RM0127 Dual Xeon Upgrade

RM0127 Dual Xeon Upgrade Development

Day 2

	Upon removing the prototype wire from day one, the wire fell apart. This was expected since we did not solder the wire connections together in the first prototype.
	With the experience and insight gained from the first prototype, we began the construction of the second improved wire prototype. The picture to the left is demonstrating the process of crimping a connector to the end of the wire.
	This is the solder station in which we will solder the wires. The object above the solder station is a fume absorber that will attempt to extract the toxic fumes generated when the flux is burnt during the soldering process. However, even with a fume absorber, soldering should still be done in a well ventilated area.
	The connection that will be soldered should be placed on a clamp since it will be too hot to hold.
	When soldering, the wire connection should be hot before melting the solder onto the wire connection. Dripping melted solder onto a connection will create a poor and brittle connection. Poor connections will lead to poor conductivity. Brittle connections will not be structurally sound and will fall apart easily.
	The connectors should also be soldered onto the wires after crimping for better conductivity and to strengthen the connection.
	To ensure proper insulation from short circuits, shrink tubing is the insulation of choice. It is also more convenient to use shrink tubing instead of sticky electrical tape.
	Upon applying heat from a heat gun, the shrink tubing will shrink and harden; conforming to the shape of the underlying structures and staying in place.
	The second improved wired prototype with proper insulation and soldered connections.
	Since the 1U chassis has a height limit of 1.75 inches, we cannot provide the Intel recommended clearance under the motherboard to prevent short circuiting. Therefore we will create a layer of insulation underneath the motherboard. The picture to the left is demonstrating a continuity test to ensure that electricity cannot conduct through this material.
	This prototype insulation layer will ensure that the motherboard will not short circuit when it comes in close contact with the metal chassis. We have utilized a thicker and more rigid insulation layer in our other production models. We utilized this thin and flexible plastic sheet for this prototype because it is easier to punch holes in the right mounting spots.
	After installing the 350 Watt power supply and mounting the motherboard with the RAM and CPU, wiring is next. The purple thick wires in the picture to the left are 24” round IDE cables. These round IDE cables are much more flexible in connecting distant components and they can easily bend around corners and fit in places a standard IDE cable cannot. However…
	Although the round IDE cables are more flexible than standard IDE cables, the plastic covers near the connectors are more obstructive than helpful. Therefore after removing the extra plastic covers on the round IDE cables, the cables fell snugly in place. The wiring is complete in this diagram. The hard drives can be mounted after wiring because of the cold swap drive bays.
	As I prepared to celebrate the final mounting of the hard drives before testing, I realized to my disappointment that the CPU blowers were mounted in the opposite direction to the airflow. Even though these copper heatsinks will dissipate heat quickly with its ambient environment and maintain a consistent and high airflow over the heatsink fins, mounting the blowers in the wrong direction will be counter-productive.
	To reverse the direction of the CPU blowers, I first removed the overlaying wiring before I removed the heatsink. The thermal grease should be removed and cleaned from both the heatsink surface and the CPU surface. We utilized Q-Tips to clean the thermal grease off the sides of the CPU. Contact between thermal grease and electronic circuitry may result in a short circuit.
	After cleaning the CPU and heatsinks, we reapplied the thermal grease and then remounted the heatsinks. This time in the correct direction. We also fed a super sensitive thermal wire into the center of the heatsink block to measure the CPU core temperature externally.
	The existing 32-bit PCI riser card should be replaced with the 64-bit PCI riser card to accommodate the 64-bit PCI slots on the Tyan Tiger i7501 (S2723) motherboard.
	Next, I mounted the hard drives onto the cold swap drive trays and inserted them into the chassis.
	Upon boot-up, I realized I accidentally set the secondary hard drive to the incorrect jumper setting of primary. Fortunately the cold-swap drive makes it very convenient to remove the drive and remedy the situation.
	To check how much power the chassis is consuming, we have a special Watt measurement tool. We connected the chassis power supply to this instrument before connecting it to an electrical surge protector. The power tool can also measure voltage and the amperage passing through the tool. Keep in mind that Watt = volt X amps.
	During an average load test, the system consumed 162 Watts and had a CPU core temperature of 44°C.
	During a maximum stress test at room temperature, the system consumed 266 Watts at 57°C. For more detail statistics, please see the background information posted before Day 1. The results that we received from this first test run were actually quite impressive. Usually prototype experiments require some tinkering to work properly. The thermal success of this chassis was most likely contributed by the high airflow generated by the blowers and the choice of copper heatsinks with an aluminum chassis.