Not much to write about today. I went to Fry's and bought a new hard drive (160 gigs for $70 - no rebates) and set it up in the computer formerly known as Behemoth. With the new drive in, I gave it a clean install of Windows 2000 and started up Folding@Home. The new name for the computer - HELIOS - because it just runs so damn hot. Now I just have to get all the programs back up and running on it. With over 700 gigs now in Helios, I'll probably set it up as a server for the home network. It'll also run a Teamspeak server for our Guild Wars guild along with an FTP and/or HTTP server perhaps (it always was nice to be able to FTP into my server wherever I was and also have access to any files I need of any size at any time).

Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get Menoetius up and running with the hard drive I pulled out of Helios earlier today to make room for the new 160 gig drive. Go Angels!

URL: Fry's Electronics Home Page

My 20 pin splitter cables finally got here and boy, do they look amazing. They are both about 12" long on each end, so you have tons of space to work with these splitters. I also have a pair of 20 pin extension cables coming soon, so I really can do some damage now. Needless to say, PROMETHEUS is back online - all 850MHz of the Duron processor. That brings my current folding power up to 8.6GHz with 3.7 more coming online this weekend (hopefully). A full 12.3GHz computer here heating my room to sauna-like conditions.

Regardless of the heat, these power splitting cables are awesome (though they were expensive). But I can now run two computers off each power supply - saving power and space within the box. And even though PROMETHEUS doesn't put out a lot of work units (about 52 per day), it's still points for the team and for me.

Average points per day with a limited number of units returned:
ARION: 265
BEHEMOTH: 70
EPIMETHEUS: 86
ICARUS: 55
PEGASUS: 120
PROMETHEUS: 52
Total Average Per Day: 648 (though they are much lower with computers being turned off and on - [H]orde stats say 499 and my tracking spreadsheet says 450 points per day).

URL: PC WareHouse Union

If only I had a pair of Dual Core Opteron 275's to play around with and a Tyan motherboard to throw them into...just waiting on the power cable extensions to arrive to get Prometheus back online as Epimetheus still continues to chew on a 600 point work unit (another week to complete).

No worry, ARION is pumping out around 400 points per day. I'm well on my way to 25,000 points and a spot in the top 1,000 of the [H]orde.

Oh yeah, the Sempron shipped today and should be here Friday. I'll probably just cannabalize 512 MB of RAM from BEHEMOTH (dropping it to 512) and buy a cheap hard drive at Fry's over the weekend to reinstall Win2k on. Then I just need a new SATA storage drive for ARION so I can finally get my media files transferred over.

URL: Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

As I've been folding proteins, I've been tracking my progress in a spreadsheet to try and figure out how nicely my different computers perform. As I've just passed 5,000 points, I've moved up to the low 2,200's on the [H]orde. 5,000 points was a nice milestone, but right now, my goal is to be in the top 2,000 on the team. According to the stats, I should do that in 3.3 days with 7,000 points. After that, I guess I'll just go for points milestones - 10,000, 20,000, etc. It'll take me approximately 16 days to reach the top 1,500 with about 17,000 points.

Either way, my points per day should go up as I just installed F@H on my mom's computer - a.k.a. ICARUS and ATLAS should be coming online really soon. If I can get PROMETHEUS back online (waiting for a 20 pin extension cable) and maybe upgrade the processor, my points per day should go way up. Right now, they're sitting at exactly 458.9. Hopefully I can get that up over 700.

URL: Folding@Home

Well, the nice AMD Sempron 3000+ is on the way to plug into my new motherboard. That's the good news. Unfortunately, I can't get the Soyo motherboard Greg donated to work. I'll probably take out the processor and see where I can plug it in, but right now, I'm not sure what I'll do - maybe plug it into PROMETHEUS (replacing the Duron 850).

When all is said and done, we'll be left with just 3 computers in the box:

EPIMETHEUS: Athlon 1100 MHz (1.1GHz)
PROMETHEUS: Ahtlon 1700?
ATLAS: Sempron 3000 (1.8GHz)

I might try and assemble one out of the computer as well. See what I can throw together and put in the closet. I've got the spare motherboard, CPU & RAM. I need add a hard drive to my old computer to get it running normally again, so it'll replace the small 20 gig I've got in there now which I can use for the closet box.

URL: ZipZoomFly

Inside Pandora's Box, the next two computers coming online will be ATLAS and MENOETIUS, the two brothers of Prometheus and Epimetheus. Should I manage to get another computer or two online, they will be IAPETUS and CLYMENE, the father and mother of Prometheus and Epimetheus.

Who knows when Atlas will be online, but it will most likely will be the new motherboard that is currently in transit from Newegg. Menoetius will be the other micro ATX board that I tried hooking up earlier today, but which refused to post - debugging will occur over the weekend. The KVM is also not working as planned (though it's setup is a bit odd inside the box).

Hopefully I'll be able to get the four brothers working inside Pandora's box soon, however, it will take longer than I initially expected.

URL: Prometheus and Epimetheus

While completing the Kevin Smith anthology (sans Clerks), what person would be more appropriate to connect the last two films than Jennifer Schwalbach Smith (a.k.a. Kevin Smith's wife). So, after purchasing and watching Jersey Girl, we are done with Kevin Smith (though I love Clerks and hope to hit it later in the game). 65 films down, countless to go.

Jersey Girl (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith and T.B.D.) [65]
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Kevin Smith and Jennifer Schwalbach Smith)
Dogma (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith)
Chasing Amy (Brian O'Halloran and Jason Mewes)
Mallrats (Jason Lee and Brian O'Halloran)
Enemy of the State (Alexandra Balahoutis and Jason Lee) [60]
National Treasure (Don McManus and Alexandra Balahoutis)
Hannibal (Frankie Faison and Don McManus)
Silence of the Lambs (Anthony Heald and Frankie Faison)
Red Dragon (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Anthony Heald)
Almost Famous (Rainn Wilson and Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Galaxy Quest (Jeremy Howard and Rainn Wilson)
Men in Black II (Brad Abrell and Jeremy Howard)
Men in Black (Will Smith and Brad Abrell)
I, Robot (Simon Baker and Will Smith)
Shanghai Noon (Lucy Liu and Simon Baker) [50]
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Chia Hui Liu and Lucy Liu)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Michael Bowen and Chia Hui Liu)
Jackie Brown (Laura Lovelace and Michael Bowen)
Pulp Fiction (Linda Kaye and Laura Lovelace)
Reservoir Dogs (Steve Buscemi and Linda Kaye)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Keith David and Steve Buscemi)
The Replacements (Faizon Love and Keith David)
Blue Crush (Michelle Rodriguez and Faizon Love)
S.W.A.T. (Benjamin King and Michelle Rodriguez)
Lethal Weapon 4 (John Harms and Benjamin King) [40]
Lethal Weapon 3 (Marian Collier and John Harms)
Lethal Weapon 2 (Patrick Cameron and Marian Collier)
Lethal Weapon (Paul Tuerpe and Patrick Cameron)
Maverick (Stephen Liska and Paul Tuerpe)
Conspiracy Theory (Christo Morse and Stephen Liska)
Hackers (Wendell Pierce and Christo Morse)
Ray (Rick Gomez and Wendell Pierce)
Three to Tango (John C. McGinley and Rick Gomez)
Se7en (Lennie Loftin and John C. McGinley)
The Sum of All Fears (Stefan Kalipha and Lennie Loftin) [30]
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Pat Roach and Stefan Kalipha)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Frank Marshall and Pat Roach)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Alfred Molina and Frank Marshall)
Ladyhawke (Ken Hutchison and Alfred Molina)
Straw Dogs (Dustin Hoffman and Ken Hutchison)
Rain Man (Ray Baker and Dustin Hoffman)
Without a Paddle (Bruce Phillips and Ray Baker)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Stephen Ure and Bruce Phillips)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Katie Jackson and Stephen Ure)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Viggo Mortensen and Katie Jackson) [20]
Crimson Tide (Gene Hackman and Viggo Mortensen)
Superman IV (Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman)
Superman III (Jackie Cooper and Christopher Reeve)
Superman II (Ned Beatty and Jackie Cooper)
Superman (Robert O'Neill and Ned Beatty)
Twelve Monkeys (Bruce Willis and Robert O'Neill)
Mercury Rising (Chi McBride and Bruce Willis)
The Terminal (John Williams and Chi McBride)
Star Wars: Episode VI (Anthony Daniels and John Williams))
Star Wars: Episode V (Peter Mayhew and Anthony Daniels) [10]
Star Wars: Episode IV (James Earl Jones and Peter Mayhew)
The Hunt For Red October (Stellan Skarsgård and James Earl Jones)
Ronin (Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgård)
Godzilla (1998) (Ben Bode and Jean Reno)
Empire Records (Liv Tyler and Ben Bode)
Armageddon (Owen Wilson and Liv Tyler)
Permanent Midnight (Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson)
Keeping the Faith (Edward Norton and Ben Stiller)
Rounders (Edward Norton - Starting Film)

URL: Jennifer Schwalbach Smith

As I try and figure out which fan grills I want to put on one side of the case, I'll give you a quick update.

Epimetheus is back up and running inside Pandora's Box. He's crunching a bit 600 point unit right now and I can leave him running 24/7 inside the new box as pictured below. The two other motherboards will come online soon once some power cables arrive. On to the pictures...



Here's just a quick overhead shot of the three motherboards installed with the platform in place. Beneath the platform are two hard drive holders - each with two drives in them - one for each wall of the box. Motherboard #4 is on the way from Newegg - shipped the same day it was ordered.



Just a side shot here of the platform in the middle which will hold the two power supplies. On the right you can see the installation of two power switches - cannabalized from my MAME control panel (well, colors swapped - I went with black buttons which match the black fans & grills).



Here's the two black fans on one side (this is the "blower" side - blows hot air out). They don't have grills yet as only the intake (below) fans are covered - I only had two fan grills and Fry's only had chrome. Below the fans is the hole for the power to enter the case. The extension cord plugs into a splitter which is mounted to the bottom of the box with the only zip-tie in the box.





Above is Epimetheus. Here you can see the KVM cable routed up the right side to the video card. The cables then are routed under the motherboard and then back out to plug into the mouse and keyboard. The power LED and power switch are also routed under the motherboard and emerge up top near the left power button.



This is Prometheus. Due to the low output on the video card, the KVM cable hits one of the power buttons. This will be fixed when the new graphics card arrives shortly. As with Epimetheus, the power LED, power switch and KVM cables are routed under the motherboard where possible.



This is the yet-to-be-named computer. The processor is there, but it has no RAM (I have them sitting on my desk right now though). This is the micro-ATX board donated by Greg to the project. The KVM cable is on the side here, so it's easy to route. The hard drive must be connected also to this motherboard before it'll function.



And here we have the second platform in place above the power supplies. That platform is for the KVM switch (obviously) and cables. The cables are just hanging there right now, but will be neatly arranged once the fourth motherboard and KVM cable is installed. In the middle of the picture, you might be able to make out the power splitter which plugs into the extension cord.



And here she is with three motherboards installed and closed up. It's a tight fit, but it works. Airflow seems to be very good right now, but only Epimetheus is running, so it's hard to say what'll happen when more motherboards come online. Overall, I'd say the box cost about $100 to make (excluding any computer-related hardware - KVM, motherboards). I only had to buy one fan, but four would cost $40 and the cost would have been a lot higher had I not been able to cannabalize so much from other computers.

My only problem now is getting the power buttons working. I had thought I could use the switches I used for the MAME cabinet, but apparently, they are always on, so the motherboard will power up, but then quickly shut down. The button really doesn't seem to act like a switch as I thought it would. The buttons will still be used, I'll just have to rig it so they hit push-buttons rather than the arcade switches.

URL: Computer Black Fan Grill Computer 80mm Fan Girll PC Fan Grill Custom Fan Grill Black Fan Filter-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com

Yay! Another circular trip to Home Depot and Fry's. I need to get a plug hole for the electricity to get into the box (you know - those little removeable holes that you usually see on desktops) and I also need some 3 pin fan -> molex adapters. I've got two, but need four. If only I knew where my really old case was. Oh yeah, I need one more red LED for the box. I've got two greens and just one red. So I either need to find two greens to use all the same color or just one red to have two on each side - one side red, one side green. Each side has two power switches on it, so I just want LEDs to the side of each switch to signify power is on.

Pictures coming soon.

URL: Fry's Electronics Home Page

Time to go out and start day two of assembly. Just purchased a micro ATX board from Newegg - will just need to outfit with processor and RAM when it gets here (most likely the Sempron 2200 Fry's has for $40 - unless I find some other deal on the net). Also picked up a cheap power supply for $5 since I'm sure it'll be needed at some point inside the box as one of them already sounds like it's dying. To top the order off, I got some 18" round cables which only have one connector on each side which should be easier to route in the box and also look a little better than the ones in there (which I'm not sure even work yet).

So, we'll see how everything goes today and I'll get pictures up later tonight.

URL: PC CHIPS M861G V1.6 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com

In the post immediately below this one, you can see pictures of the box construction. This one will just have a couple of pictures of the computer installations.



Here you can see the motherboard offsets screwed directly into the wood. Unfortunately, these had to be moved because with the large ATX motherboard above the fans, there wasn't enough room for the monitor, keyboard, and mouse cables. Therefore, the two sides with the fans on them must have mini-ATX motherboards - I have one and probably will go buy another one so the box can be completed.



This is installation. It's not pretty, but we are working here. In the middle you can see two hard drives mounted one above the other. The other two will be on the opposite side of the box. Above the hard drives, another level will be installed to hold the power supplies and the KVM. I thought that the four hard drives and power supplies would fit on the bottom of the box, but I hadn't measured anything when I thought that up, and obviously, there's not enough room. But with another level, we'll be fine.



Here is the one mini-ATX board I have installed above the two fans. Mounted sideways, there's plenty of room for the KVM cable on the side and the wireless ethernet card will be atop the board. Next up tomorrow - installation of the second level for the power supplies and routing of more cables.

URL: STEALTH-CASE FAN