[wegotserved_member]

Hi,

I just wondered can I get a higher CPU processor that I can install myself - is it possible? - and does anyone have a link to somewhere I can buy one and what is the specific one I should buy (if any).

I want to upgrade it because I am finding that it is not able to handle full HD conent, when streamed through Windows Media Player 11 - yet the file will play through my 3mhz laptop (if I'm correct in remembering that the scaleo 1900 has a 1.6 mhz processor.

Many thanks
Mark

[SmackMac]

I have been trying to figure this out for a while now.

While I was reading up on it, I stumbled over this
http://www.velocitym...ard.php?iid=143

since i doubt that this company made any changes to the base system from Intel (nobody else changed it) I am guessing that there are other options.

As soon as i get ahold of an english recovery disc for my FSC, I will be getting the E2180 and trying it out

[SmackMac]

I know Mark already knows, but I figured I would let the rest of the world now (that own a Scaleo).

YES, the CPU upgrade works. I know have a P4 Dual Core E2180 running at 2GHz with the stock passive cooling in my server.

I still have a second CPU at home that I want to test, as soon as I can find a CPU fan in the 1U size category that can handle it....

If you have any questions about changing/running a different CPU, feel free to post here or contact me.

Sean

[wegotserved_member]

Hi Sean, glad everything worked out!!

Sean, although I'm expert in software, I'm a novice in hardware, so wondered can you supply links of everything you bought to upgrade to the higher CPU and what cooler I should get, and/or anything else I need? and how easy it would be to install. Ideally a link or the part code would be fantastic.

Cheers Sean.... happy ending!

Mark

SmackMac, on Oct 9 2008, 12:43 PM, said:

I know Mark already knows, but I figured I would let the rest of the world now (that own a Scaleo).

YES, the CPU upgrade works. I know have a P4 Dual Core E2180 running at 2GHz with the stock passive cooling in my server.

I still have a second CPU at home that I want to test, as soon as I can find a CPU fan in the 1U size category that can handle it....

If you have any questions about changing/running a different CPU, feel free to post here or contact me.

Sean

[SmackMac]

Hey Mark,

well I got the following parts:
1 P4 Dual Core E2180 ($60)
Arctic Silver Thermal Compound (Eur 10)

when you open up the case, you'll see that there are 4 screws holding the passive cooler. Take the cooler off, remove the CPU.
Clean the base of the cooler (I used 70% ethyl alcohol and Kimwipes, laboratory fuzz free paper wipes)

Spread a very thin layer of compound on the new CPU, make sure it's as even as you can get it (I used a straight edge thin piece of plastic from the PCU packaging). Put it all together in the Scaleo, tighten the heatsink screws in a X pattern.

So far under normal use with the passive heatsink they CPU cores run at about 30C, I stress tested the computer by running alot of stuff on it (virus scanner, video, access web interface), accross the network (copying), and streaming to my PS3 all at the same time. During this the cores went up to an average of about 55C, but this was pretty extreme having all that together at one time.

Oh, the first time I started it, it only showed one CPU core and it did shut down due to temperature problems. But after that initial try both cores showed up and everything ran fine.

Sean

[wegotserved_member]

Many thanks for info!

I think I'll have a go, but don't worry (and it goes without saying) that if I, or anyone else tries this, its at our own risk.

Cheers Sean

Mark

SmackMac, on Oct 9 2008, 07:29 PM, said:

Hey Mark,

well I got the following parts:
1 P4 Dual Core E2180 ($60)
Arctic Silver Thermal Compound (Eur 10)

when you open up the case, you'll see that there are 4 screws holding the passive cooler. Take the cooler off, remove the CPU.
Clean the base of the cooler (I used 70% ethyl alcohol and Kimwipes, laboratory fuzz free paper wipes)

Spread a very thin layer of compound on the new CPU, make sure it's as even as you can get it (I used a straight edge thin piece of plastic from the PCU packaging). Put it all together in the Scaleo, tighten the heatsink screws in a X pattern.

So far under normal use with the passive heatsink they CPU cores run at about 30C, I stress tested the computer by running alot of stuff on it (virus scanner, video, access web interface), accross the network (copying), and streaming to my PS3 all at the same time. During this the cores went up to an average of about 55C, but this was pretty extreme having all that together at one time.

Oh, the first time I started it, it only showed one CPU core and it did shut down due to temperature problems. But after that initial try both cores showed up and everything ran fine.

Sean

[SmackMac]

Thank you for mentioning that

yes, it is at your own risk. This is not supported by FSC or Intel (according to Intel only the M420 works).

I would also not try anything bigger with the passive cooler!!!

I am, however, searching for a fitting active fan and will try another step up if I find one.

On the definitive plus side, you notice a tremendous increas in performance. Especially if you use the Admin console alot.

wegotserved_member, on Oct 9 2008, 08:58 PM, said:

Many thanks for info!

I think I'll have a go, but don't worry (and it goes without saying) that if I, or anyone else tries this, its at our own risk.

Cheers Sean

Mark

[Stevewgs]

SmackMac, on Oct 9 2008, 08:11 PM, said:

Thank you for mentioning that

yes, it is at your own risk. This is not supported by FSC or Intel (according to Intel only the M420 works).

I would also not try anything bigger with the passive cooler!!!

I am, however, searching for a fitting active fan and will try another step up if I find one.

On the definitive plus side, you notice a tremendous increas in performance. Especially if you use the Admin console alot.

Have you upgraded the memory as well? I certainly have noticed a big improvement with 2Gb and the original cpu

[SmackMac]

Yes, did do that first, don't know if Mark has. It does speed the system up, but not as much as the CPU does.

The M420 is really crappy I think. Do not understand why they put that one on there to start with. I know servers don't need ultimate power. But for home use you will need it for streaming and managing files within your network which I believe takes a good amount of speed, especially when you have several PC's and entertainment systems in your house.

Stevewgs, on Oct 10 2008, 11:33 PM, said:

Have you upgraded the memory as well? I certainly have noticed a big improvement with 2Gb and the original cpu

[Stevewgs]

SmackMac, on Oct 11 2008, 03:09 PM, said:

Yes, did do that first, don't know if Mark has. It does speed the system up, but not as much as the CPU does.

The M420 is really crappy I think. Do not understand why they put that one on there to start with. I know servers don't need ultimate power. But for home use you will need it for streaming and managing files within your network which I believe takes a good amount of speed, especially when you have several PC's and entertainment systems in your house.

I wonder if the reason behind the choice of the M420 was its low power consumption , I presume that the E2180 uses somewhat more although if its not under load I wonder how the figures for power consumption compare?

Steve

[SmackMac]

Stevewgs, on Oct 11 2008, 08:20 PM, said:

I wonder if the reason behind the choice of the M420 was its low power consumption , I presume that the E2180 uses somewhat more although if its not under load I wonder how the figures for power consumption compare?

Steve

I am sure it does use a little more, it has a higher TDP which if I understand correctly would also mean a higher use.
But it runs at the same temperatures, and it can reduce it's speed to 1.2Ghz when not being used as much (which the M420 doesn't do, or at least I didn't notice it)

Yes, the power consumption was important to me when i choose this system, but i don't think it's going to go up to much by using a higher CPU.

Sean

[wegotserved_member]

Yes, did also put in 2gig, it all helps.

Also another no-no is to use the built-in defrag tool on whs software. Dont. Apparently I've read this slows the system down. I did it, and yes I can confirm that opening my console now is so slow.

With 2gig ram, 4T space, and higher cpu, I don't think there is anything else I can do to speed things up.

Mark

[Stevewgs]

wegotserved_member, on Oct 12 2008, 12:39 PM, said:

Yes, did also put in 2gig, it all helps.

Also another no-no is to use the built-in defrag tool on whs software. Dont. Apparently I've read this slows the system down. I did it, and yes I can confirm that opening my console now is so slow.

With 2gig ram, 4T space, and higher cpu, I don't think there is anything else I can do to speed things up.

Mark

I better get an e2180 ordered whilst I can,I presume you are using the original CPU passive cooler. Perfectdisk 2008 seems fine for defrag

[wegotserved_member]

Yes, original passive cooler.

And can anyone help me on how to overclock the cpu.

Been reading up on this, and obviously with the scaleo being a headless beast, how would I access the bios, and what software and links can anyone give me?

Cheers,

Mark

Stevewgs, on Oct 12 2008, 07:00 PM, said:

I better get an e2180 ordered whilst I can,I presume you are using the original CPU passive cooler. Perfectdisk 2008 seems fine for defrag

[SmackMac]

Hey Mark,

and would not recommend trying to overclock the CPU. If you already want to make the same change but continue to use the passive cooler the airflow wouldn't be able to handle it.
The only way I have found out to be able to get into the BIOS is by removing the DOM and putting an adapter into it's slot with a flexible VGA port of some sort. All in all, not worth it.
On top of everyhting, OC CPUs tend to not run as stable, not a good idea for a server. The E2180 will already gain in performance over the stock system. But for anything else you need to start looking for a better cooler.

Sean

wegotserved_member, on Oct 13 2008, 02:02 AM, said:

Yes, original passive cooler.

And can anyone help me on how to overclock the cpu.

Been reading up on this, and obviously with the scaleo being a headless beast, how would I access the bios, and what software and links can anyone give me?

Cheers,

Mark

[wegotserved_member]

Hi Sean,

Cheers for that.

Will do.

Mark

SmackMac, on Oct 13 2008, 04:07 PM, said:

Hey Mark,

and would not recommend trying to overclock the CPU. If you already want to make the same change but continue to use the passive cooler the airflow wouldn't be able to handle it.
The only way I have found out to be able to get into the BIOS is by removing the DOM and putting an adapter into it's slot with a flexible VGA port of some sort. All in all, not worth it.
On top of everyhting, OC CPUs tend to not run as stable, not a good idea for a server. The E2180 will already gain in performance over the stock system. But for anything else you need to start looking for a better cooler.

Sean

[wegotserved_member]

Sean,

Can I ask you one last question?... and that's for all the helpful info!

Can you describe to me which way the square internal cooler should be fixed back into the screw slots, after I have replaced the CPU? Because 'Brains of Britain' here didn't make a note of which way it should go, and I can see that there are two sides which have grills (one side has more of a outward ridge on the top) and two sides which are solid.

Cheers

Mark

[SmackMac]

Hey Mark,

NP, i wouldn't worry about that 'Brains of Britain' thing since I actually put it on the wrong way first.

As long as you have it so the air can flow thru from the fan to the other side of the housing, you'll be ok, and don't forget the little plastic tunnel thingy.

Good luck, and don't foget, you'll need a second restart and then just monitor the PCU temp a little.

Sean

wegotserved_member, on Oct 13 2008, 05:23 PM, said:

Sean,

Can I ask you one last question?... and that's for all the helpful info!

Can you describe to me which way the square internal cooler should be fixed back into the screw slots, after I have replaced the CPU? Because 'Brains of Britain' here didn't make a note of which way it should go, and I can see that there are two sides which have grills (one side has more of a outward ridge on the top) and two sides which are solid.

Cheers

Mark

[wegotserved_member]

Thanks Sean!

Mark

SmackMac, on Oct 14 2008, 08:47 PM, said:

Hey Mark,

NP, i wouldn't worry about that 'Brains of Britain' thing since I actually put it on the wrong way first.

As long as you have it so the air can flow thru from the fan to the other side of the housing, you'll be ok, and don't forget the little plastic tunnel thingy.

Good luck, and don't foget, you'll need a second restart and then just monitor the PCU temp a little.

Sean

[Stevewgs]

Any other issues with cpu upgrade? I presume the power management still functions as it did previously