[SC.LUG] Bill Gates to be Knighted?

[Rick [Kitty5]]

On Thu, 2004-01-29 at 22:11, Ian Molton wrote:
> > Try 3D rendering as a hobby :)
> 
> Why are you using an X86 then? both PPC and Alpha are far faster. (dont
> argue bang per buck here as that wont improve your rendering times).

Because I use the same box to play planetside (www.planetside.com) 

> The Iyonix is NOT mass produced - well, certainly not on the level of
> the X86 market - I doubt theres more than 2000 in the world. If it was a
> car it'd be an 'executive limited edition' and sell for three quaters of
> a million...

Not without a face lift 

> > and all the component parts have been sourced based on their
> > quality & reliability. This isn't some $100 setup.
> 
> OOI, how much have you wasted on this cooling system? (heatpipes are way
> simpler, safer, and less messy - and quieter).

And currently very expensive, there is only 1 full case heat pipe system
(from zalman) and it costs more than an iyonix :P

> > If the pump fails the bios will pull the plug and stop the whole
> > system before I have a real problem.
> 
> You've tested that then?

Yup, unplug the pump and wait, takes a few minutes for one of the CPU's
to hit 80degrees C

I can set the cut out higher, so I figured why not give it a whirl.

> so, actual downtime then...

say 30 mins while i route out some heatsinks, remove the water blocks
and faff around with thermal paste.

> once, when its monitor got disconnected, I actually switched it off by
> mistake, thinking it was already off because I couldnt hear it.

I never turn my gear off, every hardware failure I have ever had has
happened upon pressing the power switch in the morning.

> more expense to cover poor design...

Not really, the rad ended up costing me a few quid for copper pipe and
time soldering - better than £80+ for an off the shelf water cooling one
(thats really a modified heater core from a car)

I went for most kick for my budget, it goes with the territory that
athlon cpus run hot.

> Dont the closed ones work? (what is it, are you an early 802.11g
> adopter?)

Do they buggery, they are "community supported" meaning "here are some
half finished binary files, you all go away and figure out how to make
them work - bloody commies"

It is wifi gear but only 802.11b - damn things have a texas dsp inside 
and texas arn't talking. when I bought the cards  DLink were saying
"Linux drivers coming soon" (I wasn't going to use them on a Linux box,
so soon suited me fine), they now say "Don't hold onto these devices in
anticipation of Linux drivers"

the open drivers have been made to work for some people, but YMMV

> Yeah, canon stuff is a bit shit that way. But then their printers are
> shite too, so I guess everyones using the better alternatives...

Shite printers, excellent scanners.

Mines a bit long in the tooth now, but as I only every use if for web
work its perfect. I don't fancy replacing it with something thats hardly
ever going to get used anyway.

> Funny, my e740 is easy to network wirelessly, and I only have linux
> partially running on it...

My ipaq (running familiar) locks rock solid as soon as i connect it to
the usb port of a linux PC, if I am quick and can enable the connection
in time it might unfreeze.

If I don't realise, it sits locked solid in the cradle with the
backlight on full till the battery dies (which isn't good)

I keep meaning to get a serial connection working, but haven't had
chance yet.

> Fair to say that its a shit laptop, then - not linux fault...

Its not actually, damn well made with a gorgeous 15 in screen. It was a
trade in for a laptop I had bought but had problems with, the screen was
much better (and everything else similar) I couldn't resist.

> I suppose you learnt to research your purchases first then?

I have learnt that unless a device has flawless linux support at the
instant I am about to purchase, forget it. 

Manufacturers promises / open driver projects typically provide drivers
as soon as said device is out of date (or you have lost it). Brands with
good Linux support / attitude is not a good guide.

And most important, the definition of working under linux and windows
often mean 2 very different things.

> Of course, I've had as many bad experiences with windows gear, and I
> dont even HAVE the option of hacking the driver to make it work there...

I haven't had any windows issues for the last few years now. (aside from
the licencing costs, security problems, worms, reinstalls and a CD drive
that exploded my win2000 setup disk)
-- 
Rick

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