Lowyat.NET: Latest topics in Essential Reviews and Guides

[Solution] Icons in cd showing up wrongly, for XP

SpIcYjOe — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:32:54 +0800

Hey there... i found out a problem quite long ago but i didn't care it... now its getting really annoying coz i cannot identify what file is that when the icons all are IE icons... example:

They are folders and avi video but all shows IE icon... no matter .exe, .jpg, .avi, .mpg and so on... all shows IE icon...

I tried to fix it with TweakUI but the problem still comes back... TweakUI fixed it but only for awhile then the problem comes back again...

灿凌 RMHDD review, RMVB HDD player

mcat84 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:04:50 +0800

Official site
http://www.szshining.com/ViewProduct.aspx?id=41

Picture & Discussion
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/763615

I purchase this product mainly for RMVB playback.....all those TVB, Japanese TV series and some variety show....not need to watch on PC and do conversion.

The hardware:
1. Chipset = AML7228
2. Input = 2.5" IDE or SATA hard disk, external USB hard disk, thumb drive, card reader. Doesn't support USB DVD/CD drive
3. Output = VGA (max: 1280x1024), S-Video, composite and component, coaxial audio output

My Setup:
1. Dell 2007FP Monitor (connect using S-Video)
2. 2.5" 20GB IDE internal HD, 3.5" 80GB external USB HD
3. RMHDD
Trying to use VGA for connection but the picture quality not so good 'coz my LCD native resolution is 1600x1200 and the RMHDD support max. resolution of 1280x1024. So using S-Video for input.

Playback:
RMVB files --> test most of my rmvb collection.....working perfectly, even the dual audio RMVB files, just press the audio button in the remote control to switch between left/right audio (some of the HDD rmvb player doesn't play dual audio RMVB files). The spec. said it support 1280x720 rmvb playback......i don't have so high resolution rmvb files, so didn't test

mkv files ---> doesn't support

xvid,divx avi files --> doesn't really test.....just test on some CSI tv series and movie....working

mp3 files --> ok so far

Not much to test, just watch watch and watch all those rmvb files....

To conclude....pros, cons and bugs.

Pros.
1. Support IDE and SATA hard disk plus external USB devices (except USB DVD/CD ROM)
2. Multiple and standard output connection ....i.e. VGA, S-Video, composite, component and even a digital coaxial output
3. Big remote control - this is a must. i have used some of the small remote control on other hdd player before....super painful
4. time select and playback position memorized.

Cons.
1. Little bit pricey (RM240).......RM180 is the ideal price for me.....
2. Remote Control have Chinese word only. This is not a problem for me but for those who doesn't know Chinese....hmm...
3. It doesn't support external USB CD/DVD ROM.....may be is the chipset limitation
4. Doesn't support mkv ??.....am i too greedy?
5. subtitle too small on avi playback --- waiting for new firmware

Bugs
1. Some of the (filename) chinese character didn't show.....
2. Plugin the USB cable to the USB-port only will not detect the internal hardisk

Unheard of..but useful Google tools, courtesy of "Tip and Tricks"

evilhomura89 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:29:57 +0800

QUOTE

The emergence of Google has changed the way users utilize the internet significantly. Most net users Google information via Google’s browser, check email via their Gmail account, locate their girl friend’s house with Google Earth, and so on. Besides these useful and common tools frequently seen from Google, there are a lot more Google’s products available. A fan of Google has compiled a list of useful but not commonly known tools. Probably you’ve never heard of these tools, but it is worthwhile to give them a try.

http://www.tipandtrick.net/2008/useful-but...e-google-tools/

I found this is kinda interesting, so i've decided to share it.

Clearing out USB Drive Virus,

ericmaxman — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:00:44 +0800

Guys, if you suspect that your drive has a virus, just follow this few steps to remove it.

1. Do not double click on your flash drive.
2. Use the address bar to access your drive, ie if your drive is E, key in the address bar as --> E:
3. Locate AUTORUN.inf.
4. Open the file, no need to worry, in won't run like that.
5. See what program does it open, then proceed to delete that program.
6. If you cannot view hidden files, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Hidden.
7. Set the value back to 0, which is no.
8. If you cannot view the Folder Options, go here -> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
9. Under NoShowFolderOptions, change it to 0.
10. There have been cases of viruses like Kavo changing back the hidden files back to,err, hidden, the way is
11. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL
12. Find for CheckedValue, it should be a DWORD key. If its not, delete it.
13. The Folder Option should work by now.
14. Delete the files associated with the autorun file.
15. Done
16. If you are not sure, kindly download avira from the link.

Hope this helps.

The 4GB x86 Windows Memory Limit., What does it really mean?

cry4freedom — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:00:19 +0800

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the industry about what's commonly called the Windows "4GB memory limit." When talking about performance tuning and server sizing, people are quick to mention the fact that an application on a 32-bit Windows system can only access 4GB of memory. But what exactly does this mean?

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the industry about what's commonly called the Windows “4GB memory limit.” When talking about performance tuning and server sizing, people are quick to mention the fact that an application on a 32-bit Windows system can only access 4GB of memory. But what exactly does this mean?

By definition, a 32-bit processor uses 32 bits to refer to the location of each byte of memory. 2^32 = 4.2 billion, which means a memory address that's 32 bits long can only refer to 4.2 billion unique locations (i.e. 4 GB).

In the 32-bit Windows world, each application has its own “virtual” 4GB memory space. (This means that each application functions as if it has a flat 4GB of memory, and the system's memory manager keeps track of memory mapping, which applications are using which memory, page file management, and so on.)

This 4GB space is evenly divided into two parts, with 2GB dedicated for kernel usage, and 2GB left for application usage. Each application gets its own 2GB, but all applications have to share the same 2GB kernel space.

This can cause problems in Terminal Server environments. On Terminal Servers with a lot of users running a lot of applications, quite a bit of information from all the users has to be crammed into the shared 2GB of kernel memory. In fact, this is why no Windows 2000-based Terminal Server can support more than about 200 users—the 2GB of kernel memory gets full—even if the server has 16GB of memory and eight 3GHz processors. This is simply an architectural limitation of 32-bit Windows.

Windows 2003 is a little bit better in that it allows you to more finely tune how the 2GB kernel memory space is used. However, you still can't escape the fact that the thousands of processes from hundreds of users will all have to share the common 2GB kernel space.

Using the /3GB (for Windows 2000) or the /4GT (for Windows 2003) boot.ini switches is even worse in Terminal Server environments because those switches change the partition between the application memory space and kernel memory space. These switches gives each application 3GB of memory, which in turn only leaves 1GB for the kernel—a disaster in Terminal Server environments!

People who are unfamiliar with the real meaning behind the 4GB Windows memory limit often point out that certain versions of Windows (such as Enterprise or Datacenter editions) can actually support more than 4GB of physical memory. However, adding more than 4GB of physical memory to a server still doesn't change the fact that it's a 32-bit processor accessing a 32-bit memory space. Even when more than 4GB of memory is present, each process still has the normal 2GB virtual address space, and the kernel address space is still 2GB, just as on a normal non-PAE system.

However, systems booted /PAE can support up to 64GB physical memory. A 32-bit process can "use" large amounts of memory via AWE (address windowing extension) functions. This means that they must map views of the physical memory they allocate into their 2GB virtual address space. Essentially, they can only use 2GB of memory at a time.

Here are more details about what booting /PAE means from Chapter 7 of the book "Inside Windows 2000," by David Solomon and Mark Russinovich.

All of the Intel x86 family processors since the Pentium Pro include a memory-mapping mode called Physical Address Extension (PAE). With the proper chipset, the PAE mode allows access to up to 64 GB of physical memory. When the x86 executes in PAE mode, the memory management unit (MMU) divides virtual addresses into four fields.

The MMU still implements page directories and page tables, but a third level, the page directory pointer table, exists above them. PAE mode can address more memory than the standard translation mode not because of the extra level of translation but because PDEs and PTEs are 64-bits wide rather than 32-bits. The system represents physical addresses internally with 24 bits, which gives the x86 the ability to support a maximum of 2^(24+12) bytes, or 64 GB, of memory.

As explained in Chapter 2 , there is a special version of the core kernel image (Ntoskrnl.exe) with support for PAE called Ntkrnlpa.exe. (The multiprocessor version is called Ntkrpamp.exe.) To select this PAE-enabled kernel, you must boot with the /PAE switch in Boot.ini.

This special version of the kernel image is installed on all Windows 2000 systems, even Windows 2000 Professional systems with small memory. The reason for this is to facilitate testing. Because the PAE kernel presents 64-bit addresses to device drivers and other system code, booting /PAE even on a small memory system allows a device driver developer to test parts of their drivers with large addresses. The other relevant Boot.ini switch is /NOLOWMEM, which discards memory below 4 GB and relocates device drivers above this range, thus guaranteeing that these drivers will be presented with physical addresses greater than 32 bits.

Only Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server are required to support more than 4 GB of physical memory. Using the AWE Win32 functions, 32bit user processes can allocate and control large amounts of physical memory on these systems.

stevanistelrooy sez : Next time please provide the source where you copy and paste from! http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/yoonji.jang/148.html

goldfries sez : why same like http://vivekr.wordpress.com/the-4gb-window...it-really-mean/

Edited: Oh my bad. Sorry mods

Sauce: http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article...it-really-mean-

Quick and Dirty Way to Boot from USB,

mayhammer — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:04:59 +0800

Hi all,

Objective of this is to boot your PC with a USB thumbdrive

You need the following

1) ADRC_Data_Recovery_Tools_1.1. It can be found here

http://www.adrc.com/software/data_recovery_tools/index.html

If you dont like the software, I think any of the raw sector read/write software will work just as fine, such as loaddskf and etc

2) A bootable floppy of your choice(I used a WinXP bootdisk)
3) A USB thumbdrive
4) A mobo capable of booting from USB (most modern ones are compliant)
5) To have NTFS support in DOS, you will need to download avira ntfs4dos
http://www.free-av.com/en/tools/11/avira_n...s_personal.html
6) Best to start fresh, so format your thumbdrive

Steps

Part 1

Run ARDC Data Recovery Tools 1.1.exe
Click on Tools -> Raw Copy
Select your source disk -> a:
Select your destination -> your USB thumdrive drive
click transfer

Part 2

Go to your PC bios
Change the boot sequence to boot from USB
In some bios, there are multiple selection, if you unsure which, just set your sequence to utilize all the boot options for USB

eg.

1st boot : USB Floppy
2nd Boot : USB HDD
and etc

Save your entries and reboot.
If all goes well, you will boot up thru your thumbdrive

For NTFS Support
1) Run NTFS4DOS Floppy Wizard
2) Select A:
3) Follow the selections and finish the setup
4) Continue with Part 1 above

or

1) Run NTFS4DOS Floppy Wizard
2) Select X: (assuming X drive is your thumbdrive)
3) Follow the selections and finish the setup
4) Continue with Part 2 above

Reasons for doing this
1) faster boot time
2) no floppy drive and etc

Hope this guide helps

The only drawback is the USB size is limited to 1.44 MB. But like I said, this is a quick and dirty guide.

A better method is bart's mkbt. A guide exists on bootdisk.com. look for method 1

http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm

Ways to Free download video and put it on your iPo,

claretrina — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:39:49 +0800

The tutorials introduce many websites that provide free stream video as well as the ways to free download these videos and movies. It also describes the step by step way about putting free videos to iPhone, iPod, Zune, PSP, mobile phones, Sandisk, Pocket PC, Creative Zen, PDA, Archos, iRiver, Apple TV, Xbox 360, PS3 and other MP4 player etc for Windows and Mac.

This article includes four parts:
Part 1: Free Resource of stream video.
Part 2:: How to free download limewire music and video to computer?
Part 3:: How to download free youtube video for free?
Part 4:: How to put free music and video to iPhone, iPod, Zune, PSP, mobile phones, YouTube etc? (Windows & Mac)

Part 1: Free Resources of Stream Video:
This is a list of websites that provide stream video, if you want to download video from those sites, you need some special software to capture the stream video. The step by step guide is given in the next part.
The downloaded video is flv format, if you want to convert the flv video to iPod, iPhone, PSP, Zune, Sandisk, Pocket PC, Cell phone, Creative Zen, PDA, Archos, iRiver, Apple TV, Xbox 360, PS3 and other MP4 player, you can use this Video Converter to convert flv to the right format..
Note: this website list will update frequently, you can bookmark this page and return here easily.

www.youtube.com - (Video, Music Video and MP3)
video.yahoo.com
www.myspace.com - (Video, Music Video and MP3)
www.photobucket.com
uncutvideo.aol.com
www.nba.com
www.cnn.com/video/
www.bebo.com - (Video, Music Video and MP3)
www.metacafe.com
www.dailymotion.com
www.blip.tv
www.revver.com
www.archive.org
www.break.com
tv.com
broadcaster.com
livevideo.com
www.imeem.com - (Video, Music Video and MP3)
peekvid.com
www.liveleak.com
netlog.com
www.gofish.com
www.ifilm.com
www.putfile.com
mojoflix.com
www.porkolt.com
www.heavy.com
www.bolt.com
kontraband.com
filecabi.net
grouper.com
www.tv-links.co.uk
www.vsocial.com
jokeroo.com
brightcove.com
spikedhumor.com
www.vidmax.com
savvy.com
www.glumbert.com
www.vidilife.com
pyzam.com
www.funnyjunk.com
www.totallycrap.com
www.vidiac.com
www.fhm.com
www.weakgame.com
www.yikers.com
www.videocodezone.com
uniquepeek.com
www.killsometime.com
tetesaclaques.tv
dumpalink.com
www.neatorama.com
livedigital.com
www.vimeo.com
www.greenshines.com
www.bravotv.com
thatvideosite.com
www.boreme.com
www.wtfpeople.com
www.wildko.com
www.machovideo.com
www.funnyordie.com
www.yourdailymedia.com
wewin.com
www.slackernetwork.com
www.redbalcony.com
www.shoutfile.com
www.funnyhub.com
www.sharkle.com
www.buzzhumor.com
www.ejb.com
www.vidking.com
www.vmix.com
www.videoegg.com
www.funmunch.com
www.dailyhaha.com
www.videojug.com
www.ownagevideos.com
www.evtv1.com
www.psfights.com
www.devilducky.com
mentalfunk.com
www.freaknfunny.com
www.bofunk.com
aniboom.com
www.funmansion.com
www.chumvideo.com
fugly.com

Part 2: How to free download limewire music and video to computer?
1.Download Limewire software, it’s totally free. http://www.limewire.com/download/version.php
2. Install and run the Limewire, Just type in some words that you may be interested in, choose the type, and press search, then you can get a lot of files to download.

Find the just file and click download to get it. You can also download multiple files in one time.
After you download the file, then right-click on the download files and choose “explore”, then you can locate your download files on your computer. You can also click Option, then you can set the default downloaded directory. Click tool folder for saving your file.

Part 3: How to download free youtube video for free?
Step1. Open this website:http://vixy.net/. It's a free online FLV converter.
Step2. Then go to YouTube http://www.youtube.com and find a video that you love. Copy the URL that in the Red box. Like this format: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs

Step3. Paste your video file URL to the input box (figure as follow), choose the right format you want. If you want to edit the video, AVI is a good choice. And MP4 is fit for iPod, PSP, Zune, Apple TV and other MP4 players. This online converter also can rip audio to MP3. Then wait for the conversion.

Step4. When the conversion finished, we got the download link of the output video. Click the download link to download the video and save in your computer (remember where you save it in). Done.

If you want to download, convert, play and manage your favorite YouTube videos, you can use the YouTube Mate, it can easily:
* downloads YouTube videos
* supports unlimited simultaneous downloads (a real time saver!)
* automatically names the downloaded video the same as the YouTube title
* converts YouTube videos to various video formats, including avi, DivX, XviD, rm, rmvb, MOV, MPEG, and WMV for iPod Video, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPhone, Zune, PSP, as well as video capable MP3 players, video capable mobile phones, and Pocket PC.

Part 4: How to put free music and video to iPhone, iPod, Zune, PSP, mobile phones, YouTube etc? (Windows & Mac)

For Windows:
1: Download the latest versionUltimate DVD Video Converter Suite, and install it. You can download about it by referrring here.

2. Run the Ultimate Video Converter, load the video files you'd like to convert by clicking 'Open file' button.

3. Profile select. You can choose other video formats: iPod, iPhone, iPod touch, iPod video nano, Zune, PSP, video capable MP3 players, video capable mobile phones, Pocket P.C and so on. iPod MPEG4 Movie(.mp4) is the default video for iPod video quality. Set the appropriate format as you like.
4. Output settings. Set your Audio/Video output Settings and tick appropriate parameters.
5. Choose the pathname where you want to save your video files by clicking the right button of Output table. When everything setted well, click the 'Convert' button to start converting.

For Mac:
1. Install and run Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac, click the "Add" button to import your videos. This Video Converter for Mac support batch conversion, so you can import multiple files at a time.

2. This software can convert video to various video formats for iPod, iPhone, PSP, Zune, cell phone, etc. Click the “Format” drop-down list to select the format you prefer for each added file. If you don’t know what formats your device supports, you can just select the format according to the device name.

If you want to customize the output quality, click the “Settings” button to open the Settings panel, where you can set resolution, frame rate, video bit rate, audio bit rate, sample, etc. Since Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac supports batch conversion, you can use different profiles for the added video files to save your time. If you don’t want to do these settings, the default settings will just work perfectly.

After all you finish the above steps, click “Start” to begin the conversion.

Guide on sharing your Wireles Broadband, using Wireless Router

cyberfly — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:25:24 +0800

Directly translated from :
http://jomphp.blogspot.com/2008/07/membuat-rangkaian.html

If you want to share your Wireless Broadband (Celcom 3.5g,Maxis 3g,Digi Edge, etc..) with other pc,this tips might help you.

1.Go to Network Connections.

2.Right click on your Wireless Modem and click properties.

3.Click on the "Advanced" tab and tick the "allows other network user to connect" box.

4.Click OK.

5.Go back to Network Connections.Make sure the LAN cable is connected from your pc to the Wireless Router.

6.Rigt click on Local Area Connection and click properties.

7.Double click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

[attachmentid=531034]

8.Set the IP like this picture.(You can change the IP if you an advanced user )

9.Click OK.

10.Now access your wireless router and set the DHCP into "Automatic configuration - DHCP"

11.Finish!

Now any pc that connect to your Wireless Router will have an internet connection

Guide on how to add words..., Beside the Taskbar Clock!

Braynumb — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:40:18 +0800

FRIENDLY REMINDER:
Please do not alter any other entries in your registry editor unless you really, REALLY, know how to and what to alter. Please Follow this guide to the latter. I will not be held responsible if you altered more than was is supposed to be done and ruin your Windows Operating System. This is a simple STEP by STEP guide. So, PLEASE, again I remind you, Follow the STEPS that is provided. Thank You.

Here's a little guide on how to add fancy words beside your taskbar clock. I actually learned this while trying to clean out a virus which added some words beside the clock. Already tested it with both XP and Vista, and they WORK on BOTH! so NO worries! Anyway, without further adue, here goes!

First:
-Click "Start"
-Then "Run"
-Then type in "regedit" and click "OK" to enter into your registry editor.
[attachmentid=530349]

-On the LEFT side of the registry editor, Double Click on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER", Then "Control Panel", Then sellect "International"
-Then on the Right side of the registry editor, Double Click on "sTimeFormat"
-Then, In the edit string's value data box, after the "h:mm:ss tt" , press space, then enter the words you want to show.
Example: h:mm:ss tt Braynumb
[attachmentid=530350]

-Then, just click "OK" and just restart your PC, and VOILA! Words on your taskbar!
[attachmentid=530348]

[attachmentid=530374]

Cool eh? So, Enjoy yourself and try it out! but remember my reminder ok?

Cheers!

Updates:
when using the letters h,m,s or t, the words that's set will change to numbers because it will follow the time format and the current time.
Eg: when time is 12:15:35pm and the word "My Honeys" is used, the words shown would be "15y 12ney35"

So far, there's no way to bypass this. So, try using words without those letters!

PSU guide, The basics of the Power Supply Unit

kmarc — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:34:00 +0800

Noob guide to the basics of a computer PSU (Power Supply Unit)

I myself knew nothing about PSUs and wanted to know more about it. So, in the quest to find out more about PSUs, I did my own reading, from whatever available sources on the net. As such, this guide was created to help other noobs (like me) who wants to understand more about the PSU.

All information was pulled from the net and references are listed at the end.

Any help/advice/comments are most welcomed, especially PSU gurus!

Index:

1st post
- The Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Definition
- The basics
- Before we begin - ATX form factor
- How to read the specification of a PSU
- The very very important 12v rail
- Multiple 12V rails vs. Single 12V rail

2nd post
- The basic components of a PSU
- Connectors
- Modular PSUs

3rd post
- Efficiency
- The "80 PLUS" standard
- Power Factor Correction (PFC)

4th post
- Which brand is a good brand?
- How much watt does my rig need anyway?
- Tips on buying a good PSU
- References

The Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Definition
Everybody knows what a PSU is but here’s a simple definition anyway:
A component that supplies power to a computer by converting AC power drawn from your main socket to usable low-voltage DC power for the internal components of your computer. The output of DC power are through rails (see below).

AC – Alternating current
DC – Direct current (no, I’m not going to explain this, google it up yourself! )

Take a look at this picture for better understanding:

[attachmentid=520681]

The basics

Important terms

Watt – The accepted market rating for power supplies
- Watts = Volts(v) x Amps(A)
- This formula is important to calculate the wattage on each rail. Read on for further understanding

Rails – Every power supply has many rails. Each rail is rated for a specific voltage, and will always carry that voltage no matter how many devices are connected to it
- However, each rail has an AMPERE RATING (A). The more devices you connect to each rail, the lower the available amperage to the rest of your computer system will be on that specific rail.
- Examples of the rails available on a typical PSU:

[attachmentid=520684]

Before we begin - ATX form factor
Know that most common PSUs are build to conform to the ATX form factor @ standard (google this for more info). As such, the guide is based mainly on ATX power supplies unless stated otherwise.

ATX – Advanced Technology Extended

The ATX form factor has had 5 main power supply designs throughout its lifetime:

[attachmentid=520693]

ATXv12 v2.2 is the current standard. However, there’s a new Intel ATX12V v2.3 specification.

Additional notes on the 24-pin main connector: PCI-E requires a 75-watt power requirement that was not capable with the older 20-pin connector. To handle this, 4 additional pins were added to the connector to supply the addition power through 12V rails

Most PSUs nowadays comes with a 24-pin connectors actually have pins arrange in a 20+4 setup….. The detachable 4-pins connector will allow the connector (20-pins) to fit into older motherboards that uses the ATX12V 1.0/1.3 specification (see the part on "connectors").

How to read the specification of a PSU
So, if you understand the basics, you should be able to read the specification of a PSU.
Take a look at the specs of my Enermax Liberty 500W:

[attachmentid=520744]

1st row - shows your AC input (your wall socket voltage i.e. 240v for Malaysia)

2nd row – shows the DC output to all the rails (i.e. +3.3v, +5v, dual 12v rail (+12V1 & +12V2), -12v, +5vsb)

3rd row – shows the Amperage (A) for each rail

4th row – shows the maximum wattage for the rails
- Note that the +3.3v rail and the +5v rail both comes under the maximum wattage of 160W.
- This means that the PSU cannot feed both the rails maximum amperage at once. It can feed the +3.3v rail to 28A, or it can feed the +5v rail to 30A. However, it cannot feed both the rails to their maximum at the same time i.e. (3.3v x 28A) + (5v x 30A) = 92.4 watts + 150 watts = 242.4 watts (which exceeds the 160 watt limit)

- Also note that this PSU has two 12V rails - +12V1 & +12V2
- Why 2 rails instead of 1?
--- +12V1 max Ampere is 22A and +12V2 max Ampere is also 22A
--- However, when added together, the maximum Ampere is 32A and NOT 22A + 22A = 44A

--- This is because this kind of PSU only has one set of circuitry inside the PSU which generates the 12 volts, capable of supplying 32A in total (32A x 12v = 384w). However, due to various reasons (see below on "Multiple 12V rails vs. Single 12V rail"), it is split into 2 separate 12 volt outputs each with its own current limit circuitry (i.e. +12V1 & +12V2), each capable of supplying 22A for each rail (22A x 12v = 264W). As such, if you try to draw more than 22 amps from either of the +12v rails, the PSU will shut down. If you try to draw more than 32 amps of total current from BOTH of the rails, the PSU will also shut down.

Note : So now you know why your rig keeps on shutting down!!!

- In other words, just like the 3.3v and the 5v rails, the two +12v rails are also NOT additive. Peak power is for one or the other, but not both at the same time i.e. (12v x 22A) + (12v x 22A) = 264w + 264w = 528w. The peak power is indicated as 384w (32A) which is 12v x 32A = 384w.

Right most column – shows the:
Total power = 500w (which is what we commonly refer to as “True power” or equivalent)
Peak power = 550w (which can be deceiving……more on this later)

Note that when you buy a PSU, you want to see the amount of CONTINUOUS power that the PSU can supply. For my Enermax, it is 500w.
Some manufacturers provide PEAK power, to make it more attractive for buyers. However, peak power is considered as false advertising, trying to make users buy their product based on their cheap but falsely high PSU wattage.

The very very important 12V rail.....
From the table above, you can see that the 12V rails supply important components especially the CPU and the graphic card.

Nowadays, the graphic card needs more and more power and it is a must for you to check the requirements of a graphic card before you buy the graphic card or PSU. Manufacturers usually do state the PSU requirement on their website or on the product box.

Here are some examples of some graphic card power requirements:

[attachmentid=540039]

Example 1

Wait a second. Take a look at my Enermax Liberty specification:

[attachmentid=522693]

If you look at the specification of my PSU, you'll notice that my +12V1 is only 22A (red circle) and my +12V2 is also 22A. So, how can I run my 8800GT (requiring 26A on the 12v rail) with this PSU?????

Well, the answer is that the rating on the 12v rail is the COMBINED amperage. For my Enermax, the combined rating on the 12v rail is actually 32A (blue circle), which would run the 8800GT just fine. Note that this PSU would not be recommended to run the GTX260 or GTX280 as their amperage rating is far higher.

Example 2

Take a look a this PSU:

[attachmentid=522694]

From the specs, it is obvious that this PSU has only one 12v rail which is rated at 22A. As such, this PSU is not recommended to run any of the Nvidia GPU listed above!

For the above statement,Note the word "not recommended" as opposed to "cannot". I didn't say that this PSU CANNOT run, say, the 8800GT. What is important is that this PSU does not meet the requirements of the manufacturer and thus NOT recommended to run on that PSU. You might still be able to use it if you want, but might encounter instability, BSODs, reboots and worse of all, damage to your graphic card or your whole rig.

Example 3

Here's another example. It's a Cooler Master Real Power 550w PSU:

[attachmentid=540060]

Let's concentrate on the +12v rails.

From the specs, you can see that the PSU as 3x +12v rails. It also states the "Peak" amperage and "continuous" amperage. Remember that the "continuous" amperage is the important one.

You can see that the total wattage on the +12v rails is 360W. Wait a second. There is no amperage stated!

That's easily solve by calculating the amperage as you already the the voltage and wattage.

Remember the formula : Watts = Voltage x Amperes

So, Amperes = Watts / Voltage = 360w / 12v = 30A

So, this PSU has 30A on it's 12v rails

Multiple 12V rails vs. Single 12V rail

I'm getting a BIG headache regarding this. Will try to summarize these issues if possible. In the meanwhile, take a look at some good references:
http://www.playtool.com/pages/psumultirail/multirails.html
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/181/12
http://www.xcpus.com/forums/cases-psus/109...-101-102-a.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page3.html

A guide to enable Line In audio direct to Speaker, sharing is caring :P

klifex — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:06:10 +0800

Several users asked me about how to enable the line In function in vista mode.
not like the old WinXP and old machines where we usually have 3 x 1/8 jack (Mic, Line iN and audio Out), some later version laptop has actually combine both the Mic and Line In into one jack.
some people might confuse because in the older days, they used to hear they own voice directly from speakers once they connect their mic...
but not in the Vista mode, because Microsoft Vista has a bug ,
thus, same things happens for those users who wish to line In their Ipod, Zen or other audio device to the laptop and hears nothing...
this is because the direct speaker out was disable.

and thanks to our freelance debuggers, there's a solution for it.

Well, I found the following (below) created the Settings/ Filter/ SpeakerHp keys, and entered the new binary variable 'EnableInputMonitor' w/ a value of '01', thing is, when I restart, and reopen registry editor, it has taken all of that stuff out! and no, the microphone still doesn't show in the speakers/ headphones properties levels area. This apparently has worked for some people though.

Long and short of it is:
1) Open regedit (Start->Run, type regedit)
2) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000\Settings\filter\SpeakerHp\
3) Create a new Binary Value
4) Give it the name EnableInputMonitor
5) Set it's value to 01
6) Restart your machine
7) Open your Playback Devices (right click on volume control icon in system tray, select Playback Devices)
8) Open the Speakers/Headphones
9) Go to the levels tab
10) Unmute the input monitor

There you go, you can now hear your microphone on your speakers.
[attachmentid=513818]
this is what you see in step 10, enable the input monitor.

Hope this help!!

anything just Pm me.
i'm ready to help you all.

Svchost.exe caused CPU usage 100%, Click here for Solutions ...

ml1005 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:41:17 +0800

Press Alt-Ctrl Delete, and click on Processes. You will notice that Svchost.exe have occupied most of the memory capacity. Here is some solution in order to fix it. It works...

1. Click Start->Run, type "services.msc" (without quotation marks) in the
open box and click OK.
2. Double click the service "Automatic Updates".
3. Click on the Log On tab, please ensure the option "Local System account"
is selected and the option "Allow service to interact with desktop" is
unchecked.

4. Check if this service has been enabled on the listed Hardware Profile. If
not, please click the Enable button to enable it.
5. Click on the tab "General "; make sure the "Startup Type" is "Automatic".
Then please click the button "Start" under "Service Status" to start the
service.
6. Repeat the above steps with the other service: Background Intelligent
Transfer Service (BITS)

Step 4: Re-register Windows Update components and Clear the corrupted
Windows Update temp folder

1. Click on Start and then click Run,
2. In the open field type "REGSVR32 WUAPI.DLL" (without quotation marks) and
press Enter.
3. When you receive the "DllRegisterServer in WUAPI.DLL succeeded" message,
click OK.
4. Please repeat these steps for each of the following commands:

REGSVR32 WUAUENG.DLL
REGSVR32 WUAUENG1.DLL
REGSVR32 ATL.DLL
REGSVR32 WUCLTUI.DLL
REGSVR32 WUPS.DLL
REGSVR32 WUPS2.DLL
REGSVR32 WUWEB.DLL

After the above steps are finished. Sicne temporary folder of Windows Update
may be corrupted. We can refer to the following steps to rename this folder
that

1. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following
command in the opened window.

net stop WuAuServ
(note, you might need to reboot before the net stop command will work)

2. Click Start, Run, type: %windir% and press Enter.
3. In the opened folder, rename the folder SoftwareDistribution to SDold.
4. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following
command in the opened window.

net start WuAuServ

Unable to open "Hidden File" ?, Download this KillFlash1.0

ml1005 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:39:54 +0800

Normally if we want to open a hidden file, just double click on "my computer" , "tool" and then "folder option" to enable the hidden files right ?
One day, i found that when i was trying to click on "tool", but couldnt find the "folder option". I knew thats something wrong with the virus...

I got a solution to fix it and it really works....

Download " Killflash 1.0 " extract it and run then restart...hehe now everything is back to normal...

u can get it easily from google search....

Thanks

Error on Samsung MP3 Player YPU3J., Cant detect/cant play. How? Click to fix

IceCube — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:04:43 +0800

I cant seem to find any forum or local website that have solution to this problem but i found it off an italian site or hungrian site.

It needs a firmware upgrade and re patch 2 files into the SYSTEM folder (how do u patch when it cant even detect??) Easy.

By pressing the record and play button together and insert it into the usb slot. (hold down the button).

Even at samsung own website you can only download the manual and media player files.

Save your time from sending it back to samsung for warranty.

For more info. Download the file (pdf and exe files and also firmware and patch files in one rar/zip file).

http://icecube.keepandshare.com

The file name is DFU_update_1_10_MSC.rar

Let me know if someone find it useful as i done it on my mp3 and it works!

Fan's bearing description,

ff7yta — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:21:33 +0800

Adopted from http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/cpucoo...-august2k2.html

QUOTE(http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/cpucoolersinquestion/fans-inquestion-august2k2.html)

Fans are playing a crucial role in modern technologies of computer cooling. Being the main component of forced air cooling systems, they are widely used in processor coolers, cooling devices for hard drives and video cards, systems units, power units, peripherals etc. In the Part 1 we studied all most important features concerning fans, their fundamental parameters, characteristics and working properties. Today we will look again at such devices, this time from the technical viewpoint and take into account all important technical details.
Fan's design and peculiarities of functioning
Modern direct-current fans are based on one- or two-phase thyratron motors. Such motors consist of two main parts: control circuit and inductor mechanism. The latter is a rotor-stator tandem where a rotor is an annular permanent magnet and a stator is a four-polar (sometimes 6-polar) inductor.

[center][/center]

A control circuit can be different. The most popular variant is based on a chip-driver with an integrated Hall device (Analog Technology ATS276/277 chips and their clones are usually used); it fulfills matched inductor's phase switching which allows the latter to induce a rotating magnetic field in the rotor-stator space and make the rotor move. Some advanced fans can use much more complicated and multifunctional chips-drivers coming with a tachometer control, security circuits for a circuit feeder and detection of impeller stoppage (for example, Sanyo LB1663 chip). But such control circuits are not very popular among manufacturers and are rather an exclusion than a rule.

[center][/center]

Now let's take a look at the mechanical part of a fan, i.e. its bearings. As we mentioned in Part 1, the rotor's (impeller's) shaft can be attached to the base using:

* sleeve bearing
* combined bearing (one sleeve bearing - one ball bearing)
* two ball bearings

Let's start with a sleeve bearing. Not so long ago such bearing was quite popular thanks to its low prime cost and a simple technology of production of such fans: a sleeve bearing is made in the form of a primitive bronze bush, a steel rotor shaft is mounted in the bearing with a plastic locking ring, and the bush is plugged up with two rubber glands attached to the shaft of each its end (the glands prevent grease leakage from the shaft-bearing gap).

[center][/center]

At first glance, everything looks OK. But if you look closer at a sleeve bearing you will notice several quite sad downsides.

First disadvantage. As there is a gap between the bearing's internal surface and the shaft, the impeller's shaft rattles inside the bearing (beating of the shaft is rather noticeable). That is why it makes an abrasive effect on a bearing: its cross section becomes ellipsoidal instead of being round. The shaft begins rotating unstably, its noise level increases (creaking and tapping appears in the fan's noise spectrum), power consumption rises and the fan heats up more. If the impeller is unbalanced, the bearing can get damaged quite quickly and the fan will die.

Second disadvantage. Grease can leak out from the shaft-bearing gap (despite glands and other precautions). As a result, the shaft and the bearing run against each other without any grease, the impeller's speed falls down and a noise level increases.

Third disadvantage. The shaft-bearing gap is made as narrow as possible to prevent an ellipsoidal shape of the bearing. But if grease inside the bearing is not enough or it's of low quality, the motor starts with difficulty which causes increase in current consumption and power dissipation (sometimes it may result in stoppage of the impeller and damage of the fan). And the fan's service life becomes shorter.

Fourth disadvantage. Fans based on sleeve bearings can't stand high ambient temperatures. Over 50-60°C the service life of such fans gets much shorter and usually doesn't exceed 5,000 hours.

All these disadvantages coupled with careless attitude toward product quality of certain manufacturers make doubtful usage of fans based on sleeve bearings in computer cooling systems where reliability is of the utmost importance. Such fans are quite cheap, but a greedy man pays twice or even more. Because damage of a fan of a processor's cooler may cause death of the processor itself.

Now let's turn to a combined model based on sleeve and ball bearings.

[center][/center]

I can't say such a combo solves all problems, but it seats on a higher level.

First of all, a sleeve bearing plays a subsidiary role (it's used as a shunt). A ball bearing takes the main load. And as rolling friction is less than sliding friction, the motor starts easier and the power dissipated is lower.

Secondly, a combined construction is less sensitive to a disbalance of an impeller. The shaft's beatings are reduced to a great degree by a ball bearing, and probability of an ellipsoidal shape of the bush and its damage is minimal (provided that technical regulations at the plant are not neglected and quality of finished products is strictly controlled).

At last, the combined fans can work in quite complicated conditions (at high ambient temperatures and increased air humidity).

However, the problem of grease leakage from the bush/shaft gap is not solved here, which may result in a slower rotation of the impeller and a higher noise level. Sometimes too sticky or lubricating grease can be used, but they even worsen the situation: grease is pressed out of the gap anyway, or, which is worse, thickens forming hard particles. At worst, a shaft jams, and the fan gets damaged.

The last fan we have to estimate today is one based on two ball bearings.

[center][/center]

Although this construction is not a cure-all, fans on two ball bearings are preferable for processor coolers, power units and system units.

The main advantage of a design based on two ball bearings is high reliability and durability of such fans. Two ball bearings excellently supplement each other, provide an easy start of a motor and steady rotation of an impeller. Consumed power of such fans is as a rule lower as compared with products based on a combined bearing or a sleeve one which improves thermal conditions and increases reliability of their operation. Besides, fans based two ball bearings do not require special grease, the problem of grease leakage does not exist.

Another advantage - a fan based on two ball bearings is a well balanced construction. A spiral spring set on a shaft between the first bearing and the impeller eliminates a possible disbalance of a rotor, and residual beating of the shaft will be mutually made up for by two ball bearings. As a result, the fan works stably in almost any position relative to the gravity vector.

The last important advantage is that fans based on two ball bearings are able to work stably and reliably in very high ambient temperature (up to 70-90°C)

The only disadvantage of such devices is their high cost. But high-quality miniature ball bearings are very complicated and labor-intensive products (one high-precision ball bearing can cost $3-5 and higher while one miniature sleeve bearing is usually not dearer than 10 c). That is why high prices top-quality fans are offered at are inevitable. There is nothing to do. Health of a computer system is anyway more expensive.

Well, that's all I had to say about the electromechanical part of fans, and now we are turning to the last crucial technical aspect of an aerodynamic character.
Performance curve (metric characteristic) of fans
Last time we studied one of the most important characteristics of a fan - its performance. This parameter is always specified in the technical documentation of fans and it allows us estimate objectively their effectiveness. But you must remember that the performance is specified for ideal conditions, i.e. when a fan works in the open and there are no any obstacles for an air flow. In real conditions a fan is installed inside some system, be it a computer case, a power unit, a heatsink, ai airway etc. All such objects put obstacles in the way of an air flow formed by a fan (flow resistance of a fan's working circuit is different from zero). As a result, a real performance level can be actually much lower than the volume air flow rate which is usually specified on packages of fans, processor coolers etc.

Apart from performance any fan possesses one more weighty aerodynamic parameter - static pressure. This value is measured in inches (or millimeters) of water and shows a difference in pressure of an air flow formed by the fan and ambient pressure (atmosphere pressure).

There is a clear dependence between the fan's performance and static pressure of its air flow. It is defined in a special pressure chamber and called performance curve (metering characteristic) of a fan.

[center][/center]

Two extreme values are shown in the technical documentation of manufacturers. Pressure of the air flow at its zero volume rate (zero performance), i.e. when the fan runs idle (no flow at all), is taken as its static pressure. It happens when its resistive action (flow resistance) of the channel is so high that the fan is not able to pump air through this channel. Such situation never occurs in computer cooling, but it can take place in other spheres of application of fans.

Volume flow rate at the static pressure equal to zero, i.e. when a fan works to its full capacity and gets no obstacles from the channel, is taken as performance. In practice such situation is impossible at all and can be emulated only in a special pressure chamber.

Well, let's call it a day, and next time we will continue speaking about a metering characteristic of fans and look at its practical use closely.

How to oil sleeve bearing fans,

ff7yta — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:15:13 +0800

Adopted from http://www.dansdata.com/fanmaint.htm

QUOTE(http://www.dansdata.com/fanmaint.htm)

Your computer's life probably depends on fans. At least two, in pretty much all current PCs - a little fast one on the CPU cooler, and a bigger slower one in the power supply. Many PCs have a second 80mm fan mounted in the front of the case to help with air flow. And some... special... PCs have a veritable wind farm in there, competing for space with the neon lights and fluffy dice.

The trouble is - fans don't last forever.

The motors in modern computer fans are brushless units which will last, by computer standards, forever. But the spindle on which the fan turns sits in a bearing, and bearings wear out.

The most common, and cheapest, kind of fan bearing is the "sleeve" type. It's a simple design; the steel shaft just sits in a solid bushing. The bushing is likely to be made from sintered bronze, which is porous metal that's impregnated with lubricant at the factory. When that lubricant runs out, the bearing will start to wear, and make a distinctive buzz. The wear will get worse and worse, the buzz louder and louder, and the fan slower and slower, until finally it stops.

This process can take weeks for larger, slower fans, but can happen a lot faster to smaller, higher speed fans. A failed CPU cooler fan probably won't leave you with a dead CPU, but it will make your computer hopelessly flaky until it's replaced.

The other kind of bearing is the "ballrace", commonly just called a "ball bearing".

[center][/center]

This is what a ballrace looks like on the inside - a ring of steel balls in the space between outer and inner rings of metal. The balls roll between the rings, allowing them to rotate freely.

Ballraces last better than cheap sleeve bearings; some higher-tech sleeve bearings now exist which may well outlast ball bearings, but most computer fans use the cheap type. When ball bearings finally do fail, though, they can seize rock solid. Once that happens, they're junk.

If you catch a deteriorating bearing before it gets too bad, though, you can make the fan live a lot longer with a few drops of oil. If you oil a bearing before it shows any symptoms, the thing can live for a lot longer than the manufacturers expected.

So how do you oil a fan bearing?

In almost all cases, it's actually quite easy.

First, you need to get access to the motor side of the fan, which will be covered by a sticker.

[center][/center]

Most ATX Power Supply Units (PSUs), including this one, have their fan mounted so that you can see the sticker through the finger guard. Undo the four screws holding the finger guard in place (they also hold the fan in place, but it probably won't have much room to move even without them) and you can get at the sticker side of the fan without taking the lid off the PSU.

[center][/center]

Now, carefully peel back the sticker. If you damage it, don't panic; you can just replace it with a piece of tape.

Small fans often seal the bearing with nothing but the sticker, but larger ones usually have a round plastic cap under the sticker. This fan's got a rubber cap, which is easy enough to pop out.

[center][/center]

Inside, you can see the bearing. This fan's got a ball bearing; sleeve bearings are less interesting looking.

[center][/center]

Now, oil that sucker.

What you oil it with isn't too critical. Pretty much any light oil will do. Plain old 3-IN-ONE or sewing machine oil from the supermarket is fine. Note that the usual red-label 3-IN-ONE that I'm using above has a vegetable oil base, and may gum things up if used over and over. This isn't likely to be a big problem with fan bearings (it's usually only an issue in automotive and other high temperature applications), but if you're concerned then you should get the blue-label mineral based version.

Spray-can oils with an applicator tube can be handy for oiling fans in awkward spots, if you can avoid spraying oil all over the place.

Do not, however, use WD-40 or similar products. WD-40 is has great penetration, displaces water well, and loosens rust - but it's a lousy lubricant. It's mainly kerosene, and the oil that's left when the kerosene evaporates may be more than adequate for stopping a gate-hinge from squeaking, but won't last long in a fan bearing.

Resist the urge to try to fill the bearing well completely with oil. If the fan isn't installed bearing-side-up, excess oil in the well will leak out rapidly, pretty much regardless of what you stick over the well. Even if the bearing side is upwards, centrifugal force when the fan's running will allow a surprising amount of the oil to escape.

(Yes, yes, I know that centrifugal force doesn't really exist.)

If you want to fill the well with oil and let the fan sit for a while, so the oil can permeate the bearing a bit, fine. But soak up the excess with something before you put the sticker back on, or you'll just make a mess. You'll probably also need to de-grease the plastic back of the fan, in order to get the sticker to adhere again.

The above instructions apply to pretty much every rotary fan you'll find in a PC - and they'll continue to, at least until things like these become popular.

[center][/center]

Even large fans, like this 120mm mains powered unit, have the same bearing arrangement as much smaller models.

[center][/center]

Apart from the danger of equipment failure caused by a dead fan, you can't always easily replace a fan if it fails. So it pays to keep unusual fans oiled.

[center][/center]

This little fan, in a network switch, doesn't look all that weird. But it's actually a five volt unit, not the usual 12 volts, so it'd be difficult to replace.

How to bypass Veoh.com block, the easiest way

cyberfly — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:56:18 +0800

The video stream function still cannot be accessed with this guide

For those that love Veoh.com,it must be frustrating because they have blocked Malaysia ip from accessing their site.
So i want to share the easiest way on how to bypass Veoh.com block without involving proxy and etc..

1.Insert this prefix "ll-appserver." in front veoh.com

2.Now the address will become like this http://ll-appserver.veoh.com/

3.Klik the URL and enjoy

If you find this guide useful,feel free to visit the original source

Original source : http://jomphp.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-...t=1213772460000

Advertise your blog with FeedBurner banner, step by step guide

cyberfly — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:25:09 +0800

If you want to make banner that something that looks like below,this guide is for you

How to make the banner

1.Make sure you have a FeedBurner account.If dont have,register here http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home

2.Sign In your FeedBurner account.

3.Choose which Feed do you want to access.

[attachmentid=493316]

4.Click at the Publicize tab and click +Create new..

5.Insert your blog/site link at Clickthrough URL and insert your blog title at Title column.
Then click Activate

6.Now your newly created banner is listed under +Create new..
In the picture below,it is 480x60 White.
To get the code for the banner,click Choose One->Other(Just gimme the code)->Next.

7.This what the code looks like.Make sure do not tick the Include grab this link box.Copy the code.

How to use

a)If you want to use the banner in your friendster profile,just paste the code from step 7 to any area that support HTML such as About Me

Preview :

b)If you want to use in forum such as LYN forum,make sure u change the code first.Look for the example below.

Original Code:

CODE

Modified Code:

CODE

[url=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhpMysqlTechBlog/~6/1][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/PhpMysqlTechBlog.1.gif[/img][/url]

Preview:

That's all.

If you like or find this post useful,feel free to visit the original source and rate or comment it

Original source : http://jomphp.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-...ner-banner.html

How to change Wordpress smilies in 8 simple steps, 9 easy steps :)

nuox — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:37:23 +0800

Are you bored with wordpress default smilies? well i got solution where wordpress user with access can manually redesign or reconfigure the smilies. Below are example of smilies design, there is much much more design out there. i will provide you guys with my favourite smilies . i have updated the tutorial to wordpress 2.5.1 compatible

One of the problem encounter when using smilies is i can�t fully utilize all the smilies.. why? i can�t remember all the smilies code, like : p, : ) and all that. well in this tutorial we are gonna solve this problem by providing the admin and commenter a menu to choose the smilies, this way you do not need to memorize

Further Instruction

1. Download the cloud smilies pack
2. extract the smilies
3. Start up your ftp program
4. upload the extracted smilies to public_html/wp-includes/images/smilies/ and replace all the file inside the folder (you may backup old smilies if you want)
5. If you have programming background you may edit the function.php at �public_html/wp-includes� folder , go to line #1333. Modify accordingly. If you do not know what to edit just download my my functions.zip, upload the function.php and replace the original (you may backup the original function.php if you want).
6. Download WP Grin (mirror), to allow your visitors use smilies comments.
7. Upload wp-grins folder to public_html/wp-content/plugins/
8. Go to the Plugins page in your WordPress Administration area and click 'Activate' for WP Grins.
9. Wallaaa!! you're done!

Video Instructions

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQeBQ8ZpKps[/YOUTUBE]

Screenshot

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

p/s: im not sure why, i cant attach youtube

source: http://andy.kbc.my/

The "Dual-core" vs. "Quad-core" guide, Which one should you ...

kmarc — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:16:33 +0800

The "Dual-core" vs. "Quad-core" guide

Time and again, the million dollar question crops up � �Should I buy a dual-core or a quad-core?�

There are scattered pieces of information all over the net. This guide has been created in an attempt to compile, summarize and add useful information and opinions.

Please note:
- I welcome any advice or suggestions that you may have.
- Any mistakes or incorrect facts are regretted and will be corrected when informed.
- I'm not pro-Intel. It's just that I have been using Intel CPUs lately and have more experiences with them

Index
1) Definitions
2) Dual-core vs Quad-core
3) Quad-core - There must be some advantages right?
4) Real world applications/software/games
5) CPU charts 2007
6) Summary

Definitions

The boring stuff. Skip this if you want to go straight to the main topic!

Thread
A thread in computer science is short for "thread of execution". It is is a stream of instructions from a certain program. Threads are a way for a program to fork (or split) itself into two or more simultaneously (or pseudo-simultaneously) running tasks. (wikipedia).

The OS bundles instructions in threads so that it can effectively simulate multitasking (i.e. running 2 programs at once). The CPU basically processes one thread, then switches to another thread (this is term as "context switching"). By doing this very fast at a fixed interval (this is term as "time slice"), it can simulate the illusion that it's running 2 programs at the same time.

For example, if you have a single core CPU, and are running a few programs simultaneously, you can observe that all the programs/tasks are running together without any problems..... It may look like multitasking (as you are running a few task simultaneously) but in reality, it is just an illusion.....

Multi-threading
Multithreading refers to the capability of an application/game to execute different parts of it's program, called threads, simultaneously. This can only be done if the application/game was designed and programmed to do multithreading. Single-threaded programs cannot run this way because it was not programmed as such.

Superthreading
Also know as time-slice multithreading

A multithreading approach that weaves together the execution of different threads on a single processor without truly executing them at the same time. It is motivated by the observation that the processor is occasionally left idle while executing an instruction from one thread. Super-threading seeks to make use of unused processor cycles by applying them to the execution of an instruction from another thread (wikipedia).

Hyperthreading
Also known as simultaneous multithreading (SMT).

An Intel-proprietary technology used to improve parallelization of computations performed on PC microprocessors via simultaneous multithreading. It is an improvement on super-threading (wikipedia).

Hyperthreading was originally introduced by Intel in the single-core Pentium 4 processors. Intel claims up to a 30% speed improvement compared against an otherwise identical, non-simultaneous multithreading Pentium 4. The performance improvement seen is very application-dependent, however, and some programs actually slow down slightly when Hyper Threading Technology is turned on (wikipedia).

Hyperthreading results in a simulated second virtual core within a physical core CPU (single core) and was the first step to take advantage of multi-threaded applications on the desktop. In other words, hyperthreading makes a CPU with a single core pretend to be two so that none of the CPU is being wasted when running programs that don't use the CPU to its full potential.

Except for its performance implications, this innovation is transparent to operating systems and programs. All that is required to take advantage of Hyper-Threading is symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support in the operating system, as the logical processors appear as standard separate processors.

Remember that hyperthreading can only run on CPUs that have the Hyperthreading technology. Intel is again introducing the hyperthreading technology in the upcoming Nahelem core. This technology would simulate four additional threads in quad-core processors (you could say a virtual 8 core CPU!) and eight additional threads in eight-core processors (for a total of 16).

More details here :
Intro to Multithreading, Superthreading and Hyperthreading (by Jon Stokes)
Hyperthreading - Tomshardware
Hyperthreading (wikipedia)

Note : Multithreading is not the same as multitasking in that threads share more of their environment with each other than do tasks under multitasking (please google for more info on this)

Analogy
Confused? Ok, I will attempt to explain this using a real world example. (Kindly correct me if the example is incorrect or wrong).

Let's take a Malaysian car factory, with 4 workers building 4 separate cars..... say a waja, a saga, a Gen2 and a Lotus Elise ..... (For this example, the car factory is your CPU)

However, the car factory has only one production line, meaning that at any one time, only one worker can work on his car. (The production line is the process. As your CPU is a single-core, it can only run only one process at a time)

In that production line, it is divided into a few sections i.e. metal section for creating the body, engine section, electrical section, interior car section, painting section, tyre section and final assembly section. (Each section is like the "thread" in the process/program)

Because the production line can only accommodate one worker at a time, it means that one worker can only build his car until he finishes it at the final assembly area before another worker can start building his car. (This is like a single-core CPU running a single-threaded process/program)

This is wasteful, isn't it?

Furthermore, if the worker gets stuck somewhere down the production line, e.g. at the engine section, the whole production line would come to a stop until he gets through the whole production line.....

Understand so far?

Ok, suppose that the production line can allocate a fixed time for each person to work on the production line, say 30 minutes for each worker (time slicing). This means that all 4 workers can work on the production line once it is their turn to do so. However, only one worker can work on the production line at any one 30-minute time. (This is analogous to multithreading). So, even if one worker is stuck at a certain section, once his 30 minutes is up, he has to stop while other workers start their 30-minute allotted time.

So, what you see is the "illusion" that all 4 workers are working in the factory but in fact, only one worker is working at any one time. The good thing about this is that other workers can still continue their work even if one worker is stuck somewhere.....

(I can't really understand superthreading, so I can't give an analogy on that. Anybody can help?)

Now, suppose that the production line can accommodate 2 workers in any section of the production line at any one time. This means that 2 workers can work simultaneously to complete their car. As such, even though there is only one production line, due to this ability, it is like having each worker working in their own production line or it is like having 2 production lines instead of one. (This is hyperthreading).

Due to this, the production line would be more efficient as 2 workers can build 2 cars at the same time.

Important : Of course, this is not really what happens in CPU. This analogy is just trying to make you understand what each term means.

Note : I hope my analogy is not flawed. Any expert help would be appreciated!!!

Dual-core vs Quad-core
What are the advantages/disadvantages of dual-core vs. quad-core?

Dual-core
- Less power consumption
- Less heat generation
- Better overclocking capabilities
- Lower price
- At the same price point, a dual-core generally has a higher stock/overclocking speed

Quad-core
- Higher power consumption
- Higher heat generation
- Lower overclocking capabilities
- Higher price
- Even with double the cores of dual-core, the improvement in any given application that supports 4-cores is not doubled! (note : The folding program is one exception, where you can get almost double the computation with quads!!!)

Important : Please note that when we talk about dual vs quad, the comparison is usually valid for the same types of CPU family i.e. comparing a dual conroe with a quad conroe, or a dual penryn vs. a quad penryn.....

Power consumption
- higher for quads either at idle or at load
- which leads to higher electricity bill!

Here's a nice chart from www.bit-tech.net
Source : http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/04/0...00_and_e8200/11

[attachmentid=472854]

Heat generation
- 4 cores will generate more heat
- As such, a quad would need better cooling
- Remember that heat is the no. 1 enemy of overclocking

This is reflected as TDP (although Intel and AMD's definition of TDP is different). See the table below....
[attachmentid=473969]

Overclocking
Quad-cores loses out to dual-cores in terms of overclocking in every aspect (even if they use the same processor die):

1) Speed - dual-core can overclock higher at any given vcore
--- e.g. my previous E6750 can OC to 3.5Ghz at 1.400v in BIOS, where my current Q6600 can only reach 3.2Ghz at 1.400v in BIOS....

2) FSB - quad-cores usually have a lower max FSB, mainly due not only to heat but bus speed issues
--- e.g. a E6750 G0 stepping may max at 490-500mhz.... a Q6600 G0 may only max at 450-460mhz....

3) Tweaking/BIOS setup - a quad-core may need more tweaks in BIOS e.g. VTT, GTL, etc....

4) Vdroop - using a similar setup/motherboard, quad-cores usually have a larger vdroop, making load vcore lower and thus less overclocking speed
--- It is observed that quad-core results in more vdroop
--- For example, for a BIOS-set vcore of 1.400v:
------ a dual-core may result in a vdrop/vdroop of at load e.g. : 1.39v/1.36v
------ a quad-core usually has a higher vdrop/vdroop at load e.g. : 1.36v/1.32v
--- So, if you look at the real vcore at load, the dual will be running at 1.36v whereas the quad is running at 1.32v, which is 0.04v lower.....

5) Heat - there will be much more heat generated for an overclocked quad-core as compared to an overclocked dual-core
--- this will again, limit the overclocking capabilities of the quad....

Prices
Important : Please note that the prices refer to RETAILS units and not OEM.....

Speed for speed - Dual-cores are cheaper than quad-cores
- e.g. E6600 is cheaper than Q6600 (both stock speed at 2.4Ghz)
- e.g. E6750 is also cheaper than Q6600 (Even though the E6750 runs faster at 2.66Ghz)

At the same price point - Dual-core are generally has a faster speed
- E.g. Previous, you could probably get a E6850 (3.0Ghz) at the same price as a Q6600 (2.4Ghz) - dropping prices not withstanding
- Due to this factor, the dual-core would be better suited for non-overclockers.....

- Comparing a E6850 vs a Q6600 (quoted below): http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=154933

QUOTE

The advantages of dual-core Core 2 Duo E6850 over the quad-core Core 2 Quad Q6600 look as follows:
- 25% higher clock speed ensuring higher performance in applications that aren�t optimized for multi-threading;
- Higher bus frequency that increases the memory subsystem performance. Peak bandwidth of the bus between the processor and memory for CPUs with 1333MHz bus is 10.7GB/s vs. 8.5GB/s by CPUs with 1067MHz bus.
- 46% lower heat dissipation that allows using relatively simple and inexpensive cooling solutions, even during overclocking.

The advantages of the quad-core Core 2 Quad Q6600 over dual-core Core 2 Duo E6850:
- Twice as many computational cores that ensure higher performance in multi-threaded applications.
- Twice as large L2 cache memory. It is especially crucial for Windows Vista users as this operating system can distribute computational threads intellectually over the cores with shared or exclusive L2 cache.

- Comparing a E6850 vs a QX6850 : http://www.tkarena.com/Articles/tabid/59/c...33/Default.aspx

- Comparing a E8500 vs a Q9300 (quoted below) : http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/displ...00_5.html#sect0

QUOTE

This picture is very ambiguous. There are still quite a lot of applications that haven�t been optimized for CPUs with more than two cores that is why Core 2 Quad Q9300 gets often defeated by Core 2 Duo E8500 due to the higher clock frequency of the latter. It is especially frustrating that games, even the latest ones, fall into the non-optimized applications category, as they still cannot use efficiently the advantages of multi-core micro-architecture. However, the situation is not as hopeless as it was 6 months ago, for instance. Game developers started paying some attention to optimizing their work for processors with more than two cores onboard. The list of games that provide quality quad-core processors support has increased significantly and currently includes such popular titles as Supreme Commander, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Unreal Tournament 3, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, etc.

For gamers:
- The graphic card is usually more important than the CPU (in general)
- the money saved to get a dual-core instead of a quad-core can be used to spend on better graphic cards!!!

Read more about this here :
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dual-quad,1720-18.html
http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-...e-processors/11

Quad core - there must be some advantages right?

1) Quad core has a distinct performance advantage in a wide variety of professional applications because many of them are design for multithreading
- Video editing/encoding
- 3D graphics rendering
- Image processing
- Scientific computing e.g. Folding
- many background processes e.g. anti-virus, anti-spyware, Bittorrent, etc...
- multitasking, examples are:
--- DivX encode + 720p Quicktime - http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=9323&page=8
--- MP3 & WME9 encoding while gaming - http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_...view/page10.asp

- Audio encoding???

2) Quads usually have larger L2 cache, which maybe useful for cache-intensive applications

However, in games, the advantages of quad-core is minimal as most current games support only a single thread and occasionally two, but rarely four.

Real world applications/softwares/games

Note : Numbers in bracket are the sources/references listed below

No or negligible improvement (speed for speed) using quad-core
Games
- Battlefield 2 (16)
- Call of Duty 2 (1)
- Call of Duty 4 : Modern warfare (14,18)
- Company of Heroes (12)
- Crysis ? (13,14,15,17,18) - most review does not show any improvements, ? graphic card bottle-neck?
- Elders scroll : Oblivion (3,6)
- Enemy territory : Quake wars (18)
- Far cry (9)
- FEAR : Extraction point (1,9,14,18)
- Half life : Episode 1 (6)
- Half Life : Lost coast (12)
- Half life 2 Episode 2 ? (13,14) - suppose to support quad core but reviews say otherwise
- Need for speed : Most wanted (7)
- Prey (2)
- Quake 4 (1,2,9)
- Rainbow 6 : Vegas (3)
- Serious sam 2 (2)
- Stalker - Shadow of Chernobyl (18)
- Unreal tournament 2004 (2)
- Warhammer : Mark of chaos (2)
- World in conflict (13,15,17,18)
- World of warcraft (17)

Applications
- Adobe premier (16)
- Aquamark 3 (5)
- AVG antivirus (2) - actually slower!
- Blender (15)
- Clone DVD 2 (2)
- iTunes audio/mp3 encoding (2,11,13)
- LAME 3.97/LAME MP3 Encoder (1,2,8,16)
- Mathematica (13)
- Mozilla (16)
- MS Office (16)
- Org-Vorbis 1.1.2 (1)
- Photoshop 7.0.1/CS2/CS3 (2,9,16)
- Photoshop Elements (10)
- Pinnacle studio 11 Plus (2)
- Powerpoint to PDF (2)
- SpecViewperf 8.01 (5)
- Tar Archiving (14)
- Techgauge Image Suite (14)
- Videowave movie creator (16)
- Winzip 8.1 (16)
- xviD 1.13 (1,2)

Improvement (speed for speed) using quad core
Games
- Alan Wake
- Deep Fritz 10 Chess (2)
- Lost planet : Extreme condition (11)
- Splinter cell : Double Agent
- Supreme commander (2) - some reviews show no improvement
- Unreal Engine 3 e.g. Unreal tournament 2007 (13)
- Valve source engine (3)

- Hellgate : London?
- Assassin's creed?

Applications
- 3D Studio Max 7.0/8.0/9.0 (1,6,14)
- 7-Zip (14)
- Adobe Lightroom 1.2 (14)
- Adobe Premier 2.0 (2)
- After effects CS3 (13)
- AutoMKV (x264 Encoding (15)
- Cinebench 2003/9.5/10 (3,5,6,8,11,14,15)
- Cinema 4D release 10 (2)
- Divx 6.6/6.8 (optimized for quad-core) (1,2,13,15)
- Excel 2007 (11)
- Folding (16)
- GCC compiler (14)
- HDTV playback (with Power DVD 7.3) (2)
- Lightwave 3D 7.5 (5)
- Mainconcept H.264 Encoder (2,13)
- Nero Recode (6)
- Paint.NET x64 3.20 (15)
- picColor (8)
- Pinnacle Studio Plus v10.6 (4)
- POV-Ray (3,16)
- Quick Time Pro v7.0.4 (4)
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 (15)
- The Panaroma Factory (8)
- Valve particle benchmark (6)
- VirtualDub 1.7.6 (14)
- Windows Media Encoder (3,8,16)
- Wine Compile (GCC 4.1.1, i686) (6)
- Winrar 3.7 (11)
- Winrar 3.71 (2,15)
- XMpeg 5.0.3 (5)

- Any CPU benchmark software (obviously!) - e.g PCMark 2005 (1), Sisoft Sandra CPU test (1), 3Dmark

Sources
1) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/extreme-fsb-2,1663.html
2) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dual-quad,1720-24.html
3) http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000942.html
4) http://www.techspot.com/review/36-intel-co...6600/page6.html
5) http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rid=134470
6) http://techgage.com/article/intel_core_2_quad_q6600/4
7) http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/q6600/11.htm
8) http://techreport.com/articles.x/12737/8
9) http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/463/5
10) http://www.trustedreviews.com/cpu-memory/r...-E6850-E6750/p7
11) http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=154933
12) http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_...eview/page8.asp
13) http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/displ...00_5.html#sect0
14) http://techgage.com/article/intel_core_2_d...fdale_arrives/5
15) http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/04/0...400_and_e8200/4
16) http://techreport.com/articles.x/11160/5
17) http://www.tkarena.com/Articles/tabid/59/c...38/Default.aspx
18) http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-...re-processors/3

CPU charts 2007 - Tomshardware

Here's a link to Tomshardware's CPU charts 2007 : Tomshardware CPU charts 2007
- you can choose the type of program to compare
- and select the CPU you want to compare with (add or remove a CPU)
- very good chart although limited programs/games available

Summary

Based on current environment, this is my humble opinion....

In reality, the quad-core is ahead of software development, especially in mainstream consumer applications and games. Many quad core owners may be under utilizing their quad core, which, if replaced with a similarly priced dual-core, would probably resulted in more advantages in every aspects of computing/gaming.

By the time software development catches up with current hardware (if it ever does but at least with multithreading), a new generation of quad-cores or even octa-cores might have been rolled out. At that time, the multi-cores would be in a better position to take advantage of multithreaded software/games as compared to now.

In conclusion, if you are contemplating quads but not really using multithreaded software/games, remember that a similarly-priced dual-core might be a better option.

All said, the final decision is still yours.... new dual-core or quad-core, your rig will rock!