Youtube Video Review of View Sonic VX2433wm LCD

Remember this review? Well, I have done it long time ago but didn't have time to upload it so here it is:

Box:

Desktop Setup:

Image Quality:

Pros:

Very Clear

Got Speaker

Ultra Fast Response Time: 2ms

Got all 3 ports - VGA, DVI, HDMI - I need them all

Free VGA/DVI/HDMI Cable

Cheap - $369

Hot Selling: I bought the 2nd Last Set

Cons:

Speaker is not good -> Soft

The buttons are a little confusing

Design is not as nice as Samsung 2433BW/T240, but much better than Dell S2409W

Overall: 4.5/5, Worth buying!

Unboxing HP Mini 311 Video

Heres the unboxing Video

Just Got it! A mini item

Hihi, long time never blog, how are you? This few months have been very hectic and busy, plus the blogger website screwed, so hardly have any chance to blog. Now here I am finally blogging! :D

Anyway, here is some mini hoot to share:

This is.....

HP Mini 311!

A little look inside the box....

There we go, the netbook!

Layout of everything....:

1. Netbook

2. Battery and adapter

3.User Manual CD and Setup Guides

4. Cleaning Kit

Haha, switch on my netbook!

Thats all for now. Now busy installing Windows 7 and rushing my other project. I will do a review on this when I have the time. For now this is all I have. Cheers!

Technical Specifications of HP Mini 311:

Operating System	Windows XP Home Edition
Processor	Intel Atom Processor N280 (1.66GHz, 512KB L2 cache)
Memory/RAM	1GB of DDR3 System Memory
Display	11.6” Diagonal HD LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1366 x 768)
Graphics	NVIDIA ION (Up to 319MB total graphics memory)
Hard Drive	160GB 5400 rpm SATA HD
Optical Drive	None; External optical drives in standard and Blu-Ray variety may be purchased separately
Battery	6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
Wireless	802.11b/g WLAN
Audio/Visual	High Definition Audio stereo speakers, combo stereo headphone/mic jack, HP Webcam with integrated digital microphone
Expansion Slots	5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for SD cards
Ports	3x USB 2,0, HDMI, power connector, RJ-45/Ethernet
Price	Starts at SGD$849
Weight	1.46KG
Warranty	Standard 1-Yr Parts and Labor, 1-Year Battery

Some things I don't like, really angry about it.......

Seriously, I'm very pissed of today. It screws up my mood and I'm really angry about it. Firstly, I hate family politics. Its very screw up. What have to attend this event that event because you are the most senior grandson. What is that? Thats bullshit. Just because you are the eldest grandson, you have to shoulder heavy responsibilities. Second of all, some people can go and enjoy while you are the only one having to attend other functions. This is bullshit also! The most screwed up thing is that the event happens on different time than you expect and you are only informed last minute! My mum can't even help to ask the time properly, this really spoils my plan, WTF! Next, my phone can't even help to send my SMS properly, what lousy phone is it? F***** up..... The worst thing is that some people becomes mad at me because of that. This only worsens the situation. Now I'm really mad. Almost all my very close people are taking me for granted and I'm really mad about it. I'm going some where to isolate myself for the moment so please don't disturb me! I really in the bad mood now and I'm not sure when I can cool down....

Simple cooling technique for GTX 285 SLI

Well, after using my PC for quite a while, I realized that computer is so hot. Especially my graphics cards in SLI mode. I got to admit, the GTX 285 stock coolings are not effective. How do we tell? Here is the answer:

Although nvidia specifies that the GTX 285 can operate up to 105C, it is highly not recommended at all for your card not to operate more than 90C. After all, your graphics card are very expensive and you certainly do not want to fry them.

Is your computer up to the temperature test? Heres how you can test yourself, but first lets look at the system setup:

Hardware:
Intel Core i7 920 (Overclocked @ 3.2 GHz)
Cooler Master V8 Cooler
Asus P6T Deluxe
Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600MHz
Nvidia Geforce GTX285 SLI, 1GB x2:
MSI Geforce GTX285 OC Edition 1GB (Factory Overclocked)
XFX Geforce GTX285 Black Edition 1GB (Factory Overclocked)
Cheetah® 15K.5 SAS 3Gb/s 146.8-GB Hard Drive (Primary)
Western Digital 640GB Caviar Black (Secondary)
Samsung DVD Writer Master 22x
Enermax Galaxy 1000W DX X
Silverstone FT01
Windows Vista Business 32 Bit

Software that you need to test your graphics temperature:
Furmark - One more the most graphics intensive software that stress your graphics card enough to fry your video card.
GPUZ - Although there are much better monitoring software for video cards like eVGA's precision tools and Rivatuner, I would still recommend GPUZ because it is simple and easy to use software for you to monitor your video card temperature. It provides you all the info you need to know about your video card.

How to stress test your card and monitor (Skip this part if you know)? Simple:
1. Open GPUz and click the sensor tab. Here you would see your temperatures. Note that ATI Radeons and Nvidia Geforce have different sensors.

1b. Optional - If you have 2 cards, open another GPUz. Select the sensor tab and make sure you select the right card at the bottom.

2. Start the Furmark program and do the following settings:

3. Yet you are almost done. Let the computer run for at least 15mins (900 secs). If your computer video card hits 100C, I suggest you immediately close the program and shut down the computer and let it cool down. This is not a good sign. You seriously have to do something about your video card.

How do I manage to cool down?
Well, they are many ways to do it. Here are the alternatives:

EVGA Backplate - Limited to some Geforce models only. They are expensive, cost as much as SGD$50. Use this if you have money to spare


Liquid Cooling - Well, this may cost a bomb (definitely more than SGD$100++) and void your warranty, but it is the most cooling method. You need to do a lot of read up on it also.

Artic Cooling Fan - Limited to some graphics card. This is another option, but it does not cost cheap (at least USD$50 and its not available in Singapore). It may also void your warranty. However, it brings down the temperature as low as 23C. It means that your card temperature becomes 57C instead of 81C when on load.


Add a fan in front of your graphics card - This is the cheapest and effectively way of cooling, but you need some space in your case and ensure that your case has in take fan.

And many more. Just google it and you get the answer. ;)

I choose the purchase of additional fan - The coolermaster silent fan, 120mm LED fan @2000rpm. I know many people would said this is not a good fan, but this is good enough because it is cheap, only $12. If you want excellent fan like S-Flex but it costs $25! To me, a cheap and decent fan is good enough.


Here is how I place it, right in front of my video card.
From this:

To this:




Here are the results:

A reduction of temperature as high as 8C. Of course, it is not as impressive as liquid cooling or Artic Cooling Accelero, but hey its a cheap solution right?

Conclusion:
Video cards these days are very powerful, at the same time, it becomes very hot. It is essential that you ensure your graphics card have effective cooling, so that your card can last longer. A simple testing can help you determine whether you need to improve your video card cooling so quickly download those programs and test your computer!

Should have post this review some time ago. Anyway, here it is, the GSkill 64GB SSD MLC.

SSD+3.5" mounting bracket so I can insert into my casing


Unboxing both:


Fitting on the bracket


Comparing it with the Western Digital 3.5" Black, lets see the size...




Here is the performance compare to a 15500rpm SCSI and Western Digital Black:
GSkill 64GB SSD


Seagate Cheetah 146GB 15K5rpm SAS HDD


Western Digital Black
[IMG]http://kelvinccs.com/images/SSD/8.png[/IMG]

Why is it better than ordinary HDD (Pros):
-It is extremely fast, fast boot up! I take as fast as 30s to boot up. SAS cost me at least 1min 30s because of SAS controller loading time. Western Digital Black is around 1 min 10s of loading up time.
-Its reading and writing performance is unbeatable, no magnetic HDD can beat it so far. (Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.)
-It is much quiet than any spining HDD! I virtually couldn't hear anything! Compare to SAS HDD which is very
noisy. The SAS HDD is only slightly quieter than my GTX285 x2 SLI in 70% rpm!
-The temperature is very cool! SAS HDD is very hot when it is @ load.

Why is it worst than ordinary HDD (Cons):
-It is very expensive! For normal usage and Gaming, you might as well get Western Digital Black 1TB given the price!
-The lifespan of it is much lower than a magnetic HDD, thats why you get 2 years of warranty instead of 5.
-There is micro stuttering effect. It means that you computer will freeze for a moment when you do intense multi-tasking. Better quality SSDs does not experience this problem like OCZ Vertex/Summit SSD

Overall: 90/100 - This is a kick ass product! I quote this from 3Dgameman. LOL...

GTX 285 x2 SLI Review

Factory Overclocked GTX 285 x2 SLI Review Here is a quick review of GTX 285 x2 SLI: First, lets take a look at the graphics cards. MSI GTX285 1GB Overclocked Edition (GPU/Memory/Shader Clock): 680MHz/1250MHz/1476MHz XFX GTX285 1GB Black Edition (GPU/Memory/Shader Clock): 690MHz/1300MHz/1476MHz Test Setup: Intel Core i7 920 (Overclocked @ 3.36 GHz) Cooler Master V8 Cooler Asus P6T Deluxe Kingston HyperX 3 x 1GB DDR3 1600MHz Nvidia Geforce GTX285 SLI, 1GB x2: MSI Geforce GTX285 OC Edition 1GB (Factory Overclocked) XFX Geforce GTX285 Black Edition 1GB (Factory Overclocked) Cheetah® 15K.5 SAS 3Gb/s 146.8-GB Hard Drive (Primary) Western Digital 600GB Caviar Black (Secondary) Samsung DVD Writer Master 22x Enermax Galaxy 1000W DXX Silverstone FT01 Windows Vista Business 32 Bit ViewSonic VX2433wm 23.6 LCD Monitor (1920x1080) 3Dmark Vantage: Single MSI GTX 285 Overclocked: Running both @ same speed, both Clocked @(GPU/Memory/Shader Clock): 680MHz/1250MHz/1476MHz What if they run @ different clock speed? What happens to the performance? MSI GTX285 1GB Overclocked Edition (GPU/Memory/Shader Clock): 680MHz/1250MHz/1476MHz XFX GTX285 1GB Black Edition (GPU/Memory/Shader Clock): 690MHz/1300MHz/1476MHz Overclock both @(GPU/Memory/Shader Clock): 725MHz/1420MHz/1560MHz Enough of Graphics Benchmarking, time to Look @ real game benchmarking. I will be comparing a Single GTX 285 vs GTX 285 x2 SLI. Street Fighter IV GTX 285 GTX 285 x2 SLI Good Performance Increase Devil May Cry 4 Settings GTX 285 GTX 285 x2 SLI Good Performance Increase The Last Remnant GTX 285 GTX 285 x2 SLI Little Performance Increase Crysis Warhead GTX 285 GTX 285 x2 SLI Excellent Performance Increase Company of Heroes Settings GTX 285 GTX 285 x2 SLI Poor Performance, worse than single card running Enough of Benchmarking, Lets take a look of the next important thing: PowerConsumption Average Laptop, X60s GTX 285 GTX 285 x2 SLI Normal Usage: Its about 260W, 13x of your Laptop @ max! Idle Temperature @ Low fan speed:
Running @100% Load hits as high as 90C when running @80% fan speed for 15mins Conclusion: Adding on another GTX 285 is indeed powerful enough even for the most demanding games, allowing you to play at max settings. Having GTX 285 in 2 way SLI really beats all the most powerful single consumer graphics card in the current market, whether is GTX295, Radeon 4870x2. However, is such power needed? Do take note that not all games will improve performance, some even decreases its performance. Take example, although company of heroes claims that it supports SLI, the results prove otherwise. The fps drops drastically to give you average performance. We also have to take note of the power consumption and noise. SLI doubles up your noise, much noiser than GTX295, since there are 2 fans running. SLI is also power hungry. Lastly, the price/performance ratio is also very low, compare to HD4850 x2, HD4770 x2 Crossfire or GTX260 x2 SLI. The bottomline: Unless you are PC enthusiast, or you want to Tri SLI to get the most powerful configuration, having a GTX 285 x2 SLI is not worth. Get another GTX 285 to SLI in the future when GTX285 becomes cheap or when you come across a 2nd hand GTX 285 at low price.
Pros:
Able to handle any PC games in the current market, allowing you to play @ max settings in Full HD Good for breaking benchmark records
Able to handle any PC games for the next 2 years
Cons:
Very Expensive, Not worth the money to buy another first hand GTX285 in the current market High Power Consumption, you need a good PSU