Search found 334 matches

by Kostik
Fri Apr 09, 2004 6:04 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Clever Power 150mm radial fanned PS
Replies: 18
Views: 7461

Also, see this thread for a picture of the kind of choke I am talking about, and the reasons why I STRONGLY believe you should go for either Active PFC or none at all . I agree. In my experience, passive PFC PSUs always whine, buzz or vibrate. That's the reason why I'm asking btw. PFC is a good thi...
by Kostik
Fri Apr 09, 2004 2:43 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Clever Power 150mm radial fanned PS
Replies: 18
Views: 7461

About PFC: Generally, if the unit has Passive PFC, it should have a choke somewhere that is wired in series with the phase and neutral wires. So if I was to bypass the choke in a passive PFC PSU, would that turn it into a non-PFC unit ? Is it that simple or does it require tweaking/modifying someth...
by Kostik
Sat Feb 28, 2004 5:51 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Fanles VIA C3 Nehemiah 1200Mhz machine done!
Replies: 30
Views: 38508

Trodas, I think you don't get it. I'm not trying to convince you that you are wrong. I'm trying to explain that we used different mobos, that the temp readings can't be compared, and that you cannot say that I "suck" because I freaked out when I saw a temp reading of 176°c for the CPU. Period. Of co...
by Kostik
Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:52 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Fanles VIA C3 Nehemiah 1200Mhz machine done!
Replies: 30
Views: 38508

Trodas, thanks for a very interesting report. You mention that the temperature you read rises very slowly. The motherboard I was using in my review of the C3 Nehemiah was reading the temperature directly from the thermal diode in the processor, and the temperature would rise *very* quickly. That is ...
by Kostik
Fri Feb 13, 2004 9:36 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: VGA fan control
Replies: 1
Views: 2110

And why is it that posts in the "Cool & Quiet VGA" section of the forum do not appear on the main page ? :)
by Kostik
Fri Feb 13, 2004 9:31 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: VGA fan control
Replies: 1
Views: 2110

VGA fan control

In another thread , MikeC asked about motherboards that have thermal management features. I have a similar question. What are some video cards that have built-in thermal management features ? Asus cards have Smart Doctor, what other cards come with a software tool to control their fan speed ? Are th...
by Kostik
Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:59 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: are tagan PSUs good?
Replies: 118
Views: 84514

Thier efficiency findings are very impressive!! Now I've got to get my hands on a couple of these and toss them into my torture chamber. :twisted: I don't have a mean to measure efficiency, but I can measure total power draw. Here are some number with the same setup, just changing the PSU and runni...
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 6:26 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer
Replies: 31
Views: 21670

Tweaked the suspension and got rid of most of the hum. I think the remaining hum is from the WC pump. I added some foam in front of the drive and it helps a lot with seek noise. I added a second fanmate and undervolted the 120mm fan to below 5v (no idea how much exactly). It's very quiet now, and I ...
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:08 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer
Replies: 31
Views: 21670

Going from "drive suspended vertically in 3"1/2 bay" to "drive suspended in Silentmaxx HD Dämmung in 5"1/4 bay". Seeks are more audible, mostly because the drive is closer to the surface of the case and closer to my ears I think. Can't hear any idle whine, but I'm reviewing a watercooling kit and th...
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:21 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer
Replies: 31
Views: 21670

Actually, now that you made me think about it, I think it would be possible to suspend it. It's not exactly as wide as a 5"1/4 bay if you remove the rubber mounts, so it could fit. And that fixes the rail mounts issue. I'm gonna try that with a cuda ATA V and will report later.
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 3:02 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Silent CD playback?
Replies: 11
Views: 6065

Have you tried CD-Rom Tool ?

If that doesn't work, maybe your drive doesn't support speed adjustement. :(
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:04 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer
Replies: 31
Views: 21670

Update : Silentmaxx HD Dämmung is not compatible with rail mounts, period. Drilling bigger holes wont do. 5"1/4 peripherals have two sets of screw holes ( picture ), one at middle height, the other at the bottom. You need the ones at the bottom if your case uses rail mounts, and the Silentmaxx HD en...
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 10:32 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer
Replies: 31
Views: 21670

I didn't do comparison between ZM-2HC1 and Silentmaxx HD enclosure, but here is what I can say : I got a temperature rise of 4°c by mounting the drive in a 5"1/4 bay with the ZM-2HC1 instead of the 3"1/2 bay mounting. With the Silentmaxx enclosure, the temperature was decreased by 3°c. Keep in mind ...
by Kostik
Sun Feb 08, 2004 10:18 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: are tagan PSUs good?
Replies: 118
Views: 84514

Hello, Yes, both the 330w and 480w versions are also affected. I didn't get a fixed version, but according to those who got one it's actually fixed. From what I have heared, Tagan customer support is very good. I tried to find the source of the noise. I ran the PSU open, all fans unplugged, but coul...
by Kostik
Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:27 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: are tagan PSUs good?
Replies: 118
Views: 84514

So. Some of my forumers were invited by Tagan to come and visit them, bringing their faulty PSU for a replacement. They then searched for the cause of the noise, and discovered that a component was not soldered correctly. They say they didn't notice it before because the PSUs worked perfectly before...
by Kostik
Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:08 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Undervoltable Motherboards: ADD to the list!!
Replies: 313
Views: 404083

DFI LanParty nForce2 Ultra Infinity Posibly undervoltable. Review has a bios pic . Anyone know for sure? I know a guy who reviewed it. He contacted me soon after to tell me he had found the perfect quiet mobo. Passive northbridge, undervolts to 1.0v, not even expensive. Looks like an interesting bo...
by Kostik
Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:59 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer
Replies: 31
Views: 21670

I have just finished reviewing the Silentmaxx HD Dämmung ( this product, except the one I tested was rev 1.1 and not 2.0, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference anyway). It's overall a good product, though a bit expensive and has a few drawbacks. Here is a quick summary of the pro/cons : ...
by Kostik
Fri Jan 23, 2004 10:46 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: are tagan PSUs good?
Replies: 118
Views: 84514

Tagan e-mailed me about this review, they would like to work with me on identifying what this noise is, and where it comes from. They have not noticed any noise in their lab, so it might be shipping-related. Many of my forumers have noticed the same thing, but not all of them. The noise is just like...
by Kostik
Sun Dec 28, 2003 6:21 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Quality Workmanship
Replies: 11
Views: 4906

This one is a K6-2 300 :

Image

Came with no thermal paste (which was acceptable at the time). The heatsink was hardly making any contact with the CPU.
by Kostik
Thu Dec 25, 2003 9:00 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Best Athlon for underclocking..?
Replies: 11
Views: 5682

My XP1800+ TBred B (default vcore = 1.6v) runs at 2000+ 1.35v.

I can underclock it to 666Mhz, 1.1v and run passive with a decent HS and minimal case airflow (L1A @5v in te PSU as the only fan in the system).
by Kostik
Thu Dec 18, 2003 2:59 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

JVM, what I mean is not exactly that. In order to be quiet a PSU must have a low airflow fan. And manufacturers cannot use a low airflow fan in their PSUs because it might be dangerous, depending on the users setup. So if you are an experienced user, you can choose to swap the fan for a quieter one,...
by Kostik
Wed Dec 17, 2003 5:14 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

In order to be quiet, a PSU has to be used in a case with decent cooling (that is : a rear exhaust fan). It may seem obvious to the SPCR folks, but most people don't know it, and expect that if they buy a "quiet" PSU, they can replace their low end PSU that had a 50cfm fan with their brand new "low ...
by Kostik
Tue Dec 16, 2003 6:07 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: My tribute to SPCR!
Replies: 20
Views: 8285

Chylld, will you be doing a movie à la Toy Story, where Panaflos come to life when you are not watching your PC and fight the evil Papst fans ? ;)

Great job by the way.
by Kostik
Sun Dec 14, 2003 9:02 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

Dukla2000, same thing goes here. As you can see from this pic, the samples I have reviewed had a two pins connector (and RPM monitoring cable wired directly to the PCB), and more rear vents than the one in Mike's review.
by Kostik
Sat Dec 13, 2003 3:53 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

Speaking of Papst, is there any click sound with their fans when undervolted? Only happens on 80mm fans? I have never noticed any clicking with Papst fans, be they 80mm or 120mm, running them between 5v and 12v. But many forumers here have had this problem, so maybe the quality is different in the ...
by Kostik
Sat Dec 13, 2003 3:20 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

JVM, I have not tested the NX-3000. The Super Silencer 460w I have is, AFAIK, the only Super Silencer sample in France, as this PSU is not yet available here. So I can't tell you about the 400w version. The Superred fan is the only bad point I have found about this PSU. It's not loud, but it's far f...
by Kostik
Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:19 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

Re: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com

Probably the major difference between my setup and you: my case inlet temp is 18.5C as I write, about 3cm from the cpu fan intake it is 28.7C (using an indoor/outdoor thermometer converted to 2 * outdoor!). At the moment I have unplugged my front intake fan - the Seasonic is my only case fannage. I...
by Kostik
Sat Dec 13, 2003 10:52 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Super Tornado review at PCSilencieux.com
Replies: 46
Views: 24721

Seasonic SS-300FS, modded Seasonic SS-300FS (rubber mounted L1A and a few airflow tweaks ), Seasonic Super Silencer 460w, Tagan TG380-E00, Tagan TG380-U01, and others that don't strictly qualify as quiet : Fortron FSP300-60PN (PF), Nexus NX-3500, L1A modded AOpen FSP250-60GTV (PF) (those couldn't ke...
by Kostik
Sat Dec 13, 2003 7:47 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: fanless ST-P1 case by Silentmaxx
Replies: 11
Views: 4893

Damn, you beat me to it. I sent an e-mail about this product to MikeC just a few minutes *after* you made this post that I had not seen. Anyway, that's an interesting product. Looks much like the TNN500A by Zalman, only it costs half the price (but doesn't come with a PSU). The heatpipes are big, it...
by Kostik
Sat Dec 13, 2003 6:24 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Silentmaxx Coolflow rev 2.2B
Replies: 1
Views: 1489

Silentmaxx Coolflow rev 2.2B

Just published a review of the Silentmaxx Coolflow rev 2.2B, a full copper HSF for socket A, with a rubber mounted thermocontrolled Papst fan. http://www.ifrance.com/kostik413/forums/coolflow.jpg Test : Silentmaxx Coolflow rev 2.2B (in french). Test : Silentmaxx Coolflow rev 2.2B (translated by Goog...