Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by myshinyannulus

Getting parts online or physically

myshinyannulus — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 14:44:33 +0800

Hey there sifus of Lowyat forums.

I want to get my first custom PC. Here are the specs:

- CPU: Ryzen 5 9600X

-Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO

- Motherboard: MSI B650M Gaming Plus WiFi

- RAM: Klevv Fit V 2x16GB

- GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 5070 Windforce OC SFF 12GB

- PSU: Corsair RM750e

- Case: Lian Li A3 - Wooden Edition Black

- SSD: T-Force G50 1 TB x1, 500 GB x1

- Case fans: Thermalright TL-C12C 120mm x3

Compatibility wise I've done a lot of research and used PCPartPicker and ChatGPT to ensure everything fits (but let me know if something is out of place!)

What I'm blur about right now is where to get everything. I'm able to get everything from Shopee for about 6.5k, but I understand after-sales support can be difficult if something goes wrong. I wanted to get someone to build it originally but I calculated it's a RM 400 premium.

Would you guys recommend going out to source parts from physical shops like Low Yat? Does buying parts physically offer any advantages that outweigh the generally higher prices compared to online? Or should I just save the time and hassle and pay to get it assembled lol

Xiaomi 14 vs Galaxy S24 vs OnePlus 12

myshinyannulus — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 13:13:12 +0800

Upgrading from a Huawei P30. It is still a beast but battery life has degraded significantly over the past several months and it's stuck at Android 10 so I can't install certain apps like GXBank.

Shortlisted these 3:
- Xiaomi 14
- Galaxy S24
- OnePlus 12

Budget is ok for all 3. I mainly look for:

- Long battery life
- Fast charging
- Minimum stutter/lag

Other pluses include:

- Decent cameras
- Lightweight/Compact

Appreciate any input!

Honours or Masters?

myshinyannulus — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 13:02:04 +0800

So I'm a final year CS (specialising in data science) student at Monash Malaysia. I am definitely interested in postgraduate research and getting a PhD. From my understanding, one would need a Masters (by research) to apply for a PhD, or fast-track with a Bachelor's degree with Honours).

My degree does not have Honours as it is Aussie style, where Honours is an additional research year which you can opt in. This differs from many other local unis where Honours are embedded/integrated into the degree.

This where I start getting questions:
1) Do all supervisors/unis accept Bachelors with Honours for PhD while skipping Masters?
2) If my end goal is PhD, would an Honours degree save time and money over a Masters? I am currently under JPA sponsorship, so I am gonna try my luck asking them to cover my Honours year as well.
3) If I end up just pursuing a Masters by coursework, will that be sufficient to seek a PhD?
4) Do the answers to the above questions vary country by country (eg. Australia, UK, etc.)

And just out of curiosity, do unis/employers see Aussie-style Honours differently from Malaysian-style integrated Honours degrees? Does the latter have a major research component with dissertation/thesis? I didn't do too much research into these things before choosing Monash.

Summary of a data science internship search

myshinyannulus — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 08:24:29 +0800

Thought this was worth sharing.

Some context:

I am a data science student at a local private uni with a 3.9 cGPA. Not much extracurricular roles in uni and no prior working experience of any kind.

Invited: the employer contacted me first

No openings: the employer has no openings that match my university internship requirements

Incompatible: the employer has verbally offered an internship, but it does not match my university requirements

Diagram was made using Python and Plotly.

Braces by dentist vs orthodontist

myshinyannulus — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 11:27:24 +0800

Just wondering the difference in experience/quality between both? Nearby clinic offers braces treatment. Very convenient but is a general dentist. UMSC is further away but treatment is provided by qualified orthodontist. Anyone has experience that can draw out a comparison between the two?

Reliable and reputable Wii repair service in KL?

myshinyannulus — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 12:42:18 +0800

Dug out my old Wii after years of not playing. It randomly turns off by itself after a period of playing (usually 30-40 mins), and won't turn on again unless I turn off the power and wait about 10 mins. I suspect it's an overheating problem but tried many solutions online to no avail. I don't dare to open the console up myself. I know there's this store in Starling Mall that does repairs but don't know reliable or not.

Anyone has any good experiences with any store?

Monash February/July intake vs October intake

myshinyannulus — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 12:08:35 +0800

For Monash Malaysia, Feb and July intakes are considered major intakes and October is minor. Any major difference between the two? Will I have a far smaller classroom size for the October intake?

Has anyone tried to cash out eBelia?

myshinyannulus — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:32:14 +0800

Claimed my eBelia on ShopeePay. ShopeePay has a withdrawal function. One of the TNC of eBelia is no cash-outs allowed. But nothing is stopping me, right? Has anyone tried withdrawing it?

Bioinformatics: BSc or BCompSc?

myshinyannulus — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 10:28:56 +0800

I wanted to become a doctor originally but I've lost interest halfway through my Foundation. Still, I'm really into biology (and also computer science) and I'd really like to be a bioinformatician in the future. I'm currently studying Foundation in an IPTS and intend to study my Bachelor's in Monash. Monash has a general Comp Sci course, a Computer Science in Data Science course, and an extremely flexible Bachelor of Science course where you can choose your major and electives (genomics and bioinformatics is one of the listed majors).

Comp Sci: https://handbook.monash.edu/current/courses/C2001 , https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_fi...mpSc-Adv-CS.pdf

Data Science: https://www.monash.edu.my/study/undergradua...in-data-science , https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_fi...-BCompSc-DS.pdf

BSc: https://handbook.monash.edu/current/courses/S2000 , https://www.monash.edu/students/handbooks/m...1/map-s2000.pdf

Now I'm in a dilemma because I don't know which course to pursue that can give me the smoothest transition from my current Foundation (which is mostly pre-med content, so I already have a bio background), to a computer science oriented degree with a focus on bioinformatics/bio-related stuff.

- General computer science has free elective slots to study units from other faculties, but I think it may be overly general and broad. And it lacks data analytics content.

- Computer Science in Data Science focuses more on data analytics (which I guess is related to bioinformatics in a way? ie. analysis of biological data), and it also has free elective slots for me to study bio-related units. Also it's good to have a degree in data science anyway cause even if I don't get a job in bioinformatics I can still venture into other fields of data science.

- Bachelor of Science allows me to major in bioinformatics from year 2 but I worry most of their early units are also overly general and stuff that I've already learned in Foundation, and that I won't have sufficient computer science knowledge to apply to my biology.

I'm a JPA-sponsored so I have to serve 4.5 years for the gov in my field after my degree. I'd be more than happy to pursue a masters in bioinformatics or biotech after that. Hope I can get some good advice from you guys. Thanks!

Motherboard dead or GPU dead?

myshinyannulus — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 11:05:46 +0800

I woke my PC up one day to see that there is no display and my monitor said "no signal coming in", so I pulled the display cable out and back in again. And everything worked fine until evening that day. I came back to see that the problem has returned. Reconnecting the cable didn't work anymore.

I suspected the monitor had a problem and switched monitors to test, but still nothing. I connected my monitor to the motherboard instead of the GPU and poof, there's a display! I changed the connection to the GPU again to make sure, and there's still no display. Just when I thought the GPU is definitely the culprit, to my surprise, I connected the monitor back to the motherboard and now there's no display as well! The PC runs and the fans spin, but the monitor is just a black screen. No way to access BIOS.

When I opened up my PC to troubleshoot I also realised that one of my chassis fans has stopped spinning. I don't know how long it had been like that so I can't confirm if both these problems are related. (if related, could it be a PSU problem?)

Is my computer beyond repair?

Data Science to Bioinformatics

myshinyannulus — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:18:39 +0800

Currently in Foundation. Originally wanted to study medicine, but the COVID vaccine research has given me a deep interest towards bioinformatics and computational biology. I really enjoy both biology and computer science, so I think it's great for me. I'm now planning to study data science locally, work for government for some exp (JPA scholarship agreement), then proceed to a postgrad in bioinformatics or other similar field overseas later on.

Is this pathway smooth? Is it ok if I take other computer science degrees for my bachelor's (eg. cybersecurity)? How is the bioinformatics scene in Malaysia?

Dell Touchpad not appearing in device manager

myshinyannulus — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 13:04:19 +0800

My few month-old Dell Inspiron 5405 had a problem where the cursor freezes, lags, and stutters for a few seconds. This happens every 15-30 minutes of continuous usage. As I mostly use my touchpad, I suspect it was the culprit. I went over to device manager to check for device updates but the touchpad isn't showing up at the Mouse and Pointing Devices section. I clicked Scan for Hardware Changes and also set Device Manager to Show Hidden Devices. Still nothing. I updated my BIOS, chipset driver, display drivers. Still nothing.
I saw a temporary solution online where you need to disable Panel Self Refresh in Intel Graphics Settings, but my laptop has an AMD processor and that setting is nowhere to be found. Help is appreciated. Thanks.

Deco M5 making my PC stuck with 2.4 GHz instead of

myshinyannulus — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 17:13:10 +0800

I changed routers from a TP-Link Archer C1200 to a TP-Link Deco M5. I read online that the 2.4 and 5GHz networks share the same name, and that connected devices will switch between the bands based on device activity. My subscription is Unifi 100 Mbps. When I join my new network with my laptop, it was at 5GHz for a brief moment (down speed about 90 Mbps) before switching back to 2.4 (down speed about 20-40 Mbps). I opened up some tabs and also YouTube but it was still stuck at 2.4. YouTube is taking FOREVER to load videos. Anyone have a solution?

Looking for suggestion for Wacom tablet

myshinyannulus — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 20:30:38 +0800

I'm a pre-med student so I sketch a lot of chemical diagrams and jot a lot of notes. I need a drawing tablet compatible with Windows 10 and with MS OneNote. Budget is RM300. Don't need a dedicated display on the tablet.

I can't remember the name of a minimalist wallet

myshinyannulus — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 13:17:04 +0800

It's Malaysia brand. Saw ads of it before on Instagram. Only sells online, I think. If I'm not mistake, it has a card fanning trigger. I can't remember its name and it's killing me!!

Best affordable compact jazz drum kit?

myshinyannulus — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 13:12:08 +0800

I'm looking for an intermediate level jazz/bop kit with a compact size (bass drum must be 18"), preferably with cymbal stands included. Budget is RM 3000. Genres are jazz/bop and a little pop and rock. I'm currently looking at PDP New Yorker, Ludwig Breakbeats, Tama Club Jam and Gretsch Catalina Club. The Gretsch seems to be the best of the bunch but dunno if it's worth it as it exceeds my budget a little. I've also read about the Tama Imperialstar Bop and the Yamaha Stage Custom Bop but couldn't find any Malaysia price quotations online.

Switching university after Foundation

myshinyannulus — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 15:37:17 +0800

I'm currently studying IMU Foundation in Science. I wanted to be a doctor but lately I've been having second thoughts, thinking that I may have been overestimating myself, and just losing interest in it in general.

I've always been fascinated by Computer Science and now I have a desire to pursue a degree in that with a specialism in either Data Analytics or Cyber Security. Both are highly in demand fields and might get even more lucrative in the future. I'm a big lover of money. Not a good reason why I originally chose to be a doctor!

Most of the stuff I study right now is Pure Math, Biology, Chemistry and Applied Physics for Health Sciences. Would I face any difficulty after completing my Foundation and transitioning to CS? Does APU accept this course for entry into their Degree programmes? I took AddMaths in SPM. If I'm still taking medicine the commencement of both degree programmes are the same, so in terms of time it's not being wasted at all.

How is the biotechnology industry in Malaysia?

myshinyannulus — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 12:05:01 +0800

I currently just started Foundation in Science with my desired degree being medicine. I am aware of the concerns around the current state of a medical degree in Malaysia. Long housemanship queue, joblessness, student debts... So I do have other options. I just intend to work in the healthcare field because that's an industry I really want to work in. My 2nd choice has always been Pharmacy, but even that has been starting to become saturated in Malaysia.

Lately I've been having a lot of interest in Biotechnology. I've always liked bio, and I've always liked technology, so boom! Biotechnology! Of course, various universities in the country offer a Biotech degree, but I have no idea if there are many job opportunities out there in the country after I graduate, and also how much they pay. To clarify, my degree MUST be studied in Malaysia and I MUST work in Malaysia after graduation for a number of years as I'm bonded to the government via a KPM scholarship. I also prefer working in a lab (ie. research) over academia and entrepreneurship/marketing/sales, and I'd really like to go for Postgrad overseas.

Is there anyone working in the Biotech industry or anyone has a Biotech degree in Malaysia? How's the working life? Also, which Malaysian uni's Biotech degree is more reputable in your opinion?

Missed the Dell Delivery SMS

myshinyannulus — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 22:56:28 +0800

So Dell Delivery sent me an SMS saying my laptop is arriving tmr and I should choose whether to accept this time or reschedule the delivery before 5pm today. Conveniently, my phone decided to be an asshole for today and I only received the SMS notification at 10pm. The SMS reads "Scheduled delivery mentioned above WILL BE arrange if not receive response from you." Does this mean my laptop will be delivered to me tomorrow?

Minecraft replica of Kuen Cheng is in the news

myshinyannulus — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 11:16:12 +0800

Alumni from my high school (Kuen Cheng High School) began building a full-scale replica of the school campus a few months ago and has since expanded the server to encompass various game modes for students to have fun at home. Recently, it got featured on Sin Chew Daily.

Here are some other screenshots