Does the top vent functions as an exhaust or intake in this configuration?

ZipZoomFly has the 750GB Samsung F1 for $113USD, get 'em while they last. I couldn't turn it down for that price. They had the 1TB F1 for $190 as recently as last night, but they are now out of stock. I was also wondering about the 250/334 areal density issue. I'm hoping that it's just a higher-yiel...

I'm convinced that mounting pressure is just as significant as thermal resistance in evaluating heatsinks. It's not immediately obvious to me how this could be measured quantitatively in a method consistent with SPCR's ideology, but perhaps somebody smarter than me will figure it out. This multi-bra...

I like the Nexus Drive-A-Way, but I need a USB interface because it has to work with my laptop. It's a shame they don't make an external version of this (seemingly) well thought-out enclosure. I could do it with this SATA-to-USB adaptor kit, but then it starts getting more expensive and complicated ...

I'm looking for a USB & eSATA enclosure for a single 3.5" hard disk. It seems like there might be a large difference in the cooling efficiencies and vibration dampening of the various passive enclosures on the market. What should I be looking for? Any brands that are particularly good? The tray desi...

FWIW, I defer to Alton Brown on all matters at the intersection of culinary and geeky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrqBe9sWHsk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RA7aJqfnX4

I also highly recommend his episode on coffee. And baby-back ribs.

I'm still waiting for the mini (well, noticeably smaller) P182... Anybody know anything about that?

Yay! I've been anxiously awaiting G35, and the Asus boards (this one and the ATX version) are very nice, but I'm going to hold off to see what Gigabyte does with this chipset. The Asus boards are missing eSATA and optical SPDIF, both of which would be nice to have for my intended usage. I'm also a b...

My advice is to wait a few weeks for the Intel G35 boards to come out and pair it with a Core 2 Duo E4500 (Allendale). That's probably the lowest power setup that has dual HDMI/DVI/VGA outputs and the VT/SVM extensions. Intel's Linux/Xorg open-source graphics driver is great. Check out Mythbuntu. Th...

I'd recommend a platform upgrade for a couple reasons. First, 2x1GB DDR2 pairs are dirt cheap these days. Also, it's never a bad idea for acoustic or power conscious folks to leave the NetBurst days behind them. Since you're a non-gamer (like me), the upcoming arrival of the G35 chipset is a really ...

Intel's VT and AMD's SVM are extensions to the x86 architecture that allow virtualization solutions such as VMware and Xen to run much more efficiently. They introduce a third protection mode called guest mode and introduce a new trapping mechanism for instructions running in this mode that require ...

Even though your requirements are modest, I think it would be a shame to go with a single-core Celeron. I would consider the C2D E21x0 (Allendale) chips in the $75-90 range. Twice the cores, twice the cache, and identical CPU/FSB clocks compared to the Celeron you're considering. I'm waiting semi-pa...

Have you considered an eSATA enclosure?

My grandma has been using a WebTV for several years, but the service keeps getting worse. I'm looking for an extremely cheap PC with bootable USB, Ethernet, TV-out, and audio out. No hard disk or optical drive. 128-256MB of RAM and a 400-800MHz CPU. Small is nice. Silence is always nice. But price i...

The only time it doesn't make sense to have a page file is on a 32-bit system with 4GB of physical memory, which is a bad idea to begin with. Since we're talking about a 64-bit system, virtual address space is effectively infinite for the next 30-40 years. Virtual memory contains three different kin...

Depending on how you do your audio interface, a dedicated sound card probably isn't necessary. I use a Presonus Firepod for recording, so it all comes in through the Firewire. I use plain-old onboard sound through the optical SPDIF to my active near-field monitors. There's no reason to spend money o...

I assume from your diagram that the HR-03Plus would be mounted with the radiator below the card. I would recommend mounting it with the radiator above the card. Your massive 8800GTS PCB is a natural baffle. No cardboad necessary. I'm not sure that it will fit this way with a fan on the bottom side o...

Right now it doesn't make much sense to buy anything in the 7 series. Both the 7600GT and the 8600GT are priced in the $100-130 range. They have the same core clock and memory configuration. But the 8 series is the first of a new generation of GPU architectures. It has more in common with the 6 seri...

Like bonestonne said, the main problem with your plans is the memory. You need DDR2. As for graphics, HD playback isn't as graphically intensive as you might think. The decoding is fairly CPU-intensive, but that's why we have multi-core processors. If all you're planning on is HD playback and Compiz...

I don't buy the cooling design. The 5.25" bay covers are vented while the lower part of the front panel is not (the mesh is aesthetic). So the main circuit has two intakes including the middle bottom vent. If you only use one optical drive, the intake area is roughly equal to the three 120mm exhaust...

Would 4 of these fans at 100 RPM be quieter than one of them at 400 RPM?

It seems that the move from the turbine to the hot-wire anemometer turned out to be a trade-off. On one hand, you solved the rotational direction problem in the original setup and the impedance problem in the newer setup. However, now you have to take multiple measurements and average them. The nice...

You don't have enough memory. Just put 2GB in your current system, and invest some of the money you'll save in a nice, big display. For your purposes, that would seem to be the best value. If you really want the new system, you're likely to get the best deal on Intel CPUs in a few months when Barcel...

Wait for the Antec Fusion Black and the Scythe Mini Ninja (June timeframe). C2D, quality mATX board (spend at least $100), 2GB+ DDR2-800, passive GF7300 or better (Gigabyte and Asus are good), any sound card based on the C-Media CMI-8770/8788 (HT Omega Claro and its "Plus+" variety are my favorites)...

Scythe USA told me last week that the Mini Ninja will be available in June, but around the same time Scythe UK told another SPCR reader that they weren't in production "to their knowledge." If you already have a big Ninja, there is a mod to get it to fit a case like the Antec NSK2400. You remove the...

Welcome! My two cents, you mileage my vary: Motherboards: This is the most crucial part of your system for stability and long-term reliability. Don't be stingy as premium boards from tier-one vendors can be had for less than $150. Look for good voltage regulators and solid-state capacitors (they're ...

No, nothing on the Apple TV is upgradeable except for the hard disk and the wireless card (although it's 802.11n-ready, so the only reason to switch it out is to replace it with a part from a vendor that isn't so uncooperative with the free software community). There's nothing in the way of BIOS con...

I would suggest getting an Apple TV and running either Mac OSX or Linux on it. Both community efforts are nearing completion, so a complete desktop experience in a tiny and near-silent package is just around the corner. The Apple TV is like an unusually-spec'ed laptop (modest CPU/RAM, respectable GP...

id be happy with a couple of those 32's in raid0 (for now) for OS/apps There's no reason to use striping on solid state storage. It's probably detrimental to performance and durability. You're best off using a logical volume that spans multiple flash modules. Further, NTFS is heavily biased towards...

Why don't they make a P18x with P150-style HDD cages? The install through the front, suspend or soft-mount setup was a huge success. I'm still waiting for a case that offers a flexible drive rack top to bottom, where each bay accepts a 5.25" drive or a HDD soft-mount sled on rails, and at the bounda...