Step 11: Updating the BIOS

Borrowed i7-950 from a nearby mail server

The i7-980x is removed and the i7-950 installed

The thermal surfaces were all cleaned, this can be done with cleaning detergent and alcohol.

The 8-pin BIOS PDIP was shipped with the 0504 BIOS which did not support the i7-980x (Gulftown). If no additional CPU's are avaliable to update the BIOS this PDIP can be popped out with a  hair-clip and then replaced with one with the updated BIOS. 

The CMOS battery was removed and replaced along with the use of the BIOS reset pin (the little blue rectangles next to the green power diode. The ASUS Q-connector can be seen in lower right.

The BIOS is updated from 0504 to 0904 using EZ Flash

The i7-980x is re-installed and the machines boots up correctly.

The machine is now ready for the OS installation and the additional 2 Tesla GPU cards.

Step 10: First power

and the BIOS errors...

BIOS pre-POST error B9 on ASUS diagnostic card

BIO pre-POST error 69 on ASUS diagnostic card

ASUS mobo with 2 green power diodes on the C2050.

Tthe green mobo boot diode next to the front panel connectors and the blue PSU and RAM diodes.

The hardware is correctly powered up but the BIOS has apparently FAILED!

*The BUILD*

[Going ahead with posting the first draft... ]

Summary:

GPU: Nvidia Tesla C2050

CPU: Intel Core i7-980X (Gulftown architecture)

Motherboard: Asus P6T7

RAM: 6x4GB DDR3 1066MHz

Memory: 2x1.5TB

Graphics card: Nvidia Quadro NVS295

Case/Cooling: Coolermaster HAFX

Power: 1200W

Step 1: Get the case onto your work surface.

HAF-X chassis (ATX/EATX)

(16kg case)

Step 2: The Silent Pro-Gold 1200W PSU is installed

Needed big power supply - one C2050 GPU munched ~250W and 2 more are planned for later addition - sinc the P6T7 supported up to 4 cards.

Step 3: Asus P6T7 motherboard (CEB form factor!) motherboard is mounted

Step 4: Chassis fans are connected. The HAF-X comes with 4 chassis fans and the ASUS P6T7 has 4 chassis fan connectors. The top, back and front panel fans were connect to the mobo using the 3-pin mobo connectors, the side panel fan was connected directly to the PSU using the 4-pin PSU connectors.

Chassis fan wires with 4-pin PSU connectors

3-pin Chassis fan connector on mobo

3-pin chassis fan wire

PSU power connectors for the side panel fan

Side panel chassis fan ready to connect...

Step 5: Front panel connections

Chassis front panel connectors

Mobo front panel connection pins (white plastic with metal pins) just below 6x SATA sockets (blue) and 2x SAS sockets for RAID drives 

Front panel connected to mobo using the Asus-Q Connector the speaker is in the foreground

USB, Firewire and Asus Diagnostic card in the background.

Step 6: SATA drives

2x SATA removable drive mounting and the power connector

The internal HD rack. 2x SATA HD are installed with SATA

connectors to the mobo and power to the PSU.

SATA HDx2

CD/DVD RW x1 installed

Step 7: Installing the CPU

The mobo is ready for the CPU and memory

The LGA1366 CPU socket

Intel i7-980x CPU is dropped into position into the LGA1366 socket, aligning the little triangle in the lower right guided by the two positioning grooves

The CPU cooling fan and back mountng

The CPU back-mounting is put in place

The thread for the back mount clips into the mobo

Thermal grease is applied to the centre of the CPU

The cooling fan is mounted and the PSU connected to the CPU

the motherboard is connected to the PSU

The CPU fan is connected to the mobo

Step 8: The 24 GB  RAM was installed next

Kingston  DD3 (1066 MHz max supported by the 980X) -

Step 9: The GPU's are installed into the PCIe slots (blue 1,3,5,7)

The QNVS 295 is installed into PCIe slot 1

The first PNY Nvidia Tesla C2050 is intalled into PCIe slot 3. The remaining two will be installed into slots 5 and 7.

The C2050 is connected to the PSU with a 1x8pin and a 1x6pin power connector. The cooling duct was first placed over the cards before the power was connected. A fan can be installed in the cooling duct. This can be installed at a latter stage. 

Step 8: Chassis is completed and closed.

Chassis wheels were mounted to support cooling of the PSU since its external fan is downward facing. It's a bit like high-end lego afterall...

Bella born on 7 Jan 2010

The assembly of Bella was completed on 7 Jan with OS successfully installed. All the homework on specifications paid off - no mismatched components. Minor glitch encountered (it would have been odd to have no hiccups!):  the bios had to be updated with an older chip on board first (solution to the mysterious ERROR 69). The motherboard was manufactued before the chip (an intel Core i7-980X ... eat your heart out ;). We sourced an i7-950, thanks to Brian Maistry of Wits CNS. Thanks Brian! Some fun was had putting in and taking out CPU's. The GPU installed without a glitch. Now to make her sing.

Blog to be updated with further details and pics.

meanwhile her is a quick aside on her name: She's called Bella simply because my laptops are called Ella (which was going to be my daughter's name if i had one... i have boys so its up to my computers to defend out gender;)... pics to follow.