I got to sit down with a Fractal Mini and Fractal R4 (finally!), and there is not a great deal in it in terms of size. The mini was just a touch shorter then a Sonata which takes a full ATX board, so it's weird how a lot of mini cases are actually quite substantial in size while regular cases have j...

m1st, mentioned using EasyBCD which would do the trick. If you find you can't boot you could always run a repair, if that fails however you can restore to factory defaults from your recovery CD that you made earlier.

I think so too, your build looks very focused on low noise and with a focused usage as well. I wonder if that "hollow sound" was from the fans, my friends 550D has a similar sound until we started switching around fans and different parts. It still needs a little refining, because the fan consistenc...

I have been in the same boat, in the end I opted for the mATX build with fractal define mini & Asus Gene V. Going to assemble it this weekend, will keep you updated if you want :) But I also saw you want to overclock, I don't know if its that smart to put it into a mini or even an R4. For a mild OC...

So the Asus P8Z77-M Pro and Fractal Mini is a potential option, I can definitely see the attraction of a smaller build. So size and price aside, are there really great benefits on noise and cooling by going smaller?

Lol, yeah I was thinking of renting the space out

Wouldn't a mATX board look a bit weird in a large case like a R4 though? Kind of like a child board that hasn't grown up yet!

I think personal preference, I like bigger boards with more space to work. There are a couple of features that I could add with cards and dongles, but it's a lot easier to have them on-board. Plus if I go back to mATX I will be here for another month debating parts, and I am looking to finish this b...

Good call, and the Seasonic seems to be the easier to get my hands on. I think the Be Quiet has £10 P&P on top of that

Here is the updated purchase list, I know it looks high especially when converting from USD. I know we get ripped off, but that's ok. Settled on the Fractal R4 for this build, CPU cooler I collected some of the most popular mentioned, but I wasn't sure if I could use a dual fan CPU cooler with 1 fan...

Ah for aesthetics I should have known! :) Lian Li cases have a much higher build quality then a lot of the small form factors floating around these days. I was planning on building a HTPC using a large Silverstone case just to match my other separates as well, but I stuck with using my mac mini as m...

Interesting read Russ, I am always interested in very small form factor PCs as potential media players. Did you ever consider a case like a M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure as you didn't need a PSU, or did you want something where everything was in one box? Very useful fact about not passing audio ...

Do you want the front fan in order to create a positive pressure airflow inside your case? Because, if not, then placing the extra fan another where, let's say on the side, would have a much greater impact on the temperature of the CPU & GPU: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cool...

My current GPU is the Gigabyte 660ti OC, and to be perfectly honest, it's a GPU that's faster than the first PC I ever had (P3 Celeron). I needed support for the Mercury Playback Engine first and foremost (my computer is not used for gaming at all). GPU speed only has to be capable of rendering and...

Very true CA_Steve, I shall add it to the ever growing list

Thanks kuzzia and CA_Steve for your input, my spec is slowly coming together now :) My brother owns the R3. If the R4 has only evolved from the R3 then the R4 would be a good choice. It doesn't have any flaws IMO. The R3 lacked room behind the motherboard tray but the R4 is wider, probably making mo...

Thanks for the quick response bonestonne! I knew I forgot to mention something! I am still making use of my existing PC, so it has to keep all it's current parts (Seasonic, Megahalems etc). I am thinking of offloading software which I don't actually want on my main PC but I need from time to time (i...

Shouldn't the OS partition also be listed as active? Nope, it should be when you are done with the whole thing. However I think you can only have 1 Active partition per physical hdd or your system won't know which to boot from. Can I safely delete the Recovery partition? NO! As that partition is th...

Hello all, I always remembered the best computer/build advice I ever received was from here, so I found myself needing to return again for some help with my new year 2013 build. Usage: Office work, Graphics Design and Photo Editing (Photoshop, Illustrator), HD Video Editing (Premiere Pro), Web desig...

Have you tried delete/removing the following from your target disk since the upgrade? 1. Datafile - MediaID.bin 2. Folder - Windowsimagebackup 3. Computer-name-file - Stephen-PC (or whatever it is named, if the computer name didn't change since upgrade) You could also try backing up to an external d...

No worries, I'd say keep the case and get a 450W (although I must warn you it's not modular, which is why I had to step up to a 520W Corsair). Corsair 450W - If modular is not essential Earthwatts 380W - If you PC is not too demands, a great budget PSU. I'd avoid the SmartPower lot if you are lookin...

The TM-211 hmmmm, well cheap case usually equals cheap build. No doubt it's a nice attractive price, but some plastic parts are a bit flimsy, doesn't do anything to lessen noise, there are minor fitting issues with some boards and a biggie for me I think they only fit a front and rear 80mm fan which...

lol funnily enough my friend did the exact same thing, which is what attracted me to your thread, a new PC for around 500 quid :) However running a quiet pc is not a priority for him at all (stock fans galore!). You were probably looking at the Solo Corsair 450W combo which would be great, but not t...

On the cases the Sonata III is an excellent case, and looks even more of a bargain as it comes with a 500W psu. Possible heat issues as SoopahMan mentioned but I'm sure with enough cooling on the HDDs they should be fine, if no air gets to them then you might have a few fried drives. You might also ...

I have the exact issue at the moment looking for a GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 2) but I'm in the UK.

You are right whiic, I tried out a few others (like SnooP PSU Calc ) and they recommend around 350W so a 520W should be fine. One thing I might have overlooked is I might require some kind of firewire solution as majority of my backup devices are firewire, should I change mobo (DS4?) or just add a P...

Hi there,

I did a search but couldn't find any info on the board

Does anyone have any information on the above LCLC solution?

Is it any good or bad? Any stats etc

Picture

Cheers

I am seriously considering a Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E for the CPU fan and Nexus fans everywhere else. Making a grand total of 5 fans. :) Cheers for the input Lensman, I have been monitoring the prices, but after asking around a bit I know a guy who knows a guy who can sell me some Crucial Ballistix PC2-...

Well the Solo does have it's "Dual-layer steel & plastic sound-deadening panels" but the P182 has it's "Special three-layer side panels and front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum)". I was undecided on the 2 also, what it came down to for me was after working so long in a old Sonata case I wanted mo...

Cheers Konnetikut, I'll change that now.

On the HSF it definitely is down to the U120E vs. the Noctua, I'll keep thinking about it. Cheers for your input though guys, I'm loving the additional reading

Some great points to consider, I was thinking I might want to overclock in the future and you are saying the U120E edges it slight in a head on head battle with the Noctua? Is the Noctua not really capable of cooling an OCed system? Wibla does bring up an excellent point of running a fan "inside" in...