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please help with building my dream machine
I grew up admiring the compact macs and when i had the pleasure to use
one in the summer of 1992 i fell totally in love with the little machine. I purchased the CRT imac once but although the snow machine i got was nice i preferred to remain within the x86 world. Now i have an idea to build a machine i love... so please help me with suggestions or tips.... (I plan to get the parts from ebay and plan to build things myself. I'd like to reduce costs to as little as possible while at the same time getting as much fun as i could. My main use of the computer will be for the web, usenet, filesharing of mostly videos, i am learning scripting, i intent to learn linux and gentoo is one that seems to have a buzz around it. My likely OS for the machine might turn out to be linux. I'm curious about clustering as a hobby, though i'm still learning.) I plan to get a compact case macintosh color classic off ebay... if you wonder why there's an element of nostalgia that might be explained by this article; http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/...es/24macc.html Some good guys advised me to use the via epia motherboards that are on mini-itx.com. Someone posted info on that site about a project he did with a macintosh SE, though it shocked me that he butchered much of the case off. http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/wraithse/ I have the intention to keep the case as intact as possible, and therefore I intent to use replace the motherboard with a mini-itx that's as fast yet as quiet as possible, install an internal hard drive that's as large as possible, and yet if possible retain the original floppy and CRT monitor, as they are part of the case design. I therefore intet to use an external optical drive and display; since it is a "dream machine" i have the intention to get an external drive that can write/rewrite both CDs and DVDs, and if possible a large enough LCD screen if i can find one for a good price on ebay. I am curious about clustering more than one mini-itx; they are inexpensive and i like the idea of fitting as much power as i can into that small little classic macintosh case. If they fit in, i'm curious about clustering two or more mini-itx motherboards internally, or if necessary having another motherboard and along with the external optical drive use some sort of elegant and small external case for it. I also like the idea of adding nodes to a cluster over time; i guess supercomputing has always been a "boys toy" i fancied though as yet i've not had the time to learn much if anything about it. I am curious if it'll be possible to have both the external LCD/CRT working at the same time as the macintosh color classic internal CRT. I am also wondering if i manage to fit in two motherboards if its possible to send different content to each display. I've never built a machine before and i have little or no experience with using more than one monitor. I know the internal CRT is less than 640x800 but i think i saw somewhere on those mac mods sites that someone has managed to convert it, the original CRT, to 640x800 though i don't recall how he did it. I also considered getting one of those small LCDs or CRTs but generally the only ones i found in that 10" size are the point-of-sale equipment which tend to be redicolously expensive, and i'm not sure i can find one that'll fit neatly, therefore i'd much prefer to keep the original CRT. I guess this only matters as a "feeling" thing, 'cos after all from a practical point of view if i have an external relatively large LCD then i shouldn't care about the internal CRT, but i feel i'd like to retain "life" to the classic macintosh and there's a slightly sad feeling if its internal screen won't be operational; strangly it matters for me to have both running either at the same time or optionally. I like the whole package to be as nice looking and matching as the macintosh color classic. It's a labour of love after all, and sort of a tribute to a childhood object of affection. I am willing to paint the case to black if necessary, which actually might be more elegant nowadays. Beauty and matching of the external LCD and optical drive to the color classic case, though i'm willing to paint it, are very important regardless of how superficial this might sound. I am willing to spend time on it, and go through some hassle though i'd like at some point the end product to be hassle free from there on. Do you have an comments regarding possibility, feasibility, or suggested components? or perhaps variations on the concept that might make it even cooler? |
#3
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"Mike Henley" wrote in message
om... snip Someone posted info on that site about a project he did with a macintosh SE, though it shocked me that he butchered much of the case off. http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/wraithse/ Now that's one project that would look better sitting in a bin. Paul snip |
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