Search found 89 matches

by Jim G
Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:37 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: This takes me back...
Replies: 5
Views: 3747

Re: This takes me back...

I've seen a few of the X79 boards with fans, too - looks like they're back in fashion for this generation...
by Jim G
Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:33 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Server "Tycho" - Fractal Design Define XL w/15 HDDs.
Replies: 67
Views: 39262

Re: Server "Tycho" - Fractal Design Define XL w/15 HDDs.

Can anyone that has both the XL and the R3 compare how silent each one is ? I'm hesitating between the two, I definitely don't need 10Hds so an R3 would be enough, but I probably could use 3 5.25" bays. And silence is a must for me. Cheers We used both for ~12 months and I found them to be very clo...
by Jim G
Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:11 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Ways to clean mobos and PCB boards APART from compressed air
Replies: 7
Views: 4421

Re: Ways to clean mobos and PCB boards APART from compressed

Most of the online PC stores here have antistatic brushes for sale for a few bucks - I would look for one of those before using any old brush just in case. Destroying components or even making them unstable due to static damage isn't a lot of fun.
by Jim G
Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:08 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Simple mod for all Lian Li owners
Replies: 3
Views: 3650

Re: Simple mod for all Lian Li owners

Hey, that's a darn good idea. Thanks for posting.
by Jim G
Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:04 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Is a PicoPSU good enough?
Replies: 6
Views: 4952

Re: Is a PicoPSU good enough?

I use a 150W brick with the 160W Picopsu and it powers an Asus ITX board, 2500K, SSD, DVD drive, 4GB RAM and one 140mm fan with no dramas at all. Prime stable for 24 hours.
by Jim G
Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:43 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: Pretty cool completely passive <20w mini pc
Replies: 10
Views: 16548

Re: Pretty cool completely passive <20w mini pc

Hm! That is an impressive and clean build. Thanks for sharing that... it really makes me want to put one of those together myself.
by Jim G
Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:13 am
Forum: User Reviews
Topic: Messing with the innards of my Logitech M500 (Big pics!)
Replies: 1
Views: 15233

Re: Messing with the innards of my Logitech M500 (Big pics!)

That's some great DIY work there - thanks for sharing :)
by Jim G
Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:12 am
Forum: Deals, Vendors and Classifieds
Topic: FS: picoPSU-150-XT + 102W Adapter - $40 shipped
Replies: 1
Views: 2331

Re: FS: picoPSU-150-XT + 102W Adapter - $40 shipped

How much extra shipping for shipping it to Australia?
by Jim G
Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:47 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: New system -- MB & CPU - where to start
Replies: 4
Views: 3311

Re: New system -- MB & CPU - where to start

1st post .. new to silent PC's. The last system(s) that I built were core duo's so it been a while. I'm not up to speed about the latest and greatest. What do I gain/lose by using a 775 quad CPU over a 1055 CPU? (using a i5 series) Looking for suggestions for a CPU/MB for the following application(...
by Jim G
Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:45 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: AMD or Intel
Replies: 3
Views: 2483

Re: AMD or Intel

which would be better for games? an Intel i5 760 or an AMD Phenom II x6 1055t? currently, i am only gaming, but i might have to start running physics simulations. also, i would like it to last about 2 or 3 years Both of the CPUs you last are last generation, not current items - are you budget limit...
by Jim G
Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:20 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Quiet 80mm fans for hard drive cages.
Replies: 9
Views: 5201

Re: Qui[et] 80mm fans for hard drive cages.

I'm looking for two quite 80mm fans to cool the five hard dives in my NAS. Three drives will be in a Icydock 2-to-3 external cage (link: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=119 ) with the other two drives in a regular internal bay. Both fans will run off the Icydock's 3-pin header, which can handle...
by Jim G
Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:37 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Seasonic PSU short cable kit?
Replies: 2
Views: 4386

Re: Seasonic PSU short cable kit?

I haven't seen any short-cable kits for these but it's not too difficult to adjust the length of the existing cables yourself with wire-cutters and crimps - I did that to our two Seasonic PSUs and having the power cords be just the perfect length for each build really does save on cable clutter. MDP...
by Jim G
Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:34 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Need recomendation for OS on an Asus B202
Replies: 2
Views: 1890

Re: Need recomendation for OS on an Asus B202

What exactly is it about Ubuntu that they're having trouble with? As far as browsing the web goes and looking at photos there's not THAT much difference between Ubuntu and mostly anything else... You could try a slimmer version of Ubuntu like Xubuntu with a simpler interface?
by Jim G
Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:32 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: [Finished - Final pics]Torajirou's quiet HTPC
Replies: 20
Views: 19335

Re: Torajirou's silent HTPC

That sounds like a nicely put together build - I'm looking to do something similar in the near future, I'll be interested to hear how the Noctua 80mm fans go in your build once you get them!
by Jim G
Sat Dec 10, 2011 4:07 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: how to learn about building a database-driven website?
Replies: 3
Views: 3053

Re: how to learn about building a database-driven website?

Well I know little about the tools of this trade (PHP, MySQL etc) but have ideas for algorithms that I wish to implement, which need to be protected and encrypted. How can you rely on commercial web hosts not to obtain your codes anyway? If anyone is an expert in this area, I'd appreciate any tips,...
by Jim G
Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:44 am
Forum: Networking
Topic: router/switch cooling
Replies: 6
Views: 6938

Re: router/switch cooling

We've had our Apple Airport Extreme operating in a room which regularly gets to 40-45 degrees Celsius for about 4 months of the year and the case is hot above that to touch - it's now about three years old and hasn't missed a beat. I wouldn't worry about it so much. We've also got a Procurve 24-port...
by Jim G
Thu Nov 24, 2011 6:53 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Is there a case that gives me everything? Quiet, cool, USB3
Replies: 14
Views: 7193

Re: Is there a case that gives me everything? Quiet, cool,

Have you seen the Fractal Design cases? We have an R3 and XL and they're both quiet, run as cool as you could reasonably expect given the focus on silence and the new models have USB 3 + esata on the front.
by Jim G
Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:47 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Quart in to a Pint Pot
Replies: 5
Views: 5386

Re: Quart in to a Pint Pot

Custom PSU housing? :S
by Jim G
Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:21 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: The eleventy-hundredth HTPC build
Replies: 7
Views: 3642

Re: The eleventy-hundredth HTPC build

I'd probably go for the single bigger SSD if you can stretch to that... not having that extra heat generating/spinning/noise generating part is worth it imho along with the power savings - while small, it all adds up. Also... that motherboard is passively cooled, iirc, which leaves you with only the...
by Jim G
Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:39 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: New record power draw for a gfx card
Replies: 4
Views: 4264

Re: New record power draw for a gfx card

Somehow that makes the 64W idle figure more impressive... that's huge, though. Far more than both my computers put together :p
by Jim G
Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:48 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Server "Tycho" - Fractal Design Define XL w/15 HDDs.
Replies: 67
Views: 39262

Re: Server "Tycho" - Fractal Design Define XL w/15 HDDs.

Interesting topic! I subscribed. It looks like you are doing a good job in your build :). And I appreciate the effort that went into the pictures. I am running 10 HDDs in my old Antec P180 case at the moment, so I have some similar difficulties and have already put the Fractal Design Define XL on m...
by Jim G
Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:16 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Server "Tycho" - Fractal Design Define XL w/15 HDDs.
Replies: 67
Views: 39262

Re: Server "Tycho" - Fractal Design Define XL w/15 HDDs.

Any updates? I really love this topic! iBurger No updates for a little while now - too darned busy! Got a couple of items on order and a couple more waiting to be ordered and I'll post back once they're here... the vinyl tiles on one side are working out perfectly - on the other side they're adheri...
by Jim G
Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:21 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Fractal Define R3 USB 3.0 upgrade kit
Replies: 31
Views: 28138

Re: Fractal Define R3 USB 3.0 upgrade kit

Ah, awesome... Thanks for the heads-up - this'll be something I'll be installing in our Fractal Design cases!
by Jim G
Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:45 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Cooling an external hard drive
Replies: 5
Views: 3107

Re: Cooling an external hard drive

I had a similar thing happen with a Seagate external drive and it ended up being a sign of imminent failure - the drive tanked after a couple of months of running hot from time to time, taking all of the data with it (yay for backups). The external had previously been cool or slightly warm to the to...
by Jim G
Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:36 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build
Replies: 6
Views: 3833

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

What is the current silent top dog in these areas: CPU+Fan heat-sink Case Fan Case PSU Fan Controller CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K $219 Mobo: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P-B3 $209 RAM: Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1333 $93 SSD: Corsair Force Series 115GB $219 HDD1: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB $85 HDD2: Western ...
by Jim G
Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:01 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Quiet PSU for non-gamer
Replies: 4
Views: 2482

Re: Quiet PSU for non-gamer

We have a couple of Seasonic X-560s and they're fabulous - I can't hear either of them whether they're idling (well, the fan is off at idle load so I suppose that's pretty obvious) or under load. Extremely happy with them. The 80+ Gold is also nice and 560w is more than enough power for your setup.....
by Jim G
Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:49 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: I was so close to acceptable, then I bought a WD5000AAKX...
Replies: 14
Views: 6210

Re: I was so close to acceptable, then I bought a WD5000AAKX

I have five WD20EARS/EARX drives on at the moment inside a case not 3ft away from me right now and I can't hear any of them... and there's a sixth sitting in open air on top of the case that's also inaudible apart from some faint clicks - it's having about 500GB of data transferred to it right now, ...
by Jim G
Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:58 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Will the Antec NSK1380 Provide Enough Power For My Build?
Replies: 8
Views: 3076

Re: Will the Antec NSK1380 Provide Enough Power For My Build

In terms of power output 350w should be more than enough for that setup... I built my parents an i7 system with a discrete graphics card on a 380w PSU and the PSU isn't even audible on load, let alone near max in terms of output.
by Jim G
Tue Jun 14, 2011 12:42 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: P180/182/183 Successor Without Separate Chambers?
Replies: 2
Views: 2091

Re: P180/182/183 Successor Without Separate Chambers?

No issues here with our R3 and Define XL in terms of build quality... I'm happy with them and I'd gladly buy them again. For something that's clean-looking, very functional and well-laid out with good cable management they're hard to go past. The sides are a PITA to get back on from time to time on ...
by Jim G
Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:15 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Best option for good damping for 5+ HDDs (PC-A04 any good)?
Replies: 3
Views: 1906

Re: Best option for good damping for 5+ HDDs (PC-A04 any goo

The Fractal Design trays appear to be almost identical to the Antec ones... at least all of the Antec trays that we have on-hand, anyhow. They seem to be quite fine for 5400rpm drives (e.g. WD green drives) but don't seem to do much for 7200rpm drives... at least in our experience. I'm happy with th...