Sierra's Blog

Fall

2011-10-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, Fall is already here.

Built a new system during summer. ASUS Sabertooth P67 board and Intel Core i7-2600K. Seems to be running fine. Southbridge cooling is essential if you're overclocking.

Spring

2011-05-21T12:34:00.001-07:00

Peonies have been blooming.

Sandy Bridge

2011-01-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

Intel has released its Sandy Bridge CPU's. These are very nice chips. They overclock well and consume less power than their predecessors. The motherboards are also reasonably priced. I'm using a 2600K with a ASUS P8P67 board (see pic above). The new ASUS boards use UEFI which is the replacement for the old BIOS. Takes a little getting used to, but it makes overclocking very easy.

Update: Intel says there's a chipset defect that could cause the SATA II ports to fail On Sandy Bridge boards. The reseller that sold me the board is offering a full refund or a replacement board (when the revised boards are available). So far, I have had no problems with my board, so I'm keeping it until the replacements are available.

January

2011-01-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to everyone. I've been lazy and haven't posted much. Or maybe I've lost interest. Maybe a little of both. Nothing much has changed in my life. Just getting older. You know you're getting up there in age when AARP is sending letters every week, asking you to join.

Our cat is amazing. Six years ago, he had an enlarged heart and at least two vets said there was no hope for him. Fortunately we took him to another vet who wasn't so pessimistic. He took the cat off most of the medicines that the other vets prescribed. The cat recovered and is as spunky as ever. No one will believe us, but the cat says "hello" every day. He can also say "ohayo" which is the Japanese word for "good morning." He only does this when he's alone, never around people. But my wife and I can hear him. We've tried using a cell phone to record audio of the cat. But he knows when we're nearby and stops talking.

Fall

2010-10-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Fall has arrived. I replaced my main PC. Now using a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R and Intel Core i7-930, along with a solid state drive. Boot-up times are much faster now. Programs open faster and some file transfers are much quicker. So far, no complaints about switching to SSD.

Summer

2010-07-03T13:14:00.001-07:00

Over the past couple of months, I've built three new PC's to run the WCG project. I have two machines running Intel hexa-cores and a third PC using a Core i7-860. It had been awhile since I built a PC. The first thing I noticed is that heatsinks have gotten a lot bigger, especially the better ones. One of the heatsinks I bought is the Noctua NH-D14 (see pic). It's even bigger than it looks. But it does a good job of cooling.

Spring

2010-04-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

Spring is always a favorite time of year for me. Some of the flowers in my garden are blossoming. The weather is mild. What more can a person ask for?

Brahms

2010-02-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I like classical music. But I was never much of a fan of Brahms. That's slowly changing. I've been listening to Sviatoslav Richter's live performance from 1951 of the Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 with Evgeny Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Symphony. Very uplifting. There are some wrong notes here and there. But that doesn't take away from the power of the performance at all.

Many years ago, I had an LP with some Brahms solo piano works. There was one piece in particular that I found beautiful - Intermezzo No. 1 Op.117. The pianist was Wilhelm Kempff. I started listening to this recording again. Very nice.

2010

2010-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

A sign that I'm getting old. I didn't even stay up to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Still, I wish all my friends a prosperous 2010.

Summer

2009-06-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Richter

2009-06-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite musicians is Sviatoslav Richter, the great Russian pianist. Richter was more than just a brilliant performer. There was something profound about his playing. Nowadays people focus almost entirely on the performer. Richter, on the other hand, provided us with a direct link to the composer, giving us a glimpse of what Beethoven and others wanted to tell us. I feel Annie Fischer was the same type of pianist.

I have a number of Richter CD's including his famous live performance in Sofia of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." I also love his interpretations of Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninoff.

There is a fascinating documentary about Richter. It's called "Richter, the Enigma." We learn a lot about his life. And of course, there are plenty of concert clips. Like all great musicians, Richter was very self-critical. He was not afraid to say when he had a bad performance. Worth watching.

Spring

2009-05-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

2009-04-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

More peony pics

Spring

2009-04-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

Spring is back and the peonies are in bloom. What more can a person want?

September

2008-09-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in awhile. Been busy at work. It's already September. This year has gone by quickly.

I recently purchased a DVD of an old Japanese movie titled Anjouke no Butokai. It's about an aristocratic family in Japan. After World War Two the family is forced to give up their home during the Allied occupation. The film is directed by Kozaburo Yoshimura and stars one of my favorite actresses, Setsuko Hara, best known for her roles in movies by Yasujiro Ozu. It's a Region 2 DVD, but I have a region-free DVD player. There are a number of other Region 2 movies that I would like to purchase, all from Japan.

P5Q Deluxe

2008-07-26T14:49:00.001-07:00

I bought a new motherboard, the Asus P5Q Deluxe. I needed to replace my P5K Deluxe because the ethernet on the board stopped working following a power outage. The P5Q Deluxe has 16-phase power regulation. The VDroop on this board is very low, which is good. Also added a Western Digital 640GB drive and Vista Ultimate 64-bit. So far, so good. Had a problem with screen resolution until I discovered the DVI cable had gone bad. After replacing the cable, I now have full resolution. :)

Fires

2008-07-06T12:02:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of weeks, hundreds of wildfires have been burning in California. More than half a million acres have burned. The smoke from these fires has been horrendous. 200,000 firefighters are on the lines. California owes them a deep debt of gratitude. The situation would be much worse, were it not for them.

Covered

2008-06-22T17:08:00.001-07:00

The roofers finished installing the wood shakes and new gutters. It took them about a week. There were a couple of delays because they ran out of materials. Also, it was very hot, so they could work only in the mornings and early afternoon. Finished roof looks nice.

Roof

2008-06-14T16:30:00.001-07:00

I'm finally having the wood shakes on my roof replaced. It took a crew of about 15 workers only a couple hours to remove the old shakes. The photo is a view from the garage with its new "skylight". Actually I like the view of the trees. But not very practical when it rains. ;)

Tomatoes

2008-06-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

My tomato plants are doing nicely. Nothing like home-grown tomatoes. They taste so much better than the one you find in the grocery store.

More garden shots

2008-05-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Columbines

2008-05-04T18:57:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite flowers.

Coral Charm

2008-04-18T10:13:00.001-07:00

Another one of my peony plants has started to bloom. This peony is called Coral Charm. I've had it for a long time. I love the color. I took this photo in the morning with the sun shining on it.

Wait Is Over

2008-04-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to find one of the flowers had opened on my tree peony. The petals will eventually white. This sight made my day.

Anticipation

2008-04-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

My peonies will be in bloom soon. Always something to look forward to.

9600 GT

2008-04-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

I bought a graphics card to go along with my new monitor. The PNY Verto 9600 GT was on sale. Seems like a nice card. Doesn't run too hot.

I've resisted the temptation to build another system for distributed computing. I'm trying to save money. I will likely do my next upgrade when Nehalem comes out, assuming of course there are no major bugs with the new platform.

Chimei

2008-03-30T21:18:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago, I treated myself to a new LCD monitor. It has a 22" screen and is made by a Taiwanese company called Chimei. Actually it's Chi-Mei. The company is not well-known in the US. But it makes the LCD panels for a number of other companies, including Dell and Acer. I really like the monitor. Lots of real estate and picture quality is very good. No stuck pixels. I also purchased a 9600GT graphics card. I'm not a gamer, so I think I'm set video-wise for the next few years.

Wireless

2008-03-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to moving my noisy Clovertown system to another room at home. I found a wireless adapter that supports Server 2003 x64. The abit adapter is tiny, but works well. Best of all, it's free after rebate.

Nothing much has happened in my life. As the saying goes, same old, same old. My wife is getting ready to retire. I think she has mixed feelings about that. Retirement is a dramatic change in any person's life. But she already has home projects lined up to keep her busy. Not sure how I will feel when it's my turn to retire.

Kouhaku Snub

2008-02-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

I'm a little miffed that one of my favorite singers, Ayako Fuji, was not invited to perform at NHK's Kouhaku Uta Gassen singing competition. This is an annual New Year's Eve event in Japan. Aya-chan had made 15 appearances in a row at Kouhaku. Not sure why she didn't make the cut this time. A few other well-known singers like Takashi Hosokawa were also snubbed.

VHS

2008-01-20T22:52:00.000-08:00

Although I'm fairly savvy when it comes to computers, I've ignored other parts of the technology revolution. I don't own an iPod and I still watch movies on VHS tapes. I bought a DVD recorder and have transferred many of those movies. But the quality of the DVD copies leaves a lot to be desired. I do use a small video processing unit to help improve the picture quality. Still, the video transfer is not as good as I had hoped. So I hang onto my VHS tapes. A number of old movies that I like were never made available on DVD, at least not in the US. Many of Kenji Mizoguchi's films, for example, are not available on DVD. I'm just glad I held onto my VHS player.

More than a year later...

2008-01-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

I've been folding for the World Community Grid for more than a year now, and I must say it's become very addictive. Running computers at full load, around the clock for months, may seem boring and even wasteful to some. But hopefully researchers can make good use of the work units being processed and completed by thousands of home users worldwide. I think more people would take part in folding projects if they knew they existed. Even my sister, who is a retired nurse, wasn't aware that this kind of work was going on.

Storm

2008-01-05T10:09:00.001-08:00

A series of winter storms hit my area this week. The worst one was on Friday. Wind gusts reached 65-70mph. Lots of trees and power lines were knocked down. More than a million homes and businesses lost power. Fortunately my home did not lose electricity. But there were a lot of broken tree branches around the house. Just spent the morning picking most of them up. The storm also closed Interstate 80 in the mountains because of blizzard conditions. Don't you love winter!

780i

2007-12-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

This will likely be my next motherboard, the 780i. EVGA has a special offer now. If I return my EVGA 680i board and $90, I can get a new 780i. Seems like a pretty decent deal. The 780i supports both Wolfdale and Yorkfield processors. It also supports triple-SLI. But I just need the board for crunching work units, so a cheap video card will suffice. Note the unusual-looking heatsinks on the board.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

A Merry Christmas to all of you who've stopped by and posted comments. Hard to believe this blog is almost two years old. Admittedly I have not posted as regularly as I used to. Maybe I've run out of interesting things to say. ;) By the way, that's not my cat in the above picture. My cat usually likes to sit under the tree and take naps. :)

Skulltrail

2007-12-03T11:34:00.001-08:00

Early next year, Intel will release a special board for the gaming enthusiast. Skulltrail will have quad-SLI support. It can run two quad Xeon processors (LGA771) and will require the use of fully buffered memory dimms. Unlike most server-type motherboards, Skulltrail will reportedly have overclocking options in the BIOS. The other interesting feature is that the board can accommodate LGA775 heatsinks. The whole system will cost a lot of money. But for those wishing to overclock a server board, this is probably the best option, though an expensive one.

Furtwangler

2007-11-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

I love Beethoven's music. And perhaps the most famous Beethoven conductor is Wilhelm Furtwanger (1886-1954), a controversial figure because of his alleged ties to the Nazis. But the fact is that Furtwangler never joined the Nazi party and did not approve of them. After World War Two he was charged with supporting the Nazis, but he was eventually cleared on all counts.

Furtwangler's recorded performances of the Beethoven symphonies are among the best, if not the best. The recordings made during the war are the most intense I've ever heard. The Fifth and Ninth Symphonies recorded in the 1940's are especially good. If you love classical music and haven't heard Furtwangler's Beethoven recordings, you owe it to yourself to listen to some of these performances.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Save some white meat for me. ;)

Server 2008 x64

2007-11-18T11:19:00.001-08:00

Now giving Server 2008 64-bit a try. The OS generates more BOINC points per day than Server 2008 32-bit or Kubuntu 64-bit. Seems pretty stable.

Kubuntu

2007-11-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'm giving another operating system a try - Kubuntu 7.10 64-bit. Has a really nice desktop interface. In order to get the BOINC client to work properly, I had to install 32-bit libraries. BOINC works fine now, but some of the 64-bit programs don't. Not sure how to fix that. Since this OS is being used for distributed computing only, it's not that big a deal.

64-bit

2007-10-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have converted most of my machines used for distributed computing to 64-bit operating systems. I and others have discovered that a x64 OS will boost production (i.e. generate more points on a daily basis). A year or so ago, this was not really needed since BOINC (the distributed computing client that I use) was available only as a 32-bit program. But there is a 64-bit version now. I have found that the x64 client, combined with a x64 OS, will increase production by 10-15%.

Server 2008

2007-10-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

One of my machines used for distributed computing is now running on Windows Server 2008 (Release Candidate 0). The operating system will be officially released in late February. It runs BOINC, CPU-Z and the CoreTemp program just fine. One of the main features of Server 2008 is its virtualization capabilities. I have not had a chance to play with the OS. As soon as it was installed, I immediately put it to work on distributed computing.

Q6600

2007-10-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

I will be building another system soon. It will be used for distributed computing only. I ordered a Q6600 quad-core (G0 stepping) and an Abit IP35 Pro. I've heard good things about the Abit board, so I will give it a try.

Thanks to the cooler weather, I can run my machines at slightly higher speeds. During the summer, the room temperature got unbearable at times. Computers generate more heat than people think. In an effort to conserve energy, I tried not to use the A/C a lot. But now, that's not a problem. My cat spends more time with me because the room where I have my systems running is the warmest one in the house. Cats always know the coolest and warmest places when they want to take a nap.

Upgrading

2007-09-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

There are so many new microprocessors coming out that it's difficult to decide whether to upgrade soon, or wait. Intel's Harpertown (server) and Yorkfield (desktop) chips look very good. But Nehalem will be coming out next year. It will have an onboard memory controller and up to 8 cores per die with two threads per core. That's 16 threads on a single chip! Decisions, decisions. For now, I think I'll wait until the dust settles. The dual Clovertown rig is doing really well. Load temperatures have dropped a lot since the cooler weather arrived.

Cooler weather

2007-09-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally starting to cool down in my area. Highs have been around 80F, versus 100F a few weeks ago. Load temperatures on my crunching machines have really dropped, in some cases by 10 degrees.

Cinebench 10

2007-08-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

There's a new version of Cinebench which is a rendering benchmark program. Decided to see what my dual Clovertowns at 3092MHz were capable of. OS is Server 2003 x64.

Clovertown

2007-08-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

I now have dual Clovertowns running in my Supermicro system. At full load (folding) the CPU temps range from 57-63C. This is in a warm room (ambient temp between 80 and 85F). When the room temperature drops into the low 70's, the CPU temp is 48-53C. Using air cooling. The CPU's are currently running at 3GHz, with the side panel of the case off. Temps jump 3-4 degrees with the side panel on.

I have not done much upgrading lately. Been busy with other things. I'm looking forward to the arrival of Intel's Penryn-based processors. Not sure when I'll do my next upgrade.

Interior

2007-07-21T11:50:00.001-07:00

Here is a look inside my UFO case with the Asus P5K Deluxe, Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme and two Scythe Minebea fans in push-pull configuration. The fan above the heatsink is used to cool the mosfets which get very hot. I have the fan positioned so it also blows some air on the memory modules. I have since added another 2GB of DDR2-800, so system now runs on 4GB. The additional memory seems to help a little.

Comeback

2007-07-08T18:39:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite singers has been making a comeback. Onitsuka Chihiro stopped performing and recording music a few years ago, apparently due to mental exhaustion. Earlier this year, she began a comeback, performing at a Tokyo concert. She later released a new single titled "Everyhome". Hope to hear more from her in the future.

Very hot

2007-07-08T12:46:00.001-07:00

This past week was very hot. 106F on the Fourth of July and 108F the following day. My new computer held up better than I did.

Crucial has been having a rebate sale on its Ballistix memory. Too good to pass up, so I bought some. DDR2 prices will probably rise again, so if you need memory, now is the time to buy.

Update

2007-07-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

A happy Fourth of July to everyone. Last weekend I installed my Asus P5K Deluxe system in my Mountain Mods case. I first had to remove a lot of dust that had accumulated on the old system. So far, the new system seems okay. I've had some network connectivity problems, but I believe they are router-related.

Regarding my health, I've had a lot fewer cramps since the weather turned warm. But my doctor says my thyroid levels are still low, so he prescribed a stronger dose of the pill I take daily. One of the symptoms of low hormone levels is fatigue. At the end of the day I often feel very tired. Hopefully the stronger medicine dose will give me more energy.

Fans

2007-06-23T12:25:00.001-07:00

The quality of case fans appears to be getting better. Many are quieter, but still blow a lot of air. One of my recent favorites is the 120mm Scythe S-Flex. It uses a fluid bearing developed by Sony. The "F" model has an air flow rate of 64 CFM and a noise level of 28 dBA which isn't that bad in my book. I recently purchased some Scythe Minebea fans which blow a little more air (76 CFM @ 31 dBA). The Minebea's cost more, but are supposed to last up to 180,000 hours. That's over 20 years! Minebea is a Japanese company and the largest producer of small ball bearings in the world. It's involved in a joint venture with Matsushita Electric to make fans.

Hot

2007-06-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

The hot weather has finally arrived in my area. This will be the first real test of my computers that are doing full-time folding. I hate running the A/C all the time. May have to use a few extra 120mm fans to keep the machines running cool.

Testing

2007-06-12T16:57:00.001-07:00

I've put together another quad-core system using a Kentsfield and the P5K Deluxe. The mosfets on the board get very hot. Active cooling is a must. So far, no problems. At 3.2GHz and 1.4v, temps are 46-47C (according to Asus Probe) with 100% load. At 3.4GHz and 1.43v, I'm getting 51C. The CPU will also do 3.5GHz with 1.45v. Have not tested any higher than that. Weather is just too hot right now. Using a Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with fans in a push-pull configuration.

Components:

QX6700 B3
Asus P5K Deluxe
Super Talent DDR2-800 (2x1GB)
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme
Silverstone OP650
Cheap VGA card (for testing purposes only)

Cheap memory

2007-06-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

If you're planning to upgrade your computer, now is a good time to do it. RAM prices have fallen dramatically over the past six months because of an oversupply of memory chips. You can find really nice 2GB kits like the Super Talent DDR2-800 modules shown above for around $100. Last December, the same kit would have cost more than $200.

Tomatoes

2007-06-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

I love growing tomatoes. They taste so much better than the ones in the supermarket. I have about four plants this year. I like the common varieties like Early Girl. Freshly-picked tomatoes have a lot more flavor and they just melt in your mouth.

A few more iris plants are also blooming. It's always a good idea to select plants that bloom at various times of the year (early spring, late spring, summer). That way you'll always have something to look forward to. The peonies are usually the first to bloom, followed by my Japanese iris, etc.

P5K Deluxe

2007-06-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I ordered a new motherboard. Going to give the Asus P5K Deluxe a try. The P35 chipset is supposed to be pretty good, though not light years ahead of the P965. Will mate the board with another quad-core and Crucial Ballistix. Stay tuned!

More Japanese Iris

2007-05-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

More Japanese iris plants are blooming.

Push-Pull

2007-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

I added a second S-Flex fan for a push-pull configuration on the Ultra-120 eXtreme. This seems to have helped. Temps have dropped a few degrees. Another person who has the same heatsink has come up with a way to make it fit tighter. He placed a piece of cardboard under the X-bracket that holds the heatsink in place. I have not tried this yet since the clamp I'm using now seems to work okay.

New cooler

2007-05-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at the Ultra-120 eXtreme installed. Hard to do a direct comparison with the Tuniq Tower because I'm using different fans. Attached to the heatsink is a Scythe S-Flex 120mm fan. Seems quieter than the Tuniq's internal fan. Temps are reasonable. In a hot room (temp probably around 90F), I was getting 57-58C temps with 100% load on my quad-core. Board is the Asus P5B Deluxe. I have a Jing-Ting chipset cooler on the northbridge. Have to move the graphics card to the second slot. But this is a folding rig, so I'm not too concerned about video quality.

The only real negative is the cooler can be wiggled around, even after the screws are tightened down. I have the board set up on my metal benching platform. A clamp puts downward pressure on the heatsink. I think this helps a little.

Iris

2007-05-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

My Japanese irises are starting to bloom. I've had these plants for quite some time. As long as you water them regularly, they do fine. There used to be a flower farm in my area that specialized in Japanese irises. I believe it closed for good awhile back.

Ultra Extreme

2007-05-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Just got another heatsink, the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. I heard it's supposed to be pretty good. Have not installed it yet. Will see if it's better than the Tuniq Tower.

Bloom

2007-05-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

My pink peony plant is blooming.

Anticipation

2007-04-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

Almost time for more flowers to bloom. :)

Update

2007-04-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Just to let everyone know, I haven't abandoned this blog, though I don't post as much as I used to. Don't have a whole lot new to say. The warmer weather has come to my area. This actually seems to have helped reduce the number of muscle cramps I get. On the negative side, all my computers that are doing folding are running hotter now. As I mentioned in an earlier post, watercooling is certainly an option. But I probably won't get around to that for at least another month.

Intel is expected to drop prices again on its quad-core chips in Q3. That will likely be when I upgrade some of my systems. There's always the temptation to upgrade sooner. But I will try to exercise some patience this time. ;)

Peonies

2007-04-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

The peonies in my backyard are starting to bloom. A sure sign for me that Spring is here. This particular plant is called Coral Charm. It's my oldest peony.

Oni-san

2007-04-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

I'm hearing that one of my favorite singers, Onitsuka Chihiro is getting ready to release new songs. She dropped out of the music scene a few years ago, reportedly because of mental fatigue. I'm looking forward to hearing her new songs.

Van Gogh

2007-04-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

I've always liked Van Gogh's paintings. Many years ago, I got to see a Van Gogh exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. Waited in line for hours. The collection was on tour before being housed permanently in the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands. I later got a chance to see many of the same paintings at the Dutch museum. Some people find Van Gogh's works to be a little too gloomy. But I like the expressive quality of his paintings.

Warmer weather

2007-03-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

Warm weather is back. I've been thinking about what I'm going to do to keep my folding machines running cool, especially when summer arrives. I bought watercooling gear last year, but haven't used it yet. I have an AquaXtreme CPU block and pump. Need a project to keep me busy later in the year. Watercooling one of my rigs may end up being that project.

Granddaughter

2007-03-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

More granddaughter pics :)

Crunching

2007-03-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

The Woodcrest system is fully operational and crunching work units full-time. The system was down for half a day because a fan blade on one of the HSF's broke off. This caused the case to vibrate, sometimes violently. The fan has been replaced and everything is working well. I set some personal bests in folding today, including most points in a single day.

The Supermicro X7DAL-E board that I'm using has no overclocking features in the BIOS. But using Systool in Windows allows me to raise the FSB. Right now, I have the CPU's crunching at around 2.55GHz. Load temp in a hot room gets up to 50C. If the weather cools down a little, I may raise the speed to 2.6-2.65GHz.

Case

2007-03-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of the case. There are four 5000RPM fans blowing air. They are mounted in the blue enclosure you see to the right in the second photo. There seems to be a design flaw. The power connector for the top fan is not long enough to reach the header on the motherboard. There's an option to add two exhaust fans. I'm using Dynatron HSF's. Together with the case fans, they make a lot of noise. There aren't many options for replacing the Dynatron fans because they are an odd size, 77mm.

So far I've gotten the 5120 Woodcrests (1.86GHz default speed) up to 2.6GHz. I think I can push them a little higher. Load temps at that speed are 46-47C in a warm room.

Woodcrest

2007-03-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to putting together my Woodcrest system. These are Xeon 5120's that have the BSEL mod. So the default FSB is 1333MHz and default speed is now 2.33GHz. At 100% load, CPU temps are 42-43C. I can use Systool to increase the FSB speed. But I'm leaving the system at 2.33GHz for now.

New Printer

2007-03-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

Just bought a new photo printer, a Canon Pixma iP4300. Only $90 and the picture quality is very good. Figured I needed a new one since my old printer is four years old. Have not had a chance to test text print quality. But photos come out very nice. I also like how you can close up the printer when it's not in use. Helps keep the dust away. Even when opened, this printer takes up less room than my old one.

Spring

2007-03-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

Spring has not officially arrived yet. But the weather in my area has warmed up. Time to start thinking about the garden which I neglected last year. One of my beloved peony plants died, probably because it didn't get enough water. My fault, of course. I will try to be more attentive this year.

Amara

2007-03-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

My granddaughter Amara is growing up and turning into a fine young lady. She still lives in Australia with her mother. I'm told they'll be returning to the US in the next year. My wife will be happy because she can go visit her.

There isn't much new to report about my health. I'm still dealing with cramps, though they aren't as severe as they were before. It's frustrating. But I've learned to accept that recovery is a slow process.

Annie Fischer

2007-02-24T21:23:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, I will hear a performer who stands out from the crowd. I remember feeling that way about Chihiro Onitsuka. Recently I stumbled upon the amazing recordings of concert pianist Annie Fischer. She was Hungarian and a child prodigy. Very few of her recordings were released during her lifetime because she did not like the sterility of studio sound. After her death in 1995, all of her recordings of the Beethoven sonatas were released. They are anything but sterile. Instead they possess power and beauty. I think the only pianist who is in the same league as her when it comes to interpreting Beethoven is Arthur Schnabel. There have been many fine recordings of the 32 sonatas. Hers are like a revelation.

Haystack

2007-02-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

No reason for posting this painting by Claude Monet, aside from the fact that I like it. :) Monet had a number of paintings showing the relationship of haystacks to the surrounding landscape and the sunlight.

Growing old

2007-02-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month was my birthday. I stopped celebrating my birth date a long time ago. Just another reminder that I'm growing old. I never thought much about my age until my recent medical problems. As you grow older, the body just doesn't respond the way it used to. Granted, I haven't helped myself in that regard. I don't exercise and spend too much time in front of computer screens. I know I have to change my ways. But I'm not quite ready to do it yet. Laziness, I suppose.

Rain

2007-02-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

We are finally getting some much-needed rain. January was very dry which is unusual for this area. The snowpack in the Sierra is the life blood for the entire state. The runoff supplies water for both homes and farms. We need the rain, so I doubt there will be many complaints about the wet weather.

I'm feeling a little better. The hormone and muscle relaxant pills seem to have helped. I'm not getting muscle cramps as often as I used to.

Update

2007-02-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

I wish I had better news to report about my health, but I don't. The road to recovery is going to be a long one. After taking the radioactive iodine pill, I felt great for a couple of weeks. But then things started going downhill again. Tests showed my hormone levels went from abnormally high to very low. One awful side effect are muscle cramps I mentioned in an earlier blog entry. I get them several times a day and they hurt like hell. The doctor prescribed medicine to boost my hormone level, but it hasn't helped yet. I've put off building the Woodcrest system indefinitely because every time I bend or do strenuous physical work, I get cramps. Frustrating.

Classical

2007-01-27T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've started listening to classical music again. I first caught the classical bug in high school. Still have a lot of LP's. My CD collection is very small. But I hope to add more CD's this year. My favorite composers include Beethoven, Bruckner, Debussy and Bartok.

I also enjoy classical guitar music, especially the recordings of Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya. They are widely considered to be the greatest classical guitar duet ever. They were both talented musicians even before they married and embarked on a duo guitar career. Ida Presti, in particular, was special. When she was still young and studying with Andres Segovia, he was quoted as saying "I have nothing to teach her." That's how good she was. When she and her husband began their career as a duet, there was almost nothing written for two classical guitars. They spent a lot of their time transcribing material. Eventually some composers wrote music for two guitars. Presti and Lagoya gave hundreds of concerts and toured the world, before her untimely death at age 42. Equally sad is that there are very few Presti-Lagoya recordings in the catalogs now. If you happen to come across one of their albums, you might want to buy it. I think you'd like their music.

Health

2007-01-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give a brief update on my health. The radioactive iodine treatment has done wonders. I have a lot more energy now and my general mood is much more positive. It's amazing. I've been taking prescribed steroids as part of the treatment. Only real bad side effect from the steroids is severe muscle cramps from time to time. The steroid treatment should end in a few weeks.

FB-DIMM

2007-01-18T00:24:00.000-08:00

Newer Intel-based server boards require the use of FB-DIMM's. FB stands for fully buffered. FB-DIMM's use serial communication to the chipset's memory controller, versus the parallel communication of standard DIMM's. The technology allows for up to eight modules per channel. This increases both memory capacity and speed. This is type of memory I'll be using in my upcoming Woodcrest build. Will keep you posted when the system is up and running.

B-r-r-r-r

2007-01-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

The temperatures the last few nights has been really cold for my area. It's dipped into the 20's. My folding units are running cool. But that's about the only benefit I've seen. Of course, what's considered cold is all relative. I lived in the Midwest for awhile. I remember when the temps got into the minus-Fahrenheit range.

Case

2007-01-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

I've ordered this case for my Woodcrest build. It's made by Supermicro and it's big! It will accomodate extended-ATX boards, though the one I'll be using is regular ATX form factor. It comes with a power supply and has eight hot-swappable SATA drive bays. Probably more features than I really need. But I looked at a lot of cases and this one seems to fit my needs the best.

Anniversary

2007-01-10T00:36:00.000-08:00

Thursday marks the one year anniversary of this blog. I wanted to thank everyone who's stopped by to read or post comments. I haven't posted new entries as often as I did in the beginning. Perhaps I've run out of things to say. ;) But again, thanks.

Woodcrest

2007-01-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

I've decided to go the dual-CPU dual-core route. In the coming weeks I will be putting together a Woodcrest system. Woodcrests, for those who don't know, can be overclocked, though they are designed for server boards. Hopefully I'll have a system up and running before the end of the month. The above picture shows a Woodcrest wafer.

Million

2007-01-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Finally accumulated a million points on the World Community Grid. I've really enjoyed folding. A lot of camaraderie among members of a team.

Happy New Year

2006-12-30T23:21:00.000-08:00

Have a happy and safe New Year's celebration everyone. My wife is a little bummed because our cable subscription does not include the Asian channel that shows the annual New Year's Eve singing competition in Japan.

Regarding my health, I've been staying at home the past four days doing nothing. Because of the radioactive iodine treatment, I can't be around anyone. But I feel great. I think the quasi-quarantine period is about over.

YouTube

2006-12-28T14:33:00.000-08:00

I hate to admit it, but I've become addicted to YouTube, the video sharing site. There's a lot of interesting stuff, though some of the vidoes are rather lame. People just trying to draw attention to themselves. I like watching old music videos from the 60's and 70's. They're not MTV-style videos. Just clips from old TV shows like Shindig, etc. The music and clothes bring back many memories, some good, some bad.

The Future

2006-12-27T00:42:00.000-08:00

2007 will be another exciting year for computer buffs. 45nm chips will be the next milestone in semiconductor manufacturing. Next year Intel will release a 45nm processor, codenamed Penryn. At some point, and Intel knows this, Moore's Law will no longer apply. It will be increasingly difficult to double the number of transistors on an integrated circuit every 24 months. But that's down the road. I'm looking forward to 2007.

Treatment underway

2006-12-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

This morning I began treatment for my thyroid condition. I was given a pill containing radioactive iodine. I have to stay away from people for about a week because of the radiation. I don't feel any different. There's a lot of work around the house that I've been putting off and this is the perfect excuse to get some of it done.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Much has happened since I began this blog almost a year ago. I'm older and hopefully a little wiser, though my wife thinks I'm still a kid at heart.

RD600

2006-12-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

We are starting to see previews of the DFI RD600 board. Looks very good. Some people are expressing disappointment with the maximum FSB. But it still does 500+ which is nothing to sneeze at.

Over 500,000

2006-12-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

I passed 500,000 points on the World Community Grid a few days ago. Hoping to reach 1,000,000 during the first week of the new year. I have four machines working hard, including my quad core. That CPU generates more than 10,000 points daily.

Diagnosis

2006-12-15T00:11:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give an update on my health. My doctors have determined that I have Graves' Disease. It sounds worse than it really is. Basically my thyroid is not working properly. It's not producing the right balance of two hormones that control many things, including my metabolism. Both my father and younger sister had thyroid problems, so it must be hereditary. There are various treatments. One is to surgically remove the thyroid. Another option is to take a pill that has radioactive iodine. The thyroid absorbs iodine. Radioactive iodine will kill the thyroid. After that happens, I will have to take medicine so that my body has the hormones it needs to function properly. I've decided on the second option and will begin treatment in about a week. No hospitalization is required. I'm actually relieved that doctors have found the cause of my ailments. Will keep you posted on my progress.

Bears

2006-12-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

As you can see, my wife is turning our house into a bear factory. She's been making them to give away as Christmas gifts. You can see our cat in the upper part of the picture. I think he tries to ignore all the bears.

Super Folder

2006-12-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

My quad core is now crunching workunits in my benching rig. Averaging over 10,000 points per day with just that CPU. Running the Q6400 at 3.2GHz with 1.4v (bios). Temps at 100% load are 49-50C.

Other components:

M/B: Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP (0801 bios)
RAM: Team Xtreem
PSU: Zippy 600W
Video: Leadtek 6600

Health

2006-12-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

I was having what I thought were health-related issues. I have lost a lot of weight in the past year. My wife thought it might be diabetes, since I showed a few other symptoms. But lab tests indicate my blood sugar is not really abnormal, just slightly above the norm. There is also no family history of diabetes. My doctor suggested it may be stress. The doc recommended that I drink less coffee (I drink a lot). I was given a prescription to address one of the symptoms. I feel fine. We'll see. By the way, I'm not posting this because I want people to feel sorry for me. There's nothing to feel sorry about. When you get older, your body does not function the way it used to. And I have not helped myself in many respects, including my diet.

BOINC

2006-12-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) is the open-source program that many people use for grid computing. The program will detect and utilize all of the cores in your CPU. So if you have a dual-core processor, BOINC will crunch two WU's at the same time. With a quad-core chip, it will crunch four WU's. This will result in 100% CPU utilization, so make sure you're running at the stable speed. It will also increase your CPU temperature, so have a good heatsink.