BTW - Why the "Expert" version and not "Deluxe?" To my knowledge the "Deluxe" edition has a great feature set and is VERY VERY inexpensive.

As a matter of fact, I have! Yes, the Sapphire Radeon 9200 serves me well considering its decent gaming performance and stock, no-frills passive cooling. I would also have to give two thumbs up for the Leadtek PVR as its a wonderful solution for the PC at a great price (like $40 something at Newegg)...

LiteOn optical drives are notorious for their incredibly loud whines, so it's possible that this DVD writer model isn't any different.

I'd surely say so considering that the Voodoo3 3000 is much more powerful in comparison to the Voodoo Monster Fusion card. In your case, I'd actually suggest using a Zalman northbridge chipset cooler...should run fine considering that some forum members have successfully run similar chipset heatsink...

Welcome to the SPCR Forums, abilstein! I have three or four passively-cooled 3Dfx Voodoo 3 3000 video cards sitting around from past Dell Dimension 4100 machines, so I should be able to answer your question. These particular video cards utilize relatively large aluminum heatsinks to cool their graph...

Aren't certain ASUS motherboards known to report inaccurate, lower temps due to some glitch (I remember this being mentioned by Ralf Hutter in another thread where a member posted VERY low CPU temps)? I dunno, but 28C sounds awful low -- especially in a quiet/silent setup. Maybe the so-called "Cooln...

Good luck with the law school thing, Trip. I'm actually a first year declared as an accounting major...I hope it's not TOO drab.

Oh well,

<<Bumpidy, bump, bump>>

What heatsink would be appropriate for the Gigabyte 9200 128? Options I'd think of would be the Zalman ZM17CU. Is that adequate, or would one of the heat pipe versions be necessary (hopefully not!) The ZM17CU sounds fine for your Radeon 9200 (non-pro I assume)...in fact, a heatsink like that on a R...

Move over Zalman and Thermalright? :roll: I don't think so Silenx. Yes, I think it would be interesting to learn if Swiftech is aware of the advertisement (of course, SilenX could have legally rebadged the heatsink with some licensing agreement with Swiftech, but it's always more fun to assume other...

My pick rests on a Maxtor 16.7GB 5400RPM HD that I have in my 500MHz Intel PIII machine from 1999 -- its seek noise is truly unbearable that you can hear it above the 45-50dB CPU cooler, 40dB PSU, and whiny GeForce 2 GTS cooling fan all wrapped in a Palo Alto ATCX minitower (akin to Dell Dimension 4...

All I gotta say is "wow, that thing is scary."

Oh, and, by the way, I think the solid-state HD wins the crown for "Quietest hard drive available."

Of course, if money is no object and no-seek time is attractive to you, check out a solid-state HD -- no moving parts and no noise at all!

Of course, you could always get a case based around the venerable Antec/Chieftec "Dragon" design that includes spots for two 80mm fans to cool off the hard drive bays (though, in my case, I really don't see a need for extra HD cooling besides installing the drive alone in a bay cage).

for a reasonable budget if you're not a hard-core, everything-flipped-on gamer, go with the Radeon 9200. I heard that the newer 9600SE is even faster but only a bit more expensive (the one I have seen, an ASUS, has a fan, but I'm sure you could use some heatsink like a lower-end Zalman video graphic...

For the reference pics of MikeC (heheheh, Mike), you can check him out in all of his heavenly silent glory in a past issue of PCWorld (it was on do-it-yourself, easy/improvement stuff for PCs)...anyone know the issue (of course, if MikeC REALLY doesnt want a 3D model, then nevermind )?

BTW digitX/SilenX/digitalX :arrow: I just cannot reconcile your negative remarks about Mike Chin and Ralf Hutter's reviews on the Super Tornado PSUs. Your statement was definitely unfounded and unecessary...what's the difference between SPCR and yourself? Mike and the reviewers analyze products in a...

OMG this is great guys. By the way, digitX, where are you? Aren't you gonna stand up and state your innocence? Or should be continue to flame (heheh ) every member from now on who ends their login with the letter "X?"

Hmmm...shunX...possible pattern/resemblence? :D I would not be quick to generalize SPCR as a "Masquerade Party" buddy -- it's just that SilenX owner PK and/or his shady business associates. MikeC and others have worked hard to make SPCR what it is today (I know this as I was one of the first members...

For me, the dell case's plastic enclosure design did very little to actually dampen vibrations and noise -- I now use the Chieftec/Antec "Dragon-based" cases (e.g. Coolermaster 710, etc.) that use very thick steel that effectively drown out some noise. In addition, when I used the old beige type of ...

I just find it ridiculous how anyone caught before for spamming forum threads with false advertising could think he/she could re-register under a name almost EXACTLY like their previous one with the exception of 2 letters...w0w, Mr. Kim (if it's you)...w0w...

digitX S H A D Y

Hmmm...something's rotten in the state of Denmark.

Yeah I used a Dell case before and it wasnt very good for silent cooling...getting the standard Antec/Chieftec "Dragon" cases work A LOT better...trust me, I experienced what you are going through before, and it wasn't pretty.

Another place (where I got my ATCX case, basically Dell Dimension 4100) is ajump.com.

Sure...it's just the black version of the Coolermaster Wavemaster....

Apparently from what others have said, Seasonic DOES replace your "no-start, buzzing fan" PSU with one that has a LOUD, fully-working fan. Good luck.

Well it could be possible considering that the graphics is probably also cooled by the giant heatsink-case. If so, then all Voodoo needs is a super quiet PSU and a quiet hd...with that case's thick walls and industrial-looking grade structure, I could imagine that the HD's whine (typical HD annoyanc...

Glad to be of any help.

BTW...is it possible for a PSU with all of its problems like the Super Tornado 300 to cause a PC to suddenly restart ever once in a while? I've so far mostly given up complaining about my Super Tornado 300 (at least in the very near future) as the fan does eventually start, and, hey my PC works when...

Hey Mike. My Super Tornado 300 (retail) experience is also in the above thread (a few more like it around the SPCR Forum). Although I must say that my "second revision" PSU from Fry's does work a little better (fan starts up automatically sometimes...other times it takes anywhere from ten minutes to...