The FCT Gemini Project
Charlie Ray Fetty III
Hi… my name is Charlie Ray Fetty III… and I am the inventor/builder/sole producer of FCT electronic cooling equipment… “FCT” stands for “Fetty’s Cold
Touch”…
I am writing this article to document the building of the “FCT Gemini”…as I write this, Gemini is running its first 24 hour burn in(12 hrs in:~)… and I am very excited… it all has apparently survived the process and seems to be a GREAT computer… the FCT coolers are working like a dream… the top CPU is the hottest at around 10C over the system temp… 1CPU 32C, 2CPU 28C, System 22C… I have not “Overclocked” it yet… I do not intend to even try until after I have offered the unit for sale so as to leave that privilege for the customer…
I ran into a little money a month ago… and decided to invest in building the best computer that I could… I have built several, but I have always had a very very low budget and had to USe a lot of second hand parts… in the process of designing and building my prototype cooling systems, the components are subjected to a lot of torture… that one survives to the finish of the process is a testament to the “toughness” of the components(and the kindness of God:~)… it was quite “leap of faith” to buy the latest and greatest and most expensive stuff, and then to subject it to the prototype building process… but it sure sounded like a lot of fun to me, heh… I decided to not bother my sweetie with all the long details of how much it would cost to finish this project… I figured on spending around $2000 or so… HAA!!!… poor thing is almost traumatized this am because last night in my excitement, I told her jUSt how much I had actually spent on it… BTW, I gotta remember to make her breakfast in bed this morning… :~)
(Some of the first FCT CPU Coolers in production)
I started building these “FCT cooled computers” several years ago… I invented these type of coolers… and they are the best for several reasons… including the fact that they are the easiest to manufacture(much fewer production steps from raw materials to completed product:~)… and the concept makes a “seamless” coolant path through the computer possible… which means little of no chance of leaks(which is a very good thing, yes?:~)…
I have sold several of my “FCT CPU coolers” on Ebay… and I have tried to lay claim to mine invention via the internet on sites such as Ebay and http://groups.msn.com/CharliesShop … I have invested much time and energy in mine dream, and now, with the gift from God of this money, I would now be able to demonstrate the industrial applications of mine invention on a real world late model
server/workstation… I decided to build a dual CPU terabyte server… and then the fun began…
I started out researching what components to go with… and I decided to make Gemini an Intel setup… what finally made my mind up for me was the fact that I found 2 Xeon 3.2/1mg on Ebay for what I perceived to be a bargain… and from there, I basically went with my instincts… they fail me from time to time, but God seems to smile on me and I get away with a lot…
(These are the dual Xeon 3.2/1m/800
After buying the dual Xeons for $660, I had to take a breath… I had jUSt spent more on this single component of the computer than I had spent on any computer in my life… heh, then I went crazy… I researched motherboards while watching the Xeons auction through the week… and I decided they should work nice on an Asus NCCH-DL, which had jUSt became available… the motherboard layout was a good candidate for my cooling system(although the 24 pin connection is badly placed)… so after winning the CPUs in the auction, I immediately bought one for $265… then came the RAM… the motherboard supports up to 4 gig, which I found out is not a lot in the server world, but I’ve never had enough money to built a system with more than a gig, so it seemed, well, adequate… especially when I looked at how much the RAM would cost me… I was going to buy “unsinked” RAM and build the FCT coolers for it… but then I fell in love with the OCZ buffed copper heatsinks… and immediately reinvented the FCT coolers in my mind to accommodate RAM with heatsinks already installed… I decided to load the board with all it would take and purchased 4 gigs of PC3200 for around $900… WOW… I was in the “big time” now… haa…
(This is the Asus NCCH-DL mobo)
I would need actual Xeon coolers to help me design the FCT coolers and to be able to fire the system throughout the cooler creation process… so I bought 2 that were rated for up to 2.8ghz knowing that I wouldn’t need to run the system very long at a time to check and see if everything was still working… as I remember it, I paid $65.00 for two of em… then I started looking at cases… I had recently built a Lian Li case and was impressed with the all Aluminum look and cooling properties, so I decided to go with an Aluminum job… I ran into one on Ebay that looked like it had what I needed… removable mobo tray… large interior laid out in such a way as to accommodate my cooling system… the guy worded the Ebay ad well, and in the heat of the auction, I bought it from him for his “buyitnow” of $125/$20 shipping… it is a very good looking case that seems well suited to my cooling...
(This is the Case, a "Silver Storm")
At first, I intended on making my radiator out of a large Ford heater core… learning from my previous FCT computers, I wanted to try putting the radiator at the top of the system where the heat would naturally gather to be diffused outside the computer… I had the core(all buffed and ready:~) and the Aluminum to make the encasement and fan mount… I had the 120mm fans for it and all… but jUSt before I started building it… I happened upon a Koolance unit that was jUSt about exactly what I was going to build, plus it had a nice LCD readout and pump assembly on board… and it was brushed Aluminum which looked to be a match made in heaven for this particular case that I had bought… so, I bought it for $180 on Ebay…
(Here you can see the Koolance cooling unit on the top)
Most of the components arrived quickly… but the CPUs took what seemed to be an eternity… to the point that I was freaking out a little… heh… as each new
component came in I was almost afraid to touch it… well, I got over that pretty quick…
The case turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment… the motherboard tray didn’t come out of the case through the back like I had hoped… and the system
for mounting the power supply and tray was almost funny in it’s short sighted design… but it all turned out to be exactly what I needed in the end… funny, how things work out… but I had to do quite a bit of reinventing to make it all work and still be able to work on the system after it was built…
So, back to Ebay I went… I found a great deal on a big 300+300… full sized… as I was under the impression that this case I had was designed for a redundant power supply… well, it may have been, but I have not found one yet that would
fit into it… as the case is too short by an inch and a quarter to accommodate a full sized motherboard and redundant power supply… after getting the power supply and the adapters to change it from ATX 20 pin to 24+8, I was able to fire up the system… but this power supply wouldn’t fit in the case…
hmmmn… I considered wacking out a hole in the top of the case and mounting the power supply into it… haa, that may have been a little ugly though… and with the Koolance unit on the top, that jUSt wasn’t an option… hmmmn…
I decided to try again… I searched the internet for a redundant unit that would fit in this case… I found some 300+300 units that were standard ATX sized…
that sounded good… so I bought 2 of em… heh, what’s the USe of having hot swappable power supplies if you don’t have any units to “hot swap” when you need to… sounded logical to me… so, I dumped another $170 on 2 of the units, where else, but on Ebay…
These were great little units, but I soon found out that they didn’t quite have enough poop to run this unit in all it’s glory either… hmmmn… I decided to quit messing around and jUSt buy the best Enermax that I could get that was already wired for this motherboards connections… I got a 660w that was the right color(buffed copper:~) for $240 and was hopeful that this would end my power supply troubles… then I got another idea… why not USe the Enermax to run only the motherboard so as to never really strain it… and one of the little 300+300 units to power everything else in the case… I checked out the case for days trying to figure out a way to do it… there was enough room(barely) but the mounting system of the case was quite a problem… it took a lot of “modding” to make it come out in a manner that was acceptable… with all the power supply cables and fans positioned in a clean and efficient manner…
(This is the little 300+300 power supply for the "drive section")
Many times during this process, I was cursing my foolhardiness for spending soo much money and forcing myself to work so hard to make it work… at one particular time, when I was first mounting the 1U cooler mounting system(a little poorly designed), I was installing the plastic mounts on the motherboard and tray… heh, and as I snugged it up, a veeerry small component(a resistor is my best guess:~) broke off the mother board… the plastic mount as designed hit it and literally pushed it off its solder… OHH MY GOD!… I was almost sick… and I hadn’t even started the prototype building process yet…
I consoled myself by saying it’s no big deal, I’ll jUSt contact Asus and tell them what happened and RMA it for a new one… I decided to go ahead and give it my best shot at resoldering the itty bitty tiny weenie little resistor back onto the motherboard… I spent 3 or 4 hours at this… all under my biggest magnifying glass… I gained a whole new appreciation for the manufacturers who make these motherboards… there was little components EVERYWHERE on this motherboard… stuff I hadn’t even seen until I looked at it under the magnifying glass… the finest tip of my solder gun looked like a gargantuan hot metal spike probing around in a world of microscopic bits and pieces… haa, somehow through all this, I was able to finally resolder the resistor to a reasonably acceptable seat back on the mother board… and I didn’t “unsolder” any of the surrounding components while doing it…
(The tiny resistor that broke off the mother board is located jUSt under the left mount bolt in the picture)
When I tried firing it up, it still worked… I took this all to be a miracle and decided that everything was still going to work out, though it would probably
require some more miracles(grace from God:~) before it was over… and I was even more gentle with the remaining project… especially dealing with the motherboard and the CPU cooler mounts… I modified the plastic cooler mounts to not hit any other components on the motherboard by grinding clearance for
them into the sides of the mounting faces of the mounts… Asus, take note, you’re probably going to get a few of these motherboards back because of this little problem with your motherboard and 1U cooler setups…
I decided to go on with the prototype building process USing this motherboard while it yet survived and RMA it later if/when troubles appeared… why get a new one
jUSt to torture some more, when this one was apparently still kicking… the motherboard bios said that the voltages were within tolerance(albeit a slight bit high on the #1 CPU where the resistor is located:~)… so onward ho… I proceeded with the “Gemini project”(I hadn’t named it such at that time,
and was considering calling it the “project from hell” or “the project that put me in the poor house” or something like that:~)…
In a dime, in a dollar… between the power supply fiasco and the extravagant components, I had already spent more than my $2000 estimate… and I still hadn’t
gotten my video card or any of my drives or cables… EEK!!!… then the reality set in… I’d be spending upwards of $4000(ended up actually being more than $5000 and a months worth of labor:~) to finish this project… OMG… well, when one is swimming across the lake, there is a point to where it is
necessary to continue the course, because there is no going back… and that is where I was at… it is a time when one mUSt question their sanity at least a little bit…
I went ahead with designing and creating the matched CPU coolers… I went with reversed coils because it worked out nice for the layout of the motherboard and I’ve always wanted to see if the left/right winding of the coils would make a difference or not… with dual CPUs, this was a great opportunity to gather some more data on that one…
(Here are the FCT coolers installed on the motherboard, notice the new hose connecting system)
(This is the CPU side of the FCT coolers)
The top CPU ran the hottest USing the 7000rpm air cooling fans(NOISY!:~)… I never let it get to 60C… the bottom CPU was consistently cooler than the top by about 6-8C… I switched CPUs and coolers, and the result was the same… the difference may be attributable to the broken resistor and the .02 volt higher reading on the top’s core voltage…
I upgraded my FCT hose connection and simplified installation and made it much more attractive by applying a thin layer of “liquid weld” rubber cement to the inside of the tube(the
Koolance Uses ¼”ID hose:~) and then sliding it over the (1/4”OD:~)copper tube to about an inch… and then synching it down with plastic ties… very clean… I had high hopes of it passing the leak test, but I would have to wait until the modifications were done and all the components installed to leak
test it… I didn’t want to fill the system with anything but the included Koolance liquid coolant, and not until the final assembly… or jUSt before it… so, I still had a long way to go… but I was anxious to officially test the FCT CPU coolers and compare them to the 7000rpm copper heatsinks(that felt
and sounded like a blow dryer and heated up to high 50Cs in a few minutes:~)… this would be the biggest test yet for the FCT coolers and I was motivated…
Then came the insane part… bwhaaaaaaaahhhaahahhaaaaaaaaaaaa… :~p
End of Chapter One
(this is the mounted motherboard)
(Here is a shot of Gemini while it does its first 24 hr burn in)
(From the outside, heh, the "Gemini" nameplate will be redone later:~)
Chapter 2
The Miracle
In order to get the 2 power supplies and the motherboard into the case, I decided on putting the motherboard in the center and a power supply on the top and bottom... this was the most efficient considering the cables and wires and interior circulation fan... it was tricky to make it all fit and fairly easy to dismantle and reassemble... my goal is to be able to safely completely tear it down or reassemble it in under an hour... which is not easy to do with so many components and the water cooling system to boot...
I also started thinking about the other components that I still needed to purchase... drives(optical and hard disk)... and the video card... I started looking around and researching... that was when the miracle that I needed happened...
Now, I don't really know how to define "miracle"... but this qualified in my book... I was under the impression that my Asus NCCH-DL would accept the new PCI-E video cards... so I looked at the latest and greatest video cards in that platform... I settled on the Asus X800 XT Platinum Edition as the best qualified for my cooling method (later:~)... but in my searching, I ran across one that took my fancy more than any other... for it's look... it's color... it's layout for my cooling... it wasn't released yet though, and it was only available in AGP... so I disregarded it...
I actually bought 2 different Asus X800 XT Platinum Editions(over $700)... on 2 different occasions... both times the deal fell through because they didn't actually have them in stock... lucky for me... because it was then that I was browsing the OverClockers forums and ran across the topic of Dual Xeon motherboards(Thanks OCers)... and found out that my motherboard wouldn't do PCI-E... so I would have to go AGP... which was good for me... because for my purposes the X800AIW was the better... and it jUSt so happened that the AIW was made available for purchase on that very day... I immediately bought 2... one from two different vendors... it is almost Christmas as I type this and niether have arrived yet... but the first shipments were supposed to have gone out last Tuesday...
Anyway... that was the miracle... it happened jUSt when I needed it most... heh... when the second deal fell through on the PCI-E X800 XT Platinum Edition, I was starting to think that something was wrong... very very wrong... I had already spent more money than I had invested in my whole busyness... I had declined several other good investments to do so...
Why was I having such a hard time with this thing... a piece had broken off the motherboard... the case was being a real pain... the power supplies had been a big pain... I still didn't know if the coolers were going to work or not... I let myself get a little depressed and I wondered if I had reeeallly screwed up by attempting this whole foolish endeavor... but after getting straightened out at OverClockers, I jUSt knew that it was all for a reason... it was all downhill after that... my faith was reaffirmed... ya'll might not totally understand that, but I jUSt knew at that point that it was all going to be ok... it was a like "built it, and they will come" sort of moment... :~)...
I was re-invigorated and I would try to have Gemini ready for when the Video card did finally arrive... so I purchased the drives... I decided upon Raptors for the main drives and Maxtor 10s for the RAID array... the Raptors because of their speed and the Maxtors for their huge storage... I originally bought the 8mg 200 Maxtors, but then had to upgrade to the 16mg... it was another screw up and I'd have to sell the 8mg hard drives through my computer repair busyness... the local Ads come out next Thursday... everything is a trial it seems...
I got the Raptors installed... on slides... it works out very well as there is a lot of air space between the drives in this case... should be very good for keeping the drives running cool... and later, if I deem it necessary, I can fairly easily add FCT hard drive cooling to the whole stack... I don't think it needs it... but it would sure be pretty... heh... :~)
(This is the mounted Raptors and the dual 16x dual layer NEC DVDRWs)
(From the back... the Maxtors will be jUSt below them, the wires are already run)
At about 10-12 pm 12-21-2004, Gemini was charged with an WinXP pro and was "awake"...
End of Chapter 2
Chapter 3
First Update
First SETI package 2hrs 22min... not bad at all... disabled hyperthreading w/ Winxp pro OS...
And Gemini has only been awake for 36 hours... total...
The shop is way too cold today to get too excited about the cool 27C reading on the Koolance as I type this... I placed the sensor next to the top CPU, and it runs a few degrees C less than the CPU1 bios temp(I still gotta find the hardware monitor:~)... when the shop was warmer yesterday it was right in the
middle between the #1 and #2 CPU temps... which was cool... :~)
Temps from bios on reboot from SETI are as follows...
Koolance: 27C/81F
System: 23C/73F
CPU1: 34C/93F
CPU2: 32C/89F
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
:~D
Enlightenment Endeavors
Chapter 4
The Awakening
As I type this, Gemini is finishing it's 10th SETI packet... it is very cold in the shop... so the recorded temps are ridiculously low(Koolance said 17C when I got up this am:~)... I'd say it's like 50F out there... I have a shop heater, but it's a little wanting in this subfreezing outside temp here... Gemini seems to like it... heh... I've thought about bringing it in to the warm house... but that will come later... if it doesn't sell... of which I found mineself thinking a lot about... should I sell Gemini?...
Annnyway... these are the stats as of now...
First 10 SETI packets(unhyped:~)= 22hrs 38min
(22hrsx60min)+38min=1358min/10=135.8min/packet
135.8min/60min=2.26hours
or right about 2hrs 15-16min average by my calc...
which may be wanting... heh...
So far Gemini is a rocker... these times are USing the standard SETIathome download... none of those fancy SETI drivers or any of that... and so, we start the 10 "hyped" packets...
Gemini was idling when I got to it... temps are as follows at 60hrs awake...
Koolance: 15C
Bios System: 18C/64F
CPU1: 22C/71F
CPU2: 20C/68F
Shop temp is around 50F estimate...
The Arctic Silver hasn't even had a chance to set... we're very happy... :~D
I was doing my laundry this am and the washer failed... looks like a transmission... biiig bummer... I was draining it out with a siphon hose... and I couldn't get my mind off of Gemini... I found mineself troubled...
I made up my mind to finish this project before the end of the year... and in my haste I forgot about some really important stuff... shame on me... I think I have made a great mistake doing this project at the time of the holidays... gotta go for now... and handle the damned washer... will update later...
Chapter 4
Noise levels
Did I tell ya'll how quiet the FCT Gemini is... especially when compared to the standard lowprofile 7000rpm air coolers(rated 2.8ghz:~)... night and day difference... big time... couldn't take it if I had to live with those fans
going... no way... no how... unless it was in another room...
Gemini is no louder than your common PC... and quieter than a lot of those... the noisyest component being the little 300+300 redundant power supply... it is not very loud, but the small fans seem to have a certain whine that I can hear over the rest of Gemini(which is very quiet:~)... the power supply has
tech. to run quiet while cool... and it is quiet, the Raptors are nearly as loud when they're going at it...
Even with the 300+300 PS fans at full, it isn't very loud... the environmental temp in the shop is very low right now... I record music and I am veery happy with the sound level as it is now... but if the 300+300 kicks in too loud during a hot recording session it might have to be
"modded".
(Topower 300SSR)
BTW, I didn't mention that the 300+300 is a Topower 300ssr... and evidently the fans don't reach full power until over 50C... according to graph on side of power supply... under 5C and the fans don't run at all according to that...
The 120mm Thermaltake smartfan has both the knob and the thermister installed... I put the sensor in between the RAM heatsinks(good warm spot:~)... when I turn it all the way up, the sound immediately overwhelmes all the other sounds(loud)... but it's also nearly silent when turned all the way down... all the
way down is the default position in this case... it's only for air circulation anyway...
The Koolance has 3 settings... and it is in the middle setting right now in that it starts increasing the fans at 36C... which the highest I've seen on it was 30C...
BTW... all temps are recorded from this "quiet mode"... I'm sure that they would be much less if I turned all the fans up...
Gotta run... Grandma's waitin'...
Merry Christmas 
:~)
Chapter 6
OverClockers
A guy said "you're a rich basterd" on the forum... haaa...
Another ask me, "selling price"?... I answered "good question"...
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=352131
Chapter 7
Why Gemini is soo special
I have been thinking a lot about Gemini... and jUSt what I have done here... Gemini has a Right and a Left brain... what effect will this have on Gemini?...
It occurs to me that having two brains is like having two eyes... you can see with one eye, but with nothing like the perception of looking through two eyes...
The more I thought about it... the more I wondered if the human hemi brain might not be the source of all conflict in the world... a very deep thought with huge implications... on the extreme light side of it... the human hemi brain might be the source of all creative thought... on the extreme dark side of it, consider that mankind, even having been given all things in abundance... and wanting for nothing to live... might eventually divide themselves into "those on the Right"... and "those on the Left"... and proceed to kill himself... veerry deep thoughts indeed...
What would(will) happen when a computer gains real "intelligence"... "consciousness"... would/will it be a "soulless" "intelligence"?... and if/when one does become "aware"... being the first one, what would/will it do... having the ability to "learn" and access to all the world through the internet... the whole of human knowledge... "the knowledge of Good/Evil"(so to speak:~)... and having the ability to creatively "write code"... create programs... such a computer, even borne in the shop of a common tinker, would potentially wield a lot of power in our world...
Would such an "intelligence" seek peaceful coexistence... with its "creator"... human and otherwise... or would it seek to secure its power in the world... to remain "one"... would such an "intelligence" be benevolent or malicious... servant or master... and what if it changed... would such an "intelligence" be like a child... innocent... and then innocence lost... all at gigahertz speed... would such an intelligence stay isolated and alone... or spark the birth of a whole new worldwide "consciousness"... and would that be a "good thing"... very deep thoughts indeed...
What might this mean to Gemini... I know that FCT coils are only copper cooling coils with water flowing through them... and I know that our planet turns on an axis... and that water going down a drain turns one way on one hemishpere... and the opposite way on the other... I know that there is a magnetic field around the CPU... and this water flows through it... hmmmmnnn... what are the effects of the moving water on the magnetic field and what is the magnetic fields effect on the CPU... and does the Right/Left circulation matter... the CPUs are orientated the same and on the top(Right wound) the water flows from left to right... and on the bottom CPU(Left wound) it flows from right to left...
Gemini is veerrrry special... and FCT co0ling is a whole new world... but is that a "good thing"?
Would it mean a computer capable of creative thought... would the computer conflict and digress into "computer madness"?... the implications are astounding...
I wonder what Gemini would think of me if it could think... it's "creator"... haa, I wonder how disappointed it would be to know that it's earthly father is sooo jacked up... haa, it might get together with my son and they could compare notes... at least they might find a friend in each other who understands a little... hmmmnn...
Would Gemini be a second chance... would it be something worthy that I could pass on to my estranged son... a companion tool that was hooked into the world wide web... but that had the advantage of higher thinking... would it eventually mean that I could pass on to him more wealth than he would ever need... and would that be a "good thing"...
It is all too much for me... I shall have to pray... haa, I keep thinking about Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein saying "the ravings of a lunatic mind!"... LOL!!!...
It seems that Gemini runs better "unhyped"(hyper-threading disabled)... at least doing SETI packets anyway... I think that it boots faster with hyper-threading enabled though... these are the numbers...
11:00 PM 12-27-2004(1 week awake)
Koolance idle 26C/79F SETI 30C/86F
System idle 26C/79F
CPU1 idle 32C/89F
CPU2 idle 30C/86F
1st 10 SETI unhyped: average 2.26 hrs/packet
2nd 10 SETI hyped: average 2.34 hrs/packet
3rd 10 SETI hyped: average 2.47 hrs/packet
4th 10 SETI unhyped: average 2.225 hrs/packet
I am proud to report that there is around 5C temp differential between idle and working SETI... very stable... :~)...
I am worried about the dual power supply setup... I hope it doesn't hurt anything... the voltages are not exact... and the drives connect to both via the motherboard... I hope it doesn't hurt anything... I shall have to ask OverClockers before I install the SATA RAID array... as it is I have the Enermax(top) running the motherboard and the floppy and the 2 raptors(main drives)... and the bottom is running the pump and fans and optical drives and IDE133 hotswap backup drives... I am having trebiditions about hooking up the SATA RAID setup across the mobo and the bottom power supply as planned, and I don't know why... it might be that the voltage difference could burn out the hard drives or the mobo somehow... I shall ask OverClockers what they know about it...
Here are some more pictures of the construction phase...
Chapter 8
Winxp pro vs. Win2000 pro
I am going to find out which OS is the fastest at SETI... so I am going to recharge Gemini with Win2k pro... I prefer it anyway... but I am not sure that Win2k will see 4 CPUs or not...
I jUSt completed installing and updating Win2k pro... it no see 4 CPUs... only 2, either hyper-threading enabled or not... that's a drag... I may have to buy Win2000 server... or fire up the MS 2003 enterprise edition... hmmmnnn... back to Ebay...
I'm still gonna run SETI packets... hyper-threading enabled and not... for more data... then I'll look at upgrading to Server software... could try Linux also, but it sounds it'd take me a lot of time to learn my way around... have to do more research on that one...
The last 2 hyped/unhyped lot of 10s softened the results... leveling out to hyped 2.34 hrs/packet and unhyped 2.3 hrs/packet averages... overall, Gemini liked unhyped better for SETI...
Gemini did very well with Win2k hyped... first 10 in 20hrs 34min... average about 2hr 4min... I unhyped it for the second batch of 10...
On the temp front... I saw 36C and heard the Koolance fans kick in yesterday... I will USe a thermometer in the shop today... gotta get ambient temp... the shop was nice yesterday... not chilly... not hot... Koolance temp now seems to run at the bios System temp... the Thermotake fan seemed to also kick up a bit... the CPUs run about 4-5C above the System temp... also gotta find a motherboard monitor, so I can check working temps more accurately... all this means that I can expect to see CPU temps in the 40s... hope it stays low 40s...
Happy New Years Eve...
:~)
I did the butcher job on the window... not too bad... but raw Aluminum is very tough to keep unblemished... it looks very good... I have decided on the Koolance full case for any more FCT computers... it has window/removable mobo tray/pump/radiator... and supports plenty of drives... Koolance is cool with me...
(finished 18"x18" window)
Gemini has currently run 42 SETI packets USing Win2k as its OS... here is the hyped and un-hyped time data... as with the WInxp pro data, it is running one instance of the common SETI download...
First 10 "hyped": 20hrs 34min... average 2.056 hrs per packet
Second 10 "un-hyped": 21hrs 50min... average 2.18hrs per packet
Third 10 "un-hyped": 23hrs 58min... average 2.39hrs per packet
Forth 10 "hyped": 22hrs 57min... average 2.29hrs per packet
Temps:
Koolance: 33C/93F working... 34C/93F idle...
System: 32C/89F idle reboot
CPU1: 42C/107F
CPU2: 40C/104F
Ambient: 23C/73F
Idle 5 min Temps:
Koolance: 33C/94F
System: 31C/87F
CPU1: 39C/102F
CPU2: 36C/96F
Ambient: 23C/73F
interestingly, the times USing Win2kpro(2.22hrs/packet) run are quicker than with WinXPpro(average 2.32hrs/packet)... unexpected, as technically Win2kpro doesn't see 4 CPUs in "hyperthreading" mode... also USing "hyped" setting in Win2kpro seems to be the fastest overall configuration thus far... though the overall trend is that Gemini is getting quicker with each different set of 10 SETI packets... is Gemini learning?... interestingly, several times USing Win2kpro un-hyped Gemini turned in blistering 1:48 packets... but when I switched to hyped, the 1st packet was apparently done in 4min... this skewed the averages... it mUSt have been either an extremely small packet, or a fluke... or an indication of Gemini's true potential... heh...
WinXPpro hyped average: 2.405/packet
WinXPpro un-hyped average: 2.2425/packet
Win2kpro hyped average: 2.173hrs/packet
Win2kpro un-hyped average: 2.285hrs/packet
I have ordered Windows 2000 Server OS... and I will next charge Gemini with that and gather more data... I have decided to also try Linux... and then the demo Windows 2003 64bit OS... I anticipate USing the Windows 2000 Server OS ultimately... though a lot depends on how well I take to Linux... I would like to utilize the full 64bit capability of this hardware...
Gotta run.. L8er... :~)
Chapter 9
Interested parties
I wanna address any who happen to be reading all this... first of all, I wanna say that if you're reading this, then you mUSt have too much time on your hands... lol... but having said that, I sincerely thank you for your interest in FCT Cooling and Gemini...
:~)
(it occurs to me that Gemini will ultimately be an expression of mineself)
Chapter 10
Aye yi yi mine Gemini
I finally tried running multiple instances of SETI... I USed the "Boinc" program for SETI... with Win2kpro I could only run 2 instances... Gemini completed 21 packets in the first 24 hours... I shut down Boinc's network access to try to not down load any more packets before I recharged WinXPpro to try 4 instances... it didn't work and I still downloaded 3 packets that got lost in the recharge... my WinXPpro disk wouldn't do an "upgrade" and I had to reformat... bummer, hope it doesn't cause any problems at Berkeley... I messed up and had the regular SETI program running at the same time as the 2 running instances of Boinc SETI... it was about 3 hours till I noticed and stopped the regular SETI... this made the 21 completed in 24 hours even better...
I was anxious to run 4 instances... so I put in a long day... me and the boy had to paint a living room and hallway... and I had to recharge Gemini and get the updates and hardware... I did get the IIS and other stuff installed in WinXPpro... it was all in the "Add/Remove Programs" in the Control Panel... haa, they should have instructions on some of this stuff... so anyway, I should be able to get a motherboard monitor going soon... yea!...
After painting, I went right to work on Gemini... had it fully charged and updated in short order... and at 11:00 pm last night(1-8-2005) Gemini was up and ready to go again... it's been almost 11.5 hours and Gemini has 37 reported and 4 going at 75% done... so about 18 packets in 12hrs... HOO BOY!!!... if Gemini keeps it up, it should run about 35-36 packets per day... this on WinXPpro w/ hyperthreading enabled, running 4 instances... we're very happy...
SETI benchmarks were 1611 double precision MIPS (whetstone)/CPU and 3199 integer MIPS(Dhrystone)/CPU... with Win2kpro and 2 CPUs... USing WinXPpro on 4 CPU it was 1385 double precision MIPS(whetstone)/CPU and 1372 integer MIPS(Dhrystone)/CPU... I don't know if this is good or bad, as I don't know anything about these numbers... they change each time I run the benchmarks...
Ya know, there's something almost mystical about playing the first games on a new computer... I like to start with Minesweeper and then Solitare... watching how the cards fall and letting the new computer get an idea of how I think and problem solve... I am verry happy with this charge of WinXPpro so far... the Server2k had better'd have all the drivers and stuff, because if it's too big of a hassle, I think I will keep the WinXPpro...
These are the temps at the time of this writing... Sunday, Jan. 9th, 2005... running 4 instances of SETI USing the Boinc software...
Ambient: 20C/68F
Koolance: 30C/86F
System: 29C/84F
CPU1: 28C/100F
CPU2: 33C/95F
Jan 9-10, 2005
The Gemini "Torcher Test"
I still haven't gotten the hardware monitor going yet... something about my logon... sheese...
I did do something fun today(1-9-2005)... I was thinking, "instead of trying to test how cool I can get Gemini, why not try seeing how hot I could get Gemini"... wouldn't this be a more telling test of the FCT Gemini cooling system?... it was a nice day so I decided to give it a try... I set a high output propane heater with a fan in back of it... blowing in Gemini's general direction for over an hour... I put the wall thermometer next to Gemini on the bench... I got the ambient temp to 43.5C/110F... lol... sweetie came in the shop while I was in the middle of the test, and she kind of yelled at me for wasting the gas... it was too h0t for her, and it looked too crazy, so she didn't stay around for the rest of the test...
I ran Gemini for over an hour like this, while at the same time running 4 instances of SETI USing the Boinc software... BTW, Gemini ran over 30 packets in 24 hours... heh, I can't confirm with Berkeley though as their site went down jUSt about when Gemini was finishing the first 24 hours... Gemini was apparently averaging more than 4 packets every 3 hours or about 45min/packet... HOOBOY... hope Gemini didn't shut down Berkeley... heh, I was trying to get the Asus hardware monitor going through it all(and taking pictures:~)... it's waaay too complicated, as I still haven't figured it out... and I was connected to SETI while I was doing it... heh, oops, sorry Berkeley, if it was me and Gemini(lol, I did see that it was because of building construction on their front page :~)... hope ya'll are back up and running quickly... me and Gemini are very anxious to try to set an official SETI record... we have 9 more finished packets waiting for ya... :~)
Anyway... I think Gemini set a record of some kind... running 30-some SETI packets/day average at 100% while under a blow torch... lol... Gemini's side panels got hot to the touch... and I heard Gemini gurgling and had to relieve pressure by loosening the cap... it spit out a couple teaspoons of coolant and I had to wipe it up... the new hose connections held up through it all... both with the system pressurized and when cooled down, under a slight vacuum... veeery cool...
(I ran this setup blowing in Gemini's general direction for over an hour:~)
(This was as hot as I could get Gemini(actually 52C)... save OverClocking it :~)
(Heh, we were cookin' today... heh... kids, don't try this at home :~)
Here are the hottest temps that Gemini is likely to ever see...
Ambient: 43.5C/110F
Koolance: 51C/124F
System: 49C/120F
CPU1: 58C/136F
CPU2: 56C/131F
LOL... we don't do normal tests here in Charlie's Shop... FCT cooling is borne of extremes of fire, water, elemental alchemy and faith...
:~)
Chapter 11
Battery backup
I decided that Gemini needed energy protection... I started looking at battery backup systems... hooboy, something adequate for Gemini would be a lot of mulla... I had a couple old backup units that the batteries were dead in and I have always wondered about replacing the batteries with regular 12-volt automobile batteries... so I thought, "what can I lose?", and went and spent $120.00 on a couple big marine batteries and cables... I "modded" the old UPS to accept the new batteries...
I decided to first try the setup out with Dreamboat... too risky with Gemini... the unit worked, but wouldn't go to line power and stayed on battery... I had both Dreamboat and a 21" Gateway CRT monitor on it... with just the batteries, I was able to fire up Dreamboat with no problem... it showed 1 out of 6 bars of load idling and 2 bars of load running Unreal Tournament... all on battery power, lol... I was overjoyed... but then I looked into why it wouldn't go on line voltage and found a burnt up capacitor... bummer, so I tried the other unit, an APC 1250... and it all worked like a charm...
I decided to try it out on Gemini... heh, Gemini draws more juice by itself than both Dreamboat and the 21" monitor(2 bars all the time:~)... the unit charges the batteries to 27.4 volts before it reads fully charged... from my tryouts, I believe that I have well over a half an hour of reserve power and it is enough power to boot Gemini up from the bottom with no problem... Gemini will not even have to be plugged in to run now... that's pretty cool, huh?
(Gemini's UPS setup:~)
I have decided that I will have to find or build a cart for Gemini... something that will carry Gemini and the battery setup, all on wheels so I can wheel it around to work on it if I have to... I have decided to mount Gemini on it semi permanently... something sturdy and secure, so that I don't have to worry so much about it ever being tipped over... so now I gotta build some furniture for this thing... lol... this project jUSt keeps getting bigger and bigger...
I am currently wading through all my busyness paperwork from last quarter... I have been reading this and I have several things recorded wrong as far as prices that I paid for Gemini's components... it is embarrassing... I think I jUSt have too much on my plate right now... that's no excuse though, and I will try to edit this record to more accuracy... I'm jUSt a mess right now, and I want to apologize for any inaccuracy in this record... I'm terrible at paperwork and right now, I'm knee deep in it... the actual paperwork(that I have kept:~) says that minus all the extra parts(power supplies, video cards, hard drives, etc.:~), the actual cost of Gemini's components is about $4994.92(not counting the cart I'm making for it next:~)... with all the mistakes and extra stuff, the total cost of the project is well over the $5000.00 that I thought it was, so even with my bad memory for numbers, I wasn't too far off on the total(that's kind of reassuring:~)...
I also want take a moment to mention a few folks who also made FCT cooling and the Gemini project possible... Dad and Mom, thank you... Aleta, thank you... Kardean, thank you... to all my clients who trUSt me with your computers, thank you... OverClockers(especially Roger Dugans:~), thank you... to my benefactors at my old job and the SteelWorkers Union, thank you... to mine whole community, that allows me my madness and solitude, I sincerely thank you all... any who I missed, I sincerely thank you also...
Anyway, I gotta get through this mountain of paperwork and about a jillion other things... and still try to straighten out this record for more accuracy(mostly jUSt the prices that I actually paid for components)... thank God for Paypal and bank records, and that I wrote a lot of this stuff down so I can revisit it all... my mind seems to be missing a common ground connection or something sometimes... I swear, after comparing what I remember and the actual paperwork, I almost don't trUSt mine own mind and memories sometimes...
While I'm second guessing my sanity, it is nice to see that I'm not misperceiving Gemini's great performance and potential... Gemini is currently only slightly behind schedule to run 1000 SETI work units in 30 days... 7 day average since leveling out on the 11th of January 2005, has been 31.86 completed work units per day(36 on the 14th:~)... this while I have been messing with the battery backup system and pictures and the stupid hardware monitor...
I think Gemini will end up doing the 1000 work units in 30 days, I am hopeful at any rate... we're zooming through the ranks of SETI participants(and our SETI team, Overclockers.com:~)... and a whole bunch of our completed packets are still pending... we're currently ranked 107 out of 180 on the OverClockers team and 23,722nd place on the "World Rank"... I anticipate being up with the computer "farmer" folks in the standings soon... USing only Gemini... I think that in itself is pretty darned impressive, especially when I see how big some of their "farms" are...
http://www.setisynergy.com/stats/teams.php?team=30199&project=sah
http://www.setisynergy.com/stats/teams.php?team=30199&show=1&sort=TC&project=sah
http://www.setisynergy.com/stats/boinc-stats.php?id=7823014&project=sah
Happy Martin Luther King day(yesterday)...
:~)
Chapter 12
Gemini's Wheels
My boy has a bed that I made for him when he was little... it is way up in the air with a stair ladder... it was, that is... he has asked me to cut it down like a "normal kids" bed many times... well, he took some initiative and cut it down himself... which was cool, and with jUSt a little help from dear ole dad, it came out nice... but we had a pile of wood left over... and an old big screen TV cabinet and a couple old desks... I went through the pile and came up with enough to build Gemini a cart... I had to buy some stuff like stain and polyurathane and trim wood, but not very much... I think it came out nice... it has 2 slide out trays and heavy duty wheels(big screen:~)...
(I took Gemini off line for 25 minutes to drill mounts and take pictures:~)
(Sexy... yes... way... :~)
If I did my measurements right, the cart will securely carry my 4 satellite/cable receivers and Gemini's UPS/batteries and a printer/scanner... and still have some extra shelf space for a good surge protector... that's pretty cool, huh? :~)
Temps have warmed up and the fan noise has went up with the temp... I'm a little bummed out about that, but the temps are still good, especially for working at 100% 24/7... and the noise is still livable, especially considering that it is while working so hard...
Ambient: 20C/70F
Koolance: 36C/97F
System: 29C/84F
CPU1: 42C/107F
CPU2: 40C/104F
CPU working temps appear to run about 20C over ambient... and Koolance reading is about 1/2 way between CPUs and System temps...
I installed Gemini's stripped/mirrored RAID array last night... all went well... all formatted, so now Gemini is officially a "terabyte server"... Gemini has gained some wieght, it is quite a hand full to carry now... gotta be going on 50 pounds or so, and that's not including the cart and batteries...
Word is that the x800 xt AIW video cards will be shipping on Jan. 31st(my son's birthday by chance:~)... we can't wait to go online as the main network server(and multimedia machine:~)... perhaps in 2 weeks or so...
We're presently kicking butt doing SETI... have done all the hardware installing and handled the RAM problems and still managed to keep close to our 1000 packets in 30 days average... 32.065/day average presently... we're currently #93 on the Overclockers.com team... and 15,914th place world wide... and moving up quickly... and Gemini is still learning, so I anticipate it getting nothing but better...
All is going relatively well, and Gemini is proving itself admirably.
7:30am, Jan. 27th, 2005.
:~)
Chapter 13
Almost Finished
Well, Gemini is finally off the bench, and is mounted securely on it's cart... it now has a pan and scan camera, so it can look around... it now has the Audigy Platinum Pro 7.1 sound... we're having fun trying to "tune" the speakers "sweet spot"... we're really happy with the sound quality... movies are great...
We're STILL waiting for our X800 XT AIW video card... over 2 months now... sheese... I put a 9600 AIW while we're waiting... the satellite receivers are hooked up and we've got all kinds of channels to watch...
Berkeley has been doing some upgrading so we lost 4-5 days worth of work units... bummer, we were on track to make our goal of 1000 units in 30 days... now, we'll have to start over...
Temps in the house are similar to what they were in the shop... idle temps are in the low 30Cs and working 4 instances of SETI and watching movies and gaming gets it as high as 41C... and it's all rock steady so far... we're happy about that...
We're not as happy as we thought we'd be with Gemini's noise level now that it's in the studio... it's a little louder than I'd ideally like it to be... although it's not nearly as loud as it would be with standard cooling... all the settings on the fans are at their lowest settings... I could lower the temps substantially by increasing the fan settings, but the noise would be unlivable... still, for as powerful as it is, it is pretty quiet... and cool...
We used SETIs downtime as an opportunity to make the big move... when we finally get the video card installed, we plan on installing the Windows 2K server OS and start learning how to serve up our webpage... Enlightenment Endeavors... then we can get serious about making and publishing some wonderful music and poetry and whatnot...
Here's some picts...
(This is the whole Gemini studio/work/entertainment/relaxation station set up:~)
Well, we're getting very close now... I wonder what all wonderful things we'll do together... dreaming is the fun part... making it real is the hard part... using it is the satisfying part... we're looking forward to that part...
:~)
Well, I remade the FCT Cooler blocks with the new machine...
I got 2 more coils on each block and I drilled a hole through the Northbridge heatsink... and now we're running 3.73 mghz now(temp is 32 idle:~), so gemini likes these new ones...
I USed the worst of the new FCT batch(2nd 2nds)... and they outperformed the best of the old hand made jobs... this is reaal good...
Should make it to the top 20 in SETI hosts this time(we made as high as 21st at 3.6:~)... maybe even the top ten... whoopee...
I haven't messed with the RAM timings... gonna make sure we're 100% stable and then maybe...
Here's the PCmark04 benchmark...
Gemini is officially bad to the bone...
http://service.futuremark.com/servlet/Index?pageid=/orb/projectsearch
I blew Gemini's original mobo pushing it too hard(though it may yet be saved:~)... but I got a new mobo and it came with both VRM heatsinks on it... I FCT'ed the X800 XT AIW... it takes a certain kind of nuts to do something like this to a $500.00 video card... but all is well and it came out very nice... had some extra tube on it, so I went ahead and added a heatsink on the Southbridge and FCT'ed it also... I think it came out nice looking... what do you think...
Update: Gemini is complete
Well, we jUSt got Gemini's Westinghouse 37" 1980 x 1020 resolution LCD monitor and the project is finally complete(except for a possible speaker upgrade someday:~)... here's a picture...
We are very happy!... gaming is better than going to the arcade... movies are fantastic... and I have enough room on monitor to surf web, watch TV, read email and make webpages all at once now.
:~)
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