Month: May 2005

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Puget Custom Pentium-M Rig: A Silent WC System

As a demonstration of what Puget Custom Computers can do, this custom system succeeds marvelously. Very few companies that sell whole systems are willing to do the kind of modification that this Puget system required. A self-contained, passively cooled water cooling system is not the kind of thing you can request of just any system

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Antec P180: A Visual Tour

No it is still not a review, we are bogged down in the details and the volume of data we’re generating in the lab. But here is a detailed tour of this new case that will tell many of you what you want to know. And a couple of interesting revelations about origins of the

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Seasonic S12-500 & S12-600 Power Supplies

They are the most powerful of the S12 series, and they are based on a more efficient circuit design than the smaller models in the line. The S12-430 is the current quiet leader among fan-cooled PSUs, but the 500 and 600 have even higher efficiency and dual PCI-e vidcard support for SLI. And they all

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Western Digital drives: Raptor 74 & Caviar SE 250

News about Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motors being implemented across WD’s entire range of hard drives promted us to take a serious look at some of their products. The two examined here today are the super-fast Raptor and a large capacity 7200 rpm Caviar SE, and they are both a lot quieter than WD drives

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Scythe Silent Box SBX-1000 HDD Enclosure

The name says it all: An enclosure intended to silence a HDD. What it doesn’t tell you is that that it is made of rubber (the same kind as car tires), and uses a Heatlane flat heatpipe to help keep the drive cool.

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Maxtor Diamondmax 10/300 & Hitachi 7K250 Hard Drives

Maxtor’s top desktop offering (300 Gb) and one of Hitachi’s former top-of-lines (250 Gb), now relegated to middling status, are featured in this review. Both acoustic noise and vibration are examined, along with power & thermal related issues. They represent reasonable alternatives to our perennial quiet HDD recommendations.

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SPCR’s Hard Drive Testing Methodology

The HDD testing system underwent a major series of upgrades that reflects the growing sophistication of SPCR readers — and our own increasing awareness of hard drive acoustics issues. The acoustic testing tools of careful listening and SPL measurements remain; they are enhanced with a new vibration testing methodology, as well as measurements of power

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Antec Phantom 500

Antec adds a fan to their Phantom 350 fanless PSU, increases output to 500W, keeps the price the same, and calls it a “Hybrid Technology” power supply. Is this more marketing double talk or a genuine improvement? If a fanless PSU is silent, how is a fan-equipped version better? Which should you get, since they’re

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Thermaltake W0029 Fanless Purepower 350 PSU

Thermaltake’s entry into the fanless PSU sweepstakes features not only a heavy external casing but heatpipes and external copper fins borrowed from one of their heatsinks. No 24-pin ATX, but SATA connectors; no PFC but high efficiency.

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