Author Archives: J.D. H.

Best Ethereum mining GPU [Sep 20th, 2016]

Currently, as of September 20th 2016, the best GPU for mining Ethereum is the AMD RX 480. The criteria are cost, hashrate (in MH/s) and power usage. My current top pick is the Sapphire Radeon NITRO+ RX 480 8GB model with 1342 Mhz core clock speed, for approx 27-29MH/s. At current rates this $279 card should mine about $750 USD of Ethereum a year. 4GB or 8GB? 4GB models of the RX 480 offer a lower initial cost, but resale value

Lenovo X230 Memory Upgrade to 16GB [HOWTO] [VIDEO]

[Scroll to the bottom for a quick video of the upgrade process!] The Lenovo X230 (and its predecessor the X220) are absurdly easy to upgrade. Here is the X230 memory upgrade process: Power off laptop (fully OFF, not hibernate) Remove battery Remove two screws from memory access panel Remove existing RAM by releasing retention clips Securely install new upgrade RAM Replace cover & screws Replace battery and power ON! For the upgrade, I chose Crucial’s excellent 16GB DDR3 RAM kit

Lenovo X230 RAM/SSD Upgrades, IPS LCD installation

My X220 ThinkPad has finally started getting long in the tooth. Therefore, a replacement is in order. 🙂 After perusing all the latest and greatest laptops of 2016 (XPS 13, XPS 15, ASUS, HP, etc.) I settled on the Lenovo X230 ThinkPad. An incremental upgrade for sure, but one that has left me satisfied and feeling like I am good for another year or two at the least. The price was right and the upgrade-ability of these models is superb.

Dell Latitude E7450 1080p IPS

The Dell Latitude E7450 is a capable 14″ Windows laptop. Heavier than an ultrabook, less capable than heavier workstations… it strikes a fairly good balance between portability and performance. My favorite feature is the E-Dock compatibility, allowing for easy multi-monitor use when docked at a desk. The laptop’s keyboard backlight is also very handy when working at night 🙂 Least favorite aspects are limited battery life and only decent keyboard/trackpad/trackpoint. I find that I prefer my classic X220 for typing

Lenovo IdeaPad 100S-11IBY 11.6” Laptop Intel Atom 32GB eMMC Red

The Lenovo IdeaPad 100s is a reasonably priced lightweight Windows laptop. Unfortunately, limited storage and poor display viewing angles prevent it from being a machine I would use on a daily basis. Specifications: Intel Atom processor Z3735F 2GB DDR3L / 32GB eMMC flash memory 11.6″ LED backlight / Intel HD Graphics Built-in Webcam / WLAN 802.11n / HDMI /USB 2.0 / Headphone / Microphone Windows 10