Search found 532 matches

by luminous
Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:03 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: The quietest: 2.5" drives
Replies: 75
Views: 100364

Just fixed the annoying clicking noise on my Samsung drive. I had independantley changed my Dell HDD from the noisy slow 320Gb orignally supplied to a Samsung unit. It would appear that Dell have also started to use this 400Gb drive and have been receiving complaints from customers with regards to i...
by luminous
Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:58 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: The quietest: 2.5" drives
Replies: 75
Views: 100364

I have recently been playing around with trying to get a quiet HDD for my laptop that is larger than 250Gb. So far I have not been having much luck. I have encountered a few Seagate Momentus 2.5" 5400rpm drives that are near silent in their 250Gb capacities, however in 320Gb format they have constan...
by luminous
Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:51 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Seagate Momentus 2.5" 5400.5 access/seek noise?
Replies: 3
Views: 4134

You may also have a thanks from me for the info contained in this thread! I recently got a Dell laptop and have been highly irritated by the hard drives they use. Its an XPS 1530, so you would expect quality components to be used, but that was not the case for me :( First hard drive broke, not the b...
by luminous
Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:41 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Incredibly noisy/whining Samsung SP 250GB (w/Nidec motor)
Replies: 35
Views: 18768

Yeah, I agree with you there. I have thought this for a while.

The best we can hope for is that the tests are a good guide as to what we may get. Then its a case of reading the forums to check up on how things are going "in the field" :)
by luminous
Sun Sep 11, 2005 2:39 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Incredibly noisy/whining Samsung SP 250GB (w/Nidec motor)
Replies: 35
Views: 18768

Am using SilentMAx enclosures, but these are no longer the best on the market. Mine are resting on tall, narrow strips of acoustic damping foam :) Seems to work well. Oh, and for a HDD to stay spooled down, its a lot harder than just getting the programs not to use it....its windows that is the evil...
by luminous
Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:52 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Incredibly noisy/whining Samsung SP 250GB (w/Nidec motor)
Replies: 35
Views: 18768

There was a good topic on stopping your HDD within windows a few months back. I do not come here often enough to remember exactly what is was called, sorry. Basically windows ends up trying to write something to the drive that wakes it up, again and again and again. If you really want to fiddle with...
by luminous
Sat Sep 10, 2005 1:31 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Incredibly noisy/whining Samsung SP 250GB (w/Nidec motor)
Replies: 35
Views: 18768

Most people do not have that much success in turning off HDDs when they are not in use. You are better off either: a) return the drive and hope for a better one b) buy a decent enclosure to put the drive in There is a new(ish) enclosure out that is meant to be a lot better than the SilentMax ones th...
by luminous
Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:02 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Incredibly noisy/whining Samsung SP 250GB (w/Nidec motor)
Replies: 35
Views: 18768

I suppose we all have different experiences, but my HDDs are quieter than any of my 120mm Nexus fans when compared one on one. I meant a Nexus @7v with no grille turbulence. My Maxtor DMP10 is more than 3x that volume. It's twice the sound of my two nexus's, and the one in the power supply is loude...
by luminous
Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:46 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Incredibly noisy/whining Samsung SP 250GB (w/Nidec motor)
Replies: 35
Views: 18768

Realise than no 3.5" is really all that quiet, in a quiet system they will always be louder than the fans. The airborne noise is difficult to handle. Suspending it will help, but don't have unrealistic expectations. It will always be about twice as loud as 2 or even 3 slow 120mm fans (my uneducated...
by luminous
Thu Aug 04, 2005 12:23 am
Forum: SPCR's Folding@Home
Topic: Anyone else unable to send Folding results?
Replies: 0
Views: 2247

Anyone else unable to send Folding results?

For some reason my machine has not been able to connect to the Folding servers to send results of completed work units. It keeps saying attempting to connec to server when I start the program. Then it says unable to connect :( I have disabled my Windows Firewall to see if that would help, and it did...
by luminous
Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:07 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Thermalright XP-120, in the UK?
Replies: 5
Views: 3226

Amtrak are horrible. They have just taken on a new driver up here. You can forget about them having SatNav, oh no!! The manager would not even buy the guy a map :oops: Took him 4 days to find me, and I was only the third delivery he had made in that time!! :shock: They really are a useless shower ro...
by luminous
Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:13 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Discovered a new way to mount fans - Quieter! :)
Replies: 19
Views: 9593

I love the sound of this method, as I have just found out that my Acousticase has none standard fan mounting holes. They supply one of their own plastic fan mounts that you screw into the case, then put your fan in the mount. Turns out that none of the holes in the case are made to fit any sized fan...
by luminous
Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:09 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: The Nexus 120mm fan corner cutting guide...
Replies: 64
Views: 203506

Hmmm, I just did the hacksaw, cornering crushing technique on my fan. I was very careful not to put pressure on the bearings when doing this....but...well....it now makes a loud humming noise... Oh well, time for a new fan, and my dremel... :)
by luminous
Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:55 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

Thanks guys, makes me feel a little better now :) The outlook is not too good for me though. I just powered up the new machine, and well, how shall I put it. The original problem is still present. Graphics corruption all over the place in exactly the same way as before. So that is at least one other...
by luminous
Thu Jul 07, 2005 10:46 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

Well I found out the answer.....and its very embarrising :oops: :oops: What can I say???? Well, I have one of those heatsinks that has to be bolted through the mobo. It is the type that has lots of different washers for different purposes....well I mixed em up :( I used the metallic washers against ...
by luminous
Thu Jul 07, 2005 10:41 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: What's the 4 pin 12V connector for on my Athlon XP mobo?
Replies: 9
Views: 6016

Thanks for that. I guess I will use it then! :D

The more I think I know about PCs, the more I realise there is to learn!!! :roll:
by luminous
Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:28 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: What's the 4 pin 12V connector for on my Athlon XP mobo?
Replies: 9
Views: 6016

What's the 4 pin 12V connector for on my Athlon XP mobo?

I've just had to buy a replacement mobo for my Athlon XP system. My previous board did not have this connector. I thought that it was only necessary for Pentium 4's. The mobo I have just bought is an Abit AN7 NForce 2. Should I use this connector or not? I remember something in the dark and distant ...
by luminous
Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:31 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

They do not look a nice as a Reserator, but do they work like one. Do you need a rad at all when you use one of those systems?

Hope the car polishing goes well.....me? I'm having a beer :D
by luminous
Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:55 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

Not sure what you mean by a WACC reservoir... The thing that I liked about the Reserator compared to just about all other water cooling is that it is fanless. Most of the others need some sort of rad fan that defeats the object in terms of silence. The next PC that I intend to build will have only o...
by luminous
Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:13 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Most Reliable Fanless PSU?
Replies: 48
Views: 25233

Erk.... :shock: I wish I had not stopped reading in here. The last time I had a good read here was when the Phantom was the best thing since sliced bread.....hence I have just bought one.

Then I saw this thread....


Lets hope all goes well :)
by luminous
Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:02 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

You are right about Abit ;) I was planning on using Zalman's Northbridge cooler (I have one already). I take it that this may be a problem from what you have just said!! :shock: I was thinking about A64, but it seemed to be a little too expensive. A new mobo, CPU and HSF.... After all, the HSF I wou...
by luminous
Sat Jul 02, 2005 8:44 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: My old machine just broke :( Need help in my upgrade route
Replies: 3
Views: 2501

Now, both of those sound like good options to me :cool:

Thanks :)
by luminous
Sat Jul 02, 2005 8:40 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

Wow, thanks for all the replies people. My computer access is somewhat limited at the moment, so I can only post back at infrequent intervals until I get stuff sorted. The PSU was a Chieftec, you can see exactly what model in one of the pics (I forgot which one it is without looking myself) PSU was ...
by luminous
Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:47 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!
Replies: 26
Views: 14764

Why has this happened to my poor PSU??!!

My PC has stopped working with some very weird issues. What looks like a graphics card type corruption comes across my display in Windows. Everyone at first thought that it was the graphics card. Anyone, to cut a long story short, after a lot of component swapping it has been confirmed that it is a ...
by luminous
Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:20 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: My old machine just broke :( Need help in my upgrade route
Replies: 3
Views: 2501

My old machine just broke :( Need help in my upgrade route

I was perfectly happy with my old machine (see signature). But for some reason I have not been able to get a reliable Asus mobo. I have just experienced the fourth, yes fourth failed Asus mobo in my system in 2 years. I've had enough. I've 2 choices: 1)Stick with a Socket A system and just buy anoth...
by luminous
Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:38 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: HELP! Whats better than a Silent Drive 2002 enclosure?
Replies: 2
Views: 2210

Mmm, looks like a nice product, but according to the review, its not the best that is out there.

I've got an old smart drive in another machine. I may see if that is any better at sorting out this idle whine than the Silent Max
by luminous
Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:13 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: HELP! Whats better than a Silent Drive 2002 enclosure?
Replies: 2
Views: 2210

HELP! Whats better than a Silent Drive 2002 enclosure?

I've really had it :( This is my 6th HDD in 2 years, I only want 2 that work properly (ie no idle whine). I just cannot find a pair of silent drives. Idle whine is my biggest bug bear :( I have tried WD, IBM, Seagate, Samsung and now a DM10. Only one of my 3 Samsungs is quiet enough, the others were...
by luminous
Tue May 03, 2005 9:37 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Anyone bought a bad Maxtor DM10 yet?
Replies: 3
Views: 2589

I await his review eargerly. The one problem with the SPCR reviews is that they can only review what they receive. Now that was an obvious statement, right? :) As we all know there can be a lot of variability between drives, especially with the Samsung models, only the end users can create some sort...
by luminous
Mon May 02, 2005 1:17 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Anyone bought a bad Maxtor DM10 yet?
Replies: 3
Views: 2589

Anyone bought a bad Maxtor DM10 yet?

I know there has been endless debate about which drive is best, but a lot of it depends on luck. I'm sitting here with 2 Samsung Spinpoints P80 160Gb 8Mb cache. I made sure that when I first purchased them they were both going to be Nidecs. One is great, the other was terrible. I returned the bad on...
by luminous
Tue Apr 26, 2005 1:08 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: New Samsung drives officially posted. One is a 2.2 bel idle.
Replies: 89
Views: 60764

I seriously hope that they are quieter than the old P80 series. I paid extra to get 2 Nidec 160Gb 7200rpm 8Mb IDE ones. 1 was great, just as people have said. The other was terrible, much louder idle whine than any of my other drives. I returned it and they sent me a JVC, the JVC is better than the ...