After months of lurking (and asking the occasional question), I've built my first new rig in several years. My goal was to make it 'better' in all respects compared to the existing computer: faster, quieter, smaller, less electricity. Thanks to SPCR, I think I've done it. First, the statistics, and ...

FWIW, I just built a new system with two Hitachi 7200rpm 2.5" drives (in RAID 1), and I'm very pleased. I can hear the seeks because the unit is on top of, rather than underneath, my desk, but the sound is not intrusive. Overall my wife's four-year-old iMac is somewhat noisier (whooshier) than my ne...

I got the motherboard back from myaopen on Jan 2. It seems to
be working fine now (same mobo/serial #). Now I have to figure
out how to do RAID-1 in Linux ...

Just a quick data point ... today I replaced the AXP-3200 in my
Athlon XP 2600+ system with a Thermalright SI-97A. It's running
a good 5C cooler this afternoon! I'm running both fans at between
7 to 9 volts (don't have a meter to tell exactly) for noise control.

Let's see ... quite a few years ago I plugged in a floppy connector with the correct orientation, but one pin too far to the right (open connector w/out plastic box), motherboard never booted again. Wondered why the video wasn't working, finally discovered that I'd plugged the monitor into the (disa...

I will say that myaopen.com was quick when I replied with my full
tale to their email offer regarding the BIOS. I've got an RMA #
already, so I'm disassembling, and the bundle (they wanted the
mobo, memory, and cpu that they sent) will start on its way back
to them tomorrow.

Well, the T1300 allows the computer to continue on to the boot step, confirming what we thought. However, I've got other problems :( and will be sending this motherboard back to myaopen.com anyway. The PATA connector/channel doesn't work. With the T1300, I've been able to verify that the SATA channe...

Here is myaopen's response to my email: To expedite and save customer's money, we do test for free just to avoid any compatibility issues. We need to update our website information. Well, for your case, would you like send it back and have our technician to upgrade BIOS? The statement that they "nee...

As mentioned earlier in the thread, and listed here , "support Merom CPU" was a feature of BIOS R1.04 released in August. If you've got an earlier BIOS than that, as I do, one wouldn't expect it to work. Presumably a t2400, being a Core Duo (Yonah), wouldn't have a problem with the BIOS (if that was...

If it's an unsupported CPU, as I understand it, the BIOS won't hand off control to the CPU to start the bootstrap from the boot device. This is what hmsrolst said earlier in this thread, and it makes some sense to me (this is the first time I've had this kind of a problem). Certainly, I have a boota...

Not getting anywhere, although the images in the assembly guide that came with the mobo clearly show where the BIOS rev is in the post, and I show R1.01, so I wouldn't expect to get too far. I'm in the process of getting a T1300 Core Solo, which I will swap for the T7400, and then we'll see how far ...

Just checked the assembly guide again, and it indicates that
the R1.01 that I see *is* the BIOS version. Note: I had to
disable the 'full screen LOGO show' under Advanced BIOS
features in order to get the text I mentioned earlier to show up.

How do you determine which version of the BIOS it is?
I must be missing something ...

I'll keep checking ...

Well, I've done a basic power-on test. The case is open and there are cables everywhere, but the optical drive and, sometimes, one hard drive are connected as well as keyboard, mouse, and monitor. I have for testing purposes a live-CD in the optical drive. It looks like myaopen.com did *not* update ...

More data points: I have a four-year-old Viewsonic VX800 18" monitor that's pretty darn quiet, at all the brightness levels I've used, but then it has an external power brick. I just bought a Viewsonic VG2030wm, which ups my screen resolution to 1680 x 1050. It has an integral power supply. It's sil...

Hi, Sorry, but with a spouse and all the Christmas preparations, I haven't started just yet :(, but hope to start measuring tomorrow :). I want to see if I might be able to put the 2.5" hard drives in front of the intake fan and remove the cage for the 3.5" bay. It will require making a little woode...

Yup ... gigabyte 7600GS passive. That's the same video card as the puget sound system reviewed this summer. That system used this mobo, 2x1G sticks, and the PCIe card, so it is to be hoped that there won't be any problems. There are similarities between my planned build and the puget system; I think...

Hi, I ordered the motherboard bundle (mobo, CPU, memory) from myaopen, and it arrived yesterday. However, I won't have the time to begin assembly until another 3 or 4 days. I will make a report. myaopen was supposed to do a BIOS update and burn-in as part of the bundle, and although I cannot see the...

Evil Gnomes wrote:slightly off topic, but does anyone know where to get the 5.25" vent used on the model 11?

Also my question Would be great for ducted airflow to the PSU
in an existing or non-EPCN system ...

That Silverstone fp33-b looks very interesting to me. I don't really
want to sacrifice a 3.5" bay for a fan controller, and the expansion slot
interface looks like just the ticket when you're adjusting the speeds
only occasionally.

Thanks!

Hi,

Quick question: are the 4-pin CPU power plugs optional (like the
PCIe16 plugs) or are they mandatory for the CPU to see power
from the motherboard? I haven't built a system since they appeared ...

Thanks,
Ben

I think I'll use just one or two very tasteful magnets

Given that the 1.04 BIOS has been out since early August, if this was
a widespread or common problem, I'd think there would be more
out there about it, such as with the Asus N4L-VM problems (see this post).
However, it's also a point in favor of letting somebody else do the upgrade ...

Ben

Thanks!

Hi, I'm planning on building a system next month with the steel-sided Silverstone TJ08 mATX case. It just occurred to me that one cool way to "decorate" the machine would be with "refrigerator magnets" -- quotes, images, etc. on magnetic backing. My gut says that there isn't enough magnetism involve...

Two items: http://store.myaopen.com offers motherboard bundles (motherboard, cpu, and memory) in which they do any BIOS updates and burn-in the combo. However, what reviews of the outfit I can find on the web are mixed. OTOH, most of the reviews are 2-5 years old. Not sure what to think here -- does...

Dimpled fan blades show up in that interior photo. What fan is that?

Looking at the photo, it seems there isn't room for anything larger than a "90" (Ultra-90, XP-90, etc.). Maybe an XP-120 if you hacked out some of the bottom of the 3.5" cage. I'm considering a system with the same mobo & case & have concluded that passive won't cut it, esp. in summer (ambient 25-30...

Thank you for the information :) . I'll certainly do my best to identify a Merom-compatible BIOS when I'm shopping, although if I end up buying on-line, getting the retailer's attention may be difficult. However, the tip about cheap single-core Yonah processors gives me a good strategy even if I end...

I'm planning on a Merom/i945GTm system build soon. But I have no experience with BIOS flashing, so some questions come to mind: What happens when you boot for the first time with the Merom but the BIOS that "doesn't support" Merom? The computer has to come up far enough to do the flash ! :shock: AOp...