i7 920 Heatsink Upgrade

Let me begin by saying WOW! I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. Around a 20 degree Celsius difference, that's just crazy!




Here's the setup:
-Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core
-EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
-OCZ 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
-EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB
-SILVERSTONE TEMJIN TJ06B

Here's the upgrade:

Went from stock Intel i7-920 heatsink to a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. This heatsink is huge and as the numbers show, it works! I've been waiting almost a year for a kick ass heatsink for the 1366 chipset. I found my solution through Maximum PC's 10 out of 10 Kick Ass review of the Cooler Master.

Final verdict:

It was a tight fit and a little frustrating, but I took my time and the results speak for themselves. Anyone that is curious because they have the same Temjin TJ06B case and EVGA E758-A1 mobo now knows that the new heatsink fits fine and it totally rocks!!!!

The noise level is the same or less. I also used Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM as well as Arctic Silver ACN-60ML (2-PC-SET) Thermal material Remover & Surface Purifier - OEM prior to installation to remove the previous thermal paste. These 2 products are simply amazing!

For $50 at Newegg, this upgrade can't be beat!!!!

Before:




Look at the poor coverage by the stock Intel heatsink =(

After:






THANK YOU MAXIMUM PC, COOLER MASTER, AND NEWEGG!!!!

A day in Boston

Hey guys,

I had a super fun day in Boston on Sat 9/26. First, I went to an all day meeting for the Association of Vascular and Interventional Radiographers (AVIR). I met a lot of nice folks and listened in on some great talks about current IR procedures and news.

From the meeting I then ended up at Boston Beer Works for a pint of Octoberfest. It was very awesome!

After the beer I walked around Fenway Park and saw some filming of a new movie, I don't know what, but there was tons of security. There was some also food phantom event going on too. It was realy busy around Fenway and the Sox weren't even home...

I ended up getting hungry so I had dinner at the House of Blues. I needed to kill time before the Angelspit/KMFDM show. I had some chicken meal, which was pretty good. Two Sam Adams Octoberfests later, it was now 630pm or so. Because I ate before the show at the HoB, I then skipped the long line outside and I was able to get right in. In total I waited about 15 min, killing time talking to security and then BANG I was in!!!

I have never seen KMFDM before and I was pretty stoked. I was to the right of the stage and up against the barrier, super sweet location!

The show was superb and better than I had expected. I truly hope you get the chance to see them if you're into that kind of scene. If you've already seen them, how did you like them and what date/location did you see them?

I tried to video the show, but security kept telling me to put away the camera =(

Enjoy what I was able to capture...

-Kevin

KMFDM - DIY


Angelspit - Grind



A few pics:

Awesome weekend!

Today was my niece's 4th birthday party. Mya celebrated with family and friends. You can view some pictures that I took here: http://www.216digits.com/pics/Mya's_4th



(the birthday girl!)


Also, Kerri and I went on a nature hike, in Coventry, Rhode Island. Of course I took my camera...you never know what you might see! Well, I saw tons of different mushrooms and fungi....most of which I've never seen before, like this purple mushroom (I think it's a Viscid Purple Cort)




To see all of my mushroom hunt pics, please visit: http://216digits.com/pics/MushroomHunt/

(All mushroom/fungi shots were taken in Rhode Island; I haven't identified all of them so any help would be much appreciated!)

Busy, busy, busy...

Hey gang,

I've been pretty busy taking pics and enjoying some beautiful weather here in the New England area (finally)! In no particular order here are some shots that caught my eyes:



Scrambled Egg Slime Mold (I was greeted one day at work with this outside of the entrance)



A cool cloud picture in Cumberland, RI.



Another cool Cumberland, RI picture.




Jenga the Westie and Cody the Black Lab enjoying some watersports!

A waterfall we encountered whilst on the doggie hike.

Below is a crazy video that I recorded outside my window at work today. A red tail hawk catching some lunch, a little bunny that we named just this morning (Betsy the Bunny, in case you were curious). Poor Betsy...

The Transformers 'Matrix of Leadership' 25 Year Anniversary Complete G1 Box Set

Super Sweet!!!! I can't wait to watch all 98 episodes!!!!

Check it out:



This is where I purchased it from:
http://www.transformerscollectorsset.com/

Here is a cool review that I found listing everything within the box and a neat writeup: http://tformers.com/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=1077

Gaston MF P Fredette

Summer has been very cloudy thus far for us folks in New England. Usually we get lots of sun, but this year we've had tons of clouds and rain...well at least I've been busy with my family, friends, and life, just not outdoors. One friend of note is the great G. MF P Fredette. He came all the way from Lawrence, KS to visit me in RI (well not only me, but his family too!) Anyways, the wife and I had him and his bride-to-be (getting hitched 6/2010) over one night for diner. It was a super swell time! We eventually busted out the Kubler Absinthe, fun times. Here are a few shots of our adventure:

Jaimie & GMFPF

GMMPF on his 8th glass of the ol' green stuff =)

GMMPF, me, and the green fairy (what's left of her...), oh ya!

Awww, How Cute...

Here's a shot I took a few weekends ago after a run. My camera was on a tripod and used my Sigma lens. Man, I love this lens, but I really need to use a tripod in shady or indirect light, in order to get the razor sharp imanges like the one below:


Click the image to see a larger version.