Project General Melchett. Stage 1.
Project General Melchett is my own, roll your own, home built Intel Core 2 Quad box for home.
Ordered yesterday, and delivered in pieces yesterday. Started the build at 10.30am and completed major parts at 1.00pm.
A big part of the decision process was should I install a new 45nm Quad Core Extreme. The current price difference between processors is a massiveAU$1000. Whilst having a processor that knocks your socks-off benchmark did seem attractive the price difference is too massive.
Instead, purchasing a motherboard that could install a 45nm processor in the future seems like a better plan. When there are more choices.
The build was easy: the Corsair modular power supply was an good choice; the hardest part of the overall install was (a) installing slippery screws whilst bleeding from the finger tips (b) snapping in the heat-sink fan into the motherboard with the right amount of pressure. The fans, once turned on, were relatively quiet. Many pieces of rubber insulated metal-on-metal vibrations.
The cables are not housed in their final positions. The video card and external SATA connections remain.
Tomorrow is Vista Ultimate x64 install and tuning/tweaking/right-clocking. And waiting for the rare-as-hens teeth 8800GT video cards.