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Home / Other I-Appliances / Intel dot.station Intel Dot.Bob "Ice Box" Mod Upgrade CPU to 850Mhz/Memory to 256Megs 30 Gig HD, Slim DVD/CDRW and TV/FM Capture Card. Software OS XP Pro and myHTPC

Intel Dot.Bob "Ice Box" Mod (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile Have upgraded Intel Dot.Bob to an "Ice Box" like setup. Will post pics. Using myHTPC freeware. Very nice application. Pending is remote control. 11-23-2003 19:17:01

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) wfg97079 Profile Cant wait to hear all about it! 11-24-2003 09:12:52

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) jsmmd Profile PeteC, If you get me the pics. I'll be glad to host them on the dot site. 11-24-2003 22:05:34

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile <jsmmd> I was going to write to ask. In fact will do tonight as I start to put it back together will take pics. Thanks again. 11-25-2003 13:28:08

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) wfg97079 Profile Any updates? 11-26-2003 08:11:26

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile Sent pics to jsmmd last night. Dot.Bob is still all apart. Most difficult this past weekend was cutting an opening for combo TV/Cable/FM tuner video capture card. A quick recap of what I have done to it. 1 - upgraded processor to an 850Mhz 100FSB PIII Intel. Getting it to work correctly using a slocket adaptor (specifically) (~$8.00) FC-PGA2 Tualatin Converter for Socket370 FC-PGA Motherboards from Computer Geeks: http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=S370TUA 2 - OLD 256Meg memory 100FSB (specifically: 256 MB PC 133 SDRAM CL3 KVR133X64C3/256)(~$20.00) 3 - 30 gig HD (may up this) 4 - KWorld Stereo TV Tuner/Capture PCI Card (~ $30.00) 5 - removed modem and cut opening in rear of case for capture card. (modded capture card audio output by soldering CD-Rom cable to capture card and plugging it into MB audio input) 6 - XP Pro - and myHTPC - from: http://myhtpc.net/ 7 - Kludgemeister's CD slim CDRom MOD ( and cable MOD (50-pin "notebook" IDE connector to standard 40-pin IDE) 8 - last steps and still working on: remote control (want to integrate IR into case from Capture card using same method that I used for audio input) Will keep sending pics to jsmmd. Any specific requests? 11-26-2003 12:49:07

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) wfg97079 Profile I am just looking to do very much the same thing How is MYHTPC? Does the remote work with it? Is this the remote that came with the tuner? 11-26-2003 13:45:35

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile myHTPC is a very flexible program ported over from Linux. Works well and levels above XP Media edition. Haven't decided yet on how to integrate remote control. myHTPC works with various flavors of IR. I have noticed a high temp on CPU (~50-60 C) and am working on bringing the temperature down. Other than that working well. (DVD-Tuner-myHTPC). Audio works well. Modem was just passing thru audio on motherboard. 11-27-2003 09:31:29

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) wfg97079 Profile Does MYHTPC controll the tv tuner? Do you have PVR functionality? I guess Im wondering what you are doing with MYHTPC 12-01-2003 08:50:11

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile <wfg97079> quick hardware overview: - 850 PIII / 256meg memory - DVD/CDRW slim drive - 40 gig hd (for testing) - KWorld TV Tuner/FM PCI Capture card quick software overview: MS XP Pro OS myHTPC - for videos, MP3's, Pics, browser Snapstream Personal Video Station 3 - TV - Tuner - Scheduling - Capture (ok but not as good as a P4 and a little bit more features than my HTPC's TV Plugin/XMLTV Automate) InterVideo WinDVD 4 (DVD Player) Nero (burner) Still working on remote-looking for remote/keyboard/mouse wireless via IR/RF utilizing either free serial or USB internal ports. Still working on bringing down temperature. 12-02-2003 22:50:52

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile I have been able to cool the CPU down by just getting a better CPU heatsink/fan. I now hovers right around 98 F...which is much better than 145 F. Still looking a a remote combo.. 12-05-2003 13:23:55

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) wfg97079 Profile Is it noisy? What heatsink and fan did you go with? 12-12-2003 08:41:15

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) radarman Profile I went with a Cooler Master to cool my PIII 850E. unfortunately, I had to cut extra holes, as the CPU fan didn't line up with the holes already present - and with the slocket adapter, it only has about a 1/8" clearance. Needless to say, it's a tad loud. However, I'm using SpeedFan to manage the fan speed. According to the specs, this chip is safe up to 80degC, but I'm a bit more conservative than that, so I have SpeedFan keep it around 50degC, and issue an alarm at 55degC. For this HCF, the min speed is 55%, and the max 100%. At idle, it usually sits at the minimum, which is about as loud as the original fan. At the moment, with just WinAMP and Mozilla running, the CPU is sitting at 42degC, and the chassis at 41degC. This is with the unit completely reassembled. 12-16-2003 21:04:40

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile Regarding CPU cooling I didn't use anything special. CPU cooler has a large heatsink with a small fan to keep it cool. It was some generic no-name which I had sitting around. Have been testing with left and right halves put together only. Want to still complete the remote control piece. With what's already there (partial IR, USB and serial) it shouldn't be much of an effort. Finding the time is much more of an effort recently. Ideally a small with joystick type keyboard (of which I already have) and multimedia remote (like Gateway version) would work fine. 12-16-2003 22:06:52

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) radarman Profile PeteC - have you noticed anything unusual about the CRT display since you upgraded the CPU? I think the PSU may be getting stressed, as the display seems to "shake". I don't think it is related to the speakers, which I believe are shielded, since the shaking seems to correspond to CPU usage. Hmm, perhaps I should trade down to a slightly slower PIII? 12-17-2003 06:10:12

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile <radarman> I do not see anything relating to "shaking" of the screen. Try unplugging the top case fan see if that does anything. I have also done 24h burn in with no il effects running XP. 12-17-2003 18:59:51

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile Still waiting to do the remote control hack. Mine is a semi put together mode. The sides are put together but the back cover and front cover are still off. 01-02-2004 12:59:47

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) PeteC Profile Any dremel experts out there? A while back purchased a dremel tool and used it for the CDROM & adding a video tuner card mod cutting metal. Now I am the point of cutting the slot for the CDROM and want to take it easy and not make any mistakes. My wife bought me the "all the pieces you will ever need for a dremel tool" kit and I am thinking everthing is there for a nice clean cut. Any pointers before I begin? 02-13-2004 21:14:04

RE:Intel Dot.Bob (modified 0 times) Kludgemeister Profile I'm not a Dremel expert, PeteC, but I would start with the cutoff disk (the fiberglass-reincorced kind, not the fragile red thin kind) and working from the inside of the bezel, cut out the opening well within the finished line (1/16" or so, closer if you're good at it.) The cutoff disk will quickly melt through the plastic. Working from the inside, if you slip any scratches won't be on the finished surface. It's like Paul Jr. uses the angle grinder all the time for cutting sheet metal on "American Chopper". Once you have the bulk of the material removed, you can go back with either the cutoff wheel (working on its side) or a burr (the ribbed cylindrical metal cutter) and sneak up closer to the line. I actually finished the last little bit of mine with a hand file because I don't trust my Dremel skills that much. Best of success! Kludgemeister 02-18-2004 14:22:52

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