Given the dfficulty SPCR has with meaningful fan measurements they should definitely get on to Thermaltake, or maybe Delta, as they can measure the fan's output to 5 significant figures! :) :roll: :D Also don't fan manufactures sometimes quote RPMs as nominal and ±10%? Or even ±15%! Looks like it's ...

Hi, it's sadly common place for high end video cards to make electronic noise under heavy load, I've seen case where it also causes the PSU to squeal too! Typically under stress tests eg Furmark etc or compute loads like Folding@home. My experience is the higher-end the card the more likely it is to...

Hi, just connecting the rpm wire to the motherboard header will work just fine! Well it has for me in several cases anyway. The whole PC system has a shared ground, which I think is why it works. When I've done it I've kept the rpm wire in the plug so connects straight on no problems at all. My take...

Hi, you say it's a "Dell Inspiron 1564 with Windows XP Pro, Intel Pentium 4" There is a recent model Dell Inspiron 1564, but this comes with a 1st gen Core iX CPU and (probably) Windows 7, if it's one of these you have then it's worth trying to fix it. If it really is a very old model with a Pentium...

From Solo II Review page 4

CPU heatsink up to 17.4 cm tall

So according to SPCRs measurements it fits and you have a whole 2mm spare!

Regards, Seb

Hi, just a quick note about fan control systems. [I think I'm correct in what I'm about to explain but...] In the beginning there were only 3 pin (or 2 pin, no rpm monitoring) fans. You could control the speed of the fan by changing the voltage supplied to it, this was originally done with "5v trick...

Hi, have you considered the Sandybridge Extreme platform, may be cheaper with wider range of choices? It looks like it supports the hardware virtual features, unlike the normal Sandy and Ivy CPUs. The i7 3820 is quite affordable and there are 6 core / 12 thread CPUs, for twice the price, too. 8 DIMM...

Hi preacher, I'm not sure what your issue is here? The Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 is a straight forward blow through tower, airflow parallel to motherboard. The fan blows air in to the fins and the back of the heatsink is open for the air to flow out, the only difference to others is the closed side...

I would suggest buying a 120GB SSD if you can possibly afford one. Cheapest on newegg at moment is $96... With 120GB I think you easily be able to install OS and most programs to the SSD, or at least any that won't let you install to another drive, which most modern programs / games have no issue wi...

Hi, I second the SSD option. I've now seen 120GB SSDs as low as £65~70! I imagine that would provide enough space to work on the files you generate and then move them to network or USB or "green" drive in the PC. If you've never used a SSD you will be shocked how much faster/smoother it is. The sequ...

Hi, mine started as a Gigabyte OC model and has since gained an Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo II. The fans on it were faulty so I ended up replacing them with a pair of AC F9 fans, and modding the BIOS for fanspeed min of 25% Now idles with the fans ~450rpm and game load 800~900rpm and synthetic load 10...

Hi, all three of the last video cards I've had have whined, but only under load. The GTX260 was pretty bad but much better after I "glued" it up The GTX285 was fairly bad, I didn't have it long so didn't do anything about it. Curent GTX560 Ti whines faintly under folding@home, which is live-able. My...

Hi, I would say 1kw PSU is about 3x too much! I've run my PC, i7-2600k @ 4.5GHz + GTX560Ti from a Seasonic S12II-330w PSU. My estimate is it draws ~280w DC, and at least 50w less run at stock speed. Ivybridge also uses less power than Sandybridge and your proposed Radeon 7870 is similar to my GTX560...

Hi, sometimes under Windows Vista or 7 you can get the UAC prompt come up when Speedfan is launched from "Start Up" group short cut. An easy way round this is to create a Scheduled Task to start it at log on. Just follow the wizard and afterwards go in to properties and tick the "run with highest pr...

Hi, I don't think motherboards have a minimum PWM % they can send the fan, more like a minimum programmed in to the BIOS/UEFI. My experience is over-ridding with Speedfan (or the like) allows you to send what ever PWM % you like to the fan. How it reacts to that is another matter. You might take a l...

Using dual CPU cooler fans should work fairly well on any motherboard that has fan speed control, which is most now days. You would connect both fans to the CPU header and the board will adjust the fan speed to keep the CPU cool. As the two fans are more effective that one will settle at a lower poi...

Hi, the point of two fans is that, for example you can get the same cooling with two fans at 700rpm as one at 1000rpm. Two at 700rpm will be quieter due to the way sound level works, and also lower in pitch, were human hearing sensitivity is lower too. Most CPUs now, as long as not over-clocked, don...

If you want the case's USBs to be USB3, I've now idea if it would definitely work but, you might be able to get a adapter kit that plugs in to the motherboard and splice the wires in to the P150s front USB wires. I think it should work as you can get various USB 3 to 2 adapters, might even be able t...

Hi rupy, what is it you're trying to achieve with fanless operation? Someone here has a signature of "fanless is pointless!" I tend to agree with this, a single good fan run very slowly, 300~500rpm, will be pretty much inaudible in all circumstances and make cooling much, much easier and more effect...

Antec Signature?

Reasonably efficient and very high quality, if slightly older, design. I've got one in my PC and it's good, although I have swapped the fan. The stock one runs about 700rpm minimum and is reasonably quiet.
PSU casing is quite long and has modular cables.
Seb

Just curious, is there really any noticeable benefit to using RAID 0 striping on SSD's (as opposed to a single SSD)? In normal, real world use, probably not... but it didn't stop me from doing almost the same! Same pair of 120GB Sandforce drives on Intel controller, just mine are Corsair Force 3s. ...

Hi, I think electrical noise is partly luck of the draw. In general having better quality PSU will reduce the chance, but not eliminate the possibility it will do it under certain circumstances. I would suggest your chances of electronic whine are similar between any high end Seasonic PSU Unless you...

Are you taking in to account the specific heat capacity of water changes with temperature? According to this table it increase from 4.182 at 50°C to 4.219 at 100°C. As this is only 0.9% it makes no practical differance to a water cooled computer though! I think the only time water is better for quie...

As the drive is physically damaged it's unlikely to be accepted for RMA, but who knows how close they look... Although a retailer may well test the drive and if no fault found send it back. I suggest writing a whole load of zip/rar/7z and/or encrypted files to the drive as they can be read back with...

With PWM fans a trick I'm currently using is to wire a Fanmate (analogue version) in to the +ve and -ve wires, usually red and black, of the fan by swapping the pins in the plugs around. The 3rd speed reporting wire and 4th PWM speed control wire are left untouched. The advantage of this is I can th...

Hi, as you are on a budget I would go with one of the Arctic Cooling options. Personally I'd probably stump up the extra for the heat-pipe equipped Freezer 11 LP. It will definitely be small enough to fit your case and provide enough cooling. I would expect it the be able to cool the low-heat i3-210...

I hanker after one of these cases and have ever since I saw the first review of it. That they've added USB3 and better fans makes it worse. I want one, I really want one... :!: :wink: :roll: But £168 at scan.co.uk, which for a premium case with superb cooling and acoustics is pretty reasonable; the ...

Hi, for power use my rig of I7-2600k @ 4.5GHz with GTX560 Ti pulls up to 360w from the mains which is ~320w DC so you're not pushing the PSU too hard at all. Definitly cool air from under the case should be best. I think you just unlucky with the PSU fan, maybe try a different one? Ebuyer have a sel...

Difficult to see how two 120mm fans both at 600rpm could be so different in noise... To me the TrueQuiet Pro looks worthy of investigation, as long as the bearings are OK 600rpm on 120mm fan should be pretty quiet and, like many Scythe fans, the support struts curve the right way to meet the fan bla...

Hi, not sure where mATX comes in as the Sonata is an ATX case, which is good as means have huge choice of PSUs. If you you can get it and budget stretches to it I would look to Be Quiet! 350 gold. This should be efficient, high quality and quiet PSU that's fit n forget. As a cheaper option I used a ...