More photos.

The pc is up and running. I decided to add an extra aluminium sheet (the one that the SSD is mounted onto). This was done to improve the regidity of the case now that all the drive cages are gone. The interior of the case has been covered with Noisecontrol Magic Fleece. I'm still using my two Dell 2...

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro Windows 8.1 (non-Pro) should suffice. Might save you a bit $ Optical Drive: LG Blu-ray Drive Model UH12NS30 Check user feedback related to noise and/or check if the drive is supported by CDBremse or similar application that will enable you to reduce the read speed. The noise gen...

Mike, Typo on page 2: ASUS DirectCU GTX 680 on left , AMD Radeon R9 290X reference in center, ASUS Strix GTX 980 on left . On page 8: If I'm not mistaken, the AIO radiator is not allowed to be mounted with the hoses pointing upwards. Do you plan to do a review of the Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5? Gigabyt...

I have, at long last, compiled an updated list of components for my build. Motherboard : Asus Z97 Sabertooth Mark 2. (~1200dkr, ~$200) - Displayport 1.2 (4k @ 60Hz ready) - 5 year warranty - UEFI undervolt - decent UEFI fan control - decent VRM with 10K@105C capacitors - decent power consumption - M...

Can you please tell me if the APC BR1500LCD is quiet ?
Are you happy with it ?

Thanks.

Mike,
Would you mind checking the minimum fan % (or RPM) in DC mode in BIOS on one of the CHA fan headers on the Asus Z97-Pro?
I'm planning to use the TQ140 in my build so if possible please use that fan for the test.
Thanks.

Great review by the way.

Personally i find Asus bios fan control to be lacking, specially in terms of allowing the user more control, i find the presets to be relatively good, and probably work for most but that not good enough for me. By presets I guess you mean profiles (silent, standard, turbo etc.) According to this sc...

For the Scythe Kotetsu fan, the CPU PWM fan header gave a minimum of 25% speed, which is likely to be the absolute minimum. Switching this to DC raised the min to 50%. Thank you Mike. 25% minimum for a PWM fan sounds rather high. THIS thread indicates that the ASUS X99 Deluxe will drop a PWM fan to...

System Configuration: -snip- Scythe Kotetsu CPU cooler - Nexus 120 mm fan at 9V Mike, Am I correct in assuming that the entire review was carried out with the Kotetsu Glidestream fan replaced with a Nexus 120mm ? If so, why did you choose to replace the Glidestream fan with the Nexus ? If you've pl...

Abula wrote:You should complement them by asking in bios or under the windows/anyother os.

I don't follow. Do you recommend me to post my questions somewhere else?

Lawrence, 1) Can you confirm that the minimum fan % setting for the CPU_FAN header in PWM-mode is 30 ? (In BIOS) 2) What's the minimum % in DC mode ? (In BIOS) 3) Does the same minimum limits apply to the CHA1-4 fan headers ? (In BIOS) 4) Is it possible to set a different plot point graph on all CHA...

The B85 of MSI and Asus have 1GB limit which is still OK According to the MSI B85-G43 Gaming manual it is only possible to enable a maximum of 256M integrated graphics share memory in the BIOS. I haven't checked the other MSI B85 motherboards as I have no interestes in any of the B85 motherboard - ...

Otherwise why would Asus be saying that the Z97 chipset boards with 512MB of shared memory can support 4k resolution at 24Hz via either DisplayPort or HDMI? From what I understand it will support it, but only for very light tasks. Finally, if you are not gaming plan on needing at least 1.5GB of vid...

Thank you lodestar.
This shared memory limit could be a dealbreaker if one wants to use the onboard graphics to run a 4k monitor. Source: pugetsystems.

I wonder why several motherboard manufacturers have decided to reduce the shared memory.

The Asus has the better fan control but my only problem is the 512MB limit of maximum shared memory for graphics (I'll be using the integrated intel GPU). ASrock boards have no restrictions and allow the maximum 1.7GB possible memory. The B85 of MSI and Asus have 1GB limit which is still OK. Where ...

Pretty basic - the voltage offset control was greyed out/inaccessable in the UEFI. Perhaps there's some hidden method to make them accessable...as MSI claims all their boards allow for it to some extent, but I didn't have the time to mess with it. Then I moved on to other projects. Someday, I'll tr...

CA_Steve wrote:If you can go with H chipset and if you want to avoid any potential DPC latency issues, then take a look at the H97 mobo's. They can be reasonably priced (at least here in the US). Some examples.

Do you know if the Z97 chipset is also a safe bet if one wants to avoid DPC latency issues?

Initially the build was suppose to have ASUS GTX970 STRIX, but Amazon never got them in stock for the last 3 weeks =( or at least never saw them... so he just decided to skip them in favor of a waiting for the 20nm GPUs coming in 2015, so he grabbed a Asus GTX750Ti Strix, but came DOA =(, so i gave...

The PSU throws a lot of heat over the GPU, I might end up trying something different. If you're up for modding your PSU (and ruining your warranty) I would flip the PSU fan and connect it to a fan header on the mobo or 5V from the PSU. Run it at it's lowest possible RPM. Or for startes, install a f...

The kotetsu is a great cooler and it comes with a decent fan (even though I would probably switch that as well). I'm looking at the same cooler for my build - what's left to be desired from the fan in your opinion? The FractalDesign PSU is passive up to 260-300W, which means that in my case it is c...

- undervolting in UEFI: reading the manual, it looks like the G45 can set the CPU voltage offset to a negative value. Waiting for feedback. This is what moved me away from the Asrock Z87 Extreme4. The Extreme6 has it, the Extreme4 doesn't. Looking at the manual for the Z87 Extreme4 mobo I haven't b...

There is a other things that ill be doing the next couple of weeks, installing the HR22 on the HTPC with NF-S12A PWM, and the MSI GTX750Ti Twin Frozr, but i also ordered the ARCTIC Accelero S1 Plus VGA Cooler - nVidia & AMD, Silent Passive Cooling, SLI/CrossFire , will also test the Twin Frozr fans...

Sorry about the lack of updates. I had to put this project on hold due to car trouble - the car was ultimately replaced with a newish one. Anyhow, this project is now active again. I've got the following components on hand: PSU: EVGA 750 G2 Case: modified Antec 300 Intake fans: 2 x Antec True Quite ...

Is it possible to mount the heatsink so that the fan moves the air towards the top of the case rather than towards the rear of the case as displayed in the review?

Well, the lower VRM temp is a result of better VRM efficiency (less energy wasted as heat). I can only agree that lower temperature yields better semiconductor efficiency. Your link refers to x77 mobos. True what you say about chipset bugs, I want something that has been thoroughly tested so I'll pr...

Progress has been slow lately. I'm still waiting for feedback from Asus, Gigabyte and Intel concerning support for UHD @ 60hz @ 30bit on the motherboards displayport. While waiting I've been trying to get familiar with motherboard features and performance. It seems that Gigabyte's VRM design is supe...

The fan usually spins at a fairly low rpm - which is part of the reason why the laptop stays pleasantly cool on the bottom I suppose. When left unattended for a while the fan shuts off entirely. I only use it for light tasks, as described in the first post. I haven't done any mapping of the fan rpm ...

As promised, here's my thoughts on the E540 after using it for 5 days. The good: -the numpad is great, it was dearly missed on my t42p -runs cool and can be used on the lap out of the box (I haven't looked into undervolt / underclock yet) -quiet -much brighter screen than the t42p (using it outside ...

Steve, Thanks for your continued contribution, I really appreciate it. If I decide to go for a fanned PSU then the fanned side will be turned towards the front of the case. (See attachment) I might add a fanduct on the front of the case that allows the PSU to breath cold air from beneath the PC shel...