New Year - New PC
- My previous Alienware PC suddenly died on me... well, it was showing problematic signs for a few months, like sometimes only recognizing one of the monitors upon bootup, or occasionally not passing POST.... But one day, it suddenly won’t startup... i tried to reseat the memory chips and graphics cards, and even replaced the CMOS battery, but that didn’t get it to work...
- I also tried to start the PC with no memory chips or graphics cards installed, to no avail; the PC didn’t make any beeping sounds, although the case lights would turn on and all the fans spinning nicely after pressing on the power button.... until one night, while i left the PC on to see if i could revive it, it made a loud pop noise, tripped the whole house, and then exuded a burnt smell.
- Now, it won’t even light up, and i suspect the culprit is either a short-circuited motherboard, faulty power supply, or worse, a fried processor.... Sadly, it’s warranty is over, so, since repairing it could be a costly affair, and i needed a better PC anyway to continue with my photography processing and 3D animation works, it seemed a good idea to buy a new PC...
- So i checked Dell’s website but their usual Alienware models were not sold anymore, and were replaced with the new G5 gaming desktops... thankfully, the G5’s were pretty high on specs, plus were on Chinese New Year sale, so i quickly ordered one...
- Below is Dell Alienware Area 51 R2 (left) and new Dell G5 Gaming Desktop (right).
- Just to compare the new PC with all the Dell PCs I have owned before, the newest is the least expensive of all, yet the most powerful and advanced.... do compare it with the 1999 PC - what an amazing difference!
|
Year |
Spec |
OS |
Price |
|
1999 |
Dell XPS R450 Intel Pentium II 450MHz 128MB |
Windows 3.1 |
RM9,975 (incl. 1x 19” monitor) |
|
2008 |
Dell XPS 730 H2C Intel 4-core Q9450 2.66GHz 4GB |
Windows Vista |
RM10,568 (incl. 2x 22” monitors) |
|
2015 |
Dell Alienware Area 51 R2 Intel 6-core i7-5930K @3.5GHz 16GB 2x nVidia GTX980 SLi |
Windows 7 (upgraded to Win10 over the years) |
RM12,572 (PC) + RM4,198 (2x 27” monitors) |
|
2021 |
Dell G5 Intel 10-core i9-10900KF @3.7-5.3GHz 32GB nVidia RTX3070 |
Windows 10 |
RM9,128 (incl. 1x 27” monitor) |
- Below is a comparison of my previous and new PC:-
|
|
Dell Alienware Area 51 R2 |
Dell G5 |
|
Socket |
LGA2011-3 |
LGA1200 |
|
Chipset |
X99 |
H370 |
|
CPU |
i7-5930K |
i9-10900KF |
|
Cache |
15MB |
20MB |
|
RAM |
16GB DDR4-2133 |
32GB DDR4-2933 |
|
GPU |
nVidia 4GB GTX980 |
nVidia 8GB RTX3070 |
|
HD |
128GB SSD + 1TB SATA |
512GB SSD + 1TB SATA |
|
Pwr |
1500W |
500W |
|
Cooling |
Liquid |
Fan |
|
Price |
RM 12,572 |
RM 8,109 |
- So, all in all, i’m very satisfied with the Dell G5 Gaming Desktop - it’s very fast, compact, and value for money....
VW Golf GTi Engine Rebuild Overhaul
After the APR K04 performance upgrade, I had to do an engine overhaul and rebuild, which was completed in end of February 2020. Karl, Isaac and team rebore the engine block and replaced a slew of components, including:-
- Wossner pistons (for all four pistons)
- Conrod and main bearings
- Timing belt
- Water pump
- Oil pump
- Pressure control valve (PCV)
- High performance spark plugs (NGK BKR9)
The whole new bundle with labour costs me around RM13,900.00!
After a run-in period of 5,000km I had the car dyno tested again (but please take note that from mid-March there was a Covid-19 Movement Control Order (MCO), so since I hardly got a chance to drive my car, as we had to work from home, it took me a while to cover the required distance). Below are the results dated 18 July 2020 (this is the third dyno test) :-
As you can see from the above graph:-
- the red coloured line is the original test before K04 upgrade,
- the blue line was after the K04 upgrade,
- the orange line was after the engine rebuild.
After the engine rebuild, there is a noticeable difference in surge by as much as of 50 Nm in torque at around 3,200 rpm, with a strong pull from as early as 2,500 rpm until 5,200 rpm. In fact, there is also an increase in power by as much as 30 PS at around 3,200 rpm, and certainly a good boost of power from 2,700 until 5,200 rpm. Compared to the original (although I already had done Stage 2 upgrades), I improved about 70 PS and 98 Nm! So now, my car has a max of 281 PS and 412 Nm (which is more than the Renault Megane RS at 280 PS and 390 Nm)! What can I say, the car just feels really, really good ｡^‿^｡
VW Golf GTi Turbo Performance Upgrade
As of this writing, my Golf GTi is almost 13 years old, and although it is working fine, I felt it was about time for me to get a new car.... However, in order to purchase a new car that is much better, it would be a very pricey consideration. I'll let you in a secret - my dream car would be the new Renault Megane RS, a beautiful and very sporty hot hatch. Unfortunately, that will set me back an easy RM300K but that would give me a 1.8L turbo providing 280PS and 390NM of driving pleasure controlled via its unique 4-wheel steering system. Sadly, with a 5-year bank loan (I don't think I could get a longer term as I'll be retiring then), I'd be chained tightly around the neck for a crazy repayment of RM5K per month or more! That's like buying an iPhone 11 Pro practically every month!
So, I guess buying a new car was out of the question.... I could buy a 2nd hand car and do it up, but the thought of buying a used car and the hassle of going through the purchasing process irked me.... Then I thought, hey, I already have a used car - my current one! Yup, it's in very good condition, and I certainly know the owner's (me) driving habits.... So, why don't I just give it a boost in performance and maintain it the usual way, I reckon it could last for another 10 years, insya Allah.
Hence, instead of putting a down payment of RM30K for a new car, I'd used the same amount (well, around RM27K), to bring new life into my current car! The last time I did any performance modifications was over 10 years ago, and it made a lot of sense to follow through with APR Malaysia to inject the needed speed. Karl, who successfully did the Stage 2 mods the last time, recommended the following upgrades:-
- APR K04 Turbocharger system + OEM Bosch Injectors
- APR Intercooler
- APR HPFP High Pressure Fuel Pump
- APR K04 ECU software ugprade
- NGK Laser Platinum PFR8 B Spark Plug
Note: My VW Golf GTi is a 2007 2.0L Turbo MKV FSI. It already has the following mods:-
It took about a month for the parts above to arrive from USA after making the order, then Karl and his assistant Isaac plus technical team took around 4 days to install and test the entire system. Actually, it was supposed to take only 2 days, but there was a misfiring hitch that needed a while to troubleshoot, and was finally pinned down to one of the new injector being faulty, which Isaac replaced with a new and working one.
Also, a few other components needed to be replaced as they were discovered to be worn out, such as the cam follower, ignition coil pack, charcoal cannister, and air filter. By mid afternoon on 23 November 2019, all was completed and after a quick test drive, I was left smiling from ear to ear.
Mind you, before the installation, we had dyno'ed the car, to get a baseline of it's current performance stats, that is about 211PS and 314NM at the wheel, which is pretty good considering its age. A week after the installation, we did another dyno and the new output is a screaming 279PS and 386NM (on RON95 fuel)! Eat that, Megane RS...
Having driven my upgraded ride for a week, which included an outstation spin, all I can say is, "Wow!" Although I didn't do any 0-100 km/h test runs, without a doubt, not only is it significantly quicker and much more responsive, it does so with incredible smoothness with way less effort and it seems to be pulling strongly right till redline, where before it would run out of breath past 5,000 RPM.
Below are the before and after dyno charts. Notice that the K04 graph is very smooth while the before graph (incorrectly labelled "stock" as it really is "stage 2") shows a rather jumpy and unstable curve. That could be due to anything from old spark plugs to an aging turbo unit and certainly means that the new K04 system has been installed and tuned properly and is performing remarkably well. In any case, after 3,000 RPM, there is a sudden surge in power and torque with a total jump of about 68PS and 72NM from the previous setup!
You must understand, the standard, stock GTi is no slouch, so when Karl warned me that I must replace the existing braking system to a more stopping set (to be done another time...), he wasn't joking. I mean, this thing just rockets and doesn't seem to know when to slow down! Below 2,500 RPM it potters smoothly like before, but floor the pedal in Sport Mode, and you've unleashed a powerful beast bent on burning rubber on the tarmac, and leaving its stock rivals in a state of shock.... It's furious, unrelenting, and stupidly fast.
I like it.... very much ;-D
Enjoy the rest of the pics....
Drobo 5C with new Power Adapter
A few months ago, my Drobo suddenly stopped working. In fact, everytime I switched on my computer system, the entire house would trip. I thought it was the UPS that was short-circuiting, so I bought another, only later to realise it was not the UPS that was faulty. Thinking that the culprit was the Drobo, I called up Shashinki where I had purchased it from, and was told to send it to them for repair or replacement (it was still under warranty).
I didn't want to courier it to them, so when I had an outstation trip, I decided to drive down all the way to Skudai, Johor and deliver the Drobo by hand. Upon arrival at the shop on 29 Oct 2018, I met Dr. Koh King who is the man behind Shashinki, and he pointed out that most likely, it was the power adapter that was at fault, not the Drobo unit itself. Unfortunately, he said the adapter was not covered by the warranty, so I left the adapter with him, and over the next couple of weeks, he had tried to get hold of a new one, but it took so long that I finally decided to buy it online from Amazon on 17 Dec 2018.
To my surprise, the new power adapter from Amazon arrived on 31 Dec 2018 instead of the estimated 15 Jan 2019, and after plugging it to the spare UPS and connecting it to my PC, the Drobo 5C was alive again, and backing up all my datafiles successfully. Actually, the Drobo was out of action for so long that it auto-detected its firmware and dashboard software had to be updated to the latest version, which it performed promptly. Below you can see it straddled on top of the two UPSs.
Speedy EVO SSD
This took in the shape of the new 1TB Samsung NVMe M.2 970 EVO SSD. Phew, what a mouthful! Touted to contain the latest tech that can result in high-speed read/write performance, which after installation I had tested to produce approx. 3,542 MB/s for read and 2,490 MB/s for write! Compare that to the SSD it replaces which is the 128GB Samsung mSATA PM851 that maxes out at 400+ MB/s.
Before commencing with the SSD upgrade, I did a full system and data backup. Having done that, with the PC switched off, I plugged in the PX1, and restarted my PC and confirmed through Windows 10 Device Manager that the new SSD was recognised. I then proceeded to install the latest Samsung NVMe driver as well as Samsung's Magician and OS Migration software. Magician reported the SSD was working as expected (I used this to test its performance) and then initiated the cloning process using the Migration tool. Once cloning was completed, I restarted the PC and checked the BIOS that automatically detected the new SSD to be in the first UEFI bootable sequence. After Windows 10 was up, which I instantly noticed a faster bootup time, I ran Disk Management that showed the 970 EVO was online while the older SSD was offline (this was due to a conflict in Disk ID - as expected after successful disk cloning). I then shrunk the volume of C: drive to about 200GB and turned the remaining space to D: where I would copy all my data from the existing HD, which would later become my backup disk. I also deactivated the older SSD as I was not going to use it anymore.
