My boss complained that his computer is slow. He needs to run many programs at once, and while these programs are running, the utilization of both cores of the Intel Core 2 Duo processors almost reaches 100%. This makes him difficult to continue working on his computer.
I asked my nephew Heng Chiek, a computer enthusiast, to put together a very fast system for my boss.
“What is your budget?” he asked.
“No budget constraint, just assemble me a very fast system – a system that will make my boss happy,” I told him.
I dare to say there is no budget constraint because the system is for the boss, and there is no more boss over the boss. Thus no one will question why the system is so expensive later.
The system just arrived last night. The configuration is as follow:
CPU : Intel Core 2 Quad Xeon 2.66GHz (almost the top range) RM1,300
Motherboard : Asus Rampage Formula RM1,215
RAM : Twin 2x 2048-8500 C5D (4GB) RM605
Hard Disk : WD1500ADFD 16MB (150GB) RM630
Power Supply : 800watt
Heng Chiek wants to overclock the system to achieve a higher speed than it supposes to operate. Wikipedia describes overclocking as a process of forcing a computer component to run at a higher clock rate than it was designed for or was designated by the manufacturer, usually practiced by personal computer enthusiasts in order to increase the performance of their computers.
One of the shortcomings of overclocking is shortened lifespan of the components. This applies to human also, if we overclock ourselves by burdening us with workload more than we suppose to handle, we might face the same consequences.
The overclocking will generate a lot heat wich might cause the system to catch fire. I must make sure that Heng Chiek put a fire extinguisher beside him while adjusting the overclocking parameter of the system, else he might burn my house.
An internal view of the system The cooling device for the CPU only. Heng Chiek said it is like airconditioner in the company where he works.
Heavy duty heatsinks on the motherboard
Even the RAM got its own fans
The overclocking might draw extra power, so the he put in a 800w power supply
Heng Chiek wanted to overclock the processor from 2.6GHz to 3.6GHz.
I wish him success.
See you next post :-)