Monday, June 25, 2012

Dreaming Of Disassembly


Today, I woke up from a dream. I had a dream that I was disassembling my old MSI EX 460 Laptop (the one I mentioned previously that died on me, see: http://tomhuang03.blogspot.com/2012/06/getting-my-nerd-on-part-1.html). I lay in bed for a few minutes, debating with myself on whether or not I should go through with it, I weighed my options (warranty is already void, it's already non-functioning, I'll put everything back the way it was v.s. what if it can still be fixed, what if I break something, what if I can't put it back together) and then I decided, screw it, I'll turn this dream into a reality. So I got out of bed, took out my toolkit and laid out the laptop on a stable surface, which is actually just the foam mats I use for grappling. I tried looking for instructional videos and documentation to no avail, so I decided to go with the "unscrew everything from the outside in making sure to note down where each screw came from" method. I didn't get too far, I wasn't able to take the whole laptop apart as much as I had hoped/wanted to but I did get significantly far.


I was able to remove the optical drive and the Thermal Module as well as the Processor (Intel Core2Duo CPU T6600 @ 2.20GHz). But other than that, the case seemed to be held together by some other unreachable/hidden screws. Or I could be doing something wrong. I didn't want to force it and pry the thing open in the fear of breaking something. So after awhile, I put everything back together.




(MSI EX460 Dis-assembly, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang


(Intel Core2Duo T6600 CPU, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)
It was good being able to get that far and seeing the semi inner workings of this laptop. It's something I suggest you shouldn't do to a fully functioning, still under warranty, everyday usage laptop, unless of course you know what you're doing or are confident enough to risk it. This experience gave me an idea though, since I can easily get to the processor, why not try to give it an upgrade? I probably need to take it to a shop to have an initial assessment of what exactly is wrong with it in the first place.


I need to look into this possibility and do a little more research. All hope may not be lost for my dead MSI EX 460. Perhaps I can resurrect it.


Interesting.


If I find anything on the topic, then you will most likely see a new article regarding this.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Wednesday Surprise!

(LiteOn IHAS524 Optical Drive, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang

Today is an awesome day. My girlfriend surprised me with a present! Okay, it wasn't actually a surprise since I knew about it, because I was with her when she bought it. :P But I'm still surprised and very happy! Now that's one more item off of my PC Rig checklist! Thanks babe for my new Optical Drive and for always being so supportive! I love you! :]


And thank you DynaQuest PC (Eton Cyberpod) for my LiteOn IHAS524 Optical Drive and the hassle free transaction!

My First Overclock Attempt: AMD Duron 850MHz Spitfire

Overclocking. If this term sounds alien, allow me to share my knowledge about it. This is based on research, gathered knowledge and personal interpretation. So here it goes:


Overclocking, what is it? Overclocking is the process of getting your hardware to run faster than what was specified and tested by the manufacturer. The simplest way to describe it is pushing your hardware to it most stable limits. Overclocking is not limited to the CPU but also extends to your GPU, your RAM as well your Motherboard Chipsets (Northbridge Chipset and Southbridge Chipset, I'm not too familiar with this yet, but I do know it's possible.) But for this article, I only attempted to Overclock the CPU because my current test system has no GPU and pitiful RAM.


Now I hear the "purists" screaming "Why!? Why would you do that!?". Well, to put it simply, overclocking is done to get the most out of your current hardware (while maintaining stability of course.) with little to no cost, the little cost would probably come in the form of cooling hardware since heat will play a factor in your overclocking, more on this later on.


At this moment, I assume I'll be hearing something like "Okay, great. That's all good stuff. But what's the catch?" Well, as with anything in life, there is always some degree of risk involved. I'll list down some of the most common risks (as well as possible solutions to mitigate some of the risks) involved when one decides to overclock:

  1. Overheating. When you are overclocking, temperature will always be a factor. Increased speed = increased temperature of hardware being overclocked. This can be decreased by installation of a proper system cooling.
  2. Increased probability of system crashes and failures. Take note, I said probability, not certainty. This probability can be decreased (if not removed) by proper benchmarking and testing to get the most stable overclock possible.
  3. Voiding your warranty. Unless it's stipulated in your warranty or specified by the manufacturer, damage caused by overclocking is generally not covered by warranty.
  4. Decreased Hardware lifespan. Doubling the usual wear and tear will double the speed of deterioration (the same with most objects used in life).
These are the top risks in my opinion.

Now, with the presence of risks, there is also the presence of benefits which I will list below:
  1. Increase in system performance.
  2. Money saved from buying higher performance hardware.
  3. Increased understanding and appreciation for your system, hardware, generally increased knowledge. (This is priceless in my opinion.)
  4. Bragging rights. :] (if successful of course!)
These are the top benefits in my opinion.

Now let's get into the meat of this article. The actual overclock, as mentioned above, was only done directly to affect the CPU.

Here is a short overview of the system I tested this on:

(The Spitfire Test System, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)
PC Age (approximately 10 years old, hasn't been used in 5 years)

CPU: AMD Duron 850MHz (Codename: Spitfire)
Motherboard: Biostar M7VKG
RAM: 128MB PC-133 MS3828UPP SDRAM 100MHz
Graphics: Onboard (Microsoft S3 Graphics ProSavage 8A26)
PSU: Frontier 235w
Cooling System: No case fans,1 PSU exhaust fan
Case: Closed case with very minimal airflow vents
OS: Windows XP


(No overclock statistics, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)
Now that you know what I'm working with, here is the initial no overclock statistics of what my CPU is currently running at (see image, my apologies for the quality, there was interference with my iPhone's camera and the monitor). I was able to check these statistics using the freeware called CPUID CPU-Z. It's commonly used for viewing the current hardware statistics of your machine. As you can see, the core speed is steady at 850MHz. You only need to focus on the lower left section labeled "Clocks (Core #0)

Now upon restarting, I entered the BIOS menu by hitting the Delete button, I looked around to see what I could tinker with and found that this Motherboard is not too Overclocker friendly, I only found 2 customizable areas (the other one will be mentioned near the end of this article), the first one I found was under this sequence: Frequency/Voltage Control -> Linear CPU Clock Function (the default value is Disabled) -> Enabled function. Enabling this function now allows you to make modifications to the CPU Clock which has a range from 100MHz-132MHz. I've decided to try my adjustments in increments of 5MHz as it is recommended to gradually test. The CPU Multiplier is locked at 8.5 (This is a CPU limitation as well as a Motherboard limitation in this case) however I did a little research (see reference below) and I read that the CPU can be unlocked by making a physical adjustment to the L1 Golden Bridges on the surface of CPU itself which would unlock the CPU Multiplier allowing you to make adjustments here as well (I'm not comfortable enough to try this one out yet, but when I decide to do so, I will write about it, don't worry.). Another side note, apparently, adjusting the CPU Clock function directly increases the Front Side Bus (FSB) speed. The value that you set under the CPU Clock Function is the same as the value for the FSB speed, this will give you an increase in your overall Core Speed. (example: Setting the CPU Clock function value to 105MHz = 105MHz FSB Speed). Getting your Core Speed using this method is done through this simple formula (FSB x CPU Multiplier = CPU Speed/Core Speed, the example for my stock CPU: 100 x 8.5 = 850MHz)

The setting of this value apparently affects the DRAM Timing of your RAM as well, it also takes the same value set for your CPU Clock function.


For the benefit of transferring knowledge:



"Front Side Bus (FSB) - The Front Side Bus is the most important bus to consider when you are talking about the performance of a computer. The FSB connects the processor (CPU) in your computer to the system memory. The faster the FSB is, the faster you can get data to your processor. The faster you get data to the processor, the faster your processor can do work on it. The speed of the front side bus depends on the processor and motherboard chipset you are using as well as the system clock." (Source Website: http://www.directron.com/fsbguide.html)


Reference for Duron CPU Multiplier Unlocking: (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/duron-600.html)


For the purpose of this article when I say I adjust the FSB, I am referring to the CPU Clock Function in the BIOS that has a directly proportionate change to the FSB.

(Test 1 @ 105MHz FSB, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)
For my first overclocking run, I set the FSB to 105MHz and this resulted in a Core Speed of 892.7MHz, the system successfully booted to Windows. I performed simple benchmarking (opened multiple programs simultaneously, left running for 15 minutes, it's a short time, I know.) The CPU Temperature went up to 48 degrees Celsius from it's original 47 degrees Celsius. (See Test 1 image)



(Test 2 @110MHz FSB, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)
Now for the second run, I set the FSB to 110MHz and this resulted in a Core Speed of 935.5MHz, the system also successfully booted to Windows. I performed the same simple benchmarking as the previous test. Upon checking, the CPU Temperature went up to 50 degrees Celsius. (See Test 2 image)




(Test 3, Threshold Reached, Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)

And for the next run, I set the FSB to 115MHz and this resulted in the computer freezing at the initial boot screen after the settings in the BIOS were saved. But based on the initial screen, the potential Core Speed would have been 978MHz. Upon resetting the machine, this resulted in a BSOD forcing me to pull the plug in order to reset the BIOS back to normal. This is the current threshold of my PC. (See Test 3 image)

And this is where my attempt has temporarily ended. However, I do not consider Tests 1 and 2 successful Overclocks because I need to run a complete benchmark and stress test on this to make sure that the system runs and stays stable. After that is when I can determine the success of my Overclock. I suppose you could call them partially successful Overclocks.


Just an additional side note, I also found that you can also adjust your DRAM frequency using these steps in the BIOS for this Motherboard: Advanced Chipset Features -> DRAM CLK, here you have 2 options: Host CLK and HCLK+33m, the second option means your Host Clock plus 33MHz, in this case the Host CLK is at 100MHz which means there can be an additional 33MHz boost for your RAM. 

This attempt experience was a good learning opportunity for me to get know the inner workings of a PC as well as tinker with technology which is something that I enjoy. I now have a side project apart from building my rig: overhauling this system and rebuilding it into something  and pushing its limits again. >:)


*apologies for the photo quality, there was some interference between the monitor and my iPhone camera.

I will gather some benchmarking tools and run more tests on the current system, stay tuned for that article!


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Getting My Nerd On (Part 2)

Now this is where the fun begins. Step 2. Hardware shopping.


(Gilmore IT Center, Photo courtesy of Janine Lyn David)
For my first shopping trip, I invited two of my friends (Martin and Fred) to come join me in my quest. We met at my apartment for some strategic planning and final blueprinting as well as going over a checklist I had put together. After some tweaking and fine tuning, we decided to pay a visit to a known computer parts zone near in a city about 30 minutes from where I live. This place is called Gilmore IT Center, they have a multitude of shops located in the area, it's basically like a shopping mall for anything related to computers.


We stormed the place, checklist in hand, cash in my pocket.


Like I mentioned in Part 1, I went in search of what I consider the main organs of the rig first. My initial checklist for these two pieces of hardware were as follows: an AMD Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition for the CPU.


This actually changed as we scoped out all the shops in the zone. The processor I was initially looking for was no longer available, apparently, these processors are already being phased out to make room for the newer FX series aka "Bulldozer" processors of AMD. This was something I initially missed out during the intelligence gathering phase which caused me to make adjustments on the spot. But I suppose this was bittersweet, after asking all the stores, apparently the Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition was no longer available on the market. All hope seemed lost but I went back to 1 store that had very knoweldgeable salespersons and they said they had 1 piece remaining for an AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition. I said I would come back after doing a quick check of it's specifications and canvassing around in other shops (one shop actually used the same item from store I previously went to and tried to raise the price on me!), I finally decided to go back and take the last piece from the very first store I had checked.


The processor I have selected is the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition, it is a 3.3GHz Hexa Core CPU, I won't go into deep detail since everyone reading this probably has access to the AMD website anyway. :] Unfortunately though, I went over budget for this one because I had to shell out a little more cash for the processor I chose since the original one was no longer available. I had to sacrifice purchasing my Motherboard on that same trip which was the original plan because I went over budget, but for a well worth it purchase I think. 
Eton Cyberpod Corinthian (Photo courtesy of Janine Lyn David)


Now for the Motherboard, I had originally chosen the ASRock 970 Extreme 4, and to avoid the "on the spot" adjustment, I decided to give the target shops a call to check on the availability of the Motherboard, and it's a good thing I did the day before because upon asking about the availability of this item, I have been informed that shipping is apparently on hold for this item with uncertainty of when it will be available. (I think it's just bad luck for me!) So I had to adjust again (at least I had a 1 day buffer to really think and do ample research on the adjustment I'm going to make) and I ended up choosing the ASRock 990FX Extreme3, it's about 900 bucks (Philippine Pesos) more than the original board of my choice which isn't so bad. Again I won't go into deep detail for this, just a side note, it's an ATX form factor board (I mentioned this here because this will come into play when choosing a Casing/Chassis, another tip I learned just recently). This is my second round buying parts, I brought my girlfriend with me for this trip (yes, she is that supportive. :D) this time, we head to another location known for composed of stores that sell PC Hardware which is called Eton Cyberpod. This location is nearer than the first place I went to, it's about 10 minutes from where I live and I made sure to reserve the item beforehand to ensure item availability, it took me just 10 worry-free and hassle-free minutes to make the purchase.


As of this moment, I have completed what I consider the main parts of my rig. Now it's on to Phase 2. To be honest, I'm not too sure what Phase 2 would consist of, but rest assured my mental gears are turning to identify these. My rig build checklist is pretty much set but of course, I have left room for variables such as part unavailability (this seems to be quite common.) and price hikes/drops.


ASRock 990 FX Extreme3 (Photo courtesy of Janine Lyn David)
Thank you to PCNetmiles (Eton Cyberpod Corinthian) for my Motherboard and CKY Planet PC (GIlmore IT Center) for my Processor!
















AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition (Photo by Thomas Joseph Huang)

Stay tuned for the next part of my series which is Phase 2 of the Hardware shopping step (Step 2).


For Part 1: Check it here: http://tomhuang03.blogspot.com/2012/06/getting-my-nerd-on-part-1.html

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Getting My Nerd On (Part 1)


A few weeks ago, my trusty MSI EX 460 laptop was called into Silicon Valley Heaven. It was a sad day. From getting me through some school work, to passing the time, to daily activities, to a 24 hour LAN party with friends, this laptop has been through a lot with me. I suppose you could say it served it's purpose quite well. What added to the sadness is that I now have to resort to using my iPhone 4S (which isn't a bad thing, except for the small screen size) as well the office laptop (an old Dell Latitude D630) at home for my daily activities. This sparked a thought, "Why not go back to the Grade School and High School days? Why not build my own PC rig?" and this led to me "Getting My Nerd On".


Ever since I was about 14 years old, I've always had a fascination with technology, tinkering with it, taking it apart and putting it back or simply taking it apart and appreciating all the details (also because there were times when I couldn't put it back together. -_-).  With that being said, I guess it was only a matter of time before I got back into it. And since I have decided to build my rig from scratch, that childlike excitement got renewed in me. 


And this is where my quest begins.


Step zero. Goal setting. Begin with the end in mind. My goal is to build a mid-performance, mid-budget rig. This may be a subjective category though.


Step one. Due diligence. Researching like a beast. Reading specifications. Reading reviews. Watching reviews. Comparing reviews. Comparing parts. Window shopping. It's a very tedious process, but it is a necessary evil. It could also save you a bunch of money if you look well enough. Because in the technological world, things aren't always what they seem, faster is not always better, more expensive is not always the best. This was the simple advice from Martin, a very good friend of mine who has ample experience in rig building.


The first thing I gathered intelligence for was to find the main organs of the rig. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the Motherboard. Finding these is like preparing for marriage, the two need to be compatible or else there will be problems. The first piece I looked for was the CPU and the motherboard. Something I learned recently (courtesy of Martin) was the wattage capacity of the Motherboard (e.g. Processor Thermal Design Power (TDP) is 125w, Motherboard only supports 95w). I had no idea about this and it would have become an issue if I hadn't gotten this tip. This certainly helped me narrow my searches for parts.


This will serve as the first part of the series I will be putting together as I progress through my build.


Stay tuned for the next part when I begin purchasing the hardware!