Search found 327 matches

by fmah
Sun Feb 07, 2010 3:26 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: LogicSupply's BCM970012 PCIe mini card for HD on Intel Atom
Replies: 33
Views: 37344

Great review! I've been wondering about this since I saw it in Pine Trail's chipset diagram. IMO, this is a major move made by Intel. What they are doing is allowing systems to be upgraded to HD features, but leaving the base model as low cost as possible without this feature. They purposely left o...
by fmah
Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:29 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: precautions i must take before selling old hard drive?
Replies: 20
Views: 10554

Some of the WD drive utitilies include a function to write 0's to the drive. This should wipe out everything.
by fmah
Thu Jun 03, 2004 7:15 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: most CPU wattage and still be fanless - the Rusty challenge!
Replies: 34
Views: 13602

More realistically, the temperature difference is proportional to the inverse of the square root of the velocity. So more like DT ~ 1/ sqrt(v) Various heat transfer relations show this, also the power might not be 1/2 (i.e. square root of v) but some other number less than 1. That shows that as you ...
by fmah
Sun May 30, 2004 8:22 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Rough estimate of maximum HD power consumption?
Replies: 4
Views: 2356

Hard drive spin up for a WD 7200rpm 80GB is no more than 20 W. I was using a Kill A Watt device to measure this.
by fmah
Sat May 15, 2004 5:22 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Higher PSU rating = quieter?
Replies: 6
Views: 3448

What you want is a more efficient PS so that when it operates it generates less heat. Also you want one with a quiet fan. Aside from that, you only need enough power to make the system work, which is like a 300-350W unit.
by fmah
Sat May 15, 2004 8:51 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Nice Nvidia video
Replies: 10
Views: 5094

That's a pretty funny video!
by fmah
Sat May 15, 2004 8:47 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Monster fans?
Replies: 11
Views: 5261

I have a bunch of those 172 mm Comair Rotron fans. They are okay, but not quiet. Although they are probably better than 120mm at full speed. I tried running 24 V ones at 12 V. I think if you have a new one and run it at low voltage it might be reasonably quiet.
by fmah
Tue May 11, 2004 9:04 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Fanless Heatpipe CPU Cooling System by FMAH
Replies: 80
Views: 70936

Re: source of materials

Do you think it would work if the heatpipe holes were drilled into a solid block of copper? It would work, but you have to be careful about the fit. The two things to ensure are to have good contact pressure and contact area. You will get good contact area by drilling a hole and inserting the pipe ...
by fmah
Sun May 09, 2004 3:55 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Hard Drive Switch
Replies: 5
Views: 4273

I suppose you could just wire up a switch that would kill the power on one drive and leave the other one up, and vice versa. That way the computer would only see one drive. This will work if your motherboard will boot of the drive that it sees (as opposed to only being able to boot off a particular ...
by fmah
Fri May 07, 2004 7:13 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Intel to drop Tejas in favour of Pentium-M?
Replies: 16
Views: 7070

So I'm assuming this dual core design is like jamming two CPUs into one physical part? That would mean the actual performance gain is highly dependent on the software.
by fmah
Tue May 04, 2004 6:14 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Here's a new idea in PC cooling
Replies: 40
Views: 17536

It looks to me like this is a type of product overclockers would like, since it can run the system below room temperature. That is something people would like to do and cannot do with normal water cooling. Asetek (at the site below) http://www.vapochill.com/ and Kryotech (which no longer makes compu...
by fmah
Sun May 02, 2004 6:39 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Coolmax Taurus fanless 480W for sale at SVC.com
Replies: 11
Views: 5841

I also found it listed on this site, whether they have any I don't know.

http://www.coolerstar.com/coolingfan
by fmah
Thu Apr 29, 2004 11:54 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Considerations when buying an expensive case: BTX.
Replies: 13
Views: 7494

I don't like how the graphics card is right behind the CPU. Although having the CPU in the same place is useful.
by fmah
Mon Apr 26, 2004 8:44 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Desktop ScreenShots
Replies: 91
Views: 50473

Does everyone clean up their desktop before making a cap? Mine is totally cluttered with icons and has nothing but a solid blue background and the metro traffic map.
by fmah
Mon Apr 26, 2004 7:52 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Who would be interested in a "pre-production" pass
Replies: 12
Views: 5774

This is a complete custom unit from the ground up. I'm designing/building everything. Beautiful :D :D :D Custom bezel aswell? If not, which one? Nothing super fancy, since I'm trying to keep cost down, but should be interesting I think. Does it handle NB cooling? A uATX version would also be nice. ...
by fmah
Sat Apr 24, 2004 6:55 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Who would be interested in a "pre-production" pass
Replies: 12
Views: 5774

PhilgB wrote:Is it just a generic case? Or have you chosen a specific (or known) model?
This is a complete custom unit from the ground up. I'm designing/building everything. This will be a 4 pipe cooler, or 2 pipe (I guess if want to pay less). It is such that various expansions/changes can be made later.
by fmah
Sat Apr 24, 2004 6:32 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Who would be interested in a "pre-production" pass
Replies: 12
Views: 5774

I didn't realize the topic name was chopped off. Anyway, the case would basically be for passively cooling a Athlon XP CPU. Not including power supply or anything else, just the basic ATX mounting and drive bays, lights, buttons. Possible option for graphics card cooling. Lightly textured all black,...
by fmah
Sat Apr 24, 2004 5:21 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Sorbothane: this stuff is cool!
Replies: 21
Views: 9266

I got some of that recently and it is very weird stuff. Sticky almost like gum, but it doesn't stick or rub off. Running shoes have been using this stuff for awhile for cushioning.
by fmah
Sat Apr 24, 2004 2:26 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Who would be interested in a "pre-production" pass
Replies: 12
Views: 5774

It doesn't come with a power supply, but you should be able to use any ATX power supply, including the passive ones.
by fmah
Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:44 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Who would be interested in a "pre-production" pass
Replies: 12
Views: 5774

Who would be interested in a "pre-production" pass

Well, I'm still a little bit aways, but I'm working on a passive case (surprise) and am trying to gauge interest in this thing. The design is ATX (+ some extra things) and for Athlon XP format for now. I just would like to see some out in the field to examine the performance of the design. Of course...
by fmah
Sat Apr 24, 2004 8:17 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Nexus introduces silent ATX case
Replies: 28
Views: 19772

Well this has the be the best design style in a long time. At least IMHO.
by fmah
Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:06 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Nexus introduces silent ATX case
Replies: 28
Views: 19772

Well I think this is the better looking of the newer cases. Although I'm not a big fan of all the air going through the one fan.
by fmah
Wed Apr 07, 2004 7:22 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 2mb cache v.s 8mb cache for desktop
Replies: 9
Views: 5183

I wish they came in 200 or 250GB versions.
by fmah
Wed Apr 07, 2004 7:13 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Humming amplifier
Replies: 20
Views: 10201

One of the other things that could cause the transformer to hum is dirty AC on the AC power line. This might be fixable with a surge suppressor type device that does line filtering, but most likely you'd need something that could smooth out the AC signal, like capacitors. I saw this occur in some la...
by fmah
Wed Apr 07, 2004 7:00 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Tool of the week
Replies: 8
Views: 4335

This is pretty useful if you are using a handheld battery drill since it should require less torque, and you don't have to switch bits.
by fmah
Mon Apr 05, 2004 6:18 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Exotic Cooling
Replies: 1
Views: 1514

by fmah
Sun Apr 04, 2004 1:18 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 2mb cache v.s 8mb cache for desktop
Replies: 9
Views: 5183

I couldn't tell you for sure, but I would go with the larger cache. Check out storage review they might have more insight on this.

http://storagereview.com
by fmah
Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:56 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: What do certifications mean?
Replies: 2
Views: 1696

The ratings are primarily for safety. It doesn't have so much to do with the performance. Basically, it has to do with what you mentioned for UL, the manufacturer is at fault if the product has no safety qualifications and you can sue them if the product burns your building down. That is why large c...