Intellistation 6225 Overhaul

[EverythingIBM]

Okay! I thought it may benefit myself and others to post on how I plan on upgrading my intellistation M Pro 6225-1SU; since OEM computers are a lot more tricky and follow non-standard guidelines at times. After I sell a bunch of junk, hopefully I'll have enough money to start buying parts (and then take some pictures of the finished product). For now, this will act as a series of "to buy" guidelines.

POWER SUPPLY:
This is the power supply in question, a "nice" delta electronics one:


So, as you can see, it needs a very long power cord to connect to the motherboard (and one fairly long one for the Nvidia quadro fx 3400 which I can hopefully replace). As well as front to back venting. The other cords don't have to be as long, in fact, modular would be nice, but since I'm old skool, I'll stick with non-modular. One issue I have are the dimensions of this thing, I'm ASSUMING it's standard.

The one I wish to replace it with is a, get ready for this, Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450-Watt VX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply:

A useful thing is that it sucks air from the BOTTOM opposed from behind:

That means it'll suck air out of my SCSI drive, which, I would assume provide some cooling. But the question is, whether or not it will be compatible of course.
EDIT: comparing the photos (which is a silly idea I know), I think that power supply is too WIDE to fit.

RAM:
I already have 2 GB of PC2-3200E installed, and I will simply buy two more sticks from ebay, that's easy enough. Better hurry and buy some before the listing goes away... and that RAM is very annoyingly hard to come by.

GRAPHICS:
Zalisithix suggested a Radeon 5570, however, the thing probably only has PCI-E 1.0, so, if it DOES work, it will be severely bottle-necked. Better than the Nvidia quadro fx 3400... it spews a lot of ambient heat into the case.

CPU COOLING:
The Prescott is cooled with one of those BXT fans (or whatever you call them):

I might buy a spare and see if I can simply mod the fan to perform better. Otherwise, I was thinking of something like a corsair A70; although I never did CPU heatsink work before, nor do I have any experience in such area.
EDIT: I took a good look at the Corsair H50 water cooling system which is compatible with LGA775. It would actually be very possible and probably give the best possible temperatures, here's a quick diagram (again not a photo of mine):

#1 is where the radiator fan could go (and the tiny circle at the bottom is the CPU fan plug).
#2 is obviously where the cooling sink would go.
I guess I could have it shoot the air OUT of the vent backwards lol. Or let it get sucked by the back fan, but I'm not sure if that would be wise. However, I'm unsure where any power plugs are on that motherboard, it's confusing and has many pins and pin covers.
Well, for a test run, I could always install the H50 on a 300PL or something...

I can't really think of anything else, I'm fine with my hard drives. There are other 6225 intellistations with a 3.6 Ghz P4, I could always scout one of those and see if I could install it if I wanted an extra 200 Mhz (whoop-de-doo).

[ch_123]

Get a Mac.

[clickclack]

I just built a system a couple of months ago and I used that Corsair 450VX and I really like it! It has a longer than most motherboard power cord and the rest of the cords are realatively long too.

The first one I got made some funny squealing sounds (not very loud, but apparently very common with newer psu's) but I did an RMA with newegg and all was good, the new one is very, very quiet.

=)

[ch_123]

My main PC uses a HX620, which is an excellent PSU.

[trievalot]

i have a IBM intellistation 6221 - dual Xeon 2.8 ftw.....great server running server 2003.

[kishy]

Delta, as far as OEMs go, has always been known as a good one. You've got a decent power supply, considering the crap installed in most computers from the factory.

All I can really say is be careful with directions of fans and vent clearances. You wanna make sure it's got decent airflow, even if it does fit properly.

However, all being said, you may consider looking at building your own completely new box. It may be more cost effective when all is said and done, if you can sell the existing system (consider net cost in the end).

[kishy]

Can anyone say "BESTEC"...

Delta has been around for YEARS. I have a 22-23 year old Delta PSU and it's in great shape, except for the line filter which buzzes from time to time (this is in my 286, also IBM).

That said, components virtually everywhere are lower grade now, so that's not to say modern Delta units are as good as old Delta units. An upgrade is in order if you plan to tax the system any further for sure.

[ch_123]

PC Power and Cooling.  I have four of them.   One as backup.

I don't dink around when it comes to power supplies.  Nothing more frustrating than debugging a mediocre power supply.  Nothing more likely to fry you and your system.

PC P&C PSUs can be quite difficult to find outside of the US.

Corsair PSUs are great though. They're made by Seasonic who have a great rep for making top notch stuff. I think they also make a bunch of other companies high end PSUs, like Antec.

[InSanCen]

The Corsair is a decent unit. PCP&P units are top notch. I spec them, or Zippy/Emacs when doing server builds, and only them. Not cheap though, and noisier than your average consumer PSU. Check out johnnyguru.com for good, reliable PSU reviews. FSP/Sparkle/Fortron Source are a decent unit too, and cheaper then the "designer" brands (OCZ, Corsair etc). I wouldn't load beyond 90% though.

[ch_123]

I had an FSP that caused all sorts of **** and then failed after about a year and a half. My Corsair is still running fine two years later. I had a Hiper in between which was grand, I sold it off to a relative and it's still working fine afaik.

[EverythingIBM]

Get a Mac.

I already was using iMacs all day at school (I use macs in other places too, not just school), they were pissing me off sooo much, mine kept freezing, logout kept timing out, safari wouldn't start and gave me an error message, couldn't run anything USEFUL on it, GAH! And those stupid chiclet keyboards, I love to smash them out of rage.

I just built a system a couple of months ago and I used that Corsair 450VX and I really like it! It has a longer than most motherboard power cord and the rest of the cords are realatively long too.

The first one I got made some funny squealing sounds (not very loud, but apparently very common with newer psu's) but I did an RMA with newegg and all was good, the new one is very, very quiet.

=)

Good to know, I randomly chose the corsair because it came up first when I searched "extra long power cord". I need REALLY long cords.

Delta, as far as OEMs go, has always been known as a good one. You've got a decent power supply, considering the crap installed in most computers from the factory.

All I can really say is be careful with directions of fans and vent clearances. You wanna make sure it's got decent airflow, even if it does fit properly.

However, all being said, you may consider looking at building your own completely new box. It may be more cost effective when all is said and done, if you can sell the existing system (consider net cost in the end).

It's not a BAD power supply, but all delta PSUs make this annoying tiny gear noise from the bearings (I can hear it now as I write this). Plus, I want something a bit higher end, the corsairs look more efficient, cooler, and quieter.
I'm not sure if the corsair would fit, I'm hoping it does, I wish I could just compare my power supply with models in a store or something. And yeah, the venting thing may be a problem, but after looking at all other PSUs, they all seem to do the fan at the bottom scheme, rather than front-to-back venting. The airflow will certainly be not the best.

As for custom building a whole new computer: I really like my intellistation, and most cases disgust me. I wouldn't mind doing a custom build inside a good IBM case that's more generic (this intellistation has the motherboard on the opposite side unlike most computers).

My OCZ lasted two years.  6 years for my oldest PP&C.

I never had any power supplies fail before, or any of the sorts. Maybe I just didn't use computers long enough?

There's some OCZ RAM in my thinkcentre, hopefully it doesn't break in two years like their power supplies.

[Zalusithix]

I wouldn't concern yourself too much with the bandwidth difference with PCIe 1.x and 2.x. You're not going to be saturating the x16 PCIe link with a card like that anyhow. As for the PSU / heat sinks / fans, I recommend checking out SPCR. Since you seem to be noise conscious, they're a great resource.

[ch_123]

Get a Mac.

I already was using iMacs all day at school (I use macs in other places too, not just school), they were pissing me off sooo much, mine kept freezing, logout kept timing out, safari wouldn't start and gave me an error message, couldn't run anything USEFUL on it, GAH! And those stupid chiclet keyboards, I love to smash them out of rage.

Hook, line, sinker...

[EverythingIBM]

I wouldn't concern yourself too much with the bandwidth difference with PCIe 1.x and 2.x. You're not going to be saturating the x16 PCIe link with a card like that anyhow. As for the PSU / heat sinks / fans, I recommend checking out SPCR. Since you seem to be noise conscious, they're a great resource.

Firefox kindly accidently erased my previous message.

I'm just hoping the radeon 5570 will work with PCIE 1.0; although, I can't find anyone ANYWHERE discussing such an issue.
I still use my radeon pro 9950 (AGP) for some things; plays warcraft 3 perfectly. Although the fan is really tight and I have to manually spin it with my finger to start it up: it's always been pretty much like that. Zero dust, I blasted it quite vehemently.

The nexus value 430 is interesting, but the cords won't be long enough guaranteed, and there's not that many of them. I just don't like the actual fan's noise of this delta PSU, not the air blowing. Although one advantage is that it's smaller: I'd probably need a smaller PSU if anything.

[HaaTa]

It will work, PCIE 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCIE 1.0. It will just operate at a slower bus speed, similar to a USB 2.0 flash drive into a USB 1.1 port.

You won't find any discussions about it for the 5570, but look for one of he first PCIE 2.0 cards and you should find some discussions.

[itlnstln]

Hook, line, sinker...

Win.  You're getting pretty good at this.

[itlnstln]

I think that was the point.  Throw the obvious bait and see if it gets taken. IME, that deserves more credit than a more "stealth" attack.

[itlnstln]

I like the stealth attack, too, but it seems that style would have been wasted in a circumstance such as this.  A stealth attack deserves a worthy adversary.

[ch_123]

Not subtle enough.   I saw that one from a mile away.

It was so shamefully obviously a troll that getting someone to fall for it was as big an accomplishment as a sly stealthy troll.

[EverythingIBM]

So I ordered 2 more GB of RAM, it was just shipped today. $64 was the total... half of that was for shipping -_-
Not bad for 2 GB of ECC I guess.

When I was looking around at some fans, CPU heatsinks, and other stuff like that, I found THIS: ZM-MFC3.
That's really cool, being able to control your fans from a panel, and other things like that. One advantage is being able to connect multiple fans up to it, opposed to a whole bunch in the power supply when the MOBO doesn't have any more slots (and I could manually make the fans spin faster than they would on their own). Plus, the second CD drive I have in the computer isn't actually plugged in to anything... may as well put something more useful in it. I'm not familiar with the heat sensors (half of those ports look proprietary, CSV???), nor would I want to traverse an endeavour to attach my CPU fan to it. It would work great for simple case fans though.

However, the ZM-MFC3 looks kind of tacky. I think the ZM-MFC1 would match better (nice brushed aluminum painted black), plus I like having physical knobs opposed to one big one with a digital interface: I'm a synth guy.

I love synths all stacked up with a jungle of cords! I don't know why people hate cords, they're cool!

Acoustipack could be useful; I wouldn't mind dampening the noise in the case a bit (especially the SCSI grumbling). However, they seemed to have neglected a "buy" button, and afraid to put any price tag on the product listing...

[hyperlinked]

Hook, line, sinker...

I know. Typical closeted Mac user.

[EverythingIBM]

I know. Typical closeted Mac user.

Ah, so because I use macs and don't like them, that makes me closeted? Obviously not everyone who uses them will like them.

[hyperlinked]

Ah, so because I use macs and don't like them, that makes me closeted? Obviously not everyone who uses them will like them.

Deny deny deny! You are closeted! Wow. I was only kidding, but you really are.

[EverythingIBM]

Deny deny deny! You are closeted! Wow. I was only kidding, but you really are.

So now that I percieved that you said I am closeted makes me closeted? That really doesn't make much sense...
And you think calling someone closeted because they don't like macs is a joke? That's certainly the strangest humour I've seen.

ANYWAYS, I was pondering with the idea of buying the same motherboard (can't remember the part number) I have and doing experiments on it; so I don't ruin the one in my computer. A few experiments could include swapping various processors, which heatsinks would work the best, flashing the BIOS etc.

[ch_123]

So now that I percieved that you said I am closeted makes me closeted? That really doesn't make much sense...
And you think calling someone closeted because they don't like macs is a joke? That's certainly the strangest humour I've seen.

In this instance, it's not that you don't like Macs, it's why and how you don't like them.

[datamonger128]

So I ordered 2 more GB of RAM, it was just shipped today. $64 was the total... half of that was for shipping -_-
Not bad for 2 GB of ECC I guess.

Wait, you paid $32 for shipping?  Why was it so much?

[EverythingIBM]

Wait, you paid $32 for shipping?  Why was it so much?

Compuvest always has expensive shipping (to be precise it was $25; but that's basically half in my books). If I lived in the states it would only be $5.

And yeah, it's not like I ordered anything LARGE, two spindly sticks of DDR2... took me *two years* to finally find it being sold on ebay brand new.

Whatever, I NEED that RAM for audio applications, nexus in particular is RAM hungry (loads all ROM patches to RAM), same with the east/west quantum leap stuff, but a friend of mine told me it's not THAT great; so I'll wait (one problem I've been having with it anyways is that FL studio is 32-bit only due to delphi, but windows 7 is 64-bit, and the east/west quantum leap freebie I grabbed during christmas wants to run in 64-bit... but I don't think it'd work with FL being 32-bit). My SCSI is really good at paging that stuff though.

[datamonger128]

but windows 7 is 64-bit,

There's 32-bit Windows 7.  I have it myself.  To be honest, unless you have more than 4GB RAM, I don't see a point in having 64-bit Windows.  I noticed no difference whatsoever between the performance of Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit.  The only thing different I noticed was that there is now two Program Files folders.  One labeled "Program Files" and one labeled "Program Files (x86)".

[kishy]

Windows XP 32 bit vs XP 64 bit, on same machine:

Athlon64 3200 2.2 (754)
1GB DDR400
GeForce 7600GS 512MB AGP8x
160GB WD1600 7200RPM ATA100 HDD

For general processing tasks, 64 bit was perceived as being at least 1.5 times faster. Game performance also increased slightly (Source engine games).

The improvements in that case could be because XP64 was in fact a TOTALLY different OS, basically Server '03, but regardless...even with less than 4GB of RAM, 64 bit processing does help.

Worth noting: nVidia write crappy drivers. I don't care how unpopular the platform was...they claim compatibility so they'd better get their asses in gear with writing decent drivers from day 1. Not once in the history of the OS or 7 series cards did a decent driver package exist for that mix.

[EverythingIBM]

There's 32-bit Windows 7.  I have it myself.  To be honest, unless you have more than 4GB RAM, I don't see a point in having 64-bit Windows.  I noticed no difference whatsoever between the performance of Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit.  The only thing different I noticed was that there is now two Program Files folders.  One labeled "Program Files" and one labeled "Program Files (x86)".

I think security is better in 64-bit (the 32 bit versions of windows had some kind of back door). I don't get viruses; so that's not a relevant issue for *me*. I only use the internet for ebay, kijiji, geekhack, email, and kvraudio.

I can always give Windows 7 32-bit a try.

[EverythingIBM]

Windows XP 32 bit vs XP 64 bit, on same machine:

Athlon64 3200 2.2 (754)
1GB DDR400
GeForce 7600GS 512MB AGP8x
160GB WD1600 7200RPM ATA100 HDD

For general processing tasks, 64 bit was perceived as being at least 1.5 times faster. Game performance also increased slightly (Source engine games).

The improvements in that case could be because XP64 was in fact a TOTALLY different OS, basically Server '03, but regardless...even with less than 4GB of RAM, 64 bit processing does help.

Worth noting: nVidia write crappy drivers. I don't care how unpopular the platform was...they claim compatibility so they'd better get their asses in gear with writing decent drivers from day 1. Not once in the history of the OS or 7 series cards did a decent driver package exist for that mix.

Is that why after I installed the nvidia drivers windows 7 always flickers on the startup screen? It's REALLY annoying.

[Zalusithix]

Nah, the Nvidia driver thing was just for XP x64. Rather, XP x64 was a driver hell for just about every piece of hardware you could stick into a machine. Companies just didn't put any effort into supporting it. Nvidia drivers work mostly fine in Vista / 7 these days. The first incarnations for Vista sucked, but they're pretty stable now. At least when they're not introducing bugs that can fry a card...

From my experience, ATI isn't any better. In Windows I'd rate them about the same, but for Linux, Nvidia is superior thanks to official support (albeit closed source). They're both better than Creative on the driver front though!

[EverythingIBM]

Nah, the Nvidia driver thing was just for XP x64. Rather, XP x64 was a driver hell for just about every piece of hardware you could stick into a machine. Companies just didn't put any effort into supporting it. Nvidia drivers work mostly fine in Vista / 7 these days. The first incarnations for Vista sucked, but they're pretty stable now. At least when they're not introducing bugs that can fry a card...

From my experience, ATI isn't any better. In Windows I'd rate them about the same, but for Linux, Nvidia is superior thanks to official support (albeit closed source). They're both better than Creative on the driver front though!

I've heard some nasty things about creative and the new drivers. Good thing I only use soundblaster for DOS.

[trievalot]

Wouldn't an IBM iPadistation be cool, 50 lbs,noisy and no actual function. Still better than an iPad though.

[EverythingIBM]

Wouldn't an IBM iPadistation be cool, 50 lbs,noisy and no actual function. Still better than an iPad though.

you mean an IntelliPad? And I take it all intellistations are noisy.
Mine is actually a workstation (the M pro), so I don't use it as a server but my main computer.
EDIT: Well right now I'm using my thinkpad: waiting for the RAM to arrive; until then I'm not turning it on because I really need to fix the cable management.

[ch_123]

I want a real Intellistation, like a 285...

[EverythingIBM]

I want a real Intellistation, like a 285...

That's a server. Mine's a real workstation.

The RAM arrived! 4096 is a lovely number to see in the BIOS. When I plunked the sticks in, the BIOS did its little beep to notate hardware change: I INITIALLY thought it was an incompatible RAM beep. I didn't know the stupid thing beeped each time you changed the hardware (it even gave me a message in the BIOS to "make sure" I got the idea).
EDIT: I forgot to add, compuvest whom I ordered the RAM from was GREAT. They packed the two tiny sticks in an oversized box filled to the brim with packing peanuts; so if you want something packed well, compuvest is highly reccomended in my books.

I've been thinking of getting a different back fan (currently I have a stealth vantec in there). The fan size at the back happens to be 80mm which isn't much to work with, so, I was thinking about these super delta ones:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de80pfulhisp.html

That little thing can go up to 8000 RPM. I may have to buy soundproof earmuffs. Actually no, that's why I want to buy a fan control panel to lessen the speed when not necessary.

However, I could only find the Delta "EHE" model available on ebay:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/del80ffb08123.html
They even have a sound sample for you to hear. That's pretty loud. This one only happens to be 5700 RPM, but that's still good.

[microsoft windows]

I'd think twice about those high RPM fans. You'd find them to sound a lot more like vacuum cleaners than you'd think.

[EverythingIBM]

I'd think twice about those high RPM fans. You'd find them to sound a lot more like vacuum cleaners than you'd think.

I know they'd sound like that. My CPU one spun that fast, wow was it ever loud, and it's a lot bigger than 80mm.

And I'm having an issue with this RAM. For some reason, the computer detects 4096 (even the BIOS; which tests it), but windows (x64) is only using 3 GBs...
Even weirder, it's still running in dual channel, and, nothing really makes sense. I tried memtest but I think it ignored the other stick as well (and it got the timings wrong and also said it was DDR1 when it's actually DDR2).

Whatever, I'm just going to ignore whatever is up and be content with my "3" GB....

CPUZ does recognize all sticks, and I can see all details about them, including model numbers etc.

Edit: this is the fan I currently have, It's good, but NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

[kishy]

ISTR something about a "Physical Address Extension" being necessary, particularly for earlier 64 bit systems, to allow proper addressing and so forth. The text "Physical Address Extension" would be displayed in System Properties near your processor info if present.

I really forget the details so if anyone can expand on this, go for it.

[ch_123]

That's a server. Mine's a real workstation.

Nope, Intellistations were workstations (surprisingly enough) and included specialized cards for CAD and the like. The corresponding server version of the Intellistation POWER 2x5 series would have been the pSeries servers.

[JBert]

...And I'm having an issue with this RAM. For some reason, the computer detects 4096 (even the BIOS; which tests it), but windows (x64) is only using 3 GBs...
Even weirder, it's still running in dual channel, and, nothing really makes sense. I tried memtest but I think it ignored the other stick as well (and it got the timings wrong and also said it was DDR1 when it's actually DDR2).

Whatever, I'm just going to ignore whatever is up and be content with my "3" GB....

Are you really sure you are running a 64 bit OS? Same for the memtest.

If you do, check that it is compatible with your motherboard, make sure the RAM slot has no dust in it and check if the BIOS runs the stick at the right voltage and clock settings. Maybe you need to update the BIOS or change some settings - just don't overclock it.

ISTR something about a "Physical Address Extension" being necessary, particularly for earlier 64 bit systems, to allow proper addressing and so forth. The text "Physical Address Extension" would be displayed in System Properties near your processor info if present.

I really forget the details so if anyone can expand on this, go for it.

"Physical Address Extension" (hereafter named PAE) is a term launched by Intel in 1995 when they expanded the physical address register from 32 bits to 54 and added a "PAE mode" to the virtual memory map.
Basically, it means that you can have more than 4 GB of memory in a PC with a 32 bit OS, as long as the OS supports the PAE mode.
Of course, it didn't resolve everything as programs can still only access up to 4 GB of virtual memory, which is where the whole "32 bit is limited myth" comes from.
If you have a 64 bit processor and a 64 bit OS, it basically works the same as PAE but without the drawbacks of limited processor registers.

Just check Wikipedia's article on PAE for more info.

[ch_123]

There's various complications arising out of PAE... There are driver issues, and consequently it only ever really gained traction with servers, before of course AMD64 became popular so it never really caught on.

I think Windows 2000 could support something like 64GB out of the box for all editions. Subsequent versions of Windows restricted RAM capacity based on which version you had, with server editions having the highest of course.

[InSanCen]

EIBM:

If you want high airflow, and don't mind the noise (There will be a lot of this, you have been warned), then the only way forward is to get Delta fans. Easily over 100CFM even on 80mm fan mounts, about 200CFM on 120mm (1212EHE is the model number, and I run 6 of them in Push-Pull on a 120.3 Rad).

[InSanCen]

Deltas will cut your fingers off.

Show Image

You spoil all my plans! With a finger injury, he will be less inclined to come to a forum with a keyboard focus!

*sulks*

[EverythingIBM]

Are you really sure you are running a 64 bit OS? Same for the memtest.

If you do, check that it is compatible with your motherboard, make sure the RAM slot has no dust in it and check if the BIOS runs the stick at the right voltage and clock settings. Maybe you need to update the BIOS or change some settings - just don't overclock it.

"Physical Address Extension" (hereafter named PAE) is a term launched by Intel in 1995 when they expanded the physical address register from 32 bits to 54 and added a "PAE mode" to the virtual memory map.
Basically, it means that you can have more than 4 GB of memory in a PC with a 32 bit OS, as long as the OS supports the PAE mode.
Of course, it didn't resolve everything as programs can still only access up to 4 GB of virtual memory, which is where the whole "32 bit is limited myth" comes from.
If you have a 64 bit processor and a 64 bit OS, it basically works the same as PAE but without the drawbacks of limited processor registers.

Just check Wikipedia's article on PAE for more info.

Sigh...

YES it is Windows 7 64 bit. Even if it wasn't, I'm only getting 3072MB, 32-bit would accept something like 3400MB.

If the RAM wasn't compatible with the motherboard, the BIOS wouldn't show me that I have 4096 RAM available (heck, it wouldn't even post).This RAM has the little "IBM" sticker and is approved for 6225 intellistations. It DID give me an extra GB.

The BIOS and everything else detects all four sticks. CPUZ gives me all details on each stick. Same with speedfan etc. Windows even detects that it's 4GB but only wants to use 3GB.

And there is no dust, I clean it out every week or so.

[EverythingIBM]

On a side note, I recently added another fan, a delta one (four pin). Although my MOBO only wants to spin it at 800RPM. It's some delta fan pulled from an HP lol. I taped it to the bottom of my case since... I couldn't find anywhere else to put it since the cord is too short.
EDIT: speed fan doesn't seem to work when I change the %.

[InSanCen]

Delta fans on motherboard headers usually end in tears, the higher end ones in fires and releasing Magic Smoke. The ones I have pull 3A (Yes, 3 frigging Amps for a fan) from the supply. I guarantee you that your motherboard, even by your beloved IBM, will **** itself should the fan attempt that.

Stick it on a molex, 3-4 pin adaptors are cheap enough.

[EverythingIBM]

Delta fans on motherboard headers usually end in tears, the higher end ones in fires and releasing Magic Smoke. The ones I have pull 3A (Yes, 3 frigging Amps for a fan) from the supply. I guarantee you that your motherboard, even by your beloved IBM, will **** itself should the fan attempt that.

Stick it on a molex, 3-4 pin adaptors are cheap enough.

It's a lower end delta fan, max is 3000 RPM or something. I doubt it will cause a fire in my motherboard.

[EverythingIBM]

Okay, I got the most recent build and 64-bit version of CPUZ, and look at this:


I compared it with the older version of CPUZ on the left (facing the screen).

On the new one, it says I have 35GB (35328) of RAM, that's running at PC2-32000 (2000Mhz). And it only shows two slots, on the first slot it only has 1024 (okay that's expected), and the second slot as 34304. Oh yeah, and it doesn't want to show the manufacturers, or the ECC.

This is really all strange...