The Project

[Fire$torm]

"Your attempts to assimilate this drone will fail. You can alter our physiology but you cannot change our nature. We will betray you. We are Borg."
-- Seven of Nine - Star Trek: Voyager --

In the beginning.......

'This is the tale of two cities...' Errr, wrong story.

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...." Ops, lets try this again.

"We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile." Ahhh, that's better.

Project (Code Name - 001) is now Seven_Of_Nine for anyone that did not see the thread on the old forum.



Special Thanks to:

DrPoP - who started the hardware giveaway thread here and donated a Thermal Master 430W PSU.

Mike029 - For donating the (2) Abit IC7-G motherboards.

Joker - For donating the Intel P4@3.2Ghz (Northwood)

Keith [SETI.USA] - For the Samsung RAM he gave ma awhile back

eBay - My only source for generating (and liquidating some of) my disposable income.

The rest of the parts...
Video card: ATI Radeon 7000
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake TR2-M12
HDD: Western Digital WD200 20GB IDE
Music: Metallica!!!

What's with the wood you ask? Well, the "Wood" is for the custom case.
Excuse me, why are you laughing so hard? Like you've never heard of a wooden case before.....
It is true. The case is a vertical open frame design, ah la the awesome Level Ten by Thermaltake. The case will also sport a Borg theme. For now the theme will just be a "Cut and Paste" appliqué of a Borg "Tactical Cube".

Appliqué Layout


When the funds are available, I will resurrect my plastic and R/C modeling skilz and build out the theme in 3D. Future add-ons will include a Bulgin MPI002 Switch, (2) Silverstone FN122 120mm Fan, Acrylic cover and lots of L.E.D.s.

That's all for today.

Edit: I love this quote:
"Brave words. I've heard them before, from thousands of species across thousands of worlds, since long before you were created. But, now they are all Borg."
-- Borg Queen - Star Trek: First Contact --

[joker]

Thats friggen awesome!!

[Maxwell]

Hell yeah. Keep us updated!

[Fire$torm]

Update:

I ran into a few issues last night. Not "Epic Failure" or "Crash n' Burn" stuff but more like Wile E. Coyote dunderheadedness. (<--- Is that even a word?)

1) Discovered a flaw in my case design sketches. Now Fixed.

2) The Abit board memory spec calls for PC-3200 (DDR) RAM. Went through the few sticks that I have and thought I found what was needed. I went to install it and stick would not fit properly as the key notch would not line up with the socket key. Turns out that the RAM is PC2-3200 (DDR2). Duh! Need to start using my glasses more.... Anywho, my Uncle came to the rescue with his credit card so I searched eBay and found some DDR400 ECC Server RAM for super cheap & with Free shipping.

3) After temporarily installing memory from my Keithinator system, I tried to connect my monitor to the Radeon 7000.... ACK!!! The DVI connectors didn't match, what the %^^@%^%& in #@#% is all this there then? Well, the card uses the now very rare DVI M1-DA instead of the DVI-I connector. Dang nabbit, I hate you Murphy!!!!!

Needless to say Seven of Nine isn't crunching the PG challenge. I'll be putting the Radeon up on eBay and find something cheap to replace it. The good news is that the Abit does seem to fire up. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

[DrPop]

F$ - is that an older AGP slot mobo?

[Fire$torm]

F$ - is that an older AGP slot mobo?

Yes. It supports AGP PRO 8X/4X (0.8V/1.5V).

[Mike029]

Great thread F$.

[DrPop]

Are you looking for a card that can crunch or "just any decent AGP card"?

My Dad bought a Nvidia GeForce 7300GT 512MB (AGP) a few months back, it's new in the box from Fry's, and his old ASUS P4-E mobo wouldn't support it because the 7300GT uses a new AGP version. (It's from back in the day with RAMBUS RAM even!) Had to get an older Matrox Parhelia card for it. Works great now.

Anyway...long story short, I'm sure if your rig could run it, we could get that Nvidia 7300GT *real* cheap from Dad.

[Fire$torm]

Another Update

For the last few days I haven't gotten much done for various reasons but here is the latest. I wanted to use my old X-Acto Razor saw and miter box but the sticks for the frame (1" x 1" Basswood) were too large. So I ended up Jerry-Rigging my own miter jig of sorts. It was cobbled together from scrap wood I had in the garage.

The Jig (Get it? Green for Irish... Oh, nm)


That was Friday's task. Than Saturday I got started very late on the sheet plywood. I finished cutting out those pieces at about 1:29am a.k.a Sunday. I will start test fitting and hopefully assembly after I get some shuteye.

Case Parts


Thanks for taking an interest.

[Mike029]

I can't wait. I feel like I'm watching a weekly television program and have to wait till next week for the story to continue. F$ needs to make this daily programing.