Basically - if your system is compatible with your game, the 3D graphics acceleration provided by the gpu is more important than cpu choice if the game if graphically intensive and your cpu is of reasonable speed. However if the game is cpu intensive, then often the gpu is of little consequence. Th...

Antec had a different rational than you for the bottom mount. This is the only HD mounting location inside the case that has a fan mount directly in front of it -- If you install a 92mm fan in the bottom location it is blowing directly on a bottom mounted HD. In my NSK3300, with a low-speed 92mm fa...

Exactly. A game was written to run on specific graphics hardware, which meant that performance was not the reason to choose a different card. Actually, if something requires specific graphic hardware that is pretty much the definition of graphics hardware being important. Yes, one EGA card wasn't g...

Mind you, putting the HDD at the bottom of the case is a good idea thermally speaking. As reported by Google's HDD white paper, having a HDD to cool can be bad for it, so direct airflow may not be the best position. Placing it in the bottom of the case allows for convection currents to play a more ...

I don't remember CPU ever being more important than GPU for games and I'm going back to the 1980s on this one. I'm intrigued as to what gpu was important in the 80s. The first recognised graphics card (from IBM) was only released in 1981, and for nearly 10 years graphics cards in pcs did little mor...

So something with the PWM isn't working as it should. Have you tried using SpeedFan? My Asrock MB (Award BIOS) would never reduce the PWM speed below 70%, so now I use SpeedFan with the minimum speed set to 50%. It makes quite a difference, noisewise and still ramps up as it should with increase in...

The fact that one drive is a Sata2 drive doesnt really matter? No. There are no 7200 RPM drives that can even exceed 133 MBps top speed of PATA, let alone approach the 300 MBps of SATA2. Where SATA2 comes into play is if you have multiple SATA disks operating in a RAID configuration where activity ...

Erssa, no way a 200mm enclosed drive is going to fit in the top chamber of an NSK3400. Maybe you could wedge it in the NSK3300, thanks to the SFX PSU, but I doubt it due to cabling issues. The Antec grommets are meant to screw into the holes at the bottom of a HD. Does your enclosure have holes like...

Here's another review that says the opposite. From Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/11/29/geforce_8800_needs_the_fastest_cpu/index.html OK, this article shows that CPU matters. It also shows that it matters very little compared to choice of GPU. Take a look at what happens in the re...

I disagree with this. Greater volume only helps in short term. It's the same thing as with water cooling, large reservoir only prolongs the time it takes for the water to reach the maximum temperature. Same thing with larger cases, they will reach the same case temperature eventually. Yes. The long...

I still think, that there is no good reason to want a 300W psu, if a 380W does the same thing and more, at the exactly same efficiency and price. No argument there. I want a 300W PSU that is either better or as good and cheaper! Logic dictates that a lower peak wattage PSU will have an inherent low...

I don't remember CPU ever being more important than GPU for games and I'm going back to the 1980s on this one. If you read reviews on sites like Anandtech, it becomes clear pretty quickly that GPU is far more important than CPU for producing high FPS in games. Having a dual core CPU doesn't even hel...

Erssa, I agree with much of what you wrote. That said, you've missed my point. No I didn't. I was just pointing out how your response to Shaman didn't really answer his question, since lower watteage doesn't mean better efficiency. jessekopelman, about the PSU, as long as it's quiet and doesn't inc...

Erssa, I agree with much of what you wrote. That said, you've missed my point. I am complaining about manufacturers using Wattage as a marketing tool. 300W should be plenty for the vast majority of people using a case as small as the NSK3400. That Antec felt the need to put anything more in there is...

Can you get Intel's TAT to run under Vista? If you are going to trust any temperature readings those are the ones I recommend since they come from the diode inside the chip and are calibrated by Intel themselves. I find Speedfan to report idle temps a couple of degrees cooler than TAT, but load temp...

Shaman, the problem I have with a bigger PSU is that higher peak Wattage usually means less efficiency at lower draw. Your typical PC is in an idle state the majority of the time. This means that the DC draw is like to be less than 150W most of the time. The sweat spot for PSU efficiency is going to...

I have an Asrock ConRoe945G-DVI and use it to run a E6300 overclocked to 2.1 GHz (305 MHz FSB). The trick? Do not lock the PCI bus to 100 MHz, but instead to 110 MHz. I have heard of people getting up to 350 MHz FSB using this tactic. I only put in 533 MHz DDR2 and that seems to be the thing keeping...

It's hard to tell what the temperature rise from idle to load is because I am using PWM fan control and thus the fan speeds up as the CPU heats up. Also, my E6300 is overclocked to 2.1 GHz. Anyway, using the stock Intel HSF: it took the fan getting up to about 2100 RPM to keep the CPU at about 60C u...

I know 300W is plenty, as that is what I have in my NSK3300 8) My PC is a E6300 overclocked to 2.1 GHz and I've got one 320 GB HD and one DVD burner. Everything else is on the motherboard. Intel GMA950 graphics are fine for everything but new FPS games, which I don't play anyway. I'm pretty sure my ...

Shaman, my point is not that you can't put a power hungry beat in this case, but that doing so is not practical . I guess such things are relative. While some might appreciate the challenge of trying to cram a lot of stuff into a tiny case and then try and figure out a way to keep it from overheatin...

Thanks for the insight, Shaman. Right after I posted I realized that my idea was fairly silly. If it really were a custom PSU that could fit both NSK3300 and 3400, it would probably cost at least $50 as a standalone part and at that point it would be smarter to just pay $100, buy the entire NSK3400,...

The Socket 775 mounting is tricky. Sometimes multiple posts go in simultaneously so it is hard to tell if the all clicked. Your best bet is to make double sure that all the posts are in the locked position before installing the HSF -- as described in the instructions. An idle temp of 55C is definite...

I wonder if that PSU will be available as a standalone part? It should fit in a NSK3300 case without modding, based on the picture showing where it lies in relation to the old cable routing slot. I find the fan on the NSK3300 PSU is by far the loudest in my system. I'm thinking about trying to repla...

I made the mistake of getting the POT-7750, which is the copper core + aluminum fin version. The POT-7750 is really no improvement over the stock Intel HSF you get with a Core 2 Duo and it is relatively expensive ($30). While the PHT-7750 may be slightly better thanks to being all copper, you can ce...