Search found 52 matches

by QuaiBoy
Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:27 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Smallest mATX concept
Replies: 4
Views: 4215

Those look really neat. Even though they are notebook drives, make sure to get sufficient airflow around them. Consider heatsinking them as well.

Have fun.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:48 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: What happens when a power supply overheats?
Replies: 12
Views: 6051

Try a different version of memtest, or try booting it from a floppy drive. I've had it flake out on me for no good reason on a few older boards that a different version (newer or older) will work fine with.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:46 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Andyson 300w power supply
Replies: 22
Views: 9086

And also, I'd take a shot at modding the stock PSU. Maybe after you get your new one you can fiddle with it and have some fun. So it blows up, big deal. If it works out it's a nice spare.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:44 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Andyson 300w power supply
Replies: 22
Views: 9086

That looks like one of those stupid cases that have a PS cutout exactly the size of the stamped fan and power cable on the back of the PSU. You might have to take a tool to the back of the case (tin snips, metal nibbler, blow torch, in order of case thickness) to get any standard ATX PS to fit prope...
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:16 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Motherboard power cable extension?
Replies: 2
Views: 2258

Since you're running it external, might I suggest:
http://www.coolerguys.com/840556041146.html

I have no experience with that shop, just an example. Increased resistance, yes. Less dust is important too. Good luck.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:12 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Paying big bucks to mod or going cheap?
Replies: 9
Views: 4117

...
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:11 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Paying big bucks to mod or going cheap?
Replies: 9
Views: 4117

I'm not advocating buying the cheapest PS out there for $10 and expecting it to be stable. I understand that money (hopefully) buys better component quality and stability. That said, I have modded plenty of shoddy stock PSUs with good success which I why I started this thread. Perhaps buying a decen...
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:38 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: What happens when a power supply overheats?
Replies: 12
Views: 6051

What's the error? And what version of memtest are you running?
Try swapping your memory between banks. If it still errors out, try one stick or the other.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:35 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Antec EarthWatts 500W Powersupply heatsink buzz
Replies: 1
Views: 1853

Well, the HS shouldn't have been live. But glad you're not dead. ;-)

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:54 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Paying big bucks to mod or going cheap?
Replies: 9
Views: 4117

Oh yeah, I had an OEM Sparkle blow up too. Basically, my point is that any PS, cheap or expensive, modded or stock can blow up at any time.
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:51 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Paying big bucks to mod or going cheap?
Replies: 9
Views: 4117

Paying big bucks to mod or going cheap?

I just read a thread about modding a Corsair HX450 and another about an Antec Quattro and it got me thinking. I'm not sure why you'd buy an expensive PS like the Corsair and swap the fan. I love modding and also reading about the great work people do on this board. Wouldn't it be a better choice to ...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:35 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Antec 850W Quattro noise level
Replies: 7
Views: 4742

If you have to, keep it as a spare or try modding it. If it's your first such project try and get someone with soldering skills involved. Not that you'll even need to solder probably, but such a person would've at least been inside of an electronic component casing before. Watch out for the big cyli...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:19 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: DIY case from scratch
Replies: 2
Views: 2849

So are you going to fabricate this out of sheetmetal or gut an existing case? You might consider gutting one of the old Gateway or Dell cases. I have a GW Performance 500 circa 1999 sitting next to me that is very tall and has lots of room for WC equipment (I don't WC this rig). Very thick steel and...
by QuaiBoy
Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:19 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Zalman CNPS8700 LED: Update of a Classic
Replies: 23
Views: 20678

Being able to easily swap in a 80mm-120mm fan would instantly make these these coolers appealing to me again. Not including a fan at all would be even better. Count me as another 7700 owner (and a prior 7000 owner as well) not satisfied with my purchase. The HS is not bad but the fan is nasty. Out o...
by QuaiBoy
Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:07 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Zalman ZM-MFC2: 4 x Fan Controller + Power Meter
Replies: 12
Views: 14194

I like the goals the Zalman tries to accomplish. Too bad the jog wheel makes adjustments so combersome and the viewing angles sucks. It's such a great feature to have a total system AC usage device included, but again they drop the ball with a partially useless display and a USB port interface that ...
by QuaiBoy
Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:44 am
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: Anyone have the Zonbu?
Replies: 10
Views: 8891

If it had a gigabit controller, it could make a decent file server. But it doesn't. The high price could be somewhat worth it if it was incredibly stable and works well with a variety of Linux variants. Sorry but that's all I see most of these VIA boards as... storage solutions. If you use it yourse...
by QuaiBoy
Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:05 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Maximum Ducting.. Sparkle Project. Phase two.
Replies: 42
Views: 22207

I hope all of this testing is of some interest here. It certainly is to me, because I really never saw another setup quite like this one, and I'm interested in now slight changes, affect the thing. ... I don't have much to add in the way of experience, but I would like to say that I have found this...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:12 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Western Digital 1TB green drive
Replies: 4
Views: 4219

WD seems to do that. I bought a 2.5" WD portable as an emergency replacement for a laptop locally a few months ago. 120GB for $89 as a portable, or $149 retail boxed drive. Hmmm, tough choice. Stripped the enclosure and put a Hitachi 40gb in it, lol. Thanks for the info, I'll be watching for MyBook ...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:08 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 2008, the year of the SSD...
Replies: 32
Views: 14553

Bring it on, been waiting for 15 years. Can't wait to put one in my laptop (for starters). No more nasty vibration - hooray!

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:06 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Time for me to go Seasonic?
Replies: 26
Views: 12015

I have a system very similar in CPU speed to yours (A64 3500+) currently running 4 optical drives, 3 HDs and 4 bus-powered USB devices (for a project). I'm running a S12-330 and it's very, very quiet and totally stable. FWIW.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:58 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Silent/less [noisy] system II
Replies: 7
Views: 4346

I'll give you some feedback. Seems really well thought out. Just a few points. Do you have a budget for the system? It seems you could do just as well for less if you want to, especially since you're happy with your current system. Consider a more efficient CPU and look around for the most efficient...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:51 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: HTPC 45nm upgrade
Replies: 12
Views: 6431

Also, I got a 9700 running solid for over 2yrs now on a passive HS for my brother. Easy to do as long as you have decent system airflow. I bet the 9800 would be similar.

-Evan
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:49 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: HTPC 45nm upgrade
Replies: 12
Views: 6431

Good advice already, but I can't believe you can't get sufficient performance out of your current rig. I'm using an A64 3500+, 2GB DDR400, and a Geforce 6200 and it's silky-smooth at 720p or 1080p on all media. You might want to try this before you invest: http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/codec_gui...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:45 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: My new PC - Advice wanted
Replies: 8
Views: 4871

You already have the Raptor so you are familiar with the noise profile. If you can continue to handle the seek noise (which is pretty noticeable) and have sufficient system airflow, soft-mounting the Raptor will be a sizable difference. I type from experience here, I have an early 74gb model that I ...
by QuaiBoy
Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:36 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: WD Green Power - a new quiet 3.5" hdd standard
Replies: 76
Views: 142023

I mourned the end of 5400RPM 3.5" drives way back when. They (usually) easily had heat, power, and vibration advantages over their 7200RPM+ counterparts. These drives can easily provide multiple video streams over GbE which is all a lot of people who buy drives of this much capacity are looking for....
by QuaiBoy
Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:31 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Hiper Media Center Barebones PC
Replies: 32
Views: 31748

... For example my plasma is 1366x768 but the options available were 1080i and 720p. 1080i filled the screen properly but the icons were so small as to be unusable. 720p left me with underscan (dark edges all around). I had to use something like 1388x775 to get it to fill the screen. ... I've used ...
by QuaiBoy
Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:28 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Hiper Media Center Barebones PC
Replies: 32
Views: 31748

I've watched this company for well over a year. They are trying so hard to make a unique and useful product, but they have, again, dropped the ball. Over and over this has happened with each "model update" (aka - board swap). I think they could keep the price of the kit at $399 or even go a bit high...
by QuaiBoy
Tue Aug 03, 2004 6:33 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Seagate Barracuda Ultra ATA IV firmware new revison.
Replies: 11
Views: 7054

I have a pair of 80Gb IVs in a RAID0 array in my second machine. Their performance (off of a Highpoint Rocket100) is far superior in large file copying and processing than the 160Gb 7200.7 in the same machine. I was unaware of this "RAID compatible" firmware mentioned above. I'll have to see what f/...
by QuaiBoy
Tue Aug 03, 2004 6:28 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Seagate 120GB SATA vs PATA *Poll* NEED RESPONSES ASAP!!!
Replies: 5
Views: 3032

Most any current drive will make less noise than the 20Gb WD, christ those were horrible. I have one of those in an old Gateway and I can hear it running (don't have it on much, for good reason) two rooms away. With the doors closed! I RMA'd it twice thinking it was abnormally loud, but that's just ...
by QuaiBoy
Mon Aug 02, 2004 1:00 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Real silence - move your PC to another room!
Replies: 126
Views: 148581

Didn't read the whole thread, but I would probably try this method if it applied to my situation. In fact, I think it would be even better to use a basement if you have one rather than a nearby room that you regularly use. The cable runs would probably be even shorter if you mounted your PC(s) next ...