[Thad E Ginathom]

You can certainly get screens that rotate on their stands, giving you the choice as and when you want to change it. Wide-screen format, though, at this size, might be more appropriate for viewing two pages side by side rather than one page on a vertical screen? I'm using my imagination here... I've never tried!

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Another question, does any of the monitors available in the market have stands which will mount it in "portrait mode"? My OS can change the display from landscape to portrait on the fly, so just click the button, and rotate the screen is an absolute convenience I would love to have.

I do a lot of word processing, and will appreciate if I can view a full page at time.

There are quite a few that come with stand that would rotate 90 degree, so that you can keep it vertical.

However, you can buy a wall mount (costs 3 - 400 Rs) and mount it in portrait. That would be cheaper and would save space on desk.

[jeepster]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Another question, does any of the monitors available in the market have stands which will mount it in "portrait mode"? My OS can change the display from landscape to portrait on the fly, so just click the button, and rotate the screen is an absolute convenience I would love to have.

I do a lot of word processing, and will appreciate if I can view a full page at time.

yes the dell 22" ultra sharp WFP2208 has provision for display rotation.
Dell UltraSharp? 2208WFP | Dell India

here are some pictures of my set up.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Thanks guys for the advice; the problem is, anything bigger than 10K will be vetoed by the finance department.

Anything bigger than 21 inch may not be accommodated on the table. (my table is worse than peak hour city traffic).

And 23 inches is too small for the TV I want, and too big for a desktop monitor. I will however keep an open mind.

Another question, does any of the monitors available in the market have stands which will mount it in "portrait mode"? My OS can change the display from landscape to portrait on the fly, so just click the button, and rotate the screen is an absolute convenience I would love to have.

I do a lot of word processing, and will appreciate if I can view a full page at time.

The size difference between 19" and 24" is not all that much.

Normally only higher end monitors come with a stand permitting rotation. All my three monitors can rotate - Benq 19", and 2 LG 24", but viewing 24" in portrait mode is a pain. I prefer two page displays. Modern monitors are "wide" format. The 22-24" monitors are big enough to display two pages in A4 size!.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Here it is!

AMD Phenom IIx4 955BE 3,2mhz
4Gb DDR3 memory 1600
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H

with

Antec P183 case and CP850 power supply.

Somebody suggested a "travelogue" of the build. Took a few pics, so here goes...

Here's the heavy stuff, sourced from ITDepot, Thiruvanmiyur. The wanted an advance
before ordering this for me, but paid in the morning and they got it by the evening


And here's the contents, sourced from Dela, Richie St (other stuff taken from the old machine. Delta is an experience. Very busy, but the guys were helpful, including the
Big Boss in the Big Chair


The Motherboard


The Processor


How sweet: they gave me a British plug: how did they know!
(The last thing I bought from ITDepot came with a rather unwelcome US plug!


So many wires! This non-standard PSU is a monster, and pretty well-endowed with leads of every kind, several of which I have to tuck away where I can.


There's even a pile of optional ones


Wrist strap while assembling? Naahhh... I accepted advice given here that, standing bare foot on a ceramic/concrete floor, I was earthed already.
However, just in case, here's my earth (the old machine) while touching the expensive bits ...


There's two hdd cages. This one goes in the bottom compartment with the psu.
New disk installed, much easier for a new setup, but later added the 1.0Tb from the old machine, and also the smaller old disk in the uppper HDD cage.


Here's the fixing parts for the HDDs, with silicon grommets to cut vibration:


Here's the MB in place


This was the worst bit. I'd almost decided that the cooler-mount tensioner was
physically impossible, when suddenly it just slipped into place. Must be a knack


Cabling to the two fans (top and back) and to the CPU motherboard power socket. Unfortunately the main mb power connector wouldn't fit this way.
The fans have fast-medium-low switching. Monitoring the heat.


Here's some of my wire taming. Note the plaiting of the front-panel wires


New and old. Quite a difference in size! Stuff is a lot neater inside the new PC, due
to better cable management. What a shame that front-audio cable couldn't be run behind!

Installed Windows XP, just so it is there, in a small partition. Not so easy to add after Ubuntu. Then Ubuntu Studio 32 --- several times. Had a lot of trouble getting the Firewire going, and somehow managed to knock out the networking. Managed to disable the USB at one point too

It is quieter than the old one, which was a major reason for it. Oddly, I can hear the airflow throught the fans, although a bit deaf, while my wife, with amazing hearing, can't! The AMD CPU cooler is noisy; that may have to be replaced, and I might have to add another fan for the bottom HDD cage as the 1.0Tb gets pretty hot. The idea is that the PSU fan draws air through the HDDs, but it is well controlled, and doesn't run much at all, making for a pretty silent PSU. The graphics (nothing special: integrated) is much better than the old machine, on which I suspect it was faulty. Everything looks cleaner and sharper.

Total cost (and I have to close my eyes while I type this) --- Rs.41,000. The cost of the case and PSU alone would have paid for a mid-range machine.

(and, tomorrow, we have to buy a new washing machine and microwave oven)

[anku94]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Here it is!

AMD Phenom IIx4 955BE 3,2mhz
4Gb DDR3 memory 1600
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H

with

Antec P183 case and CP850 power supply.

Somebody suggested a "travelogue" of the build. Took a few pics, so here goes...


Total cost (and I have to close my eyes while I type this) --- Rs.41,000. The cost of the case and PSU alone would have paid for a mid-range machine.

(and, tomorrow, we have to buy a new washing machine and microwave oven)

Cool. Can we have a breakup of the cost ?

And why did you go for a 850W PSU ? I'd say 300W was all you needed...unless you're going for a triple-SLI/Crossfire setup soon.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It is all OTT, really, as my actual computing needs are quite modest. Call it futureproof!

I selected the PSU as going with the case. The combination was largely influenced by silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers. It'd be fun to try out several, but that would be a very unnecessary extravagance!

Costs...

Case: 9,025
Psu: 8,075
mb: 9,300
cpu: 7,550
hdd: 1,825
ram: 3,900

I'm getting a problem today; reticent display with DVI connection ;(. No display for a while after powering on: It is fine with analogue VGA connection. I guess it might be the cable.

[mav2000]

So thad, You paid 9k for a case, thats not black inside, has barely any nice features, no air filters,and probably has zero cable management capabilities???

I am not trying to rile you here, but why that particular case. Was it because of the exteriors?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Does the inside colour matter? The case sides have several layers for sound insulation, though I'd love to add another.

It has got air filters.

It has got some cable management features. Certainly a lot better than my old Compaq case. Whilst this is, obviously, a dis-assembled machine with cable ends hanging, it didn't look much better when it was in use: note how little cable mess there is in the new, compared to the old, in the final pic.

For what it's worth, it looks pretty good on the outside --- although not black! Here's the review that started it all for me. You'd have to read the considerable amount they have written about the previous model, the P182, to get the full context.

By the way, I just realised, from my photo, that I put the power supply in upside down! I doubt that it matters, but I'd better check it out.

.

[Prowler]

Sure Ginathom. It really does look nice. The cabinet weighs 14 kg ( I suppose with the PSU) - quite heavy.

What about the Graphics card ? With "future-proof" intention, I am sure you must have opted for the BlueRay disk drive.

[Thad E Ginathom]

With future-proof intention, there are three empty bays for more external optical/etc drives. I have no need for Blueray just now, so no point in letting the dust clog it up while it is waiting. Graphics card is integrated, and will do fine for now.

I do have two DVD drives, but one never worked properly. I might add a card reader in the "floppy" bay. I was so tempted to go for an SSD boot disc, but Ubuntu boots so quickly it just wouldn't be worth it.

[mav2000]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Does the inside colour matter? The case sides have several layers for sound insulation, though I'd love to add another.

It has got air filters.

It has got some cable management features. Certainly a lot better than my old Compaq case. Whilst this is, obviously, a dis-assembled machine with cable ends hanging, it didn't look much better when it was in use: note how little cable mess there is in the new, compared to the old, in the final pic.

For what it's worth, it looks pretty good on the outside --- although not black! Here's the review that started it all for me. You'd have to read the considerable amount they have written about the previous model, the P182, to get the full context.

By the way, I just realised, from my photo, that I put the power supply in upside down! I doubt that it matters, but I'd better check it out.

.

Its not a bad case, its just that there is so much mroe available at probably 3/4th that price tht I really wonder why that specific cabinet. The only thing I can say about this one is that it looks super from the outside.

Anyway as long as your happy it really does not matter. The PSU is a great buy and one solid piece of equipment.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Could have shopped around more ... but yes, I am happy.

I remember early IBM PC's: built like rock, and with much of the assembly tool-less! Then there were my (well, the company's!) RS6000s that were incredibly solid, and fairly easy to work in too. My last such machine could not be lifted by one person!

Yes... I'm happy. Well, not much choice, eh?

Now I'm trying to get some life back into my [wife's] 5-yr-old Compaq laptop, which has practically ground to a halt. Realised it has only 256Mb RAM! Will only take 1Gb, but, if I can still get compatible, will buy it, then do a complete re-install.

[IronH4WK]

@Thad: nice setup mate! love it!

thanks for the pictures - the best one is still your 'earthing' picture!

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It has got air filters.

hope they're not K&N

[Thad E Ginathom]

... hope they're not K&N

Now there's an idea! I could certainly do with a cold air intake, but the only things I can think of are (a) a dedicated AC machine, (b) moving back to London. Neither is going to happen