Shawn’s Adventures with the Shuttle K45
Oct 30, 2008 Computers and Internet
Recently my mother began doing some work from home and she and my father were running into constant gripe sessions about using the computer. So, after a little soul (and walltet) searching, I decided that the best course of action was to pass down the Slimline PC I had been using as a server to her and replace (and upgrade) the server. The slimline was at the end of its upgrade cycle and had topped out at a Socket 478 3.4 GHz P4. It was cute and small and more than enough for the web surfing and writing my other would be doing.
So the question became… what to replace my trusty little WinXP server with and, considering we really don’t have much money left after catzilla the diabetic ate all our money, how do I do it cheaply?
Off to Newegg I went. I was looking for something with the following attributes:
- Small Footprint, the smaller the better
- Socket 775 Motherboard inside or available for the case.
- SATA
- On board Video and LAN
- Pair of dual channel DDR2 RAM slots.
- Pair of Internal 3.5” bays
- On Board IDE so I could use my old CD Rom Drive to get my OS on there
- Looks decent… yeah, I’m not looking at it, but when I am I want it to be presentable.
A little digging and a little research I came up with the Shuttle K45. It was decently reviewed… cheap ($99) and definitely fit everything I wanted. It was not the newest option available, but it was perfect for what I needed. Of course, Newegg shipped it super-fast, along with the RAM (2GB GEIL Black Dragon 667) and processor (Pentium E2180). I already had a pair of older 130GB hard drives I was using, an old DVD-ROM to load the thing and all the extra stuff I’d need, so I was ready to roll.
Or so I thought. The very first problem I ran into was one I’d read about and was prepared for should it arise: power. The Shuttle K45 has a dinky little 100W Power supply. I could attach either my DVD or my primary hard drive… but not both. So I found a little gem of a 200W Flex ATX power supply at PowerOn and had it sent on it’s way. I began the load using a 450W power supply I had laying around and just routed the cables into the case for the time being. A ghetto solution, but it worked. I had everything loaded up in a short couple hours and began the process of transferring the backup of my server (on my gaming PC) back to it’s new home. I started the copy and went to bed.
When I woke up for work the next morning, I ran into the second problem. Everything had transferred fine
and the system was humming along… it was also hot as hell. The hard drives were running hot, the one mounted on top warmer than the bottom by 5 degrees C. Both of them were well over the temps I like and were cresting 60 Degrees C under load. Motherboard temps were also reading warm and the CPU was hotter than I like as well.
I knew having the newer power supply in the case would give me an exhaust fan, which the case did not come with, but the system was just plain hot, and most of the blame came from those old hard drives. They worked absolutely fine, but they were just not made for tight spaces like this. So back to Newegg I went (you can almost hear the bat man scene change music)! I did a little digging around and picked up two new additions, a WD Caviar 7200, which had gotten good reviews and is often used inside DVRs, and a 92mm exhaust fan to fit the grate at the back. I rigged a 80mm fan for the time being and kept a close eye on the server until the new goodies arrived.
The new toys came in; quickly as usual for Newegg, and the reinstall went even more smoothly. The new PSU was mounted, as was the new exhaust fan and Hard drive. Internal temps dropped, under load, by about 20 degrees C through the entire case. The thing is quiet, has more space than I had before and is now the computer I’d wanted form the start. The load was smooth and the thing is a really fast little web surfer. I’ve noticed a decided snappiness to the access of files from the old server and aside from the internal lights it’s hard to tell if the thing is on.
So, what the cost of our little adventure in upgrading and downsizing? Really not much… less than I paid for the old server when I built it a few years ago.
- Shuttle K45 - $99
- 2GB GEIL Black Dragon - $70
- E2180 - $69
- Power Supply $49
- Hard Drive $57
- Fan $8
Total: $352 and imminently cooler and better than any of the cheapo eMachine type PCs (I’m glaring at you, Dell) you could pick up. I’ve even got upgrade points, as both the processor and the RAM are not the best the little motherboard can handle. Heck, the thing even has a PCI slot. I don’t know what I’ll use the little bastard for since everything I needed was on board, but I’ve got it.
So, short version of the story: the Shuttle K45 is a great little case with one major flaw that a little extra cash can solve: inadequate power supply. It’s not a gaming rig, to be sure, and if you needed a CD/DVD it would have to be external, but for us it fit the bill perfectly. The heat problem I experienced were due to using older components not designed for tight spaces, though the inclusion of an exhaust fan is something I’d recommend. The manual, by the way, is useless and is pretty much a geek poster. Anyway, add in a wireless keyboard and mouse and you have a great little hide-away computer that also happens to be more than enough to surf the net and do things like write and work on.
Time & Money Saved. Shawn’s Easy Computer Tips: Part III
Oct 27, 2008 Computers and Internet, Tips, Tricks & Tutorials
Alrighty, kids, we’re about 80% into our better computing lifestyle and so far we’ve focused pretty much on the computer, now it’s time to grab the mirror and take a good hard look in it. All of what I previously posted is completely useless unless the talking monkey sitting at it (that would be you… ooop oooop) doesn’t know some basic rules when it comes to actually using the dang thing.. Viruses spread because people don’t take a few moments to check attachments before running them, people download dubious software from unheard of sites and then wonder why they have 5,000 pop-ups. Here are a few ways to help realize the risks out there and take a little extra time to keep your computer safe and functional.
Part III – The user
Time & Money Saved. Shawn’s Easy Computer Tips, Part II
Oct 22, 2008 Computers and Internet, Tips, Tricks & Tutorials
In the last part of this guide, I spent some time laying the hardware foundations of your computer system. In this portion of the guide we’ll spend some time discussion tips tricks and tweaks for making your operating system to get the most out of your hardware. There are many good options for your OS, but since most of you are going to be using Windows XP or Vista, these tips will be targeted to those OSes.
Part II - Software
Most systems start with waaaay, waaaaaay, waaaaaaaaaaay more extra crap, doo-dads, bells, whistles and useless nonsense on them than is really necessary. Start the system off properly by removing as much of this excess fat as you can, getting to the delicious meaty center that we all want and need. Remove programs you have no intention of using, don’t know how to use, or are out of date and you’ll have yourself one kick ass geek steak of a machine.
Updating - The OS and it’s drivers is the foundation upon which you’ll be running. When building a home, you don’t use rotten wood from the old barn to build it, so it makes sense that you don’t use shoddy out of date programs and drivers on your brand new hardware. As soon as Windows is installed (and you have an internet connection), run Windows Update until nothing else is left to install. When all of this is done (and it might take a while) then go to the appropriate websites and download new drivers for every piece of hardware in your system and install them one at a time, with a reboot in between each install.
Install your drivers in this order:
Chipset – These are basically the drivers for your motherboard. Making sure these are properly installed can have a massive effect on your computer’s performance. Most commonly they are Intel and VIA and more recently nVidia.- Video Card/GPU – these are usually self explanatory. Generally, every manufacturer has its own customized driver package, but you’ll usually find the newest drivers at either nVidia or ATI , since 90% of the video cards you’ll be buying will have chips made by those manufacturers. Keeping these up to date can not only improve speed, but can also improve stability and the performance of certain games can be significantly improved. Updating your monitor drivers at this time will often make things a bit clearer, too.
- Sound Card/Chipset – whether your Sound card is built into your motherboard or a secondary card like a Soundblaster X-Fi, making sure you have the latest and greatest is always a plus. While it’s not always a speed booster, it almost always increases stability.
- Everything else – Cameras, Scanners, Tablets, card readers, video and audio codecs. The only things you really don’t usually need to install are things like keyboard and mouse drivers. 99 times out of 100 these drivers are usually a waste of valuable RAM. And speaking of RAM…
Time & Money Saved. Shawn’s Easy Computer Tips, part I.
Oct 20, 2008 Computers and Internet, Tips, Tricks & Tutorials
I wasn’t always a customer service manager.
In a former life I worked for–and at one point, owned–a small, honest, computer repair business; working on everything from large office networks to private home computers. Unfortunately, as usually happens with any good business, the market became crowded and turned into the abusive used car lot that is computer business today. I bowed out as gracefully as I could before losing my shirt.
In that time, I learned quite a bit about the best ways to build computers and keep them running. I’ve managed to turn this knowledge into a few bucks here and there and build and maintain my own tidy little home network, including two gaming grade machines, with a minimum of time and effort and without spending every dime I own to do so.
Here’s the thing, though: About 90% of the money I make and the tricks I use are basically the sort of thing that anyone can do. No, seriously. Anyone.
So, rather than horde this knowledge to myself and dish it out to our internet friends and readers through rushed IMs typed by my better half, I’ve decided to put together a little guide to making and keeping your computer running as quickly as it can. There are billions of guides available on the internet for people that are technically minded, but this guide is not for them. This guide is for you, semi-normal people.
In order to keep your brain from exploding, I’m going to split this up into three installments. Each installment will cover one of the three key components of any good system, the is the Holy Trinity of Computery goodness: Hardware, Software and The User (That’s you, if you hadn’t guessed).
So, let’s get on with it shall we? Shawn’s easy computer tips to save you time and money:
Part I - Hardware
The first ever face meltingly Awesome Blog awards.
Oct 4, 2008 Computers and Internet
I’d like to take that opportunity to properly thank those who have supported us and been there with us, wherever we have chosen to blog. So without further ado, I would like to present the Face Meltingly Awesome Blog Awards tooOooOoooooo:
Eve
Eve is a gorgeous lady who just happens to be twin of a gorgeous lady, and they are both extremely talented ladies–hey, ladies.
Eve’s strength (though I have a strong idea she might deny some of this) is with the written word, imagination, and photography. Her Wordless Wednesday posts showcase a fantastic eye for the camera that I sincerely hope she’ll continue showcasing. In her brain resides an entire fantasy world thriving with fantasy creatures which she writes about and shares on a forum. This realm has entertained those who have had the honor of reading it and sweeping them along with epic story lines and tales.
When we created 2phatgeeks, she was one of the first to begin Stumbling our articles and giving them thumbs up. She’s helped behind the scenes in this way and she’s been commenting since the very beginning as well. Her blog is a wonderful place for you to lose yourself in, and so, in thanks, I’d like her to know that her blog melts my face.
The Junky’s Wife
I can’t specifically tell you when I found The Junky’s Wife blog. I know that Shawn and I had not yet created 2phatgeeks, but I know that I found it as a random Stumble using Stumble Upon one night.
Her writing captivated me, her strength kept me. She is candid with her flaws in a day and age when some blog writers hide their humanity behind tips for making money or how to create awesome photo shop effects. She is truthful and honest about the dark little places she carries, that we all do, that draws you in and keeps your eyes reading. She is a poet in everything she does when it comes to what she writes. The honesty and joy over living, the good and the bad is shared to readers with a talent to make us relate to her and one another.
She’s been with 2phatgeeks since we started and was also one of the first to leave her commentary on our writings. She also commented occasionally on my live journal, and I’ve learned to love Yoga through her many posts about its benefits.
She’s a remarkable human being and I am glad to know her and know of her. I’d like her to know that her blog melts my face with it’s awesomeness.
Stay tuned in the coming months! This will be a regular feature here at 2phatgeeks!
Seven trends that annoy me the most about blogs.
Sep 16, 2008 Computers and Internet
Image by cogdogblog via Flickr Word Press is a glorious platform for bloggers, writers and business minded folk alike. You can reach out to people you generally wouldn’t, share ideas, the human experience, earn money for doing a hobby you enjoy most and keep a corner of the internet for yourself.
There are some common trends, traits and style choices however that really bug me. Without further ado, because this is my space to be old and crotchety about things–let me share them with you.
Gargantuan RSS buttons make me want to punch kittens. And I love kittens, but if I visit your blog and your RSS feed button, badge, graphic or what have you is larger than your header banner and the main focus of the site? Not only am I not going to subscribe, I’m probably not going to continue bothering to visit. Unless, of course, the graphic you use and its presentation is clever, different and original. There’s something about a giant, obnoxious, glossy orange square or circle that makes me roll my eyes a little. I equate it with being pushy; the car salesmen pitch of the RSS world. It’s a bit tacky like that pair of argyle socks grandma gave you last Christmas.
Giant RSS icon designed by Aaron Ovadia
The first thing I see on all of your posts, on your home page or individually is not an image or the opening to your post–but some CSS dotted border “Don’t forget to subscribe to my feed! Like this post? Subscribe to my feed to read more you want to don’t you love my post subscribesubscribehisubscribe!” Did I mention the fact that its probably placed at the very top of every post, possibly a different background color to catch the eye with a border and a million links to your RSS feed. Look–here’s the deal: let me read your god damn post before I decide whether or not I want to subscribe to your feed, okay? And then, let me come to the decision about whether or not I want to subscribe on my own. Because I am a big, grown up…grown up here. I don’t need to be reminded fifty million times in garish ways to subscribe and can come to the conclusion all my self if I want to subscribe without you holding my hand at every turn. So can it. Put it at the bottom of your post if you OMG CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT or make it small and less annoying.
Kitten under dogs ear
Stealing content from every other website, such as popular youtube videos, top Stumbles, or top stories from dig and slappin’ it up in a post does not, a good post or blog, make. Especially if you do this without any effort to put, at least, a little unique twist on it. I keep seeing the same stuff over and over and over and over and over and over again rehashed and re posted in blogs. Now, there’s really nothing wrong with your story about the Large Hydrogen Collider–so long as what you post has something written in your own words. Get what I mean? Sure! Go ahead and post that cute kitten sleeping under a dogs ear that has been seen a million times. What will make it original is maybe a paragraph or two about what you think of it, how it makes you feel, opinions or even a cute story of why it reminds you of your favorite pet. I am so tired of seeing blogs that just pull from feeds or yoink content off front pages. I call them lick n’ stick blogs and they aren’t terribly memorable. I don’t re-visit these kinds of blogs as I can view the same content generally all over the internets whenever I want.
Your site is so glossy I need a pair of sunglasses to see it. Yes, yes, I know–there’s a little gloss
Glossy button
and gradient on 2phatgeeks, but you’ll note the important word there: a little. If you have glossy title backgrounds with glossy date backgrounds ontop of glossy post backgrounds with glossy menus that have glossy drop downs with glossy sidebar headers and glossy gloss then you might be overdoing it. Besides that, the glossy trend is a has-been-done-there-did-that-let’s-move-on-please trend in design that’s making designers and readers twitchy alike. Try for something different, go minimalist or clean, turn away from the gradient side or search for something a little less shiny.
125x125 graphic courtesy of blogohblog.com
There are so many ads it drowns out your content. You have Google banner ads at the top of every post, you have Google adsense ads in the sidebars, your RSS feed, your comments and your posts themselves are littered with text ads. Every second word I am reading is a link. We are crammed full of advertising, spam, and just plain crap every day we are online. Do you really think your readers need to have it jammed down their gullets when they visit your site? By all means, make money! Have a few adsense/banner ads, sell your 125×125 spaces but don’t make it so invasive that people have to dig through sponsors to find what you’ve written.
You never ever comment back, not even once since you set up your blog. Some one took the minute or two out of their day, night, schedule or which ever to write you a comment to a post. Sure, you worked hard on it and it deserves comments! So too, do those who actually respond to what you write. If people comment on your blog and all they get from you is silence, generally the message you are sending your readers is that you don’t care. You don’t care they’re commenting and eventually they’ll stop commenting all together. If you can’t be arsed to read and comment every once in a while, why should they?
Splash pages suck the very living soul out of your readers from their bleeding angry eyes. I don’t want to click on a page, which will bring me to a page, which will redirect me to a page which is your blog. This isn’t the puzzle box of blogaliciousness and I am not a hamster to jump through your hoops. I want to read your blog, not do the truffle shuffle in hopes I am allowed into your cool club house. Seriously, just give me your blog, that’s what I want. I, like the rest of the intarwebs, tend to be seriously lazy and demanding. If I want to visit your WordPress, then by Odin, I am going to visit it. Making me jump through fiery web rings–no matter how pretty or well done they may be–just makes me want to chase something else just as shiny, but easier to get at.
If you’re guilty of any of this, take this with a grain of salt. I’ll cheerfully admit that sometimes a well designed, well thought out blog and website can get away with any or all of what I just listed off because of ingenius ways to present it. But if you don’t have a team of designers or don’t even know how to “make links clickable,” or think that green and pink DO go together…maybe it’s best you avoid the above and save me another dent in my forehead from head-desking after I visit your blog.
So what annoying trends in blogging have I missed? What makes you twitch uncontrollably when you see it?
