What computer!

This is where I encourage the green eyed monster or PC envy.

Seriously, when we started the project I figured that I was going to run Skype and the overhead projector from my laptop, and recording and audio from the Small Form Factor (SFF) Asus unit I built in December.

Reality is that as a tech wallah, and with prices going down on pc components I had already decided to upgrade after 6 months.

Why?

DAD2007 needs a stable platform which can guarantee:

High bandwith delivery through the Kommune LAN infrastructure
Simultaneous processing of incoming audio and conversion to multiple streams for audio streaming via the web.
Backup recording of the whole event
Possible IP Webcam support
Updates to the presentation being projected
Monitoring of the webstream users

As a total anorak, and like the boy in the sweet shop, I figured I might as well make the pc look sexy as it will be in plain view, so expect lots of modding, UV, flashing lights, glowing bits and so forth.

In spite of all this it will not be able to make a decent cup of coffee!!!!

Initially I was hoping to take the base unit onto the aircraft, however....................................SAS seems to be the only major airline that imposes a cabin baggage limit. 8kg, how useless is that!!
Nearly all other airlines including EasyJet allow unlimited weight as long as the size is legal.

This is very useful if you are transporting gold bullion as the size to weight ratio is very low.

Anyway not only do SAS not have a decent hand luggage weight, but also seem incapable of carrying anything fragile or providing stickers. Thought this was the 21st century.

So if I cannot carry the unit onboard as hand luggage it will either need to be shipped or go in the hold. Both of these options will be expensive and carry an element of risk.

At the moment I am thinking about taking the hard drives etc in my hand luggage and putting the rest in the hold.

BACK to the spec.

There is only one case on the market that a) fits where I need it to fit in my office, b) is the right height to have a cup of coffee sitting next to you, and c) has the ability to hold two separate computers in one case. It is the Thermaltake Mozart TX case.

The Mozart TX holds the main computer with ATX motherboard in one section, and the second computer in another section based on a micro-ATX board.

I have ordered an alternative pc at a cracking price with a view to cannibalisation into the TX, but haven't decided in full.

The baseline spec is as follows:

Intel core2duo processor E6700 running dual channels of 2667MHz
Asus P5W wi/fi motherboard
4GB RAM either Pc-6400 running at 800MHz or 4GB PC-8500 RAM running at 1066MHZ. (The latter is Kingston HyperX)
1 x 400GB HDD for operating system and software SATA II 300 8 or 16MB buffer
2 x 750GB or 1TB HDD for recording of the concert and RAID backup SATA II 300 8 or 16MB buffer
Nvidia GTX 7900 Graphics card (I am not a great gaming enthusiast) 512MB RAM
550W power supply for main ATX board
Zalman cooling
Integrated heatpipe
8.1 multichannel audio (designed for mutiple audio streams input and output)
2 x Gigabit LAN connection for direct connection and LAN creation
Various modding including cold cathode lighting, UV sensitive cables, fans, HDD coolers etc.

For the secondary system if I install it for Projection, stats etc

Micro ATX board
Athlon x2 5200+ dual core processor running at 2667MHz
2GB PC-6400 RAM running at 800MHz
1 x 400GB 7,200 rpm HDD with 8MB buffer
256MB Graphics card probably Nvidia
400W power supply
7" built in LCD touch screen (I want one but haven't decided yet if I can reconcile it)

It is highly likely in view of the RAM requirements that the main unit will be using Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit. The secondary unit will be on Windows XP Pro SP2.

The laptop spec is fixed at:

Intel core2duo running at 1.83GHz
2GB RAM PC-5300 running at 667MHz
Nvidia 7900 GTX graphics with 512MB RAM
100GB 7,200rpm HDD
Windows XP Pro SP2

It should be pointed out that building a system is so much cheaper than buying one. I reckon the top spec PC in PC World retailing at about £2,000 can be built for about £700-£1000 with better components each carrying 3-5 year warranties.

Anyway the debate about carry on, shipping or hold luggage continues on for the moment.

Make sure you come and see 'the beast' if you come to the venue, and I will don my anorak for a few minutes.