A redundant hang-over from the days of "Turbo" switches on 386s, many of us have little numeric display LED panels on the front of our cases, with two or three digits that can be set by fiddling with about twenty jumpers somewhere inside.

For the overclocking fans (no pun intended), it would be quite useful if this could display core voltages, cpu temperatures, fan speeds, etc. It would involve a leviathon-esque little box that would connect internally on one hand to the motherboard (via internal USB, or a PCI slot, or even using a com port socket - they're fast becoming obsolete), and on the other a lead (with many little connectors since there are few standards to the jumper settings involved) to the controls of the numeric display. Choosing something to display would be simply controlled by a system tray application.
-- yamahito, Oct 08 2002

LCD Displays http://www.seetron.com/slcds.htm
Easy serial connection and programming [half, Oct 09 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

More specifcally... http://www.seetron.com/vfd22db_1.htm
For drive bay installation. "Install in 5 minutes with just a screwdriver; nothing else needed" [half, Oct 09 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Automatically depreciates your 'puter, in local currency of course, by whatever GAAP method you select.
-- reensure, Oct 09 2002


My home workgroup is named 'Heavy Metal' and all my computers are named after appropriate elements (lead, gold, plutonium, uranium, etc). The few computer cases I have that still have a MHz display have been modified to display the elemental symbol of the computer name (Pb, Au, Pu, U, etc). I like this idea, but fewer and fewer cases come with these displays so I'm not sure about the long-term viability.
-- phoenix, Oct 09 2002


Heavy Metal? Where's the Lochnar?..
-- Mr Burns, Oct 09 2002


In the 'Vette, of course.
-- phoenix, Oct 09 2002


Clever idea, phoenix. If I could give *you* a croiss for it, I would.
-- yamahito, Oct 09 2002


re: [phoenix]'s mention of these displays disappearing from the computer landscape.

Maybe take it further and propose a motherboard and case design that supports, and comes equipped with, a small multisegment display screen to be used for whatever messages you wish to display. The trend towards decorating machines with neon, trick fans enclosures, el-wire, etc., could easily be extended to include the notion of a programmable vanity display. Perhaps it could, given enough segments in the display, be able to display retro-looking scoreboard-style animation.

Or maybe SMS text.
-- bristolz, Oct 09 2002


(link)
-- half, Oct 09 2002


Or perhaps a display that only says "[bristolz], search before posting"
-- bristolz, Oct 09 2002


Say, [bristolz], that seems a bit harsh. Give [bristolz] a break. She wasn't posting it as a new idea. You silly perfectionists are all alike (not that I know about that sort of thing).
-- half, Oct 09 2002


//The few computer cases I have that still have a MHz display have been modified to display the elemental symbol of the computer name (Pb, Au, Pu, U, etc).//

Why do you have a lightweight like Pb on there? Pt, Ir, and Os would be be heavier choices.
-- supercat, Oct 11 2002



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