At present my #1 wish list silent notebook is this the latest version of the new Panasonic Y7 (can't post a link as this is my first post, but it's on the GeekStuff4U website). The issue for me is that it has max 2G RAM, whereas the M1330 will take 4G (& faster ram as well), which is what I would p...

Did you get the windowed or windowless version of the case? I'm wondering if the windowless version is less flimsy feeling. I just got one of the CHenming variety of this case. I was prepared for a case of poor quality, but I was even surprised at just how POOR the quality of the case is. It really ...

Like this?

Ralf Hutter wrote: There's a couple of 90° Molex connectors available. This type was the only one I could quickly find, but i suspect someplace like Performance-pcs, SVC or other modding-oriented online shop may have something similar.

there's also the WRAP platform if you're still considering Soekris-style machines--i.e. fanless, flash/pxe-boot system. i have a 4521 with wireless pcmcia and encryption accelerator that i was pretty happy with. although i don't actually use it anymore (for various reasons ended up using a linksys r...

I'd love a SPCR SFF case as well. The P180 appears promising, but as many have pointed out, it's quite large.

How large would a mATX supporting case have to be compared to the Zen? I'd appreciate the flexibility of picking my motherboard as well. I think Aris' ideas are spot-on.

For awhile, A-Tech cases reminded me of "audiophile" speaker wire. A-Tech labeled their original case the "Heatsink Case" when it did little to actually use the case as a heatsink. Oh, but it's made of aluminum, which is the material used in many heatsinks, so natch, we'll call it a "Heatsink Case"....

What does "The main price is low airflow" mean? See Notes for the Nexus Real Silent case fan.

Don't you have some self-measured specs on some of these fans? Would be very useful to add a column that has your measurements, even if most of the fans for the time being would have blank entries.

Guesses as to why the arctic-cooling web site hasn't been updated to reflect the new vga coolers? Was looking for an updated compatibility chart.

I don't see any explicit mention of the new coolers' compatibility with the ATI 9700 AIW. Explicit omission == incompatible?

mike,

was there ever any update on this? i.e., can you talk about the psu yet?

just to report in: after much sitting on the fence i finally ordered (and just received) a 300w super tornado from siliconacoustics. so far, so great

even the gf remarked how much quieter the new psu is.

Well AnandTech just reported on a new batch of 939 boards with no mention of PCI Express. As for why mobile vs. desktop: despite the good undervolting performance of the desktop cpu's, don't the true mobiles (1.2v) eke out significantly better performance for a given wattage? Maybe I've misunderstoo...

Couple questions: 1) Are there any Cool-n-Quiet Athlon 64 motherboards with PCI Express? 1a) If not, anyone know of any future product announcements in this direction? 2) In the "Athlon 64 for Quiet Computing" article, Bryan mentioned that socket 754 is already slated to be discontinued. Has anyone ...

typo in the second bullet:
"you have to undervolt manually and to sacrify dynamic regulation"

it's most certainly not just a driver update :) and it's just one benchmark that a 7200rpm ncq-enabled drive outperformed a 10k drive. which, as i think i've said elsewhere, may say more about the benchmark than ncq. anandtech is reportedly working on testing ncq performance however (see blurb at th...

If you follow the links to the german original thread (in translation), you'll find a post which i believe is claiming that the new firmware is in use as of april 2004 drives.

perhaps someone with actual german skills could investigate?

well i'll keep hoping that this pans out.

regarding ncq:
the new 7200.7 is "faster" in *one* benchmark. that may say more about the benchmark than the drive.
moreover, there's a distinct lack of ncq support in the available sata controllers that i'm aware of.

moral: don't wait just for ncq.

Just saw a blurb about Alienware's new home theater pc (http://www.alienware.com/dhs_main.aspx).
Any chance of getting a review unit? Claims of "living room quiet", smart thermal management, ultra low noise 270 watt ps etc. abound... Certainly not cheap

Does anyone know more about these?

Also posted on /.

I just came across a review on AnandTech. I too would be interested to know if SPCR can swing a review of this unit.

hrm. i have the same sort of problems on my 9700AIW. crops up every so often, in particular playing quake 3. i've upgraded drivers once before and that didn't help... sucks. i'm past any return period...

anyway, i'd appreciate hearing any updates.

It's not just the issue of cost for solid state storage, if by solid state you are including flash devices. There's the whole issue of limited write cycles. I have a small, fnaless box (soekris.com) I use for my firewall/router that uses a cf card--and there are a variety of things done to limit any...

Trip, Thanks for the reply--was starting to feel a little ignored ;) Well, I think the best choice for a quiet pc, under which an htpc would fall is the Pentium-M, except for cost and motherboard availability. There are faster desktop cpu's, but so far as I can tell, the faster processing isn't warr...

Here's some more info on the RadiSys board from avs-forum.

hello, long time lurker, first post. i love this place--proof to my s.o. that there are other equally (more!) quiet-obsessed people out there ;) i'm trying to figure out the whole htpc setup. i'm pretty certain i want the bulk of the storage (~1 TB) as a networked piece separate from the htpc. i don...