So far no one uses the duct!?! Begs the questions on why it is there? Sounds like people here don't like the sound escaping "feature", correct? Do most people uses a large / tower heat-sink and so it doesn't work anyways? Confuses me on why they would add a feature that has no benefit. Just to compl...

The thermal duct is really only of any possible use if you are using the stock CPU cooler or another blow down after market cooler. Just for more information, I am going to start with the stock cooler but I want any replacement CPU cooler to be a blow down variation as the motherboard I purchased h...

I just purchased the Antec NSK 3480 case and was curious if most people use the supplied CPU side panel duct.

If you could give the reason why that would also be helpful.

Picture of the duct from the review here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/ima ... alduct.jpg

Thanks!!

ended up deciding to use an existing IDE drive for the boot drive (assuming it is not too noisy... currently masked by the loud fans in my current system)

And purchased the 5400RPM drive for the mass storage.

Are you going to use this drive for the OS/boot or just a data drive to store media? The drive is planned to be used for both OS and Storage. A second drive isn't in the budget for the build and if I was going with two drives I would really want to step up to a SSD which REALLY isn't in the budget ...

Trying to decide between two hard drives. SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Hard+Drives-_-SAMSUNG-_-22152185 vs SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD103SI 1TB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache SAT...

dahdoo wrote:"Monoprice dot com", part #694, "Sound Blaster/MPC-2, Audio cable". Disclaimer: I've never ordered from Monoprice, so I don't know whether they're reliable.
[/u]

I have ordered from Monoprice a handful of times and never had a problem. They have good prices on Cables.

northbear wrote:Hard Drive: Either the SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD103SI1TB or SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ both = $80 weighing speed vs noise.

Any thoughts on the hard drive? I have not seen a review for the F3 so I am not sure how much the 7200 vs 5400 makes a difference for noise.

Hi, I guess it is frustating for a new user not being able to post links etc for 3 posts. Then again 3 posts isn't many, wouldn't take 5 minutes to put three threads/posts together in the test forum and I'm sure no one would mind them there. Regards, Seb This is exactly what I did for my first post...

RoGuE Thanks for the suggestion with the ASUS. It looks like a good alternative. I had looked at that case but the shelf / cabinet I am looking at placing it on is the same depth as that case. So it is too deep! I am not incredibly enamored with the NSK 3480 but is is reasonably priced and fits on m...

Looks like the GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H may be discontinued.

Any recommended replacements?

I am putting together my first HTPC system over the course of the next few months and looking for any advice or suggestions. I plan on using Ubuntu 9.10 (when it comes out in October) with MythTV (hopefully .22 soon ;)). The main use will be playing music, watching DVD rentals from Netflix, and reco...

Cheaper yes. Easier, considering you don't have to remount the heatsink, yes. However there is always the risk that your securing mechanism fails and the fan falls off. If this happens you could end up breaking the cpu, so it is more risky than using a packaged product. I will have to take a look a...

purdah123, by 80-120 adaptor you mean something like this: http://www.coolerguys.com/840556082477.html For my next (eventual) build I am planning on starting with the stock cooler to see how loud it sounds to my ears. I like the idea of just replacing the fan rather then the entire heat-sink/fan if ...

I replaced the fan with a 80 to 120mm fan adapter and a Nexus real silent fan and have been quite happy ever since. The temps dropped another 5 or so degrees, so that was a bonus too. The mobo (asus p5q) temps went up, but that might be due to the fact that the fan has closed sides unlike the stock...

I agree it's not that bad - though I'll qualify that by noting that there do seem to be several versions of the Intel stock cooler. I have one (marked NIDEC, like yours) which I think is very good for a stock cooler even at full load on an E7200 - not something I'd use myself but good enough I'd fe...

I find 5400 to be fine for everyday use. But for those disk intensive applications and boot load up times, there is still a question mark. What to people consider "disk intensive applications"? I think of things like photo, audio and video editing, cad software, and current 3d games. Does a DVR fal...

Thanks for your responses / information I found it helpful.

dhanson865 wrote:
If someone wants to educate me on the model number for the 500GB platter 7200 RPM Samsung drive I'd appreciate it.

I do not believe Samsung has a 500GB platter at 7200rpm on the market currently.

Random writes aren't bad on traditional hard drives with low RPMs because the MBs of cache hide the true write speed from the user and traditional hard drives without that cache would still handle random writes better than a SSD with no cache would. In general write speeds on a hard drive are withi...

Sounds like I should at least give it a try and see how it sounds!

Thanks for the input!

I posted this on a different forum website but thought I would ask all the quiet computing Gurus here :) I am Looking at setting up a fairly quiet (not totally silent) media pc. Looking at using an Antec 3480 Case with supplied PSU and fans and a GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H motherboard. Now researching C...