Dmitri's Bucket of Projects

So after alot of hemming and hawing I've decided to let the tiny god remain dormant. I do want to do this project but ultimately , nVidia and ATI are pissing me off with their paper launches, and their complete ineptitude to deliver of high end product in any significant quantity to a public starving for them. I choose not to support this. When I can get the products I desire to build the machine I want to build, I will do so. This new machine is certainly not critical to my survival nor my happiness, and I will neither settle for a lower end product, nor will I pay the ridicules mark up that some e-tailers are charging for the PCIe versions of cards I would consider. I'll revisit this in late April. As I build the machine, at the same time I'll be helping a friend build his first machine. He's an accountant and will simply be wandering through TAX HELL in the mean time. When he's finished, we'll pick this back up, and see what the world looks like.

That said, work will not stop the HTPC project. No, sir, that, my friends, moves forward.

Yes, a tiny god. Ok, maybe not so tiny a god. I'm talking a gaming machine. A machine for that pushed eletrons like they've never been pushed before.. (at least not in my house). I'm not talking bleeding edge though. No, I don't need to do anything too stupid from a price perspective. I'm looking to ride the front of the value curve rather than the crest of it.

The case I'm going to use is the same at the one I used for my last machine: the Coolermaster ATC-210-VX1:

I love this case. Seriously. I first saw it in an article in Computer Gaming World. It was used by specialistic PC maker Voodoo PC in their high end system. Only they had painted it an utterly striking shade of high gloss red and installed a window in the side of the case. It was a thing of beauty. I admired it quite a bit over the following week, and decided to mail Voodoo PC to see if I could acquire a case from them. They replied that it wasn't available by itself. I was heart broken. I considered buying the PC from them, but quickly dismissed the idea as it, like most enthusiast PCs, was priced extremely high. I decided to take a closer look at the images and see if they had built this case themselves or if they'd taken someone else's. It turned out to be a Coolermaster. I had experimented with case modding, or case ricing, as I like to call it. I thought I would try to replicate their addition of a window and paint job, but cancelled those plans when I saw the case myself along with the price tag. It was over priced, but it was what I wanted, and here we are alomst three years later and I definitely staying with it. I do think about the paint job from time to time, but I don't think I have the skill or the equipment to do the job right.

Ok enough about case. My current target machine is:

• AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (90nm) - Why? the 3800 is 200 MHz faster and more than twice the price.


• nForce 4 SLI mother board. I would like to go with the ASUS, but it's looking like DFI is coming out with a very comparable offering. Yes, I saw Anandtech's article. Here's my response (item #25).


• Video card: This is the big problem. I would LIKE to get a PCIe Geforce 6800GT. I would also like to NOT pay the redicules markup over MSRP and the AGP version, that most retailers are charging, IF they even have it in stock. This is very frustrating to me. Especially if ATI is able to deliver their x800 XL is any sort of quantity. The typical MSRP on the 6800GT is around $400, for the x800XL, $300. I want the SLi upgrade path but I really feel like nVidia doesn't really want me to have that path. This alone is what makes me consider putting off the project until April or May, so I can reconsider my video card and motherboard options.

What's an HTPC? It's short for Home Theater PC. It's a PC that would be part of your home theater system. It could do something as simple as play MP3s on your stereo, or much much more. I got the idea of a million places, bu most recently from my friend Rick, who recently mentioned the trials and tribulations of his experiences creating one. My goal, a programmable PVR (Personal Video Recorder) with TIVO like feaures that I can then burn to DVD or copy to another machine. I would also like to play MP3s, and occassionally MAME. I know that recording an audio video input on your PC is hardly a new thing, but it's the programmable aspect of it that is going to present the challenge. So let's list out goals for this project:

An HTPC that has the following attributes:

• I need to reuse as much of my existing PC as possible:


• AMD Athlon XP 1900+


• 512 MB RAM


• Western Digital 120 GB Speciall Edition hard drive w/ 8MB cache.


• Gainward Geforce 4 ti4400.


• ABIT KR7-RAID motherboard.


• Creative Labs Soundblaster Live 5.1 sound card.


• Unknown network card.




• It must be as quiet as possible. True silence is probably too costly, but a loud PC does not make for an enjoyable entertainment experience.


• It must be stored in a case that will not look out of place with other home theater components.


• It must have a hand held remote for primary operation.


• It must be able to pause live TV without interfering with recording.


• It must be programmable.


• There can be no reoccuring monthly fee.


• I would like to run it using Windows Xp, and avoid buying MCE if possible.

I've resisted the whole blogging thing for long enough. Main reasons were it just seemed a little to self important, but my girlfriend Kim, actually has a good idea for a blog: as an actual log of projects. Currently I have a few thing on my mind. The building of a new PC and the conversion of my existing PC to an HTPC. On the less techy front, a knitting project will likely be in the works soon. My first knitting project was a hat for my motherm which I gave her for Christmas.

Knitting Project 1.





Satisfied customer




The card reads:
"Congratulations! You've been given a Dmitri Lenna Original! It's been hand knitted with love and care by a 30 year balding man in the Northeast section of the United States. The multi-color rim is 100% Merino Virgin Wool. The red body is 55% Merino Wool, 35% Microfibre & 12% Cashmere."