I recently purchased a used Alienware box that I will be turning into my “hotrod computer.” Since I have a habit of naming my machines (since most of the time they need encouragement or I need to personify them when I get upset), I have chosen Wylde as this machine’s name since it will be completely “metal” and my show computer.
Currently the specs on the machine are:
- P4 @ 3.07 GHz (Hyperthreaded)
- 1G RD Ram
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound card
- Ratheon 9800
- 130G ATA Hard drive
Not bad for $120 USD.
The machine won’t be staying this way for long. I’ve already purchased a water cooling system to install so I can over clock the processor. Most likely I’ll be finding a PCI SCSI controller so that I can replace the ATA harddrive with faster ones. The motherboard only supports up to 2G of RD Ram, so that will be what it sits at. I have a DVD burner in another box that will surely be stolen and put into this machine.
In the non-performance realm, I am looking into sound reactive cold cathodes, a custom paint job for the case (done by me), and some neat hardware like a cup-holder/cigarette lighter.
[April, 2010]Update:
This project never actually came to pass. This box still runs the same Windows XP installation it came with, but most of the applications and services have been removed. Other than functioning as my last Windows installation on physical hardware, “Mystique” functions as a testbed for my Type 2 (or hosted) hypervisor testing and Windows tinkering.
