Ive stuck a beautiful Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 (3Ghz) into my Bad Axe II motherboard. Its not supposed to happen, the board only has an FSB of 1066Mhz and the CPU has an FSB of 1333. It took a long time but I finally got it working, even managed to inadvertantly overclock my RAM speed. Heres the current specs:
CPU: Conroe E6850 @ 3.0Ghz
Board: Bad Axe II (3xPCIE slots)
GFX: 9800GTX
RAM: 2 x 1GB DDR2-800 (@833Mhz)
Let me douse some rumours:
The 8800 Ultra is far superior
The 8800GTX is still superior
The 9800GTX is incorrectly named, its just a cheaper 8800GT, NOT the landmark groundbreaking next generation card its name suggests.
But it still plays like this!
Note: Assasins Creed is running on max settings @ 1680*1050 (limited at 60fps)
FRAPS captured at half resolution and half framerate (still a 2GB file!)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
My Laptop: An Epic Story
Chapter 16: A Genius Idea
Im not going to complain about Alienware, everyone else is doing it for me.
My laptops broken again (looks like my theory was wrong).I'm thinking of upgrading its GFX card to a nice x1900, its controversial but I have 2 main options.
Both of which i am seriously considering.
1) Buy a new card, i have a selection of x1800, x1900 or do another hard search online.
2) Get a job in Alienware. Do a commando mission behind enemy lines and retrieve the parts through whatever means!
Ill send in my CV after my exams. I just wonder what position I'm interested in...
Im not going to complain about Alienware, everyone else is doing it for me.
My laptops broken again (looks like my theory was wrong).I'm thinking of upgrading its GFX card to a nice x1900, its controversial but I have 2 main options.
Both of which i am seriously considering.
1) Buy a new card, i have a selection of x1800, x1900 or do another hard search online.
2) Get a job in Alienware. Do a commando mission behind enemy lines and retrieve the parts through whatever means!
Ill send in my CV after my exams. I just wonder what position I'm interested in...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Toms Bathroom Bedlam
Its about time this was posted.
WARNING: If it is illegal to view Garrths nipples in your country/state.
You best not be watchin.
The production quality is just amazing...
WARNING: If it is illegal to view Garrths nipples in your country/state.
You best not be watchin.
The production quality is just amazing...
Monday, May 12, 2008
My Laptop: An Epic Story
Chapter 15
Figured out the exact cause of its problems and fixed them! So as you found out in previous chapters, (Im doing a starwars thing here where i start off on 15 incase i need to backtrack), i spilled diet coke all over the keypad of my laptop. Of course I blame Chris for this...
But it would get a garbled boot screen every time it started, and would only boot properly in VGA mode or Safe Mode. Which is shit. I went through a long thing with Alienware, who refused to fix it (Because their wankers). For months i thought "Oh my graphics card is fucked, either that or somethings really wrong with the motherboard", I expected to buy a new GFX card, I still might feel like upgrading.
But alas, all i feared was naught.
After i opened it up it still refused to work, then suddenly, no garbled screen and a perfect boot! This happend for about 24 hours, it stopped working the next day in college. I tested it in the heat, and in the cold. I didnt really do anything inside, just checked for surface damage, then put the parts back. So i thought it was a thermal thing, me moving the parts about freeing something allowing it to cool qiucker or something, i had no proper explaination.
Last night i opened it up again, i had to procrastinate for this exam i have in a few hours. I questioned why instead of using thermal paste or traditional thermal pads, they seem to be using a spongey pad and a rubbery pad. Ive never seen thermal bridges like these before. The ones for the memory chips were rubbery and the one on the GPU was spongey and kind of dampish. I put it down to some kind of thermal grease in the sponge, but i think now i was wrong.
I believe because of the immense heat of the GPU and the addition of Diet Coke, it turned what was once a rubbery thermal pad, into a spongey greasey Coke monster. I took it off and wiped away some moisture around the chip, it was in between loads of transitor things. Stuck some proper thermal paste on the GPU and stuck back the heatsink. First boot again was a disaster, however every boot since has been perfect.
Ive had to open the laptop a few times since for various reasons, i monitored the GPU temp and it creeped toward 100 degrees, my laptop shuts down at that point. Opening it up again showed that there is a great distance between the heatsink and the GPU, the paste never connected them. I added more paste and fashoned the blue rubbery stuff into a more economic fit. And a few times i forgot to reconnect the fan. However now, my temps idle aroun 78, around what the used to.
Figured out the exact cause of its problems and fixed them! So as you found out in previous chapters, (Im doing a starwars thing here where i start off on 15 incase i need to backtrack), i spilled diet coke all over the keypad of my laptop. Of course I blame Chris for this...
But it would get a garbled boot screen every time it started, and would only boot properly in VGA mode or Safe Mode. Which is shit. I went through a long thing with Alienware, who refused to fix it (Because their wankers). For months i thought "Oh my graphics card is fucked, either that or somethings really wrong with the motherboard", I expected to buy a new GFX card, I still might feel like upgrading.
But alas, all i feared was naught.
After i opened it up it still refused to work, then suddenly, no garbled screen and a perfect boot! This happend for about 24 hours, it stopped working the next day in college. I tested it in the heat, and in the cold. I didnt really do anything inside, just checked for surface damage, then put the parts back. So i thought it was a thermal thing, me moving the parts about freeing something allowing it to cool qiucker or something, i had no proper explaination.
Last night i opened it up again, i had to procrastinate for this exam i have in a few hours. I questioned why instead of using thermal paste or traditional thermal pads, they seem to be using a spongey pad and a rubbery pad. Ive never seen thermal bridges like these before. The ones for the memory chips were rubbery and the one on the GPU was spongey and kind of dampish. I put it down to some kind of thermal grease in the sponge, but i think now i was wrong.
I believe because of the immense heat of the GPU and the addition of Diet Coke, it turned what was once a rubbery thermal pad, into a spongey greasey Coke monster. I took it off and wiped away some moisture around the chip, it was in between loads of transitor things. Stuck some proper thermal paste on the GPU and stuck back the heatsink. First boot again was a disaster, however every boot since has been perfect.
Ive had to open the laptop a few times since for various reasons, i monitored the GPU temp and it creeped toward 100 degrees, my laptop shuts down at that point. Opening it up again showed that there is a great distance between the heatsink and the GPU, the paste never connected them. I added more paste and fashoned the blue rubbery stuff into a more economic fit. And a few times i forgot to reconnect the fan. However now, my temps idle aroun 78, around what the used to.
Operation: Procrastination
Yeah I have a shit exam in Systems Modelling tomorrow and im doing as much procrastinating as possible. My Alienware laptop is currently in my fridge, why? I nearly burnt out the GPU. But thats a good thing, It works. At least sometimes.
What i learned today? The existance of "MXM", the first and only standard GPU interface for laptops. It basically means i DONT have to send my laptop back into the clutches of the evil corporations to fix it, i can buy a new graphics card and just simply slot it in. Its a great invention but its purposely kept quiet. Most new laptops have it, bet you didnt know! Yours probably does, except itll say it nowhere on any documentation.
Heres what it looks like:
Note: Coke cap added for good measure...
What i learned today? The existance of "MXM", the first and only standard GPU interface for laptops. It basically means i DONT have to send my laptop back into the clutches of the evil corporations to fix it, i can buy a new graphics card and just simply slot it in. Its a great invention but its purposely kept quiet. Most new laptops have it, bet you didnt know! Yours probably does, except itll say it nowhere on any documentation.
Heres what it looks like:
Note: Coke cap added for good measure...
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Stuff I Have Learned Today
What a "pee puck" is: Hilariously, it’s a frozen block of piss in the shape of a puck, which if crafted properly, can be slid under someone’s door for various reasons...
Why not to EVER have any dealings with Alienware:
Alienware are a corrupt company well established in their capitalist regime. They not only overprice their computers, but refuse to fix or replace broken parts after warranty, even if you pay.
I’ve had first-hand experience with this, alongside many others. More than 90% of their stuff is faulty (figure pulled out of my arse). I’ll do a larger write-up.
What about Dell computers? I used to just think Dell were bad because their computers were a little inferior. Not by much, just by gaming standards and the fact their bios was in-house software that wasn’t very well managed. However they are just as bad if not worse than Alienware. Their support staff are given a form for each customer who complains, their jobs are at stake if they don’t get the customer to call back between 10-15 times for whatever reasons. Think about that the next time you’re fobbed off.
I've added this hilarious : definition to Urban Dictionary.
Lesson: If you want a new desktop pc, build it yourself. If you want a laptop, search hard for a company with good customer support. Pull your finger out and get your ass to Mars.
Why not to EVER have any dealings with Alienware:
Alienware are a corrupt company well established in their capitalist regime. They not only overprice their computers, but refuse to fix or replace broken parts after warranty, even if you pay.
I’ve had first-hand experience with this, alongside many others. More than 90% of their stuff is faulty (figure pulled out of my arse). I’ll do a larger write-up.
What about Dell computers? I used to just think Dell were bad because their computers were a little inferior. Not by much, just by gaming standards and the fact their bios was in-house software that wasn’t very well managed. However they are just as bad if not worse than Alienware. Their support staff are given a form for each customer who complains, their jobs are at stake if they don’t get the customer to call back between 10-15 times for whatever reasons. Think about that the next time you’re fobbed off.
I've added this hilarious : definition to Urban Dictionary.
Lesson: If you want a new desktop pc, build it yourself. If you want a laptop, search hard for a company with good customer support. Pull your finger out and get your ass to Mars.
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