Silent PC Review is dedicated to reviews, news and information about quiet, low noise, and/or silent computers and components as well as their energy efficiency and thermal performance.
  • The Reference / Recommended section contains reference articles central to understanding silent computing, along with lists of recommended quiet products.

Zalman CNPS9900 LED: The End of the Nines

Cooling
The fins of a 9700 tower heatsink get split into two sections to allow a 120mm fan to fit between them. The 9900 looks like the Zalman's last kick at the 9000 series.

Silverstone Nightjar ST45NF: 450W Fanless Power Supply

Power
A higher power, more efficient version of a model released back in 2004, the ST45NF has the good looks associated with Silverstone PC cases. It's also one of a very few fanless power supplies in the computer marketplace. The assured, silent performance is commensurate with its top dollar price tag.

Winter's wrath, from sea to stormy sea ...

Internet News

Vancouver, the home of SPCR, and the rest of Canada (as well as much of the US) has been hit for the past week with serious winter weather. A Canada-wide white Christmas is expected, the first time since 1971. All this may even impact SPCR editorial content delivery. Meanwhile... Happy Holidays, everyone!

M12D-850W: Seasonic joins the Power Race

Power
It's a refresh of the modular cable M12 series, a Silver 80 Plus rated model, and Seasonic's first entry into the superpower race that's been raging across the retail PSU sector for the past couple of years. Is it good? Yes. Is it quiet? Of course.

ThermalTake SpinQ: Unique Blower-fan Heatsink

Cooling
The SpinQ is one of the most unique CPU coolers designs from a brand that seems to pride itself on wild and whacky heatsinks. The integral 80x85mm blower fan should provide even airflow in a 360 degree arc through the cylindrical radial fins. Does it match the competition?

mCubed HFX Micro S13 system: Atom 330, Silenced

Complete / SFF Systems
Intel's embedded Atom 330 mini-ITX board finds a silent home in mCubed's HFX Micro Business S13, a tiny, stylish system integrating fanless cooling of all its components. Is 12 dBA@1m and dual-core Atom performance worth $700? You decide.

Thermolab Baram Blows In

Cooling
Baram is a big tower heatsink with all the requisite design elements to make it to the top: A huge number of large thin fins, 10 heatpipes spread nice and even, and staggered fins to minimize win resistance. Can this newcomer take on the established big boys?

Dell Studio Hybrid: Small, Stylish... but Quiet?

Complete / SFF Systems
It is Dell's smallest, most stylish and greenest desktop PC. It's also SPCR's first official review of a Dell. The burning question: Is it quiet? We promise to answer fully.

Anitec's SPCR-certified SilenT3 PC

SPCR Certified Silent PCs | Complete / SFF Systems
Anitec Computers of Vancouver, BC is now offering a new SPCR-certified PC for silent PC seekers in Canada. This unique, compact, capable computer combines best-of components for the lowest SPL measured of any retail PC examined by SPCR.

Scythe Ninja 2: Tweaking a Classic

Cooling
Scythe hit a home run for SPCR with the original Ninja heatsink a couple of years ago. Since then, the competition has stiffened, and despite several updates, the Ninja lost some of its luster. Is the Ninja 2 another homer?

Asus P5N7A-VM: Geforce 9300 IGP

CPUs & Motherboards
nVidia has been the laggard in chipsets for Intel processors, but their GeForce 9300 may help them turn things around. We checked out the 9300-based Asus P5N7A-VM, and we liked what we saw.

Asus EN9800GT Matrix Edition

Audio, Video, Misc
Asus carries seven different GeForce 9800GT models; we chose to look at the Matrix Edition, which features a rear-exhaust cooler and numerous "Hybrid" themed features designed to appeal to a greener audience. Most intriguing is "Super Hybrid Engine" which purports to offer lower power consumption in idle and better performance and stability under load.

Antec Fusion Remote Max HTPC case

Cases & Damping
The long awaited "Son of Fusion" is finally here. It's much bigger than the highly successful Fusion/NSK2400. We dive in to find out how this new Antec case is similar to and different from its predecessor.

Asus P5Q-EM G45 mATX motherboard

CPUs & Motherboards
The PG35 chipset P5E-VM HDMI was one of the best LGA775 mATX boards of the last generation. With so many features it made an excellent ATX replacement and stood alone in its class for almost a year. Now, poised to replace it is the Asus P5Q-EM. Sporting a similar feature-set, but based around the new G45 chipset, it has some big shoes to fill.

NX-8060 PSU improved: Nexus redux

Power
The Nexus NX-8060 600W power supply has been revised for improved acoustics, making it "even more silent," according to the brand PR. We take another look.