My new baby..questions re: care

[kayofcircles]

First of all, I know this is a very modest child compared to some of your zippier systems, but unless you think we have birthed an Edsel, please refrain from saying so.

MSI 6340M ver 5
AMD Athlon 900 Mhz
256 MB Kingston RAM
Antec Jet Cool 4700 rpm
Enermax 350 (AMD approved)
Maxtor 20 GB
brand spanking new Philips 107T21 flat screen (is so cool!) monitor

The PS has dual fans, and we have a front case fan mounted. I wanted the mini tower case so I could put new tower in same spot in my desk. Do we need a back fan for cooling? We wanted to put one in, but no room for larger case fan. Could put smaller one in middle on the side, but would have to drill more holes..same for bottom back of case. According to MSI display gizmo..chip clocked at 910 Mhz (why 910 instead of 900?) and running at 32 C. Second cooling question is: do we need a program that automatically shuts puter down if temp gets too high? Or something along that line?

And we were discussing the whole "make our own Restore disk" option..and I dragged out the old article (from Here (http://www.pcnuthut.com/Info/revampwindows.htm)) and now my husband wants to completely wipe what he has done over the last week (install OS, mobo drivers, work out the bugs, etc) and start over because he didn't partition the new drive the way the guy recommended in the article. I would like to start getting my stuff on the new system..so is that partitioning stuff all that necessary/useful/better? Wail..don't want to start over..he's been downloading stuff from MSI and M$ for days.

[Rick]

The way you partition is a matter of personal preference.
I always get all the drivers and Needed updates installed on a new system before I make a recovery / backup disk.
Then install the other software and create an incremental backup.

After that I can restore as needed without the hassles of doing a complete reinstall.


BTW. That is NO small baby you have there.
Isn’t that about equal to a 9 pound natural birth http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif OUCH

[setoguro]

Hi Kayofcircles
32c is really good for cpu temps. I don't think you need any more fans. My athlon idles at 42c which I thought was good till now. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

[BigBlue66]

Hi Kay,

Yes, I agree that those temps are excellent and about par for the course for a 900. So you're good there, however, if you're putting that case in a desk enclosure, make sure to keep an eye on the temps.

I have an MSI board and in my BIOS, ver 3.2, there is an option to shut down the system at predefined temps. I have mine set for 70C, but I think before that would happen, the system would start displaying irregularities that would alert me to the high temps.

That MSI board should have come with a program called PC Alert III, which loads at startup and shows you your CPU and board temps, fan speeds and voltages. It should be on your mobo driver CD. Use it to keep an eye on your temps.

Have fun.

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[Whyzman]

Kay,

Was wondering if a SLOT FAN (http://www.nutrend.com/app/SeeImages.asp?image=35-888-003-01.JPG,35-888-003-02.JPG) might be an option for you rather than placing additional holes in your case.

Don't know much about them...perhaps some of the other folks can input!

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
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Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

[BigBlue66]

Slot fan = absolutely. They work quite well, but get a good brand, otherwise they tend to be a bit noisy.

MSI display gizmo = PC Alert III ??

Anyway, with two fans on the PSU, you shouldn't have any problems with heat, unless you go with a faster processor. The slot fan is certainly an option if those temps start creeping up.

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[kayofcircles]

I don't know for sure what that two fan combo that husband bought for work puter was called..supposed to slide into empty bay. Husband said entire desk vibrating..lol..so he took it out. He tried improvising on mine by mounting one of the two fans out of that..but too noisy. It's not an "enclosed" shelf that the tower is on..so plenty of air flow, but it's gonna be 10 degrees warmer in here in a few months and I want to keep new child cool enough. We haven't installed the CD writer yet..and hoping that won't make a temp difference. For a mini tower..there "seems" to be more "room" in there than in my current one...despite the LONG power leads/wires coming out of PS that my husband joked would reach over to his puter. Anyway, thanks for slot fan suggestion..will check it out.

setoguro: Will spare you the long story..but my husband's new system..bigger (much!) case and AMD Duron 950 is running at 42 C with the two fans on PS, front and back case fans. ??? Kinds of makes you wonder and my husband's office is going to get a lot warmer than mine since on the south side of house. For his, maybe we should get "faster" rpm fans.

BigBlue: Don't know what it's called..so far, I haven't been able to play with it much..lol. Will check on that BIOS setting..thanks! That's exactly what I want...some sort of automatic monitoring type thing.

Rick: You said partitioning a matter of choice, but husband didn't partition at all. We're not "accustomed" yet to the bigger hard drives, and now he thinks we should partition. ?? I hate to start over, but I am also not looking forward to the "customizing" of new puter process, and would hate to do that and then have to start over. Should we partition? Would that prolong life, improve performance, whatever?

[Rick]

Using Multiple partitions Makes Life easier for some people.
Using One for O/S and Programs and another for Data.

In a number of cases given a drive with enough space
Some Myself included set aside a partition for temp files and swap file
In the event of a problem It is convenient to Just format the temp drive without fear of losing data. It also helps reduce fragmentation of Program files.
( avoids performance lose by Fragmentation )

“ I have only run Defrag twice in the past 6 months. Once after completing the full install. ( O/S and all programs) and a couple of weeks ago after a major software upgrade..

[kayofcircles]

Sorry, Rick, if I am being dense..but you're saying at least two partitions..one for OS and Programs..and one for files. But a third for temp files? Okay, let me rephrase question...how many partitions do you have?? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Rick]

I have at least 2 on each of my drives. ( Multiple physical drives installed)
On the Little one my wife uses I have 3 partitions setup.
C:=O/S and programs (20Gig)
D:=data (10Gig)
E:=temp/swap (10gig)

dividing a 40 gig drive into 3 logical drives

[kfh]

Hi Kay,
RE-: Cooling I was going to fit one of these www.2coolpc.com/2coolpc-jpgs/images/IMG0007.jpg (http://www.2coolpc.com/2coopc-jpgs/images/IMG0007.jpg) but my system only runs at 24c, as you can see it covers all slots.
I was adviced to get HDD cooler wich I did it fits into the bay, then you fit the drive into that. WWW.2coolpc.com. (http://WWW.2coolpc.com.)
kfh.


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Sequitur Patrem Non Passibus Aequis

[This message has been edited by kfh (edited 04-02-2002).]

[This message has been edited by kfh (edited 04-02-2002).]

[kayofcircles]

Thanks, Rick ..monkey read, monkey follow instructions to the letter! All kidding aside..appreciate advice, and printing this thread.

kfh..thanks..I am still playing with the whole date thing! Other than that, will pass along to hubby (in charge of this area of puting) links for cooling.

As always..you guys are awesome and I am most grateful to you all. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[ranchdog]

KAY...

32C.... You make me Jealous. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif

But to answer your question concerning the 910Mhz reading.
Even tho we use a setting of 100 Front Side Bus the Motherboard
will crank up and give us an extra 1 or 2 Mhz on it's own.
This will give just a small increase in actual CPU speed. Like:
101 with a multiplier of 9 (default for your chip).

Personally, with a Harddrive of 20Gig or less, I don't split
the darn thing up into seperate partition. Just use the entire
thing as - C -. If I need to go beyond that I add another Harddrive.
RE: Storage, Data, etc. I don't mind taking a minute to de-frag
while I go kick the dog. Use AVG so I don't get in a bind and have
to re-format 'cause of virus. Using a Burner and making a back-up
CD of what I feel is important to save.

Good Luck with the MSI. I think you'll like it.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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....How long is a minute... depends on which side of the Bathroom door you're on. ......
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[Jumby]

Kay, checkout this http://mbm.livewiredev.com/ It will monitor different things. It's a nice app. When I built new computer (with AMD 1.2 GHz), I downloaded it just to make sure everything was going to be ok. I'm on SW corner of house and it gets a little warm even with small AC in window. If it gets hot I'll put in one of those slot fans.

[kayofcircles]

Thanks, ranchdog, for the answer on the 910 stuff. Don't want to overclock my new system. The "puters too fast for us" thread was one I didn't post in because it sort of looked like one of Yoda's "it's a guy thing" but when I read it, I remembered about changing from a 166 chip to my current 400..and how I could hardly "play" the MS Hearts game anymore because the cards were moving too fast for my brain. And I tell you true, if my new system doesn't want to play my Spades game or plays it too fast for slow brains like me..I am gonna be upset.

Jumby: Thanks, will keep that in mind if don't like the MSI display gizmo..otherwise known as PC Alert III..lol.