This past week we got a new 1080p HDMI HDTV 42''. Whoopty doo, it's about time right? Although I never spend much time in front of a TV, I finally realized that I had a great excuse to build a powerful media center PC that can access anything and everything on my network and bring it to the "big screen" in HD.

So without any hesitation I went ahead and ordered what I needed from Newegg, here's what I got:

• Shuttle XPC Glamor SG45H7 Intel Socket T(LGA775) Intel G45 Black Barebone
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

The rest of the parts I already had which were:

• 4x1GB DDR2 Ram
• Dlink USB Wireless Network Adaptor
• diNovo Edge™ Wireless Keyboard (built in trackpad)

The parts from newegg arrived just 2 days later and I was ready to go, I can now virtually access anything and everything on my home network including movies, music, pictures. Not to mentioned have a full computer and internet capability at my finger tips. I installed boxee, which is an awesome platform/interface to browse through local, network, and online media. It does useful things like organize, and download covers, descriptions, ratings, and trailers for all your media on the fly. The pictures below show the process from beginning to end. Installing the components into the shuttle PC, then formatting it, and finally using it live with HDMI video and sound and having fun with boxee and google earth. I'll let the pictures explain the rest...

For those of you have know me or have read some previous blogs of mine will know that I have a small obsession with computer fans and monitors. Don't ask. Anyway, just got a new monitor hooked up, which happens to be the 4th one on my workstation. As joyous as this is for me, it is also sad occasion because I can no longer have the wanting to add another monitor since all my ports are filled up. (I'll have to see if I can add another GFX card, which I'm not so sure I want to do)

Anyway, I present to you the latest...

You can view a higher res version here.

Here are some hilarious responses I got...

Akujin: (4:06:58 PM) that's rediculous

Chris: (4:08:59 PM) your just goin wild now...there's a line between elegance and absurdity that ends with stacking a monitor on top of a speaker

Rashire: (4:07:00 PM) wow now i hate you

So I've finally got around to buying, and building myself a new workstation. This has been anticipated for a while. I'll cut right to the specs and then some pictures. I think everything should speak for itself. All hardware arrived 100% perfectly working, and I am extremely happy with the overall setup. The case is..well.... HUGE. It's a full tower - I'm afraid my desk will collapse beneath it.

Hardware Specs

• Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
• ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard
• Intel Quad Core Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550
• RAID 1 Mirrored Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
• EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
• EVGA 512-P3-N975-AR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
• ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ700 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply
• CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF
• ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
• SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM
• Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF 2.0 MP Effective Pixels USB Interface WebCam

Photos

Overall, the guys work really well together, expect for the occasional ren & stimpy bickering.

Rackable Systems' ICE Cube, unique among the entries because of its modular data-center-in-a-box characteristics. Much like the Sun Microsystems Blackbox, the ICE Cube is basically a large, standard shipping container filled with all the computing power, storage, power and cooling that you need. ICE Cube certainly isn't your standard, large SMP box.

It's compute density levels range up to 11,200 cores (1400U of available space for Rackable Systems' half-depth) in a 40' x 8' container, or up to 7.1PB of storage. And with the ability to fill it with thousands of Intel Xeon processing cores, the Cube is quite the monster.

Rackable Systems ICE Cube Modular Data Center at Web 2.0 Expo


Key Features:

• NEW, higher density: 1400U of available space for Rackable Systems’ ICE Cube optimized XE2208 servers for up to 22,400 processing cores
• Full compatibility with all Rackable Systems half-depth, rack-mount servers for up to 11,200 processing cores
• Up to 7.1 Petabytes of storage
• Sophisticated cooling technology enables up to 80% reduction in cooling costs vs traditional data center
• Easy serviceability with wide, central aisle for ample room to access systems
• Leverages DC Power and self-contained UPS technology for maximum power efficiency
• Easily deployed for immediate functionality
• Secure, nondescript, weather-tight ISO shipping container for easiest portability (air, land, water)
• Totally mobile container for easy location near inexpensive land and power options