Yay my desktop computer revive from the dead!!! No more staring at a puny little screen while trying to edit my pictures!!! This is my third desktop computer to date... The first and second one is a complete unit while this latest one is not... I just changed what is necessary as my wallet doesn't allow me to go bonkers on the spec let alone a full system... 

My first system is using 'Intel' while my second one uses 'AMD'... For my new system, I wanted to use back 'AMD' (as I'm a 'AMD' supporter!!!) instead of 'Intel' but I've got no choice as I'm planning to do 'Hackintosh' (installing OS X Mountain Lion on my desktop) and unfortunately 'AMD' processor is not supported!!! 

Intel latest 'Ivy Bridge' processor... 'i5 3570K'... Wanted to get the 'i7' but it is too bloody expensive!!! Not really going to overclock it but still I get the 'K' version as the price difference is not huge... 

'ASRock Z77 Extreme 4' is my choice when it comes to motherboard... I buy this motherboard because it looks awesome!!! It is really beautiful in my opinion... 

I've always like 'Corsair' so no surprise here... Got myself four of these (16GB)... So no more shortage of rams!!! My previous desktop only have 2GB of rams!!!

Frankly speaking, I don't really need a new hard drive!!! But everyone's telling me that 'SSD' is super duper fast and it really got me curious!!! Bought 120GB one as 240GB is way too expensive!!! Again 'Corsair' for me... And that's about it... I'm using back my old 'XFX HD4830' graphic card and my really old 'Lian Li PC7' casing!!!

The first time my computer boot, I'm really ecstatic and it was fast!!! Way faster than what I've expected!!! Or maybe I'm just too use to my old desktop that runs like a slug??? Anyway, I'm really happy with my purchase as everything is so much smoother and faster compare to before!!!

Damn my desktop computer is officially dead!!! Recently I'm having a hard time trying to switch it on... But it seems like it decided to die on me... I believe the power supply is faulty and hopefully I'm right as it is cheap to get it replace... If the problem lies somewhere else, I guess is time for me to upgrade as my desktop is pretty darn old... At least 5-6 years if my memory serves me right... 

Hmm thinking about it, I don't really need a new computer as I still have my trusty 'IBM Thinkpad' laptop which should be in the museum by now and not forgetting my newer but super slow 'HP Netbook'!!! Both are not really ideal for photo editing purposes but I guess I don't have a choice right now!!! I've tried editing pics with the netbook and surprisingly it is able to cope with it!!! No crashes just that the screen is super small and it is pretty laggy!!! Other than that, I've got no complaint!!! 

Still need to get my desktop fix as there are a lot of pics in it... Wanted to post about my darling's experience on giving birth but all the pics are in the hard drive and I can't get access to it!!! Now, 'Apple Macbook Pro' look so tempting but can't really splurge on it as my wallet is in a pretty bad shape now!!! Haiz... 

Not really a BIG fans of 'James Bond' franchise... But still I don't hate it... Whenever there's a new 'Bond' film, I will still try my very best to watch it... 'James Bond' or '007' is a movie franchise that I can't really tell whether I like it or not... I've watched almost all 'James Bond' film since 'Pierce Brosnan' starring it but surprisingly, I can't remember anything at all!!! The same thing happen when 'Daniel Craig' took over the job... I can't remember the storyline at all... The only thing that I remember is 'James Bond' is almost God like... He won't get injured and he's super smart and all the ladies will fall in love with him eventually!!! Sex scene is inevitable but too bad we are living in 'Malaysia', so most of the interesting parts are long gone by the time it reaches our cinema!!!

So this time, I expect the same in this newest 'James Bond' film call 'Skyfall'... This time, I'm right about a few things like what I've said earlier... Almost all the ladies will fall in love with him and he's still smart... But this time, 'James Bond' is not that tough anymore... He will get shot at and he fail at physical training!!! Not something I expected... Frankly speaking I really like this movie and in my opinion, the storyline is good as well... The only thing that I don't like is the ending part where 'James Bond' took refuge at his old house... It looks a lot like 'Home Alone' to me where they setup booby trap and waiting for the bad guy to trigger it!!! Not cool... Other than that, no complain from me!!!

My newly installed 'Dastek Unichip Version Q' is officially taken out from 'FrankenBenz'!!! Just after two freaking days!!!  No doubt the whole car felt a lot lighter and it boost much stronger but it is a pain in the ass as my 'FrankenBenz' keep stalling!!! The best part is you need to wait for some time (if you're lucky, 10 minutes and if you're not, almost an hour!!!) before you're able to start it again!!! 

On the first day, everything was fine until I encountered this problem... It started right after the engine died... So I thought this might be an isolated case and nothing to worry about... The very next day proved my theory was wrong... It was a hellish day for me as 'FrankenBenz' kept stalling and stalling!!!  At first I thought the fuel level is low and it needed some fuel... So I parked it at the roadside and walked to a nearby petrol station... Pour the petrol in and tried starting it but to no avail... Plugging and unplugging the the original ECU a few times but still it won't start... Waited for another 30 minutes or so and decided to give it a try and viola it started...

Call the workshop that installed the 'Unichip' and told them about the problem and they asked me to drive it to their workshop and let them have a look... Drove my car for less than 300m and the engine's dead again!!! Tried starting it a few times and it just won't start... I have enough of this shit and took out my trusty 'Victorinox Swiss Army Knife' and cut off the  wires tapping to the original ECU... Luckily my boot got a roll of electrical tape... Put in the car key and twist it... No more problem and it started like a charm... The downside is the car felt so much heavier after dismantling the 'Unichip'... But at least the car's moving!!!

Call the seller and told him about his faulty 'Unichip' and he's gentleman enough to refund me my money as he's giving me a week warranty... So 'FrankenBenz' is back to basic for the time being... But not for long!!!


To be continue...

I'm sure a lot of you out there heard of 'Unichip'... It is a piggyback ECU made for petrol and diesel engines... It is famous for it's capabilities which almost matches a standalone!!! But too bad it is not so famous in 'Malaysia' as there are not a lot of tuners around... Unlike 'Greddy' famous 'E-Manage', you will need a special equipment to adjust the fuel...

Found myself a good used unit of 'Unichip Q' (not the latest... latest one is Q+) and decided to give it a try... I always like to be different and I'm those who don't like to follow the norm!!! When I first got a glimpse of the unit, I was shocked as it looked really small!!! It felt very solid and tampering is almost impossible as there's not a single screw in sight!!! 

Since only a handful of tuners around, I decided to go to one of the most reputable one which is located in 'Sunway'... 

Besides being compact, the amount of wiring needed to hook it up is as minimal as possible!!! Just a few wiring required to be tap onto the original ECU...

During setup, the tuner encounter some problems with the 'Unichip'... The whole unit went limp and it can't detect anything at all... There is no communication between the 'Unichip' and the laptop!!! At first, we thought the problem might come from the 'Dastek' fuel controller device... Borrow one from another workshop and the same thing happened!!! Plugged in another 'Unichip' albeit an older version and there's communication  between the two devices... So meaning my unit is faulty then!!! Damn... 

So the tuner decided to do a reset and flash it again... Insert the require map and viola there's communication!!!

Strapping onto the dyno machine and is time to find out how much horsepower the '1JZ' is churning out!!!

In standard form, the '1JZ' is churning out slightly less than 200ps on wheels which is around 253ps on engine (base on 30% transmission and drivetrain lost)... Looking at this figure, I'm pretty sad (but is normal for a standard '1JZ' to put out these kind of numbers) as 'Toyota' quoted 280ps on standard '1JZ' engine... Currently I'm running on 'RON 95' instead of 'RON 97' so I assume there's some number lost because of the lower 'RON' rating as 'Japanese' like to use 'RON 100' for their performance engine!!!

After tuning with the air fuel ratio (original ECU is way too rich!!!) and retarding a few degrees of ignition timing due to knocking and also increased the boost from the standard 0.8 bar to 1.0 bar, the '1JZ' churn out a respectable 246.52ps on wheels which is around 320ps on engine... Not too shabby!!!

After tuning, the whole car seems lighter and no more boost cut!!! Normally it cuts at around 0.9 bar... The torque is much stronger as well as the car pulls much harder compare to before... As a conclusion, piggyback ECU is a MUST for turbocharged cars as it liberate a lot of power just by turning up the boost a bit and dialling the air fuel ratio...

To be continue...