Matt's Blog

Archive for March, 2008

Another 2GBs and a Fan

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Yesterday, I posted about my new computer, and today I decided to add to it a bit. I went to NCIX and bought another set of OCZ Gold 2x1GB RAM and an Antec Tricool 120MM Blue LED Fan (pretty much the same as the ones that come with my case). Which means my computer is now rocking 4GBs of RAM. It seems to start faster now, and is overall a bit speedier. Obviously I can run a lot more programs at once now. Right now, for example, I’m running my usual programs and a virtual copy of Vista (with a GB of RAM for it) without any slow downs what-so-ever. :)

The fan goes on the left side of the case, with the airflow pointed inward, right at my Video card. The only thing is, Antec only sells these fans with clear bodies, which sorta clashes with the black case and the other black fans. But, I guess it doesn’t matter all that much.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Released

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Windows Vista

Today, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista to the public. I’ve already installed it, and there’s not much that is noticeably different, most of the changes are under the hood. I installed SP1 with no problems, and it seems to be working well. So far, the only thing I’ve noticed that is visually different is the Start Menu. But, the only difference is there is no longer a Search button, which makes the Start Menu just a little bit shorter. Here’s a comparison of the Start Menu on SP1 (left) and on RTM (right) (click for a larger view:

Comparison of Start Menu in Vista SP1 (left) and RTM (right)

Service Pack 1 is currently available through Windows Update as an optional update, if it determines your computer is ready for it. Make sure to install any drivers or updates Windows Update wants you to install, and then SP1 will probably show up (you’ll have to click Check for Updates again). Alternatively, if SP1 isn’t showing up (and you’re sure you have everything required to install it) or you want to install it on multiple computer, it can be downloaded here. When installed from Windows Update, the download size will be smaller, because Windows Update will only download what’s necessary. Microsoft has said that SP1 will become an automatic update in about a month.

New Computer

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Back in December/January I built myself a new computer. Not that there was anything wrong with my old computer, I just wanted something more powerful. So, I went to NCIX.com, and order the parts. Here’s what I built my computer with:

The case comes with 3x120MM Antec TriCool Blue LED fans (2 in the front, 1 in the back) and an Antec TriCool 200MM fan (no LEDs) on the top (you can’t even buy 200MM fans!). The power supply is energy efficient, and powers everything just fine. The motherboard has everything I need, and works great. The processor is awesome, and amazingly overclockable (more on this in a sec). The memory is fast, and shiny (literally). The graphics card runs Aero perfectly, and runs Call of Duty 4 well. The hard drive and DVD writer is fast, and work.

This setup is definitely fast, and it managed to completely install Vista Home Premium in about 15 minutes (running stock).

After I installed Vista, I started to overclock the processor a bit, and managed to get it to 3 GHz, stable. It runs at almost the same temperature as when it was stock, since I set all the fans in the case on their highest setting (which also cools down my room, which will be a nice feature in the summer 😛 ).

Here’s my Windows Experience Index scores:

Windows Experience Index Score

With the exception of the Graphics card, they’re excellent scores.

I also decided to order a 64-bit disc of Vista, which I installed, and have had no problems with. :) Since Microsoft doesn’t sell retail 64-bit versions of Vista, if you own a retail copy of Vista, you can buy just the disc (not a serial number) of the 64-bit version of Vista (it’s around $15 w/ shipping, I think). You can find out more about it here

Here’s some pictures of my computer:

Computer - Left Angle View

Computer - Left Angle View - No Flash

Computer - Front Fans

Computer - Inside

As you can see in the above picture, cable management wasn’t a priority while building this computer. 😛

Poll: What’s Your Internet’s Advertised Download Speed?

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Reader Poll

Earlier today I posted that I got 10 mbps Internet, and thought I’d ask you what the speed of your Internet connection is. Here’s this rounds question:

What's Your Internet's Advertised Download Speed?

  • 6-10 mbps (67%)
  • < 1 mbps (33%)
  • 1-5 mbps (0%)
  • 11-20 mbps (0%)
  • 21-50 mbps (0%)
  • > 50 mbps (0%)

Total Votes: 3

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You can test the speed you’re actually getting at SpeedTest.net.

You can view the last Poll’s results here

Using Shaw’s 10 mbps Internet

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Sweet, we’re now trying out (we fully plan on ordering it) Shaw’s Xtreme-I Internet plan! It has a 10 mbps (megabytes per second) download rate, and a 1 mbps upload rate. It’s definitely fast. Here’s the results of a speed test at SpeedTest.net:

Speed Test Results

Also, the average transfer rate while downloading files is usually around 1-1.2 mbps, which downloads a 100 MB file in about a minute and a half. 😀