Fired up all three monitors today, and as you can see--it's both impressive and takes a lot of space.

Turns out, Flight Sim X doesn't like Vista 64 very much, or the ATI drivers, or something. I couldn't get it to run anywhere close to acceptably. We knew games might be an issue, which is why we decided on the dual-boot system. Alas, I haven't installed XP Pro SP2 yet, so the uber-impressive FSim surround cockpit I planned to show you ain't happenin' yet. ATI's control panel needs some work in the multi-display area--it's so confusing that I wound up using the Windows version, which had the added benefit of actually working! A quick nod to Alan Stafford for suggesting that.

This next picture is of the Addonics 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch adapter. It also includes a 40-pin to 44-pin cable adapter which I won't need since the SSDs are SATA. I plan to drill two more holes so I can mount both SSDs on one adapter, leaving space in the case for the Ultra card reader/USB/FireWire front panel box. The SSDs produce hardly any heat so thermals aren't an issue.

I mentioned previously that I thought that the BIOS flash to the Adaptec 3405 might have been responsible for the D5400Xs BIOS freeze when I tried to change the boot order. Intel said I might be running out of option ROM space, what with two graphics cards, the Marvell eSata controller and the motherboard BIOS. I sure hope this is fixed/fixable on the shipping boards (this is an alpha) as I don't want to run the Iomega UltraMax Pro external drive off of USB. Not a fate worse than taxes mind you, but not optimal by any means. Intel's been very helpful in addressing these issues. Once upon a time, the company wasn't responsive in the least. Kudos to Dan and Colin.

Tomorrow it's back to plumbing the case. Thanks to Tiger Direct for getting all this stuff sent my way in a timely fashion.

Cheers, Jon