Search found 414 matches

by Elixer
Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:15 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Building a PC as a High Performance Digital Stereo Source
Replies: 20
Views: 7927

If all you're looking to do is playback music, get a very nice sound card and put it into a very cheap machine. If you want to run windows XP use a machine with a 1 GHz+ processor and 512MB+ of ram.
by Elixer
Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:47 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: 80 Plus expands podium for Bronze, Silver & Gold
Replies: 32
Views: 40704

I like the fact that gold is currently basically unreachable. Bronze rated supplies are just coming along and maybe we'll see some Silver rated supplies, but that gold level is going to take some real engineering skills to reach.
by Elixer
Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:21 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Running 60Hz on 50Hz
Replies: 4
Views: 3884

Most of the electronics in the US will run at 100V @ 50Hz without any modification. I also have never understood why electronics and things are stated at 110V; the power in the US is 120V, not 110. Most electronic power supplies have a good deal of tolerance and will not have any problem running at ...
by Elixer
Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:28 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: System stuttering in Vista and will not wake up either
Replies: 5
Views: 3197

Have you gone through the normal testing programs?

Does memtest return any errors?

Is in prime 95 stable for 24 hours?
by Elixer
Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:18 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Hypermiling: A new hobby for gas savers & environmentali
Replies: 95
Views: 42318

Hypermiling: A new hobby for gas savers & environmentali

I just recently got into a new hobby, and it's as addicting and enjoyable as quieting a computer. It's called hypermiling, and the idea is to change the way in which you drive in order to improve fuel economy. So far I've gotten more than 40mpg out of my 1989 toyota camry, more than 140% of its rate...
by Elixer
Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:10 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Which uses less power?
Replies: 15
Views: 7846

When you think about this you have to think about how much power the rest of the system uses. A fairly typical value for the amount the motherboard, video card, and hard drive is say 50W. Let's say your processor uses 50W at full load. If the Vcore remains the same, the CPU overclocked will use 1.1*...
by Elixer
Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:42 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Does anyone else hate laptops?
Replies: 22
Views: 10613

Yeah, I agree with the statements about gaming laptops. I've always found that weird. Or people who buy $3000 near top of the line laptops. It's like, if you're ever going to do some serious processing/gaming why would you need to do it on a laptop? I bought my thinkpad 1Ghz P3 laptop for a little u...
by Elixer
Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:08 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Does anyone else hate laptops?
Replies: 22
Views: 10613

I have a love/hate relationship with laptops. I absolutely hate using the built in "mice", whether it's the pads or the red dot in the middle of the keyboard (though I much prefer the red dot to the pad). The screen size doesn't bother me, and neither does the brightness so long as it's plugged in, ...
by Elixer
Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:07 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Built pc, too LOUD!
Replies: 23
Views: 12271

The cheapest way to quiet a loud computer is just to feed all of your fans 5 volts. See this link: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article6-page1.html An easy thing to try is to feed 5V to all of your fans and then check your temperatures. The most important thing for you to do is to identify your lou...
by Elixer
Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:00 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: How good is actually Intel Boxed heatsink thermal pads?
Replies: 4
Views: 3350

In my experience, using thermal paste improves processor temperatures by 2-5C, though occasionally you end up with a bad interface. I have seen bad connections with the thermal pads, like athlons running at 70C at idle, etc.
by Elixer
Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:52 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Need fans but must be 120v ac
Replies: 9
Views: 5244

Hmm... try some forum searches. I know there was a big thread on 120V fans. There are some 120x38mm fans I remember having better acoustic characteristics than most 12V 120x25mm fans. One easy way to get a low speed fan is to either buy a 220V fan and then run it at 120V or wire two 120V fans in ser...
by Elixer
Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:09 pm
Forum: Site Feedback
Topic: New Ads in threads
Replies: 23
Views: 21738

I have to say, I'm in agreement that these adds step over the line of what I feel is appropriate. I'll take adds on the side, top or bottom of whatever I'm looking at, but for them to be in the middle really puts me off for some reason. These adds will be one reason for me to reduce the amount of ti...
by Elixer
Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:50 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Tom's a bad source for info...
Replies: 16
Views: 12376

What other sites would you guys recommend as better alternatives for tomshardware?
by Elixer
Sat Oct 06, 2007 12:54 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: scandinavians
Replies: 62
Views: 30164

First it's because Scandinavians in general speak better English than other people in Europe. Are you forgetting about the people who invented the language? :wink: haha, the whole British isles needs to decide if it belongs to Europe or not. When I was in England I referred to some people there as ...
by Elixer
Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:09 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: are you satisfied with the noise level of your system?
Replies: 58
Views: 39453

NEVER!!!!! Even when I have a completely silent computer I'll be holding my ear to it and imaging sound coming from it. Then I'll complain about the noise it makes and go on a wild spree trying to fix it, calling it "coil wine" or electronic noise, before finally figuring out that the noise is the l...
by Elixer
Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:24 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Original S12-330 enough for AGP x1950GT?
Replies: 3
Views: 3450

If SPCR can run an overclocked Pentium D with a x1950xtx card from a 350W power supply, then you can have no doubt that you'll be able to run an undervolted E4300 with a 1950gt from a 330W power supply. Your maximum power draw I would guess to be less than 200W with the 1950gt. See this article for ...
by Elixer
Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:15 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Mending a Radeon9000 (surely you can't do that!)
Replies: 5
Views: 3479

Re: Mending a Radeon9000 (surely you can't do that!)

I was repairing a Packard Bell PC the other day... This happens far too often. If I remember right, Packard Bell had one of the worst ratings for reliability. Nice work, Capacitors are generally rated + or - 10%, so it's possible your 1500uF capacitor is in fact within spec! That's a lot of work fo...
by Elixer
Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:13 am
Forum: SPCR's Folding@Home
Topic: This is a sad thread. The High Cost of Folding.
Replies: 43
Views: 32450

Folding at Home makes no sense when viewed from a global benefit economic perspective. So far the results haven't made a significant impact medically and combined people are using literally 1000s of extra kilowatts to run folding at home. I can see running it on an already running computer, but runn...
by Elixer
Sat Sep 29, 2007 8:43 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: scandinavians
Replies: 62
Views: 30164

I have some guesses. First it's because Scandinavians in general speak better English than other people in Europe. Being comfortable with a language will draw you naturally towards things relating to that language. Secondly, it's because there are probably more "nerdy" people in Scandinavia. Whether...
by Elixer
Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:39 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Video Cards Under $100
Replies: 5
Views: 4026

Sounds like your best bet is a Nvidia 8500GT or 8600GT. There's a passive MSI 8500GT on newegg right now for ~$75 shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=8500gt&bop=And&Order=PRICE Also, video cards won't improve the speed at which you encode videos, only decod...
by Elixer
Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:34 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Q6600 audio system - confused...
Replies: 4
Views: 2928

What exactly are you going to use your PC for, and what are your goals as far as noise is concerned? Are you going to use it to record and process audio? Or will it be used in a studio, where it could potentially cause noise that would be picked up in a microphone? Silent computing is about compromi...
by Elixer
Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:04 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: How to make HS fit...feel free to laugh
Replies: 4
Views: 3320

That heatsink is for your northbridge. My guess is that it will fit. There are only a few boards that have problems with the Ninja, and in those cases, bending the ninja, or removing a small section of one of the 2 heatsinks solves the problem. I would say in the worst case you'll have to bend a few...
by Elixer
Fri Sep 14, 2007 8:06 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: The wife PC - Pink Raidmax O2
Replies: 10
Views: 10689

AHHHHH PINK!

My only comment is that you should think about getting a white light for the inside so that you have a nice pink glow to complete the theme.
by Elixer
Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:08 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Scythe Mini Ninja review
Replies: 64
Views: 67173

The little heatsink that could. I'm in agreement, it would be good to see some 92mm fan data. Does SPCR have a reference 92mm fan?
by Elixer
Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:25 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Q: Heat pipes need gravity - do they work better vertically
Replies: 6
Views: 4557

This has been gone over quite a few times here on the forums. Do a couple of searches and you should find them. The basic conclusions are: Heatpipes used today use wicks, so turning them in any direction does not significantly affect their ability, except where they are very long, ie some of today's...
by Elixer
Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:27 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Disappointed with the picoPSU...
Replies: 30
Views: 19023

So how come I'm getting 15W ???, could it be that my brick is faulty ?, or maybe they gave Silentpcreview an unusually and unrepresentative good brick ? What are you using to measure power? I know many of those things have problems measuring well at low loads, especially when the power drawn is hig...
by Elixer
Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:44 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: any dvd burners capable of burning slow?
Replies: 14
Views: 6982

Burn Quality? Maybe someone can explain this to me, because I just think of it as "it works" or "it doesn't work". How do you judge the quality of a burn except by seeing if it works?
by Elixer
Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:38 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Help, my system freeze!!
Replies: 3
Views: 2516

This sounds very much like it could be overheating. It sounds like your system overheats and then freezes, and then the motherboard won't let you turn the computer back on until it has cooled down. What are your CPU, motherboard, and GPU temperatures? Those are the first things to check.
by Elixer
Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:52 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Swapped PSU fan never starts. Is this safe?
Replies: 11
Views: 5396

There are 3 possibilities as to what's happened. The most likely is that the fan has been used and now has some ware, and due to the low voltage when the PSU isn't very hot, no longer starts at the minimum voltage. Heating up the PSU however will cause it to start. The second is that the fan has fri...
by Elixer
Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:58 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Wii fan, Unbearable
Replies: 12
Views: 16990

Another option is to get a Zalman fanmate, then using a small screwdriver, pop off the connector on the Wii board, then plug then fanmate into it, and the fan into the fanmate. This will slow the fan and reduce the noise. Or you could solder a resistor inline with the fan. Either way you should be a...