Blog

  • OnePlus One Battery Life Review On ART (Android Runtime)

    (Updated Comparison Post: ART vs. Dalvik): https://thelostdigit.com/2014/08/07/art-vs-dalvik-oneplus-one-battery-life-review/

    I have done a video showing some of the battery life results I have been getting for the past 2 weeks that give a good estimation of how the device performs while using the ART runtime. I have been fairly please getting 6-7 hours of screen on time consistently even though I have the worst signal in my room. I want to compare it to Dalvik and have switched back now to test it thoroughly to be able to compare. Once the testing is complete I will write a comparison post comparing the performance between the two.

  • My New Video Intro

    I have finally created an intro for my videos as I will be pushing my YouTube channel alongside my blog. I have embedded it below as it is my first step into the video universe. I used CyberLink PowerDirector 12 to create it as it offers great 4k editing that is GPU accelerated. I was surprised that I was able to edit and render 4k videos so easily using this program.

  • OnePlus One 4k DCI Nature Camera Test (Unprocessed)

    I found a nice spot to test out the OnePlus One’s 4k DCI mode. The Original File was 56 seconds with a bit rate of 64.7 mbps and stereo audio at 192 kbps at a sample rate of 48kHz. The file was 433 mb and has a resolution of 4096×2160 with a frame rate of 24 fps. I have included the full information about the video below it. Enjoy!

    Format : MPEG-4
    Format profile : Base Media
    Codec ID : isom
    File size : 434 MiB
    Duration : 56s 234ms
    Overall bit rate : 64.7 Mbps
    Encoded date : UTC 2014-07-27 17:52:02
    Tagged date : UTC 2014-07-27 17:52:02

    Video
    ID : 1
    Format : AVC
    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : Baseline@L5.1
    Format settings, CABAC : No
    Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
    Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=24
    Codec ID : avc1
    Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
    Duration : 55s 936ms
    Bit rate : 64.8 Mbps
    Width : 4 096 pixels
    Height : 2 160 pixels
    Display aspect ratio : 1.896
    Frame rate mode : Variable
    Frame rate : 24.000 fps
    Minimum frame rate : 23.841 fps
    Maximum frame rate : 24.181 fps
    Color space : YUV
    Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
    Bit depth : 8 bits
    Scan type : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.305
    Stream size : 432 MiB (100%)
    Title : VideoHandle
    Language : English
    Encoded date : UTC 2014-07-27 17:52:02
    Tagged date : UTC 2014-07-27 17:52:02

    Audio
    ID : 2
    Format : AAC
    Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
    Format profile : LC
    Codec ID : 40
    Duration : 56s 234ms
    Source duration : 56s 241ms
    Bit rate mode : Constant
    Bit rate : 192 Kbps
    Nominal bit rate : 96.0 Kbps
    Channel(s) : 2 channels
    Channel positions : Front: L R
    Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
    Compression mode : Lossy
    Stream size : 1.29 MiB (0%)
    Source stream size : 1.29 MiB (0%)
    Title : SoundHandle
    Language : English
    Encoded date : UTC 2014-07-27 17:52:02
    Tagged date : UTC 2014-07-27 17:52:02
    mdhd_Duration : 56234

     

  • Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Review (LGA 1156)

    There isn’t much to say, it is huge and I had to mount the fan on the other side to suck through the heatsink instead of push through it. It may lower efficiency a bit but it is doing fine. Temperatures went from 40 to 35 while idle and 85 to 60 while under full load. This is good enough for me and while running an overclock of 3.2Ghz the temperatures were around 70 under full load. I am using an Intel Core i5-750 @2.66Ghz stock clocks and when I say full load I mean running prime95 for 10 minutes.

    Check it out on Amazon here.

    Here are some photos:

    IMG_20140723_145221 IMG_20140723_145211 IMG_20140723_145026 IMG_20140723_143241 IMG_20140723_143011 IMG_20140723_142523 IMG_20140723_141745 IMG_20140723_141656 IMG_20140723_141642 IMG_20140723_141630 IMG_20140723_141510

  • Changing Gigabyte R9 270 OC Thermal Paste

    I noticed temperatures were reaching near 90 degrees Celsius while running furmark for 20 minutes. So I decided to open it, clean it, and put some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. This dropped the temperatures to 80 while running furmark and while gaming, it is usually in the 60-70 degree range. See the pictures below for how it looks inside. All I had to do was remove the 4 screws on the bottom and the whole heatsink came off easily. I then used isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips to clean it.

    The 4 screws to remove
    The 4 screws to remove
    The Nasty Stock Paste
    The Nasty Stock Paste
    All Clean and Shiny
    All Clean and Shiny
  • OnePlus One Camera Test 1 (Macro, HDR, Auto)

    Here are some assorted shots from the last few days. Under each is a description of the mode and click them to view the full size image, and I recommend you do to really enjoy the quality…

    IMG_20140717_134849
    Macro Mode. HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134838
    Macro Mode. HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134830
    Macro Mode. HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134758
    Macro Mode. HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134742
    Macro Mode. HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134638
    Macro Mode. HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134600
    HDR off
    IMG_20140717_134553
    HDR off
    IMG_20140716_194105
    Night time with Flash
    IMG_20140716_193736
    Night Mode
    IMG_20140716_193703
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140716_192737
    HDR on
    IMG_20140716_192733
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140716_182848
    Flash in a hard to reach spot. The phone saved me by allowing me to read my RAM model
    IMG_20140716_103506
    HDR on
    IMG_20140716_103250
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140716_103232
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140716_102815
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140716_094153
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140715_130532
    HDR on
    IMG_20140715_130242
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140714_194440
    Auto. HDR off
    IMG_20140714_180553
    Auto. Flash on
  • Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 OC Version

    The R9 270OC
    The R9 270OC

    This video card, even though it is priced well, is a beast. Installation was easy, uninstall the previous card drivers, remove the old card, put in the new card, and install the drivers. Immediately things were running well and much better than they used to. I was previously running a Radeon 5750 and the difference in performance is massive. Even though I have an Intel Core i5-750 CPU, the new card wasn’t bottle necked at all. Performance gains were huge in every benchmark.

    Furmark 720 test: Before (1500) After (4000)

    Passmark GPU: Before (1500) After (4300)

    Windows: Before (7.2) After (7.9)

    Homefront: Before (30 fps) After (110 fps)

    Bad Company 2 Online Multiplayer: Before (30 fps) After (85-100 fps)

    Top: R9 270 Bottom: 5750
    Top: R9 270
    Bottom: 5750
    Bad Company 2 Online
    Bad Company 2 Online
  • OnePlus One Nillkin Frosted Matte Hard Case Review

    This case is solid, textured well to prevent slip, and protects the screen when flipped over, in other words…amazing. It is available on Amazon for $11.80 and it is well worth it. The colors are a bit off due to the old phone I was using to photograph the One, but in person the color of it contrasts the phone very well.

    The textured back
    The textured back
    You can see how it is raised above the screen
    You can see how it is raised above the screen
  • Changing My Old, Dry Thermal Paste

    As I rebuilt my computer, I realized that the heat sink had been dislodged during travel and that the thermal paste had dried out and possibly even become dirty. The CPU was idle at about 60 degrees Celsius and it would reach almost 100 degrees within less than a minute of running Prime95. I ordered a small tube of Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste and as soon as it arrived, I cleaned and changed the thermal paste. The temperatures are now around 40 while idle and in the 60s while at full load. Finally, I can game without worrying about the CPU overheating. The process was easy and all I needed were Q-Tips and rubbing alcohol according to YouTube. Pictures of the process can be seen below.

    IMG_20140714_153659
    Old Dry Paste
    IMG_20140714_153628
    Old Dry Paste on the Heat Sink
    IMG_20140714_154354
    Cleaning the CPU
    IMG_20140714_154031
    The Cleaned Heat Sink
  • Rosewill Ranger-M Micro ATX Case

    Rosewill Ranger-M
    Rosewill Ranger-M

    The Rosewill Ranger-M case retails for $39.99 and I found it on eBay being sold from Rosewill for $29.99 with free shipping. This seemed like a bargain for such a good looking case and since I was in need of a case for my components, I went ahead and purchased it.

    The case is made of aluminum and is very light, the case looks good, and the case comes with a 120mm blue lit fan in the front and an 80mm fan in the back preinstalled. Installation of everything was easy but as you will see below, there really isn’t much space inside to do anything comfortably.

    First, the box was small and very light:

    Ranger-M Box

    Then, it was packaged well and had all of the screws inside:

    Inside The Box
    Inside The Box
    Inside with Screws in a Bag
    Inside with Screws in a Bag

    Then, installation was simple but tricky as not everything seemed to fit too easily:

    DSC_0054
    Cramped Inside due to the excess of power supply cables

    Finally, the front has built in HD Audio and AC-97 support along with 2 USB 2.0 ports. The Audio worked flawlessly with the Realtek Drivers that I already had installed and the USB ports only worked after I enabled them in the BIOS settings:

    Front of the case
    Front of the case

    Overall, I am very pleased with the case as it looks good, is very functional, and is relatively cheap for the good quality it has. If only it was an inch longer to space the hard drives away from the motherboard 24 pin power input, things would have been perfect. Maybe after I find a way to organize the wires better, it will be perfect.