Man, I don't post here for a while and I find lots of spam over the last few pages..lucky mod never notice only..

Anyway, my extra Apogee GT waterblock (from cv6149, has been bowed) is going for cheap sale (starting RM60 only! Highest bidder gets it), with special bonus for POC members. All POC members in the overclock database who PM me with their price offers will be listed RM20 higher than non POC members, though you only pay the price you offered me. If you're not in the database, time to get busy then.

This post has been edited by lohwenli: Apr 8 2008, 10:47 PM

Fan prices are very negotiable..don't worry..

About you fan controller, its undergoing a major design revamp. Very unhappy with the original design, not 'terror' enough.

Oh yes, I'm still interested in that bracket and HSF. Not sure about AM2 bracket though.

Not much in the way of pics, mostly its just components on the breadboard. Original design had quite a bit of voltage dropout, so fans controlled through the controller can never reach full speed. Working on that now. Btw, what colour is your casing? Want to make the panel colour matching.

I'll make it black then. Paint back if acrylic, will be mirror finish also.

Voltage range is fully tunable, so after you set it up, turn knob all the way to left, fan will be at minimum speed (but still spinning), all the way to right, maximum @12v.

If you just want a basic PWM circuit no problem lo..very easy only..
But keep in mind the speed sensing may give funny readings while you're using it..pwm causes the speed sense signal to change..
The circuit I'm building for rainingzero will not have that problem, but the cost

Wait! Send that fan to me, its a 4 pin one, meaning there is already a controller built in. Very very easy to mod, though you have to do a little tuning 1st.

No need. There is already a controller built into that fan, only need to mod the wires so you can actually control the fan speed.

Still need a PC?

Might be able to help you, though short on one or 2 parts to make a full PC to lend you. Don't worry, its a lot better than the last dinosaur I lent you..though the hard disk is almost the same..

Here's what you need for the first step
-soldering iron
-1M ohm VR

There are 4 wires on the fan, GND, 12V, speed sense and PWM. Power up the fan, connect the VR to PWM and GND (you may need to do a bit of soldering). With maximum resistance set, the fan will be at full speed, at minimum resistance (aka short circuit), the fan will be at minimum speed (but still spinning). However you'll notice that you don't really have much control over the speed, a slight turn on the VR and it jumps from min to max with almost nothing in between, you'll need to do some tuning to get full control.

Step 2-tuning

What's needed
-soldering iron
-digital multimeter (don't use analog, the input resistance isn't high enough and you need dead precise readings to get this right)

Turn the VR to max, and start dropping the resistance till the fan starts slowing down, then turn it back up very slightly. Disconnect the VR, and measure it with the DMM, this is the high resistance. Reconnect the VR, turn it down to minimum resistance, then slowly turn it back up till the fan starts speeding up then turn it back down to slightly below the point where its starts speeding up. Disconnect the VR and measure the resistance with the DMM, this is the low resistance.

Important tip-up till this point, avoid touching any of the wires while measuring or testing, as your body's electrical resistance will mess things up. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you, but you may be very disappointed with the results if you get don't get things perfectly right.

The idea is to restrict the VR's range to just slightly larger than the range of the high-low resistance. You'll need 2 ordinary resistors for this (5 sen only ). Time to run to the electronics shop

Resistor 1 = Low resistance

Resistor 2 = 1/(1/high resistance + 1/VR's max resistance) - Low resistance

Tips
-measure the VR's max resistance, don't just assume its 1M ohm, it rarely is that accurate.
-its pretty much impossible that you'll get exact values when you go shopping for resistors, so get the closest possible. However, make sure you still get a range slightly LARGER than what you measured(eg if measured 600K-800K, then 570k-830k would be ok, but not 630-830k or 570-770k)

Low resistance = resistor 1

High resistance = 1/(1/resistor 2 + 1/VR's max resistance) + Low resistance

Resistor 1 is put in series with the VR (you can heatshrink it into the wire to make it neat), and resistor 2 is soldered in parallel to the VR. Highly advised to heatshrink all exposed contacts, as the circuit for most fans is ridiculously sensitive to changes. If you got everything right, for at least half the turn of the VR you should get continuously variable fan speed, and for the remainder it'll either be at maximum or minimum fan speed. Its possible to build a circuit which is more effective, but I find its not worth the effort.

A P4 2.8Ghz system, proc, board, PSU, HDD, maybe an optical drive as well. What's missing is ram, using DDR1.

The last part of the core (after the part where the lights go out and back on) just hide somewhere and wait (sides are good). You can fight your way though, but its not necessary (and painful ). After a while, the doors will open and a huge current will start blowing though the centre, just jump into it and you're out.

Damn, when is Crysis 2 coming out... Can't wait..nothing much to do but replay Crysis again on easy and normal..after finishing it on Delta, Easy is so easy I practically go around strangling enemies without shooting much..

This post has been edited by lohwenli: Apr 15 2008, 03:00 PM

You guys may have been waiting for this for a little too long.

OC & LAN party II

Date : to be confirmed, after USM exams are over
Venue : Somewhere opposite PISA, in an office lot.
Cost : Not much, just cover electric bill and some extra.

This will be a full day gathering, unlike the last OC party. Start in the morning, till 10pm (place will be closed at 10.30pm sharp)

What we'll probably do (you guys decide).
-OC sessions (bring and share your OC stuff)
-gaming sessions over LAN (bring your PCs!) Frag! Vroom! Triple Kill!
-chit-chat and have fun (like duh...)

Give your suggestions on date and what you want to do there, btw its a closed LAN party to its only open to those whom we know (If we don't know you, time to introduce yourself ).

Oh yeah, this time everyone do your normal OC first then only bring. OC party is for us to bring all our 'terror' stuff and share out so everyone gets a chance to push for extreme OC.

I'll see about that..but quite rush lo..
Earliest good date is 1 May, Labour day, any other suggestions?

Come la..
Still got internet connection there, u can still conduct your business..

I'll be there too, 11 ok?

Hujankosong, I'll do my best to get your fan controller done by then. Though there's no way I can possibly find bling bling knobs for it in such a short time...haiz. Originally planned to make some acrylic knobs to match the panel.

Not having internet access even at home really sucks..suspect my modem got fried..

Damn I'm a lucky man..
Yeah, been having lots of fun since Thu..can run crysis on high, but no higher than 1280x960 and without antialiasing..
Still looks great though my CPU seems to be bottlenecking my 3dmark06 score. Only 9730.

huhu..sorry for such a late reply..no prob..

Yeap, see ya there.

Lucky you. Been having hell with getting online since the 14. House internet got problem (modem suspected) and was having exams till Wednesday so couldn't really keep running to CC to go online.

Guys, suggest a date for OC & LAN party. How many of you can make it on 1st May? From previous replies I hear some can't make it on that day. I know you guys prefer weekends but I can't guarantee the venue is available on weekends. Weekdays no problem.

Btw also suggest what games you wanna LAN. My own favourites are Crysis, Supreme Commander, NFS:MW. Also don't mind some oldies like CS, Half-Life 1, Team Fortress Classic. Not a DOTA player though, keep making stupid mistakes and getting myself killed. Btw is it possible to LAN NFS:C or NFS:Prostreet?

Avoid PC depot unless you happen to find something ridiculously cheap there which is highly unlikely to spoil. Warranty claims there are very problematic, so if anything goes wrong with your purchase, you're basically screwed.

Its HD4000 series, not R400. And its not a rumor, ATI/AMD has officially announced that it will be out within the 2nd half of the year.

Performance wise, its worthwhile (I'm assuming you will overclock it kau kau). However, the price which you can sell your 939 X2 may be too low to make sense to upgrade.

Nice..
Damn, must finish one of my casemods and bring it..
Probably not going to happen though..

I'm back..
Busy recovering from a hectic week..PM box also full to the brim already..
And I'm also a little sick..

About the Lanparty, ideally I would like to have it this week while sifu coolice is still around. However the two days which most of us should be available..well, looks like most are NOT available.. So how guys? I'm open to suggestions.

How free are you guys this week? I'm free most of the time, with a few exceptions. If we want to hold the lanparty on sun, we'll only have half a day, as I'm not available on Sunday mornings. Also, its not confirmed that the venue (an office lot) is available on the weekend.

Well, they'll all go blind 1st..

Adrian, other than labour day, is there any day this week which you'll be able to come to Lanparty?

Sorry about the silence about the Lanparty, most of all to coolice, who brought all his stuff back from KL for nothing.

This is what happened, and its mostly because I've been an idiot
-I first made the suggestion for the lanparty about 2-3 weeks ago, while I was having my last few papers and also just found out we have a place we can use. At this time, I could only go online at cybercafes or in the USM library, as my house streamyx wasn't functioning.
-Finished my last paper on 23/4 (Wed), and spent the next 2 days moving my stuff back home. At this point, we hadn't decided on the date, though I did mention that Labour day was a likely option. From this point, I could only go online whenever I was at a friend's house, as I haven't found any cybercafes near my house (weird, I know. But then again I'm seldom at home except during holidays)
-Fri till Sun I was in Melaka, this was when I picked up Adrian's casing in KL on my way back. Did not get enough rest, fell sick and was out of action whole of Monday.
-Spent this week sorting out my stuff, since I didn't have time to clear up all the stuff I brought back from USM. Tried to fix the streamyx connection, found my modem was fried, and borrowed a modem. Took some time to get it up(cable length issues, normally its on wifi), and by this time (wed) I knew it was too late to call everyone for lanparty. Here's when I should have told all of you, but I didn't, I'm sorry.

So we can still have a Lanparty, though these things must be settled.

Venue & Date
-I have a venue ready, and we do not have to pay anything except perhaps compensate our host for electricity bill (which isn't much per person). Its an office unit opposite PISA, air-conditioned and furnished, used during weekends to hold classes for part-time degree students.
-Hence, there are a few conditions, it only available on weekdays, which is a problem for those who are working like @meno & Powerslide.
-I'm open to suggestions for other venues.

Time
-Another catch here for the venue I have, its only open till 10.30pm, so no overnight Lanparty. Stay longer than that, and we'll be locked in

Who's coming
-preferably not less than 6 people, though 4 is still okay for me.
-these are the people whom I know, and will keep informed of lanparties and POC events-@meno, pmmonkey, tapirus, rainingzero, powerslide, acecombat, tachlio, coolice, verz84, baok, cv6149

What to bring & what to do
-decide what special events we'll do (like dryice session- Sorry coolice ) and what we need to bring
-decide what games we'll be playing, and install ready in all our systems
-Lan equipment, food & drinks

Dream on..
However, we might be having like maybe our 3rd or 4th lanparty by then..

Got my streamyx back last week, but the working PC in my house is slightly nuts (my AM2 is in pieces at the moment, can only use the Barton). Other PCs still can't go online, as things are still too messed up to set up my wireless router and stupid modem is usb

One thing about this fri's Lanparty, its not free of charge, but rest assured no one is making any profit from it, its just to bear expenses like electricity and to get some extra stuff we might need (like routers).

LAN Party Details

Venue : 4th floor, Sri Relau complex. Its directly opposite PISA, near the place where the road splits to Relau.

Date & time : Fri, 9 May

What to bring :
-PCs (none supplied or for rent )
-Snacks and food (stuff that can be cleaned up easily)
-Network cables (I'll bring extra, but better if you can bring your own)
-Extension cords and multiplugs
-Anything else you feel like bringing

How much
-Its just to compensate for electricity cost, should be around RM1-2 per person (assuming 300W/PC (A64 or C2D, single GFX) at commercial rates) for 10 hours)
-extra watt are to compensate for air-con electricity cost
-current electricity cost
-we may need to buy an extra router/switch if can't borrow enough, which probably comes up to RM10-20 per person.

Events
-mostly free gaming, though you can ask in advance for a time slot to do do a special session (OC session or whatever)
-you guys decide what you want to play, and all of us please install ready all the games
-probably spend the first hour setting up the network

What's available (for us to use, that is)
-tables, chairs, whiteboard, air-con
-maybe a water dispenser, but not confirmed
-no routers by default, but I'll bring my own 4 port netgear and the CNet 8 port which was in my garage sales
-I have permission to log onto the wireless network next door, but unfortunately I can't get permission for you guys, so if you need to go online you have to use my PC

What I need to know from you guys
-who is coming
-what are you bringing (food, games, extra routers, ect)
-what time are you coming and how long can you stay
-what do you want to play
-anything else?

Any questions, you can ask here or contact me at 016-4936208


3431 brings in quite a lot of interesting PSUs. Eyeing the 670W delta..

Got your HR-05..
Reggie asked me to clean it up if possible..didn't know nickel could corrode that badly..
So are you coming or not?

This post has been edited by lohwenli: May 6 2008, 08:53 PM

Basically, I'll bring
-My Windsy F3, 3870 XT-III, Anny
-Netgear 4 port wireless router
-CNet 10Mbps 8 port hub
-All my WC stuff
-some of my electronic tools (tapirus, I'll mod your fan on the spot)
-a few extra surprises if possible

Hoping get to play
-Crysis
-Supreme commander
-any Need For Speed game
-Counter-Strike Condition Zero
-I'm ok with most FPS, RTS and racing games

I also have at least 2 non-forumer friends who will be coming with their rigs as well (one of which I helped to build).

Last Minute Update on LAN party

There's good news and bad news.

Bad news first-our venue is in use today, and we have to change venue or time.

Good news-venue will most likely be available on Sunday, which means more people can come.

We have a few choices
A-still have the LANparty today, but at my house (will be cramped, and time will be limited, from 7-10pm there will be other guests around, so after 10 only)

B-Have the LANparty tomorrow, still at my house (the office unit that's our original plan is never available on Sat). Time is less of a problem, but space is still limited.

C-Have LANparty on Sun, other than that everything

D-Find another venue and time. If there's not too many of us and most are USM students, we can use a USM cafeteria like the first OC party. Plenty of space since most of the hostels are empty, though there are a few of friends staying over the holidays who will also join us if we're there.

Looks like both of you might just have your problem solved..

Can, but you don't get to play unless someone lets you use their PC

45nm version of Phenom, with 6mb L3 cache + 512kb x4 L2 cache (total 8mb) which puts it in the same league as Penryn. What we're hoping for is that it solves the clockspeed issue, currently Phenom is slow because its cache is small and inefficient compared to Penryn. When a TLB bug-free Phenom is compared with a Conroe/Penryn of identical core count, cache & clockspeed, the difference is pretty small, showing that cache and clockspeed is the main problem of Phenom.

For the moment, if Deneb can compare with Penryn, it will be good enough for AMD. Don't have to beat Penryn, just be good enough to be competitive. Though Nehalem is coming very soon, it will require changing motherboards & DDR3 (which both are costly), and Intel's claims of Nehalam being ungodly fast seem far fetched, with the only big changes being the integrated memory controller and the QuickPath interconnect, both of which we know will not give that much difference in single processor systems (it has a big difference in multiprocessor systems though). Rest of the processor is very similar to Penryn, I mean, with only 1 extra year or R&D, what do you expect?

Its worthwhile only if you're going to overclock it, since you'll lose a bit of money changing systems. After overclocking, the e2xxx will outperform any AMD X2. However you must consider this, you won't notice mush difference in performance unless you do a lot of heavy processing like mathematica, photoshop, sound & video editing. In gaming you won't notice much difference unless you're already using a 9600/8800/HD2900/HD38xx.

Bombman's no is 0164307876. I heard he's not been online lately because he's very sick at the moment.

Still waiting for confirmation on that though. Btw can you join us? Or still have to work?

LAN Party update

Sunday it is then. However, the office unit is still not available Seems this week a lot of things on, so have to do it at my house. Next Sun confirmed available, but I rather not wait that long.

Ok, scratch that idea..

Looks like 2nd LAN party all set for next month. Though, for the time being, lets just get done with the first.


That will be late 2009, and possibly delayed. Intel will have to make substantial changes to their manufacturing line (immersion lithography) before going 32nm (Westmere). As it is, 45nm production isn't that great for the time being. Also, you can only multi-thread programs up to a certain point, its highly doubtful octa core will actually become practical. Due to that, both Intel and AMD are considering core counts not in powers of 2, like 6 core, though no details are confirmed yet.

Hope AMD's upcoming Bulldozer architecture doesn't take forever like K10 "Stars" did. However, I really doubt processors will get any faster on current design and materials, and die shrinks are rapidly approaching absolute limits (you can't make a transistor smaller than an atom). Currently Silicon-Germanium (Si-Ge) are showing the best promise, with possible clocks of up to 12-40GHz though at slightly higher cost than plain Silicon.