[Ulala]

Originally posted by LtNarol

Ya, I'm trying to mount:

3 HDDs
1 DVD/CD combo drive
AMD 2ghz CPU (Athlon XP 2800 Barton, I believe)
Nvidia FX 5600 U.
TVTuner card
and many many fans

I'm curious if my current 450watt power supply will be able to handle that safely.

Probably. Depends on how many fans is "many many" I guess.. I have more in my case than you do, including multiple cathodes, and my 500W runs everything with plenty of juice to spare.

You could always just plug it all in and find out for sure.

[Kazan]

hey dark.. where you been hiding

[Ulala]

Originally posted by Kazan
hey dark

Dark is here?!?!?!? Get his Apollo Mk. 2, stat!

[Darkage]

Originally posted by Kazan
hey dark.. where you been hiding

Hehe, i have been mostly lurking here on HLP then posting, and i play allot of eve these days:)

And i work way to much, although thats my own fault so i shouldn't complain:)

Nice to see you again though:)

[CP5670]

Ya, I'm trying to mount:

3 HDDs
1 DVD/CD combo drive
AMD 2ghz CPU (Athlon XP 2800 Barton, I believe)
Nvidia FX 5600 U.
TVTuner card
and many many fans

I'm curious if my current 450watt power supply will be able to handle that safely.

What brand is it? The brand and current ratings on each line (usually shown on a sticker on its side) matter more than the total power rating. It will be more than enough if it's a quality 450W unit, but a generic no-name one may run into problems. The hard drives, CD drives and fans (anything with a motor, basically) all use the 12V line, but AXPs run off the 5V line unlike newer processors so you have a bit more headroom on the 12V line than you would normally.

a monitor that is going out of focus can be fixed - you just ahve to trust yourself with the casing off adjusting [with an insulated screwdriver!] the knobs

Mine has two holes on the side that allow you to adjust the focus controls using a screwdriver with a long shank. Those things are really important for my particular monitor model, since these focus screws tend to be poorly adjusted by default. Playing around with them for a minute fixes everything though.

[LtNarol]

Its a Coolmax, with 3 12V lines; does it matter if I spread usage evenly across the 3 lines?

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by Darkage
The new Sun LCD's that we get at work have support for HD-15 and DVI-I and DVI-D. But those screens are used for graphical designing platforms.

What's the difference between DIV-I and -D? Mine's -D...

Originally posted by CP5670
The only shortcomings of this monitor are the two faint lines that appear on all aperture grill CRTs. They are noticeable on a light background, although only if I consciously look them. The advantages of AG monitors far outweigh those lines though IMO.

Also known as Trinitron, yes?

Originally posted by Turnsky
all i've gotta say for everybody else's.. pfah!.. you cleaned it up for the pics!, no way in hell anybody's personal desk space would be that clean!

*ahem*

Originally posted by CP5670
Most of the stuff is neatly sorted into arrays of small compartments, but if I take out a piece and then decide not to use it, I tend to just leave it on the floor instead of putting it back inside its bin.

Ahh, Legos on the floor - a sign of a true child at heart.

[Darkage]

Originally posted by Sandwich


What's the difference between DIV-I and -D? Mine's -D...

D, stands for Digital wich is used allot on LCD screens, my card supports DVI-D aswell. Came with a DVI-VGA converter.

    * DVI-A: This connection is analog, but with an image quality better than standard VGA.
    * DVI-D: Digital connection. This is the kind of connection we've been talking about.
    * DVI-I: Cable that can carry both DVI-A and DVI-D signals. DVI-A cables can carry only DVI-A signals and DVI-D cables can carry only DVD-D signals.
    * Single Link: Allows screen resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels at 60 frames per second.
    * Dual Link: Allows screen resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 pixels at 60 frames per second.

Originally posted by CP5670
Mine has two holes on the side that allow you to adjust the focus controls using a screwdriver with a long shank. Those things are really important for my particular monitor model, since these focus screws tend to be poorly adjusted by default. Playing around with them for a minute fixes everything though.

It's important for every CRT monitor:D

Also use a Grid pattern  like this one or something better and full screen to adjust your focus better/easyer and more precise.


Picture i took from Picture of HV line transformer with intergrated focuing pack.

Bottom right you can see the HV line transformer with the focussing knobs. Some come also with a G2 adjustment knob to adjust the brightness of the screen aswell but the brighter you turn it the harder it is to get good focusing especialy with older monitors or monitors that are aging. But most of the time the brightness is controlled on a G2 circuit with a preset resistor value.

I'll shutup now:)

[CP5670]

Its a Coolmax, with 3 12V lines; does it matter if I spread usage evenly across the 3 lines?

It should work fine, but 3 12V lines on a 450W means that each one will individually be quite weak, so balancing everything out evenly will be a bit tricky. Coolmax PSUs aren't known for high quality either, although you could do a lot worse than them. Just add one device at a time and see if any stability problems come up. That CPU and video card aren't very power hungry, but the three hard disks will need some juice unless they are older, slower ones.

Also known as Trinitron, yes?

Sort of. Sony invented the AG technology and held the patent for a few decades so the Trinitron name became synonymous with AGs, but after the patent expired Mitsubishi also made AG tubes under the name Diamondtron, which is what I have. I think the final generation Diamondtrons were a little better than the latest Trinitrons; the single electron gun generally gave slightly better convergence and supported higher refresh rates.

Ahh, Legos on the floor - a sign of a true child at heart.

Exactly. I have a helicopter simulator thing, a 4x4x4 monster truck, an SP2 spacecraft and some other partially complete stuff around the floor. I'll finish them all, eventually. The walls are also decked out with shelves containing a hundred or so models, both official and custom designs. I have always been something of a Lego fanatic and have built up a nice collection over the years.

[Stealth]

Me: Performance over looks

[Cobra]

holy ****!! now THAT is what i call a setup! 4 PCs????

[Ulala]

I only count 3 towers?

[Descenterace]

4 PCs? Yup, I've got that too.

The primary system is the one I photographed.

The secondary was built from the bits I took out of the primary when I last upgraded (last year).

My server is built from the system I got from a customer as part-payment for a new system.

The family computer is built from the bits I took out of the primary system the second-from-last time I upgraded it (the year before last).

I have an IBM Thinkpad with a dud power unit somewhere. It'll work, if I can get a new power unit.

I have enough parts for three more PCs lying around. The CPUs are:
* A 500MHz AMD K6-2, which will probably be going into my Stacker case with the primary, for playing DOS games on,
* A Duron 1200, which will be replacing the 550MHz Pentium 3 in my server,
* An Athlon XP 2700, which I bought second-hand from one friend and am putting into a system I'm building for another friend.

So 3 towers isn't a lot.

[Nuke]

i have 2 working computers but i dont hve a monitor for other one. i also have a spacre processor and some laptop parts.  i perfer the simplicity of running only one pc though. i dont have to update my files between them. dvd-r serves as backup.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by Cobra
holy ****!! now THAT is what i call a setup! 4 PCs????

I only count 2; the dark gray "PC" on the left is his stereo.

[Nuke]

thats a sub, there are 2 on the floor and one on the desk

[Stealth]

actually you should only be able to see two computers.  the two on the right of the picture (personal computer, and server (smaller one)).  my gaming computer is in the car.  so in reality, i have 3 towers, and two laptops (although one's too slow to hardly even use)


1) primary computer (what i'm using right now)
2) server (cables lying on top of it are what my gaming computer plugs into.  gaming computer sits on top of server)
3) primary stereo
4) KVM switch (primary, server, and gaming computer)
5) secondary stereo (sometimes listen to both on... as you can see i have a couple of speakers, surround)
6) printer (not working at the moment)
7) nifty little thing i built... light switches, but with the speakers wired through them.  since my primary stereo isn't surround capable, i've got 6 speakers.  two in front of me, two further on each side (like the one directly next to the stereo), and then two far on each side (the other two corners of my room).  i can turn off each speaker with this little 'box'.  not too practical, but pretty neat
8) subwoofer for secondary stereo

curious what you thought was the 3rd and 4th PC in the picture

[Fineus]

Quite a lot of equipment packed neatly into a compact space though. Kudos on the layout

[-Vulture-]

Well, this one heres mine. I like its silver/black/blue color-mix, looks really stylish^^...


And here with less lightning, now you see more blue^^...

[Nuke]

Originally posted by Stealth
actually you should only be able to see two computers.  the two on the right of the picture (personal computer, and server (smaller one)).  my gaming computer is in the car.  so in reality, i have 3 towers, and two laptops (although one's too slow to hardly even use)


1) primary computer (what i'm using right now)
2) server (cables lying on top of it are what my gaming computer plugs into.  gaming computer sits on top of server)
3) primary stereo
4) KVM switch (primary, server, and gaming computer)
5) secondary stereo (sometimes listen to both on... as you can see i have a couple of speakers, surround)
6) printer (not working at the moment)
7) nifty little thing i built... light switches, but with the speakers wired through them.  since my primary stereo isn't surround capable, i've got 6 speakers.  two in front of me, two further on each side (like the one directly next to the stereo), and then two far on each side (the other two corners of my room).  i can turn off each speaker with this little 'box'.  not too practical, but pretty neat
8) subwoofer for secondary stereo

curious what you thought was the 3rd and 4th PC in the picture

so, they make stereos look like computers now. intresting.