Search found 151 matches

by Rory Buszka
Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:11 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

I refer to this PC as a 'reference' for reviews that I write for Techgage.com, both as a benchmark for a midrange system's performance (the X2 5200+ processor falls between the E6300 and E6400 from Intel) and for noise output. Some of you still don't seem to understand how fans that run at 200-300RP...
by Rory Buszka
Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:57 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

To be honest, the 7200.10 is the only thing in this system that's audible at all. A bit of motor whine can be heard if I put my ear up to the tower, and seek noises are audible. The fans, however, make no discernible contribution.
by Rory Buszka
Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:53 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

Don't forget -- I'm running my fans at about 25-40% of their nominal operating speeds, using a microprocessor-based fan controller that adjusts fan speed based on cooling demand. I can usually see the individual revolutions of the fan, if the fan is running at all. Yes sir, it is indeed silent. The ...
by Rory Buszka
Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:04 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

Typically, the FBK case fan is running extremely slowly, where almost nothing is audible, even with my ear straight up to the motor hub. Its speed is actually controlled by the temperature of the HIS iSilence video card cooler and ABIT Silent OTES heatsinks. Both of them depend on the rear case fan ...
by Rory Buszka
Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:16 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

I'd say if it isn't worth the full $20, it's close. It's one seriously high-quality part. It's not three-pin, though. Much more notable is the Evercool Ever Green series of fans, which proved themselves serious silencing contenders in my application.
by Rory Buszka
Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:06 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

Yeah. I bought it sometime last year from Thermalfx.com back when they had about 20. I think they may (still!) have a few left.
by Rory Buszka
Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:40 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

It never runs because I've set it to activate if the HDD breaks 40 C, which it hasn't yet. The hard drive seems to simply rise to a temperature, and then hold steady at that temperature.
by Rory Buszka
Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:29 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC
Replies: 29
Views: 27879

Silence At Last: The Taterworks Reference PC

This is my latest system build, which I've named the Taterworks Reference PC. Silence was the number-one goal, but maintaining competitive performance was second on the list. Parts List ============ Case: Antec P150 PSU: Antec NeoHE 500 (bought to replace original first-run NeoHE 430) Motherboard: A...
by Rory Buszka
Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:01 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: AC > DC molex converter
Replies: 6
Views: 4461

You can't just wire a case fan straight into the wall outlet and expect it to work. You will, however, get a fun show of sparks and perhaps even a small fire for your efforts. However, AC-powered case fans do exist. Not every place carries them, but Digi-Key has some Papst and Comair-Rotron ones.
by Rory Buszka
Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:53 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: my stock CPU FAN runs at 5120 RPM!!
Replies: 11
Views: 6181

Are you using thermal goo between your heatsink and your processor? I know it seems simple, but sometimes people can miss even the simple things. Don't just slather it on - use a tiny amount (about the size of a BB) and spread it thin. If your stock CPU heatsink and fan came with thermal interface m...
by Rory Buszka
Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:51 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Thermaltake / TMG SL1 slot fan
Replies: 3
Views: 3186

I'm working on a review of some TMG coolers for TechGage.com, the A2 and AT2. They aren't silent, though they are significanly quieter than your stock coolers and quieter than a lot of Thermaltake offerings to date. 16dBa? Perhaps at 30 feet. I'm sure that if you've got a baybus or some other means ...
by Rory Buszka
Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:39 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Newbie Fan Control Question - Antec Solo and Gigabyte 965P
Replies: 5
Views: 5061

All you need to do is wire on a 3-pin connector or use a 4-pin to 3-pin cable. If you wire on your own 3-pin connector, make sure to use solder on your joints, and be doubly sure to check for short-circuits with a multimeter.
by Rory Buszka
Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:41 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: NSK4000 (NSK4400 w/o psu). UNDERVOLTING
Replies: 21
Views: 19495

It's good to know that you can take an NSK4000 apart enough to spray-paint it black and use it more like a rack for your components. I've thought of building a test rig, but I hadn't thought of using a disassembled case to do it in.
by Rory Buszka
Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:45 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Review: mCubed T-Balancer bigNG Advanced Fan Controller
Replies: 11
Views: 8807

I think I shorted out one of the channels on my BigNG somehow. I heard the telltale pops of arcing, and my NeoHE 500 (bought to replace the bum 430 I had) cut the power. I powered the machine back up, and same thing. The third time (stupid, stupid, stupid), acrid white smoke came billowing out from ...
by Rory Buszka
Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:06 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: OMG, a 2000W power supply
Replies: 45
Views: 21672

One consideration here is that computers rarely draw their full power all the time. Instead, a PSU capable of supplying 2000W would supply that power on a peak basis instead of a root-mean-square basis. This way, even if the computer did happen to draw 2000W, it would only be for a fraction of a sec...
by Rory Buszka
Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:03 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Antec Solo / C2D / P5B Deluxe..so do i really need a HSF?
Replies: 6
Views: 4828

That metal thing with all the fins...just see how long your computer runs without it. Sort of like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuKYBb9wPDs
by Rory Buszka
Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:56 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Replacement for NeoHE430
Replies: 6
Views: 4395

Antec's AQ3 warranty means three years, not three months. FYI. I didn't jack around with the whole RMA process. Who knows -- they might have made me ship back both the P150 and the power supply, instead of just the PSU. I just bought a Rev. A4 NeoHE 500 instead of taking the risk that Antec would ke...
by Rory Buszka
Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:30 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Developing a Thermistor Mod for the Fan Mate 1
Replies: 5
Views: 4872

I had figured that it would be more similar to the first Emitter-Follower circuit on your (cpemma's) Simply Transistors page. The design of the Fan Mate makes it difficult for me to simply look at the markings on the thing under the heatsink, so I figured it was just a simple power transistor, not a...
by Rory Buszka
Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:38 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Developing a Thermistor Mod for the Fan Mate 1
Replies: 5
Views: 4872

Um, yeah. That would do the opposite in terms of controlling the fan, and you'd likely end up self-heating the thermistor and burning it out. Thermistors can't handle much current at all. Thermistors have a negative temperature coefficient, which means that their resistance decreases with increasing...
by Rory Buszka
Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:45 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Developing a Thermistor Mod for the Fan Mate 1
Replies: 5
Views: 4872

More development

Today I went to Fry's Electronics and purchased two NTE 123AP transistors and a package of 3.3kohm resistors, as well as a big 10k linear potentiometer. I used one 3.3kohm resistor in series with the potentiometer to mimic the lowest observed resistance of a 10K NTC thermistor when working around 65...
by Rory Buszka
Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:23 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Developing a Thermistor Mod for the Fan Mate 1
Replies: 5
Views: 4872

Developing a Thermistor Mod for the Fan Mate 1

Some time ago, I looked at a Zalman Fan Mate 1 fan controller and thought, "What if I replaced the potentiometer with a thermistor?" If a thermistor can be modded onto a Fan Mate 1, it would offer a very inexpensive, easy-to-use way of adding single-channel thermal control without sending away to Au...
by Rory Buszka
Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:20 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Your Basic Antec P180 Rig
Replies: 19
Views: 24046

My neck hurts, just from looking at it. I'd rather get a new desk than put my spine under that kind of strain.
by Rory Buszka
Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:13 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: upgrade ... HD3850 Ultimate Edition (see down)
Replies: 15
Views: 15716

Now that means of mounting the 80mm fan in front of the video card is just plain clever. I wish I'd thought of that -- I've got a Zalman fan bracket holding the 80mm Panaflo that blows over the ZM80A-HP cooler on my Radeon 9500 video card. (Old school hardware -- the CPU in the system was a 1GHz dur...
by Rory Buszka
Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:32 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Sunbeam Theta: Okay for silencing?
Replies: 0
Views: 1568

Sunbeam Theta: Okay for silencing?

I don't know if anyone's noticed Sunbeam's Theta fan controller (IMO a more elegant solution than TBalancer)? This can be found at XOxide.com if anyone wants to take a look. I'm thinking about a new rig build in a few months, and I'm wondering if this thing would be any good. It would likely be PWM,...
by Rory Buszka
Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:06 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: New Altec Lansing FX-series PC speakers
Replies: 15
Views: 12444

5kHz is above the frequency that most high-fidelity tweeters cross over to the midbass or midrange (usually around 3k). Perhaps the internal crossover between the 3" woofers and the mylar tweeter is 5kHz, but I can't imagine (having heard the Promedias on many occasions) that the sub crossover is ab...
by Rory Buszka
Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:01 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: New Altec Lansing FX-series PC speakers
Replies: 15
Views: 12444

I agree -- though there are a few that aren't as bad as others. The bigger Klipsch ProMedia sets are basically their Quintet system paired with a subwoofer. You do what you can with the budget you have, and I was surprised by what that particular model of PC speakers had to deliver.
by Rory Buszka
Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:41 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Built a new computer for mom, its pretty quiet, lots of pics
Replies: 5
Views: 5371

I like the little case you used. Any chance you could link me to it?
by Rory Buszka
Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:29 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: New Altec Lansing FX-series PC speakers
Replies: 15
Views: 12444

Just like any vented box, the output from the vent is 90 degrees out of phase with the driver diaphragm. At these frequencies, group delay above 100ms is practically inaudible (limited by the size and shape of your head and the spacing of your ears), and the group delay peak occurs at the enclosure'...
by Rory Buszka
Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:27 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: New Altec Lansing FX-series PC speakers
Replies: 15
Views: 12444

Well, the depth of the output of the speaker driver is primarily influenced by an increase in suspension compliance below the driver's resonant frequency, but some designs manage to tune below the driver's resonant frequency and then use a bit of equalization to compensate for the increasing complia...
by Rory Buszka
Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:53 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: New Altec Lansing FX-series PC speakers
Replies: 15
Views: 12444

New Altec Lansing FX-series PC speakers

Since there's some speaker buffs here, I just thought that I'd comment on an intriguing new product line from Altec Lansing. I was walking through the Best Buy over Thanksgiving vacation, perusing the different offerings in the home audio and computer audio departments, when I noticed that Altec Lan...