Yep, Plexiglass is a brand name of PMMA, which is also called acrylic.

Some PSUs will have a really wide range of peak efficiency, some will drop off fast outside their optimum range. You can't really say whether a 350W will be less efficient at low power than a 150W without looking at both efficiency curves. Also, the way we talk about efficiency, saying that somethin...

Putting the HD elsewhere is a good suggestion and one of the reasons I got a NAS in the first place. But the details of my old house make implementing this less than ideal. Plus I have run into many NAS annoyances. I would also like to save on power cables everywhere. In short, I have tried this id...

The point is that you could save much more power in other things in your life but you aren't nit picking about those things. The extra watt in your machine isn't going to affect it's cooling or anything, so the only real affect is on your power bill.

Your largest noise source is going to be all those HDs. Even with quiet drives the noise adds up. You would be better of with a single internal drive and then use a NAS in another room for storage, or you can even open sessions straight from it with gigabit ethernet.

It's in the milliwatts. No one really bothers to nail down an exact number because it's minimal. And like Neil said, it could likely lower your power consumption by requiring the HD to spin up less.

Well a better quality fan will be able to draw the same of amount of air with less noise. It's just a matter of choosing one that has enough airflow.

I'm not saying it's optimal, but it is the cheapest way to get a lower noise PSU.

Make sure to also look at the vibration rating that SPCR gives, the Green has the lowest vibration of any 3.5" drive. It would be more fair to compare the 3.5" Green to the 3.5" Blue, in which case yes the Green is a good amount quieter. Laptop drives are their own class and if you are looking for t...

If you are happy with your current PSU besides the noise then consider a simple fan swap. It takes but the simplest of DIY skills.

The car is still a static environment that they can engineer the system to work in. To work with a PC you would have to engineer the system for each individual room and the positioning of the PC and person. It really doesn't matter if you can do it or not though. It's clear that it's much easier and...

You don't need a high end GPU for a DAW, go with a fan-less model. You really don't any GPU at all with decent integrated graphics. Once you've got a well designed case, quality fans, and a quiet PSU it's most likely that it's going to be the HDs that you hear. I would consider a SSD for the OS and ...

The WD Green was just reviewed and it appears to be the quietest large drive.

I don't see why you should be concerned about a Ninja on a i5 not being enough. Also, CPU fan speed will ramp up if needed. You probably don't even need a fan on the GPU, it's designed to be passively cooled.

I demand that Microsoft answer these important philosophical questions before I choose which type of Windows 7 to get. So Bill, does swapping out a MB and CPU make oneself a new entity even if the exact contents of the HD are preserved? Wont my PC still think it's its same old self, only faster?

That completely depends on the efficiency curve. Many quality PSUs maintain high efficiency up to near max load. If that's the case then it wont heat up any more than a higher rated PSU with the same efficiency at that draw. That link is lacking in a lot of specifics. For instance, they did the test...

Are you sure that OEM versions of XP are non-transferable? I seem to remember reading that making the OEM version of 7 non-transferable was a new thing.

I believe you theoretically/legally can use an upgrade copy if you plan on not using your copy of XP on the old machine anymore (if you are throwing it away or putting Linux on it, for example). It can be a hassle and requires one of a number of different workarounds. But you do have the right to tr...

Take a look at the thorough PSU fundamentals article. On page 4 it lists some actual measured draws of some example systems. The highest end system draws 256W under full CPU and GPU load. Granted, it only has one video card, but that card is among the highest wattage and the CPU is rated at 130W (th...

You can run much more powerful systems passively, it's just a matter of how much a of a heat-sink you need. I believe one or two passively cooled Atom systems have been reviewed here. Look at some comparable systems and see what sort of heat-sink and ventilation they have.

Look around at some of the actual measured power people's systems pull, I think there is a thread about it stickied somewhere. Nobody is pulling anything near 500W, it's even a challenge to break 300W. Another video card isn't going to double your draw or anything. Your PSU is fine. You can also get...

Personally, I'd put a single large drive in the DAW to record on to and then have a NAS for storage/achieving. A 1.5TB WD Green could be a good choice, I don't think its lower speed will be an issue for a DAW (and it's quiet). I agree, keep the DAW as simple as possible. A single large drive will be...

The coating is very thin, so I don't see how it could do much acoustically. You need mass to dampen or lower the resonant frequency.

You should be able to use a Solo with just exhaust. Your MB is designed to be used with the supplied heatsinks with not a whole lot of airflow. The temps you gave seem normal, so I don't see any reason to suspect your SB is running too hot. It's common to not be able to touch the heatsink for more t...

If top of the line performance isn't needed the WD Greens are hard to beat right now. 1.5TB is around $100 and they are plenty fast enough for media server or NAS use.

At least King of the Hill ended first.

Wouldn't a LED backlit TV also have a much longer lifespan? That would be a nice bonus.

I know Comcast in the US charges $5 a month to lease their modem. It's of course a better deal to go buy one for $30 or so.

It's far more effective to isolate the source of the vibration, the HD. Simple grommets can go a long way. Suspension is the next step. And of course picking a drive with low vibration to start with is very important.

Just think of the PC as another media source in a typical home theater/stereo setup. You have a CD player, DVD/Blue Ray player, probably a cable or satellite box, etc. You need some sort of switcher to manage all of these sources, usually that's an AV receiver (or a TV if you are using it for sound ...

A lot of features aren't plainly obvious, and some are down right hidden. So it's best to read up on the features to get the most out of it. Here is a good place to start.