Daily Archives: August 26, 2008

Worklog: Mighty Mite (01)

As I stated previously, the parts for the computer have been purchased and in fact have arrived.  As I looked at the case and made decision on cooling solutions, I purchased more parts.  I have 3 different sets of items still on their way.  One will arrive Tuesday, one on Wednesday and the last on Friday.

I haven’t had the opportunity to discuss my final choices and ultimate purchase.  Thanks to the constant support of my family and Elizabeth, I came to the conclusion that I don’t need a bleeding edge system.  Instead I choose to opt for a “Bang for your Buck” system.  It you’ve been following the scoping process you will see that I started out with a $4900k price tag (w/o monitor).  From there I moved to a $3.5 price tag (w/ Monitor).  Further thought and research brought the price down to $3k (w/ Monitor).  It was at this time that I had the epiphany and decided to go for a “unique” and more exciting case.  Anyone can do bleeding edge, top of the line, it just takes more money.  To pull off an elegant, cost effective and unique case takes a tad bit more talent.  That said the price of the mouse(G9)+computer+case+cooling/case mods came out to $1630 and I purcahsed a so far wonderful LG 24″ monitor for $350.  Yup, I manage to reign in my spending and come in under $2k.  Here is the part list:

Part Name Information
Mouse G9 Black 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired
Motherboard Biostar I45 Tpower
Memory 4x2GB Gskill DDR2 800
Hard Drive 3x 640gb WD
Video Card Visiontek 4870HD
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
PSU ZALMAN ZM750-HP Continuous 750W
Sound Card Creative
Optical Drive Samsung 22x
CPU Fan Noctua NH-U12P
Grill FrozenCPU 240
Blow Hole Fan Scythe S-Flex E
Front Fan Yate Loon Slim Low
Thumb Screws Lian Li
Tie Wraps and Mounts Standard Home Depot
Lighting Blue and UV Cold Cathode
Heatshrink 1/4” Black
Sleeving 1/4” Black
Cables SATA 90degree
Nuts Matching Lian Li Thumbscrews
Screws and Bolts Socket Caps
Window Acrylic
Molding Rubber C-Channel
Mounting Tape 3M Scotch #4010
Extra Tape Electrical Tape
Monitor 24” LG
Case Lian Li PCA05B
Bezel Lian Li Drive C-01B

I hope that table shows up decent enough. The parts were all ordered from Newegg, FrozenCPU, Xoxide, Best Buy and Home Depot so far. I’m looking for nuts to fit the Lian Li thumbscrews. Currently I have some #6-32s that were lying around but the thread count on the thumb screws is far higher. The Pops has sent me the location of a store near work that might have what I’m looking for.  Chances are that the thumbscrews are Metric and I just need to find some metric Nuts. (That sounds kinda funny.) Alright enough talking from me, let’s see some exposition pics!