What to do with a 400MHz dual-processor computer?

[Brooks Moses]

I was reading through here, and saw the thread a while back on "where
has all the interesting conversation gone", and figured this might stir
up something enjoyable for people. And, besides, I wouldn't mind having
some good ideas for this!

So, the story: A couple of years ago, I collected various parts from
various for-sale ads from students around campus, and built a machine
with the following basic specs:

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)
1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM
Antec case, with decent power supply

Having built it, I loaded an operating system on it, and then ran into
the question: what do I _do_ with this computer?

It seemed like a good idea at the time -- after all, the computer I was
using then was a 200MHz PPro, so it's a notable upgrade in performance.
On the other hand, I like to leave my main computer on most of the time,
and this beast sounds like it ought to be cleared for takeoff. Not
acceptable. I'm pretty sure it would be a bit quieter if I replaced the
40mm CPU fans, but the CPUs are set parallel about an inch apart, so
there's not really room for anything of any size, and I expect it's
still going to be loud.

And, beyond that, it's still a pretty slow computer these days; 400MHz
isn't much, even in a dual-processor machine, so if I really wanted
something that was fast, I'd want a different machine anyhow. It's
upgradeable, but the motherboard manual seems rather dubious about the
possibility of putting PIIIs in it, so I'm left with PIIs.

But ... dual processors! And 1.5GB of RAM! ECC RAM, no less! So I
feel like it has to be good for something. Thus, this post. Any ideas
on what I could do with it? Suggestions? Weird notions?

- Brooks

 

[Al Smith]

But ... dual processors! And 1.5GB of RAM! ECC RAM, no less! So I

feel like it has to be good for something. Thus, this post. Any ideas
on what I could do with it? Suggestions? Weird notions?

- Brooks

Paperweight. Maybe a planter. Doorstop. Trashbin. Space heater.
White noise generator to help you sleep (and hear the voices of
dead people).

 

[David Maynard]

I was reading through here, and saw the thread a while back on "where
has all the interesting conversation gone", and figured this might stir
up something enjoyable for people. And, besides, I wouldn't mind having
some good ideas for this!

So, the story: A couple of years ago, I collected various parts from
various for-sale ads from students around campus, and built a machine
with the following basic specs:

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)

Where did you find the incredibly rare AMD Slot-A P-IIs?

And how did you manage to cram them into the Slot-1 Tyan?

1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM
Antec case, with decent power supply

Having built it, I loaded an operating system on it, and then ran into
the question: what do I _do_ with this computer?

It seemed like a good idea at the time -- after all, the computer I was
using then was a 200MHz PPro, so it's a notable upgrade in performance.
On the other hand, I like to leave my main computer on most of the time,
and this beast sounds like it ought to be cleared for takeoff. Not
acceptable. I'm pretty sure it would be a bit quieter if I replaced the
40mm CPU fans, but the CPUs are set parallel about an inch apart, so
there's not really room for anything of any size, and I expect it's
still going to be loud.

And, beyond that, it's still a pretty slow computer these days; 400MHz
isn't much, even in a dual-processor machine, so if I really wanted
something that was fast, I'd want a different machine anyhow. It's
upgradeable, but the motherboard manual seems rather dubious about the
possibility of putting PIIIs in it, so I'm left with PIIs.

pshaw

http://www.computer-one.org/new-2223727-4567.html

"I am currently running dual 1100Mhz PIIIs in both of them for the last
year."

 

[Brooks Moses]

Where did you find the incredibly rare AMD Slot-A P-IIs?

This really shady-looking guy who said he got them from his summer
internship but wouldn't say where, and wanted his cash in small bills.

And how did you manage to cram them into the Slot-1 Tyan?

A really large hammer.

Seriously -- yeah, I meant Slot-1. Sorry about that!

pshaw

http://www.computer-one.org/new-2223727-4567.html

"I am currently running dual 1100Mhz PIIIs in both of them for the last
year."

Hmm. Now that sounds like it might well be worth looking into. Thanks
for the link!

- Brooks

 

[lakesnow]

I was reading through here, and saw the thread a while back on "where
has all the interesting conversation gone", and figured this might stir
up something enjoyable for people. And, besides, I wouldn't mind having
some good ideas for this!

So, the story: A couple of years ago, I collected various parts from
various for-sale ads from students around campus, and built a machine
with the following basic specs:

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)
1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM
Antec case, with decent power supply

Having built it, I loaded an operating system on it, and then ran into
the question: what do I _do_ with this computer?

.... snipped ...

But ... dual processors! And 1.5GB of RAM! ECC RAM, no less! So I
feel like it has to be good for something. Thus, this post. Any ideas
on what I could do with it? Suggestions? Weird notions?

- Brooks

You can still use it with Linux as a router/gateway/firewall with 2 NICs.

The easy Linux-based firewalls are ClarkConnect ( search for it on Google,
or go to www.abxzone.com where there is a thread with ClarkConnect ),
or Smoothwall ( at www.smoothwall.org ).

There are others, but it depends on whether you like it or not.

 

[Ben Myers]

According to Tyan's specs, the motherboard is a Slot 1, so the CPUs have to be
Intel Pentium II.

What can you do with it?

1. Upgrade the processors with either a matched pair of 2.0v 100MHz FSB 600MHz
Pentium III CPUs. This gets the computer horsepower up to a respectable level.
Run a Windows OS which supports two processors: Windows NT, Windows 2000, or
Windows XPee, the latter acting like a boat anchor for all but the fastest
computers.

2. Upgrade the processors with VERY expensive PowerLeap kits. This would make
the system competitive with a newer single CPU fast Socket 478 Celeron.

3. Install Linux and use as a server or desktop computer.

4. Another posting suggested using it as a Linux-based router and firewall.
Much more than adequate for the task, sort of like using a sledgehammer to drive
a thumb tack. A couple of years ago I sold some old Pentium class boxes to a
couple of Linux experts who set them up as router-firewall computers. They are
still running, and have no problem handling the network traffic.

 

[IsaacKuo]

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)
1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM

To me, the most enticing feature of this system is the
amazing amount of RAM.

what do I _do_ with this computer?

Well, what requires a lot of RAM but not all that much
processing power? Editing large images is what comes
to my mind immediately. Also, this machine should do
very well handling multiple simultaneous uploads/downloads
of files.

Personally, I'd use it as a general workstation and file
server, using its copious RAM to have all sorts of goodies
in the background (IM, MP3 player, randomly rotating wallpaper,
etc). However, that's because my general workstation right
now is a mere PIII 550 with 256megs of RAM.

On the other hand, I like to leave my main computer on
most of the time, and this beast sounds like it ought
to be cleared for takeoff. Not acceptable.

Assuming you already have a more modern computer to use as
your "main" workstation, you can afford to experiment with
this machine to quiet it down. If this machine is your
only workstation, then you'll obviously not want to risk
things too greatly. Either way, http://www.silentpcreview.com/
will have lots of great advice!

I used advice from spcr to quiet down my PIII workstation.

I'm pretty sure it would be a bit quieter if I replaced the
40mm CPU fans, but the CPUs are set parallel about an inch apart, so
there's not really room for anything of any size, and I expect it's
still going to be loud.

You may be able to devise a single 80mm+ fan to blow downward
into some rudimentary ducting into where those 40mm fans would
have blown. You may even be able to eliminate the CPU fans
altogether, with ducting into a negative pressure case.

A negative pressure case is one where airflow is provided by
the PSU fan pulling air out of the case (as well as perhaps
outward pointing case fans). You'd want there to be little/no
air intakes except for a large intake duct leading to the
CPUs.

With only 1 inch between the slots, you might not be able
to apply my own fanless solution. I used a Zalman Z80A VGA
heat sink. They're meant to cool graphics card GPUs, but
they'll work just great on slot 1 processors also! Even if
they'll fit, two of the heat sinks faces will be right next
to each other. Some directed airflow would certainly be
called for.

And, beyond that, it's still a pretty slow computer these days; 400MHz
isn't much, even in a dual-processor machine, so if I really wanted
something that was fast, I'd want a different machine anyhow. It's
upgradeable, but the motherboard manual seems rather dubious about the
possibility of putting PIIIs in it, so I'm left with PIIs.

Personally, I'd be thinking more in terms of quieting down
the system than upgrading the processors (which will likely
make it even louder).

What is the design of the PII heat sinks? Are they shrouded
in a plastic shroud, with just the fan exposed and a
couple exhaust holes at the ends? Or are the heat sinks
themselves exposed? If the former, the plastic shroud
itself may form part of the ducting, for a downward pointed
fan to provide airflow.

Isaac Kuo

 

[Matt]

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)
1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM
Antec case, with decent power supply

Having built it, I loaded an operating system on it, and then ran into
the question: what do I _do_ with this computer?

Use it for experimentation in programming dual-processor machines?

 

[Bob Troll]

Boat anchor??

 

[JAD]

These rigs having MMX SSE1 were very commonly used setups for video /
workstation-rendering back in the day....still could be.

 

[rhys]

Paperweight. Maybe a planter. Doorstop. Trashbin. Space heater.
White noise generator to help you sleep (and hear the voices of
dead people).

Complete and utter bollocks. I use a tricked-out 1997-vintage dual PII
333 tower as a file server and backup running under Windows 2000 Pro.
If I have sub-contracting designers in to do text layout, they can use
that machine quite adequately as it's got a 1994 Mag Innovision
monitor that's great for that sort of thing. I use it for e-mail and
net access for my wife and kid, as it's connected to a router/firewall
and then to DSL. Also, it runs Quick Books like a charm.

Sure, I don't bother loading Doom III on it, but it's still very
useful for any number of tasks. I notice it's slow when I am batch
processing Photoshop files, but that's automated...I go and have a
coffee and work on my main rig.

Your PII dual is more powerful than mine because of the vast RAM. I
suspect it would make a fine machine for anything but current gaming,
video intensive stuff or some graphics programs. It will runs Office
2000, for instance, without a stumble.

As an even more antique example, I found an Apple LC575 (1995 all in
one Performa) in the garbage, along with a laser printer. Everything
works, and it's now my kid's "play" computer. It even has Quark and
Photoshop on it <G>. I was given a 6100/60 last month. That's a
upgrade. The guy who gave it to me says if I wait six months, I can
have a G3. My wife will like that, or I will rig it with wireless and
display PDF engine manuals in the garage <G>

If we thought reuse and recycle a little more, we wouldn't be filling
rivers in China with salvaged lead, mercury and cadmium. Novelty's
getting old, fast.

R.

 

[gf]

I was reading through here, and saw the thread a while back on "where
has all the interesting conversation gone", and figured this might stir
up something enjoyable for people. And, besides, I wouldn't mind having
some good ideas for this!

So, the story: A couple of years ago, I collected various parts from
various for-sale ads from students around campus, and built a machine
with the following basic specs:

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)
1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM
Antec case, with decent power supply

Having built it, I loaded an operating system on it, and then ran into
the question: what do I _do_ with this computer?

It seemed like a good idea at the time -- after all, the computer I was
using then was a 200MHz PPro, so it's a notable upgrade in performance.
On the other hand, I like to leave my main computer on most of the time,
and this beast sounds like it ought to be cleared for takeoff. Not
acceptable. I'm pretty sure it would be a bit quieter if I replaced the
40mm CPU fans, but the CPUs are set parallel about an inch apart, so
there's not really room for anything of any size, and I expect it's
still going to be loud.

And, beyond that, it's still a pretty slow computer these days; 400MHz
isn't much, even in a dual-processor machine, so if I really wanted
something that was fast, I'd want a different machine anyhow. It's
upgradeable, but the motherboard manual seems rather dubious about the
possibility of putting PIIIs in it, so I'm left with PIIs.

But ... dual processors! And 1.5GB of RAM! ECC RAM, no less! So I
feel like it has to be good for something. Thus, this post. Any ideas
on what I could do with it? Suggestions? Weird notions?

- Brooks

Something of interest.....I was in a business recently that made signs
of all kinds....from stick on to large commercial signs like you see
on the sides of streets. Two secretarys were still running a 8MHz Z80
with CPM doing accounting, billing plus they had a terminal with a
girl running a word processor. In addition to that the same computer
run the machines that created the signs. These people had no intention
of upgrading anything! Your computer will do 90% of anything that a
computer is used for and never know the speed of it. I know, I am
like everyone I love speed,sound, graphics all the other goodies. I
think we have all had the sales pitch put on us......sorta like the
guy that said "we have met the enemy...and he's us"

 

[DaveW]

At 400 MHz I vote for putting it out of its misery ...

 

[Brooks Moses]

Something of interest.....I was in a business recently that made signs
of all kinds....from stick on to large commercial signs like you see
on the sides of streets. Two secretarys were still running a 8MHz Z80
with CPM doing accounting, billing plus they had a terminal with a
girl running a word processor. In addition to that the same computer
run the machines that created the signs. These people had no intention
of upgrading anything! Your computer will do 90% of anything that a
computer is used for and never know the speed of it. I know, I am
like everyone I love speed,sound, graphics all the other goodies. I
think we have all had the sales pitch put on us......sorta like the
guy that said "we have met the enemy...and he's us"

Oh, indeed. See, the other part of the story is this: You remember the
200MHz PPro computer that I mentioned I had when I started building the
dual-PII? That's still my primary computer, and it's working fine for
most everything I do, though at 196MB of RAM I've pretty much done all I
can on that front. And it's nicely quiet, too, since there's no CPU
fan. So, the real question is: what is this dual-PII useful for that
either my current computer won't already do fine, or a new computer
wouldn't be smashingly better at?

And the rest of this thread has been pretty good for answering that --
it seems that the real advantage of the "beast" is the 1.5GB of memory,
and the dual processors aren't necessarily all that useful. And, as
I've noted, the noise from the processor fans is obnoxious. So perhaps
I'd be best served by "upgrading" to a single 850MHz PIII or something
that I can get that's not too pricey, and finding some quiet way to cool
it (which will be a lot easier with only one processor). And then I can
use it for image editing and things of that nature, where it will be
rather better than my current machine.

- Brooks

 

[Brooks Moses]

With only 1 inch between the slots, you might not be able
to apply my own fanless solution. I used a Zalman Z80A VGA
heat sink. They're meant to cool graphics card GPUs, but
they'll work just great on slot 1 processors also! Even if
they'll fit, two of the heat sinks faces will be right next
to each other. Some directed airflow would certainly be
called for.

This sounds intriguing -- tell me more! Specifically, how do you attach
it to the CPU, what processors have you run it on, and what sort of
airflow do you have in the rest of the box? Have you had any problems
with the setup?

- Brooks

 

[IsaacKuo]

This sounds intriguing -- tell me more!

Here's a page with pictures of my installation:

http://www.geocities.com/mechdan/zm80a.html

Specifically, how do you attach it to the CPU,

It attaches in exactly the same way as it would attach to
a VGA card. A slot 1 processor is just a card with a
chip that needs cooling, just like a video card. There
may be plastic bits of stuff which need to be removed
first, to get down to the basic card within, of course.

Because there is no "standard location" for a videocard
GPU, the Zalman VGA coolers have fiddly little arms and
stuff to adjust to a wide range of potential locations.

what processors have you run it on,

I've only used it on my 550mhz PIII.

and what sort of airflow do you have in the rest of the box?

My box is a handcrafted design with all airflow driven
by the power supply fan. It was my first handmade case,
and doesn't really have a good design--airflow to the
DVD and hard drive is almost nonexistent. However, the
CPU gets adequate airflow simply by being near the only
big intake hole. At first, I had a crude duct made out
of foam directing air from the hole to my P4 Celeron
processor. However, I was worried about the foam possibly
catching fire and simply removed it--having no effect
whatsoever on temperatures. (This P4 Celeron had a stock
heatsink/fan.) Later on, when I put my PIII motherboard
into the box, I didn't bother trying to fashion any sort
of ducting.

A PIII 550 doesn't generate all that much heat to begin
with, compared to the screaming GPUs the Zalman is designed
for. Not much airflow is needed, apparently.

Have you had any problems with the setup?

I leave the machine on 24/7 without any issues. However,
I don't run anything which stresses the CPU over an extended
period of time.

I don't know what the temperatures are, but they satisfy
"the finger test" (touch the heat sink with your finger;
it's warm so it's working, but it's not so hot that it's
uncomfortable).

Isaac Kuo

 

[Al Smith]

Paperweight. Maybe a planter. Doorstop. Trashbin. Space heater.

Complete and utter bollocks. I use a tricked-out 1997-vintage dual PII
333 tower as a file server and backup running under Windows 2000 Pro.
If I have sub-contracting designers in to do text layout, they can use
that machine quite adequately as it's got a 1994 Mag Innovision
monitor that's great for that sort of thing. I use it for e-mail and
net access for my wife and kid, as it's connected to a router/firewall
and then to DSL. Also, it runs Quick Books like a charm.

You're preaching to the choir. I've got two Pentium II machines, a
450 and a 400, both very usable for surfing the Internet, burning
CDs, playing older games and doing word processing and graphic
work. But, come on, anything older than about three years is a
relic of the dinosaurs in computer terms. They don't make the
parts anymore. Forward and onward! Embrace the relentless march of
progress. Accept the inevitable and upgrade.

 

[David Maynard]

This really shady-looking guy who said he got them from his summer
internship but wouldn't say where, and wanted his cash in small bills.





A really large hammer.

Seriously -- yeah, I meant Slot-1. Sorry about that!

Hehe. Of course. But it was too good to pass up

 

[John Weiss]

Tyan S1837 Thunderbolt full-ATX motherboard
Dual 400MHz PII processors (Slot-A)
1.5GB PC100 ECC RAM
Antec case, with decent power supply

Having built it, I loaded an operating system on it, and then ran into
the question: what do I _do_ with this computer?

http://folding.stanford.edu

Set it up for 2 F@H sessions, and fold ofr the cause!

 

[Rod]

And the rest of this thread has been pretty good for answering that --
it seems that the real advantage of the "beast" is the 1.5GB of memory,
and the dual processors aren't necessarily all that useful. And, as
I've noted, the noise from the processor fans is obnoxious. So perhaps
I'd be best served by "upgrading" to a single 850MHz PIII or something
that I can get that's not too pricey, and finding some quiet way to cool
it (which will be a lot easier with only one processor). And then I can
use it for image editing and things of that nature, where it will be
rather better than my current machine.

- Brooks

Don't put more money into something that's already worth nothing. Use what
you got and make it work. The fun of it will be experimenting on how to
quiet it down. Since you don't seem to be overly attached to the dual
processor system, it's not going to hurt anything. If they are plastic
shrouds on the fans, pull them off to expose the heatsink and remove the
installed fans. Then place an 80 or 120mm fan around them forcing air over
them. I did this for a single processor system that the fan went out on,
worked no problem.