875P, I think it's actually made by Intel. I'll have a peek when the server gets here.

 

Pretty much done w/the system.

Bare bones was a Dell PowerEdge w/875P mainboard.

Added Radeon, 1.0 GB of DDR 400, and settled on a 3.0 GHz PIV HT.

It's right speedy.

This will hold me for a while.

 

gonna make it pretty, or a sleeper?

 

LOL...

I don't understand. It's a black box. How do I make it pretty?

 

What are you going to be using the computer for?

For pure number crunching performance for CAD/video processing/compiling, the huge level 3 cache will make an enormous difference.

For anything else it probably isn't worth the extra money.

 

good luck overclocking a dell:chuckles: the dell motherboards are made by intel, but specifically for dell. i've been trying for about 8 months to find a 3rd party bios fro my dell mobo with no luck. dell east ass if you like tweaking your ish

 

The reason I got the PowerEdge Dell server is that they are very cheap right now. You get a very high quality case and chassis that's a dream when it comes to upgrading just about anything.

I think when you go w/socket 478, you consciously put yourself at a dead end, anyway. I doubt there will be another socket 478 chipset beyond the 475P, and I'm still unclear about whether the high GHz PIV scheduled for later this year are even on that socket. I don't think they could be, because of some temperature anomalies people have noticed when pushing this architecture to the 4.0 GHz that Intel is talking about before the end of this year.

It's a very quiet setup, too. The fan pulls air from the shrouded heatsink and out the back of the case, and it's replaced by cool air sucked in through that weird looking front. That weird looking front hids a stereo headphone jack and two USB ports, by the way. LOL... Nobody seems to know that or if they do, they're not talking 'bout it.

There are also some undocumented, supported items on the mainboard. SATA works on this mainboard, for example. You can also connect extra CPU fans if you go over 3.2 GHz, but I found this out by trying...it's not mentioned in the documentation anywhere.

You wouldn't expect this of a server, but it also supports AGP 8X, and since it's an Intel chipset everything's automatic. No problems or special drivers.

I knew there wasn't going to be an easy way to overclock, which fact is responsible for my choice of the 3.0 GHz PIV HT as the "likely sweet spot" instead of the 2.8 or 2.6. You can get a 3.0 GHz with a decent quality heat sink and fan (I got this just in case it started overheating w/the Dell OEM, but it doesn't) for $270.

I dunno. I take your point, but since it looks like the PowerEdge 400SC is all over the place for $400 - $450, I think it's a very good place to start building a system that's going to see heavy use.

 

also.. if you plan on upgrading the cpu cooler, you may run into a problem. the dell cpu cooler mount is not on the standard OEM socket 478 mount. aquiring one of those mounts can be a pain since no one sells them seperately from the mobo. luckily i found a guy i work with that had one spare because he just upgraded his mobo.