great for video, audio, and still-image editing. The shear processing horsepower will make short work of the otherwise time-intensive work of transcoding video from one format to another. Even opening a 1.5 hour MP3 recording of the service into my editing program takes about 15 minutes with my current set-up (which ain't weak).

Of course, all this hardware depends on a working operating system! Vista (64-bit edition) loaded okay (it only took 26 minutes), but then I ran into problems getting the video cards' drivers to work. This whole driver issue has been a problem for many of the Vista early adopters, but I think I know how to fix it tomorrow. Eventually I plan to make this computer a dual-boot Vista/Linux system, so that I boot either operating system. Linux can be much more efficient for certain kinds of tasks, and mastering it will be a good challenge. I like learning new geeky skills.

What to with my old box? Maybe make it into a media file server for home? Perhaps. It's already four years old, so I won't get very much for selling it....

Here are some pictures of the build...

The components laid out.  Note the bottle of orange liquid cooling fluid.

Assembling the motherboard.

Denise supervises as I assemble the hard drive cage.

Me, liking my life.

The completed motherboard assembly.  Note the plastic tubing for liquid to flow from the CPU cooling block to the motherboard's cooling block.  You can also see the impressive silver-colored heat sinks of the two RAM modules.

ORAC completed.  Note the radiator on the back of the case and the wide tubes within.

-t