John wrote:
> John wrote:
>> I finally settled on:
>>
>> Board:
>> ASUS P5KPL-AM EPU LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
>> $63 (w/ shipping) Item=N82E16813131615
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131615
>>
>>
>>
>> Processor:
>> Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
>> Dual-Core Processor BX80571E7500
>> $125 (free shipping) Item#: N82E16819115056
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115056
>>
>> Thermal Compound:
>> Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
>> $10 (free shipping) Item#: N82E16835100007
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007
>>
>> Memory:
>> G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
>> Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
>> $40 (free shipping) Item# N82E16820231098
>> Http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098
>>
>> Video:
>> SAPPHIRE 100252DDR2L Radeon HD 4550 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0
>> x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
>> $30 (free shipping) Item#: N82E16814102896
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...m-_-14-102-896
>>
>>
>>
>> Case & PS:
>> Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower
>> Computer Case with EarthWatts EA 500D Green power supply (80 PLUS®
>> Bronze certified) 1 rear 3-speed 120mm Tricool fan (standard) and
>> built-in washable air filter
>> $130 (w/ shipping) Item#: N82E16811129024
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...024&Tpk=Sonata
>>
>> III
>>
>> Drives:
>> LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X
>> DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB
>> Cache SATA 24X DVD Writer
>> $20 (free shipping today) Item#: N82E16827106334
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106334
>>
>> Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA
>> 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
>> $50 (free shipping) Item#: N82E16822136073
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073
>>
>> Monitor:
>> ASUS VK222H Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor w/Webcam
>> 300 cd/m2 ASCR 5000:1(1000:1) Built-in Speakers
>> $184 (w/ shipping) Item# N82E16824236043
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236043
>>
>>
>>
>> Keyboard:
>> Seal Shield STK503 Silver Storm Washable & Antimicrobial Keyboard
>> $33 (w/ shipping) Item Number: S094-0014 --- **** Tiger Direct ****
>> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...7450&CatId=533
>>
>>
>>
>> Mouse:
>> Adesso 3 HC-3003PS Desktop Optical Scroll Mouse - Metal Scroll, PS/2
>> $8 Item Number: A68-1301
>> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...3ORDER-_-Deals
>>
>>
>>
>> Total with shipping was just wee bit under $700
>>
>>
>> Changed the motherboard over what you guys recommended, this one looks
>> better, we will see. Also had to try out the dishwasher safe keyboard,
>> didn't know such a thing existed, and I could sure use it
>>
>> Special thanks to:
>> Paul, Jan & Grinder for your expertise and patience. I ordered the above
>> this evening and will let you know how the build turns out next week. No
>> doubt I'll be bugging you for more information on how to build it, so a
>> big thanks in advance!
>>
>> John
>
>
> Finally got all the parts and everything went together nicely. Really
> quick XP comp. Believe it or not Windows boots faster than the BIOS. The
> hard drive you guys picked out is absolutely silent - amazing - I mean
> no sound what so ever even during a format, and when I did that the case
> side was off. Overall the only thing you can hear is a slight hum from
> the rear case fan. I set it on medium speed, the slowest speed was
> silent but wasn't moving much air and since the video card is passively
> cooled I thought it could use some help. So far the stock processor fan
> is dead quiet but then I haven't run any speed tests to push it yet,
> still loading up the software.
>
> The monitor is very nice, much larger than I imagined. Its sound quality
> isn't great but then I knew that going in, if I want music I'll buy
> speakers.
>
> Only problem is minor, the hard drive activity light isn't working, no
> doubt I connected something backwards, have to take another look at it.
>
> Thanks again to Paul, Jan & Grinder for all your help, you guys picked
> out some great stuff.
>
> John

Regarding the LEDs which connect to the PANEL header on the motherboard,
they have "polarity". If the LED is not working, shut down and power
off the computer, pull the 1x2 connector and cable from the header, rotate
it 180 degrees and reinstall.

The LED is rated for reverse polarity up to about the 5V level. That
means you can accidentally connect the LED backwards and no harm comes
to it. Just turn it around, and it'll be "blinking in no time". The
LED drivers on the motherboard are current limited, which is also
why they're safe with the computer case LEDs.

Not all LED devices are so tolerant. The cheap LEDs can tolerate reversed
polarity quite well. Some of the "power LEDs", to be used in lighting
applications, have poor reversal properties, and you have to be more
careful with those. But the $0.10 one in your computer case, should handle
the situation well.

Your PANEL header will likely have a POWER switch and a RESET switch.
Those don't have polarity. The component parts of the switch, are
electrically isolated from chassis ground, by a plastic body. That means
the two wires on the switch are "floating". And that's why the 1x2 connector
on the switch, can be installed in either orientation, without side effects.

*******

With regard to BIOS boot time performance, it's possible to
go into the BIOS and make some changes, to make it boot faster.
But only worthwhile, if the delay is egregious (like 3 minutes
or something). If it's only a few seconds, it might not be worth
the research and test time.

On my machine, I can cut a few seconds from boot, by disabling
the separate IDE controller for my CD drive. But then, I
couldn't read CD's :-) So far, I don't own any SATA DVD/CD drives,
and still connect them via the ribbon cable interface. So I have
to keep the associated chip enabled in the BIOS.

Some BIOS have a "pseudo RAM test" of no particular value,
and sometimes disabling that will save some time. But the machine
may still need time to zero all the RAM at startup, which could
take one second or so of the boot time. If you're one of those
people who installs 16GB of RAM in the computer, even the time
to zero all that RAM, takes a few seconds. As far as I know,
the RAM isn't smart enough to zero itself.

If your Southbridge had four or six SATA ports, some BIOS
feature the ability to go in and disable individual ports.
If all the unused ports are disabled, that may reduce the
"detection time" the BIOS allocates. Some BIOS have 35 second
timeout intervals on storage interfaces, and it would be
a slow slow drive that needs that amount of time. The BIOS
may wait that period of time, for a "drive to show up".
The drives might be ready in around five seconds or so if
they aren't damaged. So if you're bored and want to play around, you
can have hours of fun with the BIOS :-)

The reason I don't mess around with my BIOS, is the danger
that the BIOS will reset all the settings on an "overclocking
failure". Some BIOS interpret *any* kind of computer crash,
as an overclocking failure. And the BIOS designs vary, as
to what settings they change or reset. If you've invested
significant time customizing BIOS settings, then you may have
to re-enter all those settings. Some BIOS even feature
"profile storage", where the settings can be stored in flash,
and recovered later on demand. While that sounds pretty cool,
that feature doesn't work right, if you upgrade the BIOS. The
stored settings won't be compatible with the new BIOS image,
and so the "profile storage" option only works for as long
as the same BIOS version is present in its EEPROM.

Oh, and welcome to the "home builder community" :-) Now,
you're an expert.

Paul

John wrote:

>
>
> Thanks Paul,
>
> Don't know about the expert thing But the point about boot times is
> not that the BIOS is slow but that Windows is really quick, it wasn't a
> complaint at all.
>
> One question, the case has a SATA connector coming form the front panel
> which I connected to one of the SATA ports on the MB. This is supposed
> to be E-SATA according to the case literature. The power supply has some
> elaborate E-SATA wiring but I had no idea what to do with it, there is
> no place on the MB for it and *if* its supposed to be connected to the
> case front its certainly not obvious or accessible?
>
> Any pictures I might glean some ideas from.
>
> John

Typically, a modern power supply has wiring harnesses for
SATA drives, with 15 contact wafer connectors crimped to the
cable. Those would connect to the hard drive, and they're used
internally.

(The one on the right, is what it might look like. Multiple
of them, on one cable, with some spacing between them.)

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/satano3.jpg

Those wouldn't be used for an ESATA port. At least,
not for the majority of what you can find for sale today.
Maybe some day, that will change.

Generally speaking, you don't want power leaving the
chassis of the computer. One reason for me making that
statement, is the power wires act as antennas for conducted
emissions. If you extend a power cable, or power wires from
the chassis, they should have filters to prevent
conducted emissions. Perhaps that would take the form of
a large ferrite bead. I believe that, as well as safety issues,
is what has prevented a lot of external powering adventures
in the past. If you just extended the SATA power cable
from inside your computer, it could deliver up to the
power supply limit (like, 12V @ 20A), and in the event of
a short circuit, there could be smoke or a fire. If you
deliver power for external use, it's a good idea to put a fuse
inline.

The initial intention for ESATA, was like this. It's a data
only connection, using a total of seven pins on the connector,
where the enclosure provides its own power. That means either
a wall adapter, or an AC cord snaking inside the enclosure.

Computer
Data signals only ESATA Drive
ESATA ----------------------------- + Enclosure ----- Power
Port 7 wires Source

Now, a thing I learned just today, is they've invented an
ESATAP connector. It is ESATA, with a few extra pins added
for distributing power. It changes the ESATA world (in fact,
it means there'll be a whole slew of goofy adapters and
inventions derived from the idea). The ESATAP drive comes
in a slightly different enclosure, as the connector on the
enclosure has a total of 13 pins. The existing
ESATA connector only has seven pins (data only).
I don't know what the current flow limits for ESATAP
pins 12 and 13 are, but they'd have to be able to
handle a 2.5 to 3.0 amp surge on +12V, while the
drive is spinning up. That takes 5 to 10 seconds.
After that, the drive settles down to 0.6 amps or less.

Computer
Data + Power ESATAP Drive
ESATAP ----------------------------- + Enclosure
Port More than 7 wires

Your Sonata will have the older ESATA connector (7 pins).
The fact I only learned about the ESATAP thing today, and
it was invented around 2008, tells you how visible it is :-)
It's never come up in a conversation here.

Apparently, the intended practice will be, ESATAP on
laptops, will have only +5V power. ESATAP on desktops
will have +5V and +12V. A 3.5" drive needs both +5V
and +12V. A 2.5" drive runs everything from +5V.
A desktop will be able to use either 2.5" or 3.5"
external drives, using its ESATAP connector.
If you want to add ESATAP to your Sonata, you'll
be able to buy an add-in PCI Express card, with two
ESATAP on the faceplate. That add-in PCI Express
card, may have some provision for an auxiliary power
connection.

(Koutech card with dual ESATAP on faceplate $40 - has provision
for a 1x4 floppy power connector (the white connector),
to get extra 5V and 12V. You run an ESATAP cable to the
external enclosure.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816104012

I don't see anything in this picture, to suggest current
flow on ESATAP is limited. Neither do I see any significant
conducted emissions prevention.

http://www.koutech.com/images/PESU220_side.jpg

This is an example of an ESATAP enclosure, but I can't find
one for sale to get a price.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...2465-panel.jpg

So some day, those will be more common. But right now, with
your Sonata, you connect a SATA cable to the ESATA on the front
of the Sonata, and then the external ESATA drive enclosure, has
its own power supply. That should work fine.

ESATA cables come in 3 foot and 6 foot lengths.
I recommend buying the short one (3 foot), in order
to guarantee a low error rate on the cable. True ESATA
electrical interfaces, will be able to reach the full
six feet. To protect you from inferior electrical
implementations, I recommend using a 1 meter (3 foot) cable.

If you decide to go ESATA, and you buy a separate enclosure and
a raw drive mechanism, you should run two tests. Install the
raw drive, inside the computer, then run HDTune (you don't need
to format the drive or anything, to do that test). Next, install
the raw drive inside the ESATA enclosure, and run HDTune again.
Compare the graphs. They should be identical. If they're not,
it could be a cabling issue (error rate).

(Examples of HDTune results for my best hard drive)
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/8...scomposite.gif

(Copy of HDTune)
http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe

Paul