Re: Configuration Sanity Check Please

overload@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Sorry if this reposts. I can't find it on the group today.

I need a configuration sanity check. Any comments welcome.

I am building two machines. Both machines will run Windows XP Pro,
SP3. Both will be used for animation (poser) and graphic arts. Both
machines will run Zone Alarm Security Suite. Both will be connected to
high speed Internet behind a firewall router. The LAN is 100Mb and
includes at least 2 other computers, a scanner, and several printers.

The main idea here is to get systems that will last for about 6 years
before becoming too slow for the primary applications.



Machine 1:

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan
Thermaltake TR2 RX W0136RU ATX12V Ver2.2 500W Power Supply

This machine also serves as a file server (shared volumes) and backup
(file synchronization) for the network.



Machine 2:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Thermaltake TR2 RX W0136RU ATX12V Ver2.2 500W Power Supply

This machine is used for graphics arts training and for gaming.



Both Machines:

ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
(OVERCLOCKED to 3.2GHz.)

ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

(2) Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2
8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

ViewSonic Graphic Series VG2230wm Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
Height & Tilt Adjustments

(2) Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s
Hard Drive

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA

Koutech IO-RCM620 USB 2.0 3.5"/5.25" Card Reader

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive


Ahy suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

Jim


Depending on which Q6600 you get (B3 or G0), the power differs by
10 watts. If you had a B3, it is 105W. If you overclock to 3.2, that
is 3.2/2.4=1.33 times. That brings the power to 140W. If you needed
to increase Vcore to get to 3.2GHz, that would further increase the
power, by the ratio of Vnew**2/Vnom**2.

If the Vcore converter is 90% efficient, then the input power to the
Vcore converter is 140/0.9 = 155.6W. Dividing by 12V gives 13 amps.
The 12V2 rail on your supply is rated for 16 amps. There is still room,
but the margin will be reduced, if you need more Vcore to make it
stable.

The above is based on F*C*V**2 as the power equation for CMOS. F is the
toggle frequency. C is a constant of proportionality (capacitance, but
that is not important in thie case). V squared is going to be Vcore in
this case. To get the overclock power, F2/F1 is the ratio of the new
frequency, to the nominal one. The ratio Vnew**2/Vnom**2 takes the
effect of increasing Vcore into account, in terms of power consumption.
Since a squaring of the voltage is involved, the penalty effect is greater.

(Probably the worst processor for this, was the Pentium D 805, which
Tomshardware overclocked to 4GHz. The power dissipated would go over
200 watts, and on some motherboards, the Vcore converter got so hot, that
it melted foam padding used underneath the motherboard for cushioning.)

The 8800GT here, is listed as 86W. That is 86W/12V = 7.2 amps from 12V1.

I think you're in good shape, power wise. The remaining peripheral power
for a couple disks and the DVD burner, will stay under the 15 amp limit
on 12V1. The only thing I'd watch, is how much Vcore it takes to make
your processor stable.

The machine called "file server", presumably has some number of hard
drives in it. The machine probably doesn't have the fancy video
card, so you save somewhat on the 86W. For the file server, when
the machine first starts, the hard drives draw 2.5A each, from the
12V1 rail. Depending on how many drives are involved, that may exceed
the rating of the supply. Some supplies can supply a few more amps
for those first 10 seconds, without instantly overheating, so you
may squeak by. But it really depends on how many disks are involved.
So six drives would draw 15A for the first ten seconds, as the platters
spin up. After spinup, the motor current drops to 0.6A or so. Since
disk technology is constantly improving, you can always look those
numbers up, and do your own 12V1 math. The case fans might draw 0.5A,
the DVD 1.5A (only if media is in the tray at startup). So maybe
five drives would fit in the available power on 12V1.

What is really puzzling about the motor current, is at one time the hard
drives were at 2 amps during spinup. And I got the impression it was
a defacto standard. That is, until Seagate started shipping drives
that draw 2.5A for the first 10 seconds. Why it was necessary to
push the current up, I don't know. But it is a bit more of a
nuisance, for power supply planning. It also means external
enclosures have to take that number into account, in order
to start properly.

Paul
.

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