Update on the Reiter Rig and Another Project

So I worked on the Reiter rig over the last week determining what is going on that could be causing issues with the system still. As I recently have come into contact with a couple other DDR2 boards, I decided to test the RAM in another board to see how it worked. It didn't post for some reason and I thought to myself that there must be something odd with the RAM. I took one of the two sticks out and it posted fine. I swap the sticks and guess what? Beep code informing me that the stick is pretty much f'd. As RAM (for pretty much any manufacturer) has a limited lifetime warranty, I sent in a ticket to Crucial to RMA the RAM and (sure enough) they approved it. I then asked if I could just send both back so I can make sure I get a set of two so that there isn't a timing issue when I receive them back. They responded promptly with assurance and adjusted the RMA to reflect me sending two sticks in. As I was doing this, I overclocked the Reiter rig with the working RAM to verify that it would be stable under a decent overclock.

I put a E6600 into the system as I had one on hand (vs the E6300 I was originally going to build the system with) and overclocked the FSB on the motherboard (the GA-EP45-UD3L board I picked up a while back) to 333. This brought the CPU up to 3.0GHz (as the multiplier on a E6600 is 9x) and I set the RAM MHz to 800 as that is what it is rated for. After fiddling with the voltages a bit, I set it off for a Prime95 stress test for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the system was still running strong. Finally the system will be almost ready for working condition. All that is left to do now is send off the RAM to be replaced and then it will finally be ready.

I started working on another project as well recently. I will be building a newer generation system for my parents to use as they are still using an old AMD X2 3800+ system I built them a while back. The system I plan to build will have a QX6700 processor, DDR3 memory, a GA-EP43T-UD3L motherboard, their current HDD (Caviar Black) and the same power supply they are currently using (Antec HCG-520). All of this will be packaged inside a budget black case known as the Bitfenix Merc Beta. I will be filling all of the fan slots in the case aside from the one just above where the CPU heatsink will be installed (which will be a Zalman CNPS10X Performa) to allow for maximum cooling efficiency. I was originally going to build the system using a Bitfenix Outlaw case (as the way the system is currently stored it would allow for better side panel airflow) but the decided to go with a more traditional layout as well as have the option of putting a 3.5" card reader on the front without having to use a bay adapter. Most of the parts are on order as of now and I am excited to start working on this build. I will have more information as the build develops.