Search found 46 matches

by darkb
Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:27 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Energy efficient Sandy Bridge overclocking
Replies: 6
Views: 4494

Re: Energy efficient Sandy Bridge overclocking

If you stiill have speedstep etc enabled you can set the maximum processor speed in % in the advanced power management area in vista and win7. So you can setup different power profiles with different Max speeds.
by darkb
Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:24 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec 900 Drive Cage fits in a P180/2?
Replies: 3
Views: 2457

Re: Antec 900 Drive Cage fits in a P180/2?

The drive bays from the 900 series cases are designed for 3 standard 5.25" bays, and should line up perfectly. I'd get the version for the "900 two" or 1200 if possible, much better mesh on the front, doesn't get covered in dust anywhere near as easily. Note however that there is no hdd dampening on...
by darkb
Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:14 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Temp01 Overheating - Rising to 100C+
Replies: 44
Views: 15227

Re: Temp01 Overheating - Rising to 100C+

It's normal for the standard cooler with an i7 to get that hot under load, your CPU cooler is working fine. The high temp might be the voltage regulation circuitry for the CPU, that normally runs hot like that and can also cause an emergency shutdown. Check the heatsinks or chips near the CPU socket...
by darkb
Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:54 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: is 700D a better case than the P180?
Replies: 20
Views: 9732

Re: is 700D a better case than the P180?

My mate has the 800D, and despite being huge and heavy its actually slightly annoying to work with. Its huge but its all compartmentalised and there are covers that get in the way / complicate things. Getting power cables to reach can also be a problem, and airflow isn't exactly fantastic. If you do...
by darkb
Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:31 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Got an SSD for performance and silence, but what about TRIM?
Replies: 62
Views: 36963

Re: Got an SSD for performance and silence, but what about T

How much free space do you actually have on that drive? I have an original 128gb gskill falcon from release, with updates, and it slows down alot when I have less than 20gb free, but goes right back to near new speed once I free up space. Trim only happens when you delete stuff. If you haven't alrea...
by darkb
Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:36 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: 120hz monitors and gaming
Replies: 34
Views: 14591

Re: 120hz monitors and gaming

I have the first 120hz monitor, the Samsung 2233rz, and I can't stand gaming on an ordinary monitor after using this. The main benefit of a 120hz monitor in games for me is the complete lack of tearing, regardless of frame rate. I constantly got tearing with my old monitor, but I can get 900+fps in ...
by darkb
Sun Oct 03, 2010 10:45 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Question about Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GPU coolers
Replies: 1
Views: 1338

Iirc that cooler uses the videocard's normal pwm fan control, so it should slow down at idle and you can control the speed using software like Msi afterburner. Most cards seem to idle at 20-25% fan speed by default.
by darkb
Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:58 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: How to quiet a Silverstone SG05 PSU?
Replies: 12
Views: 7395

Did you try flipping the psu so that it intakes cool air through the top vent? I did that myself and was happy with mine.
by darkb
Thu May 20, 2010 7:36 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Water Cooler
Replies: 30
Views: 32168

I too had a noisy pump in my H50, but I found that just enabling the fan control on the motherboard for it was enough for me to not hear the noise, and I struggled to see any difference in cpu temp under load with my overclocked i5-750. I've also heard that two fans makes a large difference in cooli...
by darkb
Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:02 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Corsair H50 Hydro Series Pump noisy for a Silent PC
Replies: 32
Views: 27596

First, I could NOT drop the pump speed with any of the mobo fan controllers, not by hardware, and not by software, although with the same mobo, yes, I could lower the speed of the fans (H50 fan, Noctua, Silverstone...), so I'm not sure when others say that they can lower the H50 pump speed, because...
by darkb
Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:36 am
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: I have a dream....
Replies: 5
Views: 4027

Before building my fileserver I experimented with something similar to this.. 780G mATX mobo with noctua tower chipset cooler (NC-U6 or something like that) 1gb ram (spare) sempron 140 cpu (single core athlon II) ninja rev.b cpu cooler (also spare) 64GB falcon ssd Was sitting in an old NZXT lexa cas...
by darkb
Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:50 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: low heat output server for closet?
Replies: 8
Views: 4215

Nate wrote:I got a Gigabyte H55-USB3 mobo
You do realise that the H55 chipset can't do RAID, right ?
by darkb
Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:22 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Corsair H50 Hydro Series Pump noisy for a Silent PC
Replies: 32
Views: 27596

Did you actually try any kind of speed control on the pump at any point ? I have one, and yes the pump is noticable in a quiet pc.. but only if you run it at full speed. Turning it down it becomes practically silent (I can't hear it) with almost no impact on cooling, a few degrees at load at the ver...
by darkb
Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:53 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Searching for mATX Low Power Server Motherboard
Replies: 18
Views: 11655

I'm using the ASRock A780GM-LE/128M in my own server. It has 6 sata ports, low power consumption with my sempron 140, and supports undervolting down to 0.8v. Only has two ram slots though, and I have no idea about ecc support. This board has been rock solid so far for the last 4-5 months. CnQ works ...
by darkb
Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:03 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: I5 750 and temps (what you think)
Replies: 2
Views: 1472

Where are you getting the readings from? Download coretemp and try that. If the stress temp stays under 70-80C you're fine. The thermal protection doesn't kick in till 89C with that cpu.
by darkb
Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:04 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Intel's LGA1156 and Lynnfield core
Replies: 53
Views: 29692

I agree with Vinz and the others in this thread, not using turbo mode in the performance and load measuring tests is completely mis representing these cpu's.. Turbo mode is one of the defining features of the Lynnfield platform. Not considering it leads to false summaries as mentioned by Vinz. SPCR:...
by darkb
Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:26 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: quietest option for gtx285 or radeon 4890 series
Replies: 2
Views: 2305

If you don't mind voiding your warrantee you can stick with the stock cooling system and just change the fan settings in the card's bios.. I had a 275 and after changing the min fan speed from 40% down to 25%, I couldn't hear it at all during idle. After the mod when stressed with furmark it would s...
by darkb
Fri Aug 14, 2009 5:41 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Dual 4850s in a nsk-3480?
Replies: 8
Views: 3199

Re: Dual 4850s in a nsk-3480?

I think i'm going to go with the 4890/4870X2 with an Accelero S1.. ......... Silence is absolutely a priority for me. I wouldn't be posting here if it wasn't :wink: Considering that i'm going for 1 gfx card now, do you really think this build is going to be hard to keep cool AND silent? The Acceler...
by darkb
Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:38 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Dual 4850s in a nsk-3480?
Replies: 8
Views: 3199

Re: Dual 4850s in a nsk-3480?

- DFI 790GX-M3H5 mobo - Intel i7 I'm pretty sure you'd have problems using an i7 with an AMD motherboard.. Maybe the DFI LanParty JR X58-T3H6 would be a better choice :P Also, you'd only have one space between the cards, and I don't think a HR03 will fit in there.. Definately not with a fan, and th...
by darkb
Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:38 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Core i7 42 C at idle with thermalright ultra 120
Replies: 14
Views: 5412

I have an original C1 i7 920 and P6T Deluxe, with a TRUE and nexus pwm fan at 900rpm.. and mine idles at 38C with the cpu stock, get's to 69C when encoding x.264 videos for an hour or so. That's actual temp, not mobo reported temp.

Using CPU-Z to find out what revision your cpu is would help greatly.
by darkb
Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:38 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Nehalem (i7, i5) – possible to under-volt in software?
Replies: 6
Views: 4743

As far as intel speedstep control goes, you can set the max and minimum processor frequency in the power profiles in vista and windows 7, and limit what frequency / voltage settings it will use. I can step my i7 down through each whole multiplier by changing the max frequency setting while it's unde...
by darkb
Mon Aug 03, 2009 11:38 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec ISK 300 Mini-ITX case
Replies: 115
Views: 114811

Hmm.. the HR-05 is 20mm taller than the noctua I was looking at... Do you think maybe I could cut some fins off the top of the noctua and bend the top of the heatpipes inwards ? The HR-05 doesn't look like it'd be as easy to modify so that the ram stick doesn't touch it, the heatpipe seems to go out...
by darkb
Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:59 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec ISK 300 Mini-ITX case
Replies: 115
Views: 114811

Has hooks, shows them in the picture.. Anyways, I forgot to account for standoffs, thought it might fit because the whole case is 96mm tall :(

Any other suggestions for a replacement cooler that'd work well with airflow across the motherboard ?
by darkb
Mon Aug 03, 2009 4:30 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec ISK 300 Mini-ITX case
Replies: 115
Views: 114811

Anyone care to make an educated guess at whether I could fit this: http://www.pccasegear.com/UserFiles/ncu6l(1).jpg In the ISK300, on the chipset of this: http://img.hexus.net/v2/internationalevents/computex2008/ts/d2/FoxAt-big.jpg I'm willing to cut the fins to make the ram fit with some space.. an...
by darkb
Sun May 24, 2009 5:10 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Nexus 120mm $12 each in AUS
Replies: 2
Views: 2040

Nexus 120mm $12 each in AUS

Pccasegear have the Nexus 120mm Real Silent fans on special atm for $12 AUD each.
I've just bought another 3 myself :D

:arrow: Link to Page
by darkb
Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:19 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Best Memory and Mosfet heatsink for AC S1?
Replies: 7
Views: 4091

I have a 4870 with an accelero S1 fitted.. I found that using the ArctiClean kit on the chips before applying the mem and vrm heatsinks worked wonders for their adhesion. I did have some trouble 6months later with one of the vrm heatsinks coming loose, but the I couldn't get the mem heatsinks off fo...
by darkb
Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:28 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Positive Airflow Demonstration
Replies: 13
Views: 5869

Positive Airflow Demonstration

Video showing the positive air pressure cooling in the SilverStone Fortress FT01 PC case with the use of a smoke machine, to make the airflow "visible".

Youtube Link

The inverted replay at the end is especially interesting.
by darkb
Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:24 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: OCZ Core series -- Affordable, high-performance SSDs
Replies: 128
Views: 69474

Anandtech investigated the issues with these drives in one of their recent articles.. It's worth reading the whole article, but the related stuff starts here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3403&p=8 Though the OCZ core drive is our example, but please remember that this is...
by darkb
Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:19 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Accelero S1 can't cope with HD 4870
Replies: 33
Views: 19798

I have a sapphire 4870, and just put an accelero S1 rev.2 and turbo module on it.. After a bit of fiddling it works really nicely. I'm running it at 790/4400 and gpu core is idling at 45C and reaching 54C under load. :P Some tips for this combo: The heatsinks provided for the ram and voltage regulat...
by darkb
Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:52 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Diamond Radeon HD4850
Replies: 46
Views: 33354

I have a Sapphire HD 4870, the easiest way i've found to see the max temp is to use HWmonitor.

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php