Turbin Case (D.I.Y)

Keterbatasan biaya kerap kali menimpa sebagian pecinta modding, namun hal ini lah menjadi pemicu munculnya ide-ide kreatif. Hal yang sangat mendasar dari modding adalah bagaimana membuat tampilan  RIG Kesayangan menjadi lebih "garang" dengan meminimalisir dana, nah modding-lah solusinya !!! Dalam bagian ini saya akan memberikan tips serta tahap-tahap memodifikasi Front Panel  menjadi Turbin Fan.

Pertama siapkan semua bahan dan alat yang dibutuhkan, bahan utama sudah pasti casing bekas dong yang akan dimodifikasi, bahan-bahan untuk membentuk Turbin seperti resin, katalis, serat carbon, dempul, amplas halus serta cat + siralik (sesuai keinginan) seperti yang terlihat pada gambar berikut.

 

Kemudian panel depan yang akan kita Modif kita dempul bagian yang memiliki sudut untuk mendapatkan permukaan yang rata.

Setelah dempul kering kita olesi permukaanya dengan resin yang telah dicampur dengan katalis, lalu tempelkan serat pada permukaan yang telah diolesi resin tadi, kemudian olesi lagi  permukaanya dengan resin lagi agar serat menempel erat pada permukaan.

 Setelah permukaan serat kering, kita bolongi permukaan dengan dimeter 120mm karena ukuran fan yang nantinya akan digunakan adalah 120mm, kemudian kita gunakan pipa berdiameter 120mm dengan panjang yang disesuaikan dengan dudukan fan agar tidak berbenturan dengan permukaan fan nanti, setelah itu kita olesi permukaan dengan dempul, untuk mendapatkan efek turbin, pipa yang gunakan dibuat sedikit nongol. Kemudian sudut permukaan turbinya kita dempul, serta seluruh permukaan yang telah kering juga kita dempul.

 

Setelah dempul kering kemudian kita haluskan permukaanya dengan menggunakan amplas halus, untuk mendapatkan hasil maksimal olesi celah yang kasar kemudian diamplas lagi sampai hasil permukaan benar-benar halus.

 

Setelah hasil sudah benar-benar halus kemudian kita cat, namun pastikan seluruh permukaan dempul benar-benar kering. Karena kita menggunakan cat dengan kompresor agar mendapatkan hasil maksimal maka pertama kita lapisi dulu dengan poxi agar hasil cat nanti benar-benar maksimal.

 

 Sebelum melakukan pengecatan pada seluruh bagian casing, disarankan agar seluruh permukaan casing juga diamplas untuk menghilangkan permukaan kasar, apalagi yang kita modifikasi adalah casing bekas yang cenderung memiliki permukaan yang sudah ga' halus lagi, setelah diamplas kita lakukan lagi poxinasi diseluruh bagian casing lalu diamplas lagi sampai permukaan benar-benar halus.

Setelah poxi benar-benar kering kita pastikan lagi apakah masih ada permukaan kasar, jika permukaan casing sudah benar-benar halus, maka proses pengecatan dimulai, warna cat yang kita gunakan kali ini adalah "Red Engine" cat merah yang biasa digunakan pada mesin-mesin supercar, alasanya karena pada project ini menggunakan konsep "Red Devil" (Lebay Mentok Kanan), hasil catnya nanti akan seperti ini.

 Seperti ini :

 

Untuk menghasilkan efek "Bling-Bling" maka kita gunakan siralik yang halus dengan efek 

"Orange Bling-Bling".

Sekian dari kami "TechBrother". Semoga bermanfaat bagi rekan-rekan senasib sepenanggungan

Tetap berkarya "Bravo Moder Indonesia" . . .

ASUS Sabertooth P67 Motherboard Review

Back in January of this year Intel launched their Sandy Bridge architecture, the replacement for processors based on socket 1156. These new socket 1155 based products were initially met with great praise from consumers and the press and we saw some feature packed motherboards based on the technology. Unfortunately an issue was discovered with the chipset and so production was halted while a new revision (B3) was issued and it is only now that we are beginning to see a wide range of revised products in stock across the world.

One of the first manufacturers to get their boards out in significant quantities is ASUS, who's Maximus Extreme P67 board greatly impressed us a few months back. Today we have another of their models on our test bench, the B3 revision Sabertooth P67 and will be putting it through a selection of synthetic and real world tests to establish how it compares to the competition.

ASUS Sabertooth P67 - The Board

 

 

ASUS have gone with a box which highlights their "TUF" features, otherwise known as build quality, on this particular model along with noting the B3 revision. Inside where we find a thorough bundle of extras which include documentation software disc, SLI bridge, drive cables, IO shield and EZ-Connectors which assist with case wiring.

The Sabertooth P67 itself looks quite different to the average motherboard due to the large plastic cover which sits on the ATX PCB. This cover is designed to pass airflow around the board components while keeping heat generated by PCIe cards away from the PCB, to enhance airflow we can even unscrew a section and add our own fan. Two large aluminium heatsinks cool some of the power circuitry around the socket 1155 CPU location and these are joined by a heatpipe. A further passive heatsink sits on the Southbridge at the bottom right of the board.

Also dotted around the PCB are ASUS's own power design circuitry components, including electrostatic discharge protection and advance switching for CPU, LAN and USB. This design also includes an Energy Processing unit which monitors power consumption and along with this ASUS use a new VRM design (DIGI+) which has an 8+2 phase layout to maximise efficiency, reduce heat and improve reliability and stability. TPU, which stands for TurboV Processing Unit, is another on-board processor which allows us to overclock/enhance the board with minimal effort.

Finally, as this is a P67 board it features support for all socket 1155 CPUs, including the high end i7-2600K with the ability to select multipliers in the BIOS and military class components such as alloy Chokes/solid capacitors are found across the PCB. These allow higher current to pass through the board as well as vibrating less and being more durable.

 

 

Down at the bottom left of the board we find the add-in card slots and these run from PCIe1x through PCIe x16, PCIe x1, PCIe x1, PCIe x8 and PCI. These sit above our USB headers and it is worth noting that the layout of slots allows the installation of triple slot cooled graphics cards in CrossFire or SLI.

 

  ASUS supply eight SATA ports which are split into four SATA 3GB/s (black) and four SATA 6GB/s (grey/brown). Two of the higher speed SATA ports run through the Marvell 912x controller and to ensure all of our connectivity runs at optimum speed the Intel based ports support RAID 0. Then beside the grey ports we find a connector for front panel USB 3.0 devices which runs on an NEC controller.

 

 

Further up the board we find four dual channel memory slots which are capable of holding 32GB of memory with official support hitting 1866MHz+. These slots sit alongside a standard 24-pin power connector and the board also features an 8pin socket. Then over at the edge of the board is the MemOK button which assists us in maximising compatibility with problematic memory sticks.

 

Round on the back panel we find a single PS/2 socket which sit alongside optical audio, 8x USB 2.0, Intel 82579 GB LAN, Firewire, 2x JMicron eSATA and 3.5mm audio in/out which uses the 8 channel Realtek ALC892 chipset. Also present on the board are two USB 3.0 ports which use the NEC 720200 controller.

 

Conclusion

Having seen their Maximum Extreme board based on the P67 chipset ASUS had set a very high level of expectation for any future products based on the same platform so it was great to see that for the most part the Sabertooth reaches similar heights.

In terms of build quality it is hard to fault a board which features military class components and backs them up with some excellent features such as the DIGI+ and electrostatic protection. Really the only features which are missing are on-board power and reset buttons as well as an external CMOS reset switch.

So that brings us to the design aspect and on this front ASUS have done well with key decision being the layout of PCIe slots which allow for triple width cards in SLI/CF with ease. The use of a large cover on the PCB is one which is sure to generate discussion; it certainly gives the board a cool look and does protect the PCB from heat generated by high spec cards. It is also fair to say that with an additional fan installed it will also provide a significant amount of airflow around the motherboard components. Our only issue is that it is plastic, a metal cover would have given a real feel of extra quality, even a soft touch coating would have been preferable.

For performance the Sabertooth P67 excels, matching or exceeding boards we have tested previously and in each one of our tests it performed flawlessly with no stability issues. A particular highlight was the manual overclock achieved and we were pleased to see that the OC Tuner worked well and so is perfect for allowing novice users the ability to maximise the performance of their system.

Adding value to the overall product we have features such as EZ-Flash for quick, easy BIOS updates from USB and AI Probe is one of the most complete software solutions available for a motherboard in the current market. These are backed up by a 5-year warranty which is great.

Summary
A board which excels in build quality and offers great all round performance for those looking to build a P67/Sandy Bridge system.

 

 

 

 

ASRock Extreme4 P67 and Fatal1ty Professional P67 vs X58 with Core i7-950 Review

 

ASRock Extreme4 P67 and Fatal1ty Professional P67 vs X58 with Core i7-950 Review

Over the past couple of years one motherboard manufacturer has impressed us more than any other. That manufacturer is ASRock who have gone from a brand with an average reputation to one of the leading players in the motherboard marketplace. Initially they focused on value however as their resources have increased so has the quality of the products they produce and now, with each new model, they add additional features which make them stand out from many of the other major manufacturers.

Today we have two of ASRock's P67 based boards on our test bench and will be putting them through a selection of real world and synthetic tests. To keep things interesting for those who have already seen a number of P67/Sandy Bridge articles, in this review we will put the ASRock systems up against the similarly priced X58 / Core i7-950 combination to see if these new products offer better performance and value for consumers than Intel's now ageing high end platform.

 

ASRock P67 Extreme4

Recently we have seen a number of holographic boxes from ASRock with loads of feature logo's and some colourful branding. The P67 Extreme4 could signal a move away from that though as its box, at least on the front, is just about as plain as any we have seen to date. It looks good though and the positive first impression continues inside where we find a thorough bundle of components.

 

 

As well as the thorough documentation and software Disc ASRock provide a SLI bridge, drive cables, IO shield and a USB bracket. This USB bracket can be installed in the front panel of a case or in the PCIe slot location at the back, adding two extra USB 3.0 ports to the system. 

 

The board itself looks similar in many ways to other recent ASRock products with a black/brown ATX PCB and white/blue components. Two large aluminium heatsinks cool some of the power circuitry around the socket 1155 CPU location and these are joined by a copper heatpipe. A further, passive, heatsink sits on the Southbridge at the bottom right of the board.

  As this is a P67 board it features support for all socket 1155 CPUs, including the high end i7-2600K. Throughout the PCB we have Japanese made polymer capacitors and ASRock use a V8+2 power phase design and have conveniently added additional holes in the PCB to enable support of socket 775 coolers for those who are upgrading and don't want to change cooler.

 

Down at the bottom left of the board we find the add-in card slots and these run from PCIe1x through PCIe x16, PCIe x1, PCI, PCIe x8, PCI, PCIe x4. These sit above our USB headers and to the right of the slots is a two character LED display which can assist us with fault finding should a problem develop.

Over at the right side of the board are power/reset buttons and the BIOS chip. These sit beside the SATA ports which are split into four SATA 3GB/s and four SATA 6GB/s, two of the higher speed SATA ports run through the Marvell 9120 controller and to ensure all of our connectivity runs at optimum speed ASRock have added ASMedia and PLX PCIe bridge/controllers to the board, adding additional lanes and functionality to maximise performance. RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 are supported by the Intel based ports.

 

Further up the board we find four dual channel memory slots which are capable of holding 32GB of memory with official support hitting 2133MHz. These slots sit alongside a standard 24-pin power connector and the board also features an 8-pin socket and Molex for high performance multi-GPU SLI/CrossFire configurations.

 

 

Round on the back panel we find two PS/2 sockets which sit alongside the clear CMOS button. Additional connectivity comes in the form of optical/coaxial audio, 6x USB 2.0, Realtek 8111E GB LAN, firewire, eSATA and 3.5mm audio in/out which uses the Realtek ALC892 chipset. Also present on the board are two USB 3.0 ports which use the Etron EJ168A chipset, the same controller used for our front panel USB connectors.

Fatal1ty P67 Professional Series Motherboard

 

 

As with the Extreme4 ASRock have chosen not to go for their traditional holographic packaging on the Fatal1ty P67 motherboard. Instead we get a picture of Jonathan Wendel and some basic product information on the front. Inside the bundle is similar to the Extreme4 version, including the front panel USB bracket and really the only significant change is the branding used on items like the IDE drive cable.

 

ASRock's Fatal1ty P67 board immediately looks different to their standard models thanks to the red and black colour scheme used across the product. Interestingly this evokes a similar feeling to the ASUS Republic of Gamers range, rather than the Fatal1ty brand. Little touches such as the PCIe and memory clips used, which match ASUS parts, only serve to add to this. Particular highlights of this new look and feel are the gold coloured polymer capacitors and the large heatsink which runs from above the socket 1155 CPU, across the V16+2 phase power circuitry down to the Southbridge.

 

In terms of add-in card slots we have PCIe x1, PCIe x16, PCI, PCI x1, PCIe x8, PCI and PCIe x4 which sit above the USB headers. Over at the right side are our SATA ports. The four black sockets are Intel based SATA 3GB/s spec. Beside these are two Intel 6GB/s capable connectors and the remaining four red sockets are SATA 6GB/s powered by the Marvell 9120 chipset. Intel's connectors are capable of RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 operation.

  Also in this area are power and reset buttons with a two character LED which assists in fault resolution.

As with all P67 based boards the Fatal1ty uses a four slot dual channel layout with DDR3-2133 supported and the maximum capacity for this board is 32GB. The standard 24/8 power socket layout is present and somewhat surprisingly there is an IDE socket on this board.

 

 At the back panel we find PS/2 ports, clear CMOS button, 3.5mm/optical/coaxial connectors for the Realtek 892 7.1 audio (with THX TruStudio Pro) and four USB 2.0 ports. Also located here are four USB 3.0 ports (Etron), eSATA, Firewire, and dual GB LAN (Realtek 8111E with teaming).

 

Conclusion

Starting the conclusion with the P67 Extreme4 we have a board where we continue to see the evolution of ASRock from their budget and midrange roots to a strong player in the motherboard market. This latest model has a good level of build quality, using Japanese capacitors and mature components such as Marvells 912x SATA 6GB/s controller. It is also a well-designed board which has clearly been thought through when in the development stage. This is evident in decisions such as leaving an extra gap between PCIe slots to allow for good airflow on high end multi-GPU systems. Then of course there is plenty of future proof connectivity in the form of four USB 3.0 ports, two of which can be installed on the front panel and four SATA 6GB/s connectors.

This high level of design and build quality is not the best aspect of the board though. That comes in the form of its performance and value ratio. Looking first at the performance we have a board which is one of the fastest P67s available and when paired with an i7-2600 series CPU it is able to outperform the X58/i7-950 combination, by a significant margin, in most of our tests. It was also nice to see XFast making a positive impact on USB speeds and that SLI performance was so good.

Value, that is the real star though as this board retails for £115/$150 which makes it an essential purchase for those looking to build a high performance, future proof system on a limited budget.

Moving to the Fatal1ty board we find a number of the same great features that were present on the Extreme4. These include the impressive XFast USB technology, UEFI BIOS with GUI, extra spacing between PCIe slots and on-board LED. ASRock add some nice twists such as gold capacitors and nicer PCIe and memory clips in addition to extra SATA 6GB/s ports and two additional USB 3.0 connectors however we do have to question the need for Fatal1ty branding as none of these are new ideas.

Essentially there really is nothing on this board that both worthwhile and unique to Fatal1ty and there are a number of changes which would have improved it as a product. Firstly ASRock could have bundled a Killer NIC, maybe even a Fatal1ty X-Fi to provide true hardware LAN/audio which increases gaming performance/quality. They could and should have removed IDE and floppy connectors, maybe one of the PS/2 ports from the board entirely. Then, to be completely honest, the Fatal1ty mouse port idea should have been binned at an early stage. Any gaming mouse worth using already offers multiple polling rates, adding the same setting to the motherboard is marketing gone mad. We also need to point out that having a face stare out at us from the BIOS screen, especially with a Red/Black colour scheme is distracting and harder to use than a plain background.

In addition to this, we have to wonder who the Fatal1ty brand is meant to appeal to. There is certainly a small audience amongst eSports fans but ask many of that audience what they feel about Fatal1ty and the response is less than positive. For the general public, features and value are a selling point. For enthusiasts, nothing about the Fatal1ty brand stands out against competing products aimed at that crowd.

So, that said... we do need to note that we have nothing against the concept of ASRock using external consultants for their boards. We are all for it, provided they add value for the consumer. We are also pleased to say that the Fatal1ty board performs just as well as the P67 Extreme4. Therefore it could be the ideal board for those who want the same high level of performance as the Extreme4 with a few extra USB 3.0 and SATA 6GB/s ports.

Summary
The P67 Extreme4 and Fatal1ty Pro are two very impressive boards from ASRock however the former has the edge thanks to its exceptional price to performance ratio and no-nonsense design.

ASRock P67 Extreme4 Motherboard

 

 

 

Ebuyer - £115.10 Ebuyer - $152.99

Fatal1ty P67 Professional Motherboard

Novatech - £189.98 Ebuyer - $235.99

Source : hardwareheaven.com

 

Optimalkan air flow dalam casing bagian 1

PC kita terkadang luput dari penerapan aliran udara yang baik, padahal kestabilan sistem juga dipengaruhi oleh aliran udara yang baik. Penerapan aliran aliran udara yang baik sebenarnya cukup mudah, tapi kita kurang paham bagaimana mengoptimalkan aliran udara didalam casing.

Pada dasarnya sebuah casing PC telah disediakan optional fan, optional ukuran fan bermacam-macam ada yang berukuran 80mm (8cm), 120mm (12cm), 140mm (14cm) bahkan  200mm (20cm) ukuran tersebut adalah ukuran fan yang umum kita temui, kecuali ukuran 14cm dan 20cm hanya bisa ditemukan pada casing gaming.

Ukuran Fan Pada PC

 Gambar fan yang umum kita temukan.

Fan ini sangat umum ditemukan pada casing standar sekalipun, namun fan hanya mampu mengalirkan udara yang sedikit (tergantung kecepatan putaran fan) 

 

Fan dengan ukuran 120mm ini merupakan fan yang umum kita temui, bahkan bila kita membeli sebuah casing standar, fan ini telah disediakan.

Fan dengan ukuran 140mm ini sudah bisa kita temui namun hanya pada casing gaming. Fan ini juga dijual terpisah namun optinal fan dalam casing apalagi casing standar masih jarang ditemui.

Jenis Fan Pada PC

Pada umumnya fan yang kita temui apalagi fan paketan dari casing standar, hanya berwarna hitam saja. Namun pada beberapa casing gaming fan yang diberikan telah menggunakan LED. Selain berfungsi mengalirkan udara baik udara masuk maupun udara keluar, fan juga bisa  mempercantik tampilan PC kita, dengan ditambahkanya LED pada fan membuat fan lebih full colour. Banyak jenis fan yang beredar dipasaran yang telah menggunakan LED bahkan ada yang menggunakan UV LED.

Gambar Jenis Fan :

Fan yang menggunakan LED

 

Fan yang tidak menggunaka LED

Tata Letak Fan Yang Baik Untuk Mendapatkan Aliran Udara Yang Optimal

Tata letak fan yang tepat mampu menghasilkan aliran udara yang oprimal didalam casing, sehingga suhu didalam casing PC kita mampu terjaga dengan baik, dengan terjaganya suhu didalam casing maka kestabilan sitempun bisa kita dapatkan.

Gambar aliran udara yang baik

Aliran udara pada casing model baru (PSU bawah)

    Aliran udara pada casing model lama (PSU atas)

Pada gambar diatas merupakan aliran udara yang baik dimana panah warna biru adalah udara segar yang dialirkan oleh fan yang berada di depan, sedangkan panah warna merah adalah udara panas dari casing yang dikeluarkan melalui fan pada bagian belakang.

Pada dasarnya aliran udara pada casing yang digunakan baik PSU bawah atau PSU atas adalah sama yaitu udara segar masuk dari fan depan dan udara panas dari dalam casing dikeluarka melalui fan belakang.

Aliran udara pada casing model baru (PSU bawah) lebih baik karena memungkinkan udara panas dari dalam casing juga bisa dikeluarkan melalui fan yang berada di bagian atas casing dengan catatan konfigurasi aliran udara pada cooler prosesor tidak belawanan.  

Untuk mendapatkan aliran udara yang optimal disarankan untuk menggunakan fan dengan ukuran minimal 120mm.