Meme machine test bed

[8tg]

So this build is going to take a bit as not all the parts are here but I’ll update with pictures of progress as I get all the parts in, some parts I had to order from overseas so the core components will be a bit.

The purpose of the build is to host some interesting old parts and will be used to test old video cards, as well as try some interesting overclocking. But the core components are as follows:

-Deepcool Macube 310 atx case

-6 various dims of ecc/non ecc ddr2, but the main ram will be 6x512mb 400mhz ddr2

-evga 600w 80+ white psu

-lian li Galahad 240mm aio

-id cooling HA02 rgb and fan hub

-gigabyte 8anxp-d lga intel 925x motherboard

-initially a Radeon x850 XT but this will also try a gtx 275, gtx 1080 and 8800gt depending on what works best 

-a large variety of sata SSDs and also some pcie storage options

-32 bit windows xp, windows 7 and Linux varieties 

-also going to test a large variety of pci and pcie sound cards

 

Lets begin:

The case is super solid for $50, my little bit of time I’ve handled it so far it’s really nice 

 

Installed two 140mm noctua redux fans, I think these are pressure optimized ones

cue mediocre power supply, it will never be really utilized too hard so it’ll do what I need, I mainly wanted the floppy header for some stuff, but it’s also that I don’t have a power supply from 2004 that also has pcie and a 24 pin, as those were fairly new at the time and the power supplies I do have from then are for agp era systems

reason being the board I’m using is like, cutting edge of the newest of the new for 2004

 

routed it all up with the fan and rgb hub installed, pushed some key cables through

now off to install rgb heatsinks that cost 60$ on a bunch of ddr2 that costs 6$

 

[8tg]

These are single sided sticks which is important as it’s the safest way to get all 6 dimm slots to work, supposedly you can do some shenanigans to get weird configurations working even supposedly 6gb of ram with PAE bullshit but whatever

 

These ram kits come with a spacer for single sided ram, and even have little plastic nubs for if you have low profile ram you’re trying to put rgb heatsinks on.

 

I would ask who exactly is putting gigantic rgb ram heatsinks onto low profile memory but here I am putting them on 512mb sticks of ddr2 so I can’t really judge

 

and here’s all 6

 

and yes I am in cable hell, they immediately all got tangled

[8tg]

Ok, lian li Galahad 240mm aio in black

supposedly this supports LGA 775 but it’s nowhere in the manual so I just sort of presume the 115x bracket will kinda work since it can scale slide a bit

it’s really pretty, it feels super nice, I kinda see where Lian li went with these because it feels a lot more premium than other aios I’ve handled, I didn’t get it for that, I got it because it says LGA 775, but I see why broke people don’t like these aios, you’re paying a lot more for basically some flair

 

the fans and radiator together almost feel heavier than this case does

it got in there pretty easily, it wasn’t too bad to assemble but dear god

 

i uploaded this one at full resolution so you can see my futile attempts at cable management

Note this is without a motherboard, without 6 argb ram heatsinks, and without cable extensions like I planned, there is no chance in hell I’m going to be able to use cable extensions in this

this is like all RGB, fan hub, sata power on annoying right angle sata connectors

I did find that I can zip tie my cases back panel shut if I have to

I plopped in the h310c board I have with an i9 9900T just to see if it’ll actually fit with that aio, and uhh

well you cant use the top fan header

and this marks some concern for using all those rgb ram heatsinks, namely where the hell can I route 6 more argb cables 

motherboard arrives pretty soon, I’ll get that installed and I’ll have everything but a storage drive to test fire this thing, and probably start an actual fire in the process

[8tg]

So this cooler didn’t come with the 775 bracket, I guess post LGA 1700 they don’t ship with it anymore, even though every bit of info out there indicates “yeah it’s compatible with 775” even Lian lis website.

Im gonna try and get the 775 mounting hardware but if I can’t I think I can still kinda DIY this using plastic washers and nuts. 
It’s going to have to work, I’m not scrapping the 6 sticks of rgb ddr2 by putting a different cooler in there, and I’m not getting a different cooler for this board.

[8tg]

Now we’re getting somewhere and the cables get even worse.

the motherboard arrived, almost didn’t make it but a few bent headers never hurt anyone

installing the cpu cooler with some Amazon LGA 775 brackets, it almost doesn’t work, as the spring nuts on the aio mounting aren’t long enough for the screws that fit the 775 backplate, but it kinda works, it’s just enough that it gives “ok I guess” pressure on the cpu.

Its a Pentium 4 on water, I’m not too concerned if it’s not perfect, I used to run a Pentium G3260 on an intel stock cooler held on by 2 pins, because the other 2 broke 

the cable nightmare only got worse after installing all the ram, every one of those dimms now has an argb header male and female, a lot of zip ties keep the front clean but the back is a lost cause 

I did end up needing to use a zip tie to hold the back panel on as I joked earlier

Now let’s slam it all in there, that gpu is the loudest thing known to man, it’s a Radeon x850 and I hate it

i like having it as it’s era appropriate but god damn the chipset fan is loud enough, that gpu sounds like a jet spooling up

 

[8tg]

And I really didn’t expect this, but it just…

powered right on?

immediately removed the x850 for the gtx 275

 

and it looks glorious

 

up next, plugging a damn monitor into this thing to see if it’s actually posting

hints that it is:

-it doesn’t instantly turn off if I hit the power button, I have to hold it

-it isn’t looping

-it isn’t beeping

-the fans are stuck at 100% speed because there’s 1 PWM header in this bitch and I wanted the pump to use it, but the pump runs max then slows down a bit after a few seconds 

[8tg]

And then I took it all apart and put a different system in it.

It was cool for like 10 minutes before it had endless post errors with different processors and ram configurations so i just shelved the idea and now im just using this little H310 board instead