Thank you, Mike, for creating this space, and for all the hard work done by you and other regular contributors. It's hard to overstate the impact SPCR has made on the computer peripherals industry. Just to list some of the innovations that SPCR brought to silent computing, which have since become widely available:

* Suspension/decoupling of vibrating components (hard disks and fans)
* Fan undervolting
* Ducting and isolation of heat sources inside the case
* Case modding for larger, slower-spinning fans
* Less-restrictive fan grills
* Case soundproofing and dampening

SPCR fostered an entire quiet-computing industry and created a market for many brands. Nexus, Zalman, and Arctic Cooling are among the brands that I think owe a lot of their success to the exposure they were given on this site, not to mention custom builders and retailers like Puget Systems and EndPCNoise. Other peripheral brands used the opportunity to create product lines targeted at computer silencing: I own an Antec P180 case (regrettably not the SPCR-badged limited edition), and it's a monument to Mike Chin's impact on the industry.

SPCR also made innovations in hardware review that, to this day, are unmatched by any other site that I know of. No other mainstream review site has anything approaching the SPCR Lab. SPCR is the best (or only!) source in the world for:

* Accurate fan airflow measurements
* Objective noise measurements for fans
* Noise recordings for peripherals
* Vibration and noise measurements for disk drives
* Temperature-sensitive PSU fan readings under realistic load

I give X-bit labs credit for adopting and extending the PSU efficiency tests and for undervolting fans on CPU/GPU coolers, but SPCR's careful noise analysis can be found nowhere else.

I learned a lot from my time here, and even made a few new friends. Hopefully SPCR can continue to publish thorough and insightful hardware reviews, but even if it lives on only as an article archive, it will serve me well for years.

Good luck to you in your future projects, Mike, and thanks again.

Wow I've been a forum member since August 2003 (and lurked when I was in college before that - you need to have a quiet computer when you're sleeping right next to it!) Like Captain Spaulding, I came to learn and contributed occasionally when I could. There was nothing even close to this site when I joined and other sites didn't even consider the subjects this site tackled. The knowledge gained was invaluable and at the time I used it to mod my aging pre-built computer and to build my new one. matt_garman - I remember McMaster-Carr :) I doubt my little purchases made them any money, hehe. I have however made many purchases from stores recommended here and of products recommended by the site and forum members. I have always come to SPCR since then when looking for component advice and especially when planning a new build. I also occasionally checked on new articles and posted to the forum. I wasn't really a very active member over that time for sure but the site had a big impact. The forum community, as others have said, is just fantastic. In addition, the lack of gimmickyness, flash, bling, and the other junk that is often seen in hardware related sites is very welcome and likely a draw for those of us that are here.

I have to agree with some previous posters that SPCR and MikeC are winning the battle as it is much easier to build a quiet computer and off the shelf computers are much more likely to be quiet. I think there is still a place for this site though to continue leading the way, where overclocking and benchmark numbers aren't the end-all be-all and high quality articles dominate. Maybe some reduced main site activity along with continuing the forums could be done, or perhaps a slight broadening of the scope like including Eco PC Review's scope somehow or maybe adding a segment for an IT/datacenter audience who could really benefit $$$ with lower noise and power usage (could be difficult but possible big payoff). It is likely a niche for only one site, and this is it. Thank you Mike for creating this site to fill that space that badly needed it and filling it well, and for leading the site and community to be unmatched among review sites in integrity, impartiality, and thoroughness.

Live long and prosper SPCR!

Just wanted to say, this is the only site I've ever donated to, and this was when I was not working and money was tight, I hope this gives you some idea about the worth of this place and yourself Mike. Best of luck in your future endeavours from me (and others) in the UK. :-)

Just come back here in literally years having gleaned ALL my silencing knowledge from THIS site. Came back to see what's what in the 120mm fan world only to see this thread
I'm sorry to see things end.

edit 2003 - nearly 10 years since I followed Mike here

Hi Mike,

I've been popping in and out of SPCR for years even after I started buying prebuilt Apple computers (making it much more difficult to tweak my system for lower noise) but I always visit at least a few times every year. It is sad, although postponed, to hear that you are almost retiring from this site, and I have nothing but best wishes for you. I remember "meeting" you even before this site was launched in the Yahoo groups (and I did meet you as well!)! You gave me advice on how to silence my Enermax PSU at the time and it worked beautifully. A lot of people have "been around since the beginning" but I guess that would make me "around since before the beginning". I too, like many others, learned a lot from visiting your site and interacting with you and all of the other members of the SPCR forums.

I've just realized that you've crossed the 10th year of SPCR. I'm glad SPCR has made it at least this far. Some parts of me want to offer help to keep the site going after you release the reins, but I know I don't have the dedication or know how (or spare time!) to keep up the high standards you have set.

Quiet/silent computing continues to be a part of my life despite rarely building computers anymore. With SSDs becoming common and affordable these days, super high efficiency PSUs now available, and with a bit of large heatsink and undervolting magic, I will one day build the truly silent passively cooled computer with no moving parts (excluding electronic noise). As you have said many times - the holy grail of silent computing!

I have a lot more I'd like to say but the words just escape me right now (fitting right into the cliche here!).

Thank you, Mike Chin.

-Ken

Just wanted to say that this is one of my main sites for PC component reviews for the past 6 odd years. For me, it is clearly the definitive leader in computer hardware acoustics in the whole web. The difference here is that when other sites give awards, my reaction is largely thats pretty good, but forgettable. Here when SPCR gives awards, my reaction instantly gains attention, similar to "wow, this is some serious hardware". If SPRC gives an award, silver or gold, I believe it is worth it from the EXTENSIVE research and depth in review into the products.

I will definitely miss this website if it goes, so i'm really glad it still got life left in it. Is the problem to do with popularity? I really think that spcr should use Youtube as a vehicle to accelerate it's growth. It will probably be the best acoustic orientated video review on pc components ever.

Thank you Mike for more than 5 years of teaching me the ways of silent computing.

I wondered when a post like this would happen.
this place reminds me of being a war survivor.

the join date does not reveal me. I have been here since the beginning.
It was really bad a decade ago.

Today, getting ads taken away for being truthful is even at a regular users level posting vids on you tube. SPCR pushes boundaries of truth and hope it continues to get a real attention...all on its own.

Even at a fabricators forum from scratch, something out there in the internet land of marketed socialism tries to take away popularity..

anyway. this place has been a place to rant a long time.

if something in a pc standard is bad, I hope to read it right here at spcr.

it goes beyond silence.

I never knew the site was closed - abandoned. I haven't been on the forums for a while. Something started to irk when all of the latest reviews were dated 2010. I'm still benefiting from acoustics measurements such as those for the Samsung F4 Ecogreen and the WD Red. This information will be impossible to obtain elsewhere. You can say all harddrives are silent now but there was still a marked difference between the former harddisk and the latter. I think we are basically going to have to trust what manufacturers themselves say, and some substandard information by other reviewers. It's not like companies advertise their disks to be 5400.

Shame, shame, shame. Such a shame. Where to find organized information now?

Umm... 2010?

Do you not read headlines... like POSTPONED?

Scroll back on the front page and you'll find there are 149 posts, mostly to reviews, in 2012 and 2011.

My eye-sight! My eye-sight!

Seriously, I was seeing 2010 everywhere.

Maybe I didn't reload the page for 2 years :P.

Okay - relief. Yes I read this thread and I knew it read POSTPONED but I couldn't be sure :-/

My apologies ;-).