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Well, I took the final plunge - I crossed the...
November 26, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Well, I took the final plunge - I crossed the L1 bridges and overclocked my CPU. I had problems with multipliers over 12.5 working properly, so I ended up with a 1.67 Ghz machine. I bumped up the GeForce clock and memory speed as well. I ended up with a 3D mark of 4789 at 1024 x 768 with 2x AA.
Finally, I swapped out the noisy CPU fan with one of the quiet ones. The computer is much quieter. Plus, the temperature now runs at 45 degrees, even when stressed.
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Well, the CPU overheating woes are now in the...
November 23, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, the CPU overheating woes are now in the past. The hole looks great, and we've put the Papst fan in the side of the case, right above the CPU. Even when stressed, the temperature hovers in the low 40 degrees Centigrade. Very cool. If I'm brave, I may attempt overclocking, though it would probably take a couple uninterrupted hours. Might happen sometime after the banister, before Christmas. The only downside with the new fan is that it's louder. Not sure if anything can be done about that.
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Things are moving along fairly well with the ...
November 22, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Things are moving along fairly well with the Lego computer. It turns out that overheating is an issue. The main problem is getting the CPU heat out of the case. When I put on a heftier fan and popped off the case, it ran at a cool 40ish degrees Centigrade. With the cover on, running a CPU-intensive game, it runs up to the mid 60's. Not good. So, the solution is to cut a hole in the back of the case next to the CPU and add a fan. Hopefully that will keep the temperature way down. I've disassembled it and I'm hoping I can take it to my dad's shop sometime today.
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Well, the components are together
November 11, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, the components are together. I had to file out the corners of the hole so the CD-ROM drive didn't stick. The hardware seems to work beautifully. I think my chances of overclocking it are excellent too - it posted at 1.7 Ghz without any problems. I'm still being careful of overheating. So far, it's fairly quiet too. Not silent, but with the case on, it's hard to hear. There's a video card fan that's a bit loud, and the hard drive is audible during certain operations.
The biggest excitement is with Windows XP. The internal DSL modem doesn't have drivers that work with XP, so I'm currently stuck with an Internet connection on my old computer. Internet connection sharing isn't working either, though I did manage to get a normal network connection between the two computers. I'll probably have to get an external broadband router/connection sharing device. I haven't done much research yet, so it may be another week or so until things are perfect. I couldn't get Max Payne to run either, though it may be because neither the game or the operating system has any patches on it.
I'll keep everyone updated. Even Seraph was curious about it.
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I'm slowly getting the shipping problems sort...
November 08, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I'm slowly getting the shipping problems sorted out for my new computer parts. The correct motherboard should arrive tomorrow, but they screwed up on the sound card and didn't ship it until today. If all goes well, I should be able to begin assembly of the Fossil computer tomorrow.
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Unfortunately, they sent the wrong motherboard
November 03, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Unfortunately, they sent the wrong motherboard. I called and got it straightened out. Hopefully all the parts should arrive by the 12th. Frustrating, but there's not really a big rush to get it all together. The sound card was back ordered too, so they'll probably both arrive at about the same time. Sigh.
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I took the final step today, buying the mothe...
October 30, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I took the final step today, buying the motherboard, cpu, hard drive, video card, and sound card for my new computer. I think the grand total for all the parts will be about $1,500. Considering it's top of the line, I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. I still remember when the last Dell I bought was over $3,000. It's crazy that I can get something five times as good for half the price.
The parts should arrive this week. I'll probably be assembling them all in the wee hours this weekend. Hope I don't blow anything up.
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I think the final components of the Fossil ca...
October 26, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I think the final components of the Fossil case will soon be ready for purchase. I ordered memory today - about $60 with free shipping for 512 MB of memory. Amazingly cheap.
I think in a week or two, I'll order the final components: motherboard, cpu, hard drive, video card, and possibly the sound card as well. Everything else is present.
The only major switch is that I won't be getting NVIDIA motherboard. It sounds like the performance isn't enough better to be worthwhile. I'm also going for a higher end video solution, so the integrated graphics don't matter to me. I can hardly wait . . .
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I made a side trip to Jerry's this morning an...
October 07, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 I made a side trip to Jerry's this morning and put the final touches on the exterior of the case. There's still much to do inside, but the outside of the case looks beautiful.
Now I've just got to hold off for a months or so until they release the motherboard and cpu that I want. Fortunately, the Diablo II expansion is going quite well. I played a bit with Dave this morning. Jolly good fun.
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I jumped the gun a bit and started to put har...
October 06, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 I jumped the gun a bit and started to put hardware on the case. I stained it, which went well, then put on a coat of Verithane, which didn't go well. It was old, so it's taking forever to dry. After several days, it's still sticky. I'm hoping that over time, it will harden up. The brass looks very nice on the case. I have to get some new screws, as for some bizarre reason the screws for the handles didn't match. Still, I'm very impressed with how it's turning out.
Since the computer hardware that I want isn't out yet, I picked up Undying and the Diablo II expansion to keep me busy.
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Big project weekend
October 01, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Big project weekend. Yesterday, I went over to my dad's house to work on my computer case. We got an immense amount of work done, routing out the front so it no longer breaks off parts of the CD-ROM, creating insets for the light covers, and making a front panel for the CD-ROM. Last night, I drilled holes for the rest of the pieces. In the next couple days I'll stain and varnish the wood, put on the assorted hardware, then I'll be ready to go.
The next step is buying the actual computer parts to go inside. I've picked out a bunch of the pieces already, but have held off ordering until the last minute. I'll probably order the power supply and fans fairly soon, as I'm thinking about some fan modifications to help keep the noise down. I've still got to wait a few weeks for my preferred CPU and motherboard to be released. Probably another month or so until it actually turns on.
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My family is starting to ask about my new com...
September 12, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
My family is starting to ask about my new computer case. I've put together a page in the case mod section of the site, detailing my progress. I'll update it periodically when I can. You can take a peek at the Fossil case here.
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In just a few hours, I managed to put togethe...
September 08, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 In just a few hours, I managed to put together a sandbox for Sam. It was pretty grueling, from drilling and bolting the pieces together in the morning, to hauling a ton of sand up our hill over and over. Sam totally loves it, which makes it all worthwhile. While I was dumping in the sand, Sam wanted to be in it and have me dump the sand on him. Great fun.
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Last night, I spent about an hour sanding the...
August 28, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Last night, I spent about an hour sanding the case down. It's pretty good, though I'm not a woodworker by any means. There were a few serious misalignments when we assembled the box, and that took awhile to fix. Since Jamie's returning today or tomorrow, I'll probably put things on hold for awhile. Still have lots of detail work to do.
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I spent eight hours yesterday working on my n...
August 26, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I spent eight hours yesterday working on my new computer case with my dad. I've come to realize and appreciate that particular brand of insanity he has. We spent hours carefully measuring, then milling out pieces of wood on his industrial milling machine.
The case itself is coming along beautifully. I picked up some oak at Jerry's, which we cut up and turned into a 4-sided box (the bottom and back are open). Then we drilled out space for the power buttons, LEDs, the fossil, and all the detailed CD drive parts (button, dial, headphone jack, and CD slot). Very tedious work, but it looks beautiful. Today I may do some sanding or pick up the last few parts for the case. Should be fun.
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When my dad went back East to visit my grandm...
August 22, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 When my dad went back East to visit my grandmother, he brought back several CDs worth of scanned photos. I've been helping him out, cleaning them up and trying to create a database around them. Lots of hard work, requiring endless cups of coffee. I finished one album which was mostly of Dorthy and Franklin and their friends. I did run across some interesting mysteries. Why is Janet DeArment dressed as a prostitute at Ray Shafer's Governor Inauguration party? Who is the one girl at Bob Bates' camp? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Well, the first of the computer equipment has...
August 01, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Well, the first of the computer equipment has started to arrive. I got my CD/CD-R/DVD drive yesterday and I'm in the process of sending in my rebate (to bring the price down to $70). The 5.1 speaker system also showed up. I hooked it up to the upstairs DVD player after a long assembly - sounds great. It's pretty cool for DVD watching. Too bad we don't get surround sound on cable. It'll probably stay there for now, though now I'm not sure what I'll do for speakers for my new computer. Sigh.
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The "Fossil" case (as I've decided to call it...
July 25, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
The "Fossil" case (as I've decided to call it) is slowly coming along. I bought a desktop computer case to use as a frame. I'm also starting to pick up the other components as deals magically appear. One of the nice things about this economic downturn is that you can get tech equipment for really cheap. I now have a case, a CD/CD-R/DVD drive, a 19" monitor, and a 5.1 speaker system on their way. I've only picked up the things that don't get obsolete quickly, and I'm waiting a few months for things like the CPU, motherboard, and graphics card.
Hopefully I can use the next few months to put the case together. Jamie and Sam are heading off to Nebraska for a week. Hopefully I can steal some of my dad's time to help me with the fun manufacturing parts.
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Well, I've decided on my next case modification
July 09, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, I've decided on my next case modification. While in Portland, I ran across this suggestion box that was beautiful. Made of brass and hardwood, I've decided to use it an as inspiration for my new computer case. I went out and bought some accessories to begin the construction. Next stop will be to get an empty computer case and the right amount of hardwood. Plus, somehow convince my dad to help me out, as it would be nearly impossible for me to do it myself.
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I've been quite the manly man at our new house
June 25, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I've been quite the manly man at our new house. I got to do some minor electrical work to put in our new stove (mmm . . . cooked food). Replacing the dryer vent was also exciting, as it involved moving cabinets and walls and putting in new ducting. Tonight it's a wax seal for the upstairs toilet and putting in a new seal for a leaky faucet.
One of these days, I'd like to do some computer projects too. The room is set up with both computers. I'm also going through a process of setting up the network again. I'm moving to a card-based modem, so I've got to do the Internet Connection Sharing thing that Microsoft provides. Hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle. I ran into some IRQ conflicts with my current network card, so I may have more juggling to do.
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I've taken yesterday and today off from work ...
May 25, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I've taken yesterday and today off from work in order to get our house ready for it's first showing. I'm amazed at how good our place looks after several days of maniacal painting, cleaning, weeding, and so on. Heck, I'd buy the place.
I think the majority of painting is done. The big things left are yardwork, especially removing some piles of yard debris. I'd also like to do some loads of bark-o-mulch, but we'll see how much energy I can muster.
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I got an e-mail from a fellow case mod fanatic
May 14, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 I got an e-mail from a fellow case mod fanatic. He sent in a photo of his Lego case mod. Quite impressive, especially getting the drives to fit in as well as they do.
I'm thinking that my next case will be inside some sort of natural wood enclosure. I worry a bit about heat dissipation, as wood is an excellent insulator. Hopefully my dad will be retired by then to assist in my mad schemes.
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My buddy Chris (who's server this site is run...
April 27, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
My buddy Chris (who's server this site is running on) dropped some nerd news on me today. It turns out that if you go to Google and search for "case modifications", this site is in the top six. Woo hoo! Another nerd milestone.
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Well, I've stopped my computer projects for a...
March 31, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, I've stopped my computer projects for awhile, turning instead to the house. Our goal is to get the house ready for sale sometime later this year. So far, we've fixed up the bathroom and painted the upstairs. There's still some more painting and minor landscaping, but we're not too far away.
Jamie's having some issues around the dog these days. I think she wants to find a new home for Guy, but is somewhat torn on the issue. I think her ideal would be that someone she knew would take him, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Oh, minor bonus. I think we're getting a couple thousand back from taxes this year. Woo hoo!
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I puttered around a bit with the Lego Inside ...
February 13, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 I puttered around a bit with the Lego Inside computer. I created a startup screen to match the logo as well as some desktop icons. It's pretty nifty looking, though the sad reality is that it's still a Pentium II 266 Mhz computer. Perhaps I'll scoop the guts out some day and put in a real computer.
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Well, the Lego Inside computer is pretty much...
February 06, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, the Lego Inside computer is pretty much finished. Like all things, I can fiddle with it forever, but I'm going to call it "done enough" for now. It looks pretty nifty, and its very Lego nature makes continual modification fun to do. I'd like to do some hinges for the CD-ROM drive, but the existing snap-on technique works okay.
It'll probably turn into a game server eventually. No good games out at the moment, unless you count Half-Life. Might be fun to play a bit on that one. I'd like to get it a bit more quiet too. I may have to fiddle with the fans a bit. Still, great fun. The hard part's over for now. For more details, visit the case mod feature.
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Well, I'm slowly working on the new Lego case
February 01, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, I'm slowly working on the new Lego case. It's not going as well as I expected - the glue isn't sticking, the baseplates aren't lining up well, and I managed to glue some important parts together. I'm hoping I'll have some time and energy this weekend to work on it some more. This kind of work requires too much time and coffee.
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Well, I got Jenny's new computer all ready to...
January 11, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Well, I got Jenny's new computer all ready to go, but it somehow got vaporized after a few days at her house. Not sure what happened exactly. I suspect Darren did something that he thought would fix it (the Millenium restore feature), but it unfortunately restored back to a point a long time ago. Easy to fix, but I never got the on-board sound working again.
Fortunately, I had a spare sound card floating around. Easy enough to plug in. Now it's just waiting to be picked up again. They should probably get a new monitor too, the currently one only support 640X480.
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Mmm
January 06, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Mmm...Legos. Sam took this picture while we were putting together his Technic car. It has a little motor that turns gears and spins wheels. Kinda fun.
I'm still mulling over the Lego computer. I'm going to have a couple old Dells to fiddle with. I'm thinking of getting some large, flat, Lego pieces and gluing it to the sides and front. Less ambitious than the old case, but probably doable.
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Well, I think my sister's computer is almost ...
January 04, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, I think my sister's computer is almost ready to go. There was a bit of excitement when it wouldn't boot up - the POST beeps indicated a video problem. I was freaking because my other AGP video card didn't work, but the PCI card did. It turned out that I just didn't push it in hard enough. Silly me.
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