Why are 5.1 or 7.1 soundcards a disadvantage? I've been using a 5.1 channel soundcard for stereo for almost a decade with no problems. I also wouldn't discount onboard audio, but another option to consider is a USB audio adapter. What's the purpose of the little amp if you're feeding powered speaker...

Why in the world would you need an i5-2500k and a 7750 GPU in a home file server??? Many people are using all-in-one Intel Atom or AMD Zacate motherboards for under $100 in their small file servers.

Runs cooler, don't have to deal with gnarly tall heatspreaders, more likely to be compatible with Haswell next year. Both of them use the same low-profile heatsink. I get the impression that the silly looking 'gnarly tall heatspreaders' are 90% for show, anyway. Like neon case lighting and glowing ...

I'm looking at some Mushkin Blackline DDR 1600 for a new build. Mushkin offers two identically spec'd 8GB (2x4GB) kits with the only difference being that one is spec'd at 1.5V (p/n 996995) and one is 1.35V (p/n 996998). Is there any real-world advantage to the 1.35V ram for an extra $5? http://www....

Are Noctua coolers and fans reasonably priced in Europe? They're crazy expensive in the US compared to most others.

Thanks. So you have the two FD fans in the front and the Noctua in the back as exhaust. That's what I was planning - three fans in those positions. Remove the top drive cage for better airflow, then one SSD and one HDD in the bottom cage with a slow fan in front of them. But I'm still debating getti...

Case: Define Mini. Parts: Asus P8Z77-M PRO mATX, i5-3750K stock (using iGPU), G.Skill 8GB 1600/CL9 DDR3U, Xonar XD, WD AAKS&EARS, m4 128 GB, RX-5300. Cooling: NH-U12P SE2 push only, Fractal Design 2x120mm in + Noctua NF-P12 ex. Extras: Eaton Protection Station 800VA UPS, Benq G2400W 24", Qpad MK-50...

In my experience pwm fans can go slow without problems and 3 pin ones have a chance of low speed chatter. Not that I've tried them all of course but my cpu fans (kama flex 120mm 1600rpm) are pwm and work great but my 3 pin thermalrights acted funny at super low speed with my fan controller. I'll ha...

Thanks folks. Yeah, I'm not sure the question was answered, but it's good advice and has given me a lot to think about.

Looking at photos of motherboards on Newegg lately, I've noticed a lot of warping in edgewise shots of the I/O ports. I don't think it's an illusion or distortion in the photo. It seems to be common.

I've never underclocked a CPU, but might, toward the goal of a silent PC. Are unlocked processors better suited for this? I also haven't overclocked a CPU in many years. With Windows 7, a Z77 chipset motherboard, and an unlocked CPU, can you over/underclock a CPU on the fly, without rebooting? What ...

Das_Saunamies wrote:It's a triple-GPU setup.

For cooling?

Does a high volume case offer much better cooling than a smaller one with very good airflow?

Das_Saunamies wrote:Yikes. At least this'll be a learning experience. I just had someone buy 2-4 XLs for company use, luckily they plan to use SSDs so the vibration shouldn't be an issue.

Why would you buy XL sized cases unless you're going to load them up with hard drives?

Case damping doesn't do any good when a panel is loose enough to vibrate where it attaches to the body of the case. Bending may work, but you might also try a soft tape (such as athletic tape or cloth electrical tape) along the edge if it can be applied and still allow you to attach the panel. BTW, ...

I'm wondering whether systems that automatically vary case fan speeds might be more annoying than the fan noise they attempt to alleviate. I recall an old CPU fan I had that would ramp up under load and how terribly annoying it was to hear it speed up, cut back down, up again, down again. I'm not su...

Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to get it. Actually, you've all mentioned the three fans I was considering. Scythe SY1225SL12L 800 RPM Scythe SY1225SL12M 1200 RPM Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P PWM 1300 RPM I keep reading about PWM fans having "bearing chatter" or somesuch that suggests to me that they ...

I'm considering an ASUS P8Z77-V motherboard for a new build and am also looking for some quiet case fans. I'm completely lost. The motherboard has three 4-pin chassis fan headers. My understanding is that it uses PWM to control the speed of the fans (is that correct, or can it also do voltage regula...

This forum is badly in need of an updated FAQ.

(and this ain't it)

I think this topic can be retired/unstickied. Most cases have 120mm fans these days.

Uh, thanks. Maybe you can help someone else.

HFat wrote:Some people would see a difference and others wouldn't. It depends mainly on the work you want to do. Let's put it that way: if you wouldn't experience a real-world difference, why are you buying a non-K quad-core?

Not following what you're saying there. Maybe it's the double negative.

When doing lighter things the regular 3450 will downclock itself (per default BIOS power saving settings) quite handily so for that kind of system I wouldn't bother with the 3450S, just in case the little extra oomph comes in handy on a larger video job. With both of them having the same max turbo ...

I see the newer generation boards saying they support DDR3 1600 and have seen the same said about Ivy Bridge. Is the memory speed dependent on the chipset, or just the CPU?

http://ark.intel.com/compare/65512,65511 The only difference that I'm aware of between these two CPUs is the lower base clock speed and lower TDP of 2.8 GHz vs 3.1 GHz and 65W vs 77W for the i5-3450S vs the i5-3450. The two processors are currently selling for essentially the same price (~ $200). I ...

cruelsister wrote:Specifically ASRock uses the ASMedia ASM1083 bridge chip to implement PCI on the Z77. But to point, JJ didn't think that Legacy PCI and IDE exists on Z77 motherboards. Just wanted to inform him that it does.

Also needs to be microATX.

If I did want to use the onboard video, would the older chipset be able to take advantage of the faster HD2500 and HD4000 graphics? It's not clear to me how the graphics are implemented, but I assume it's primarily on the CPU.

I'm putting together a microATX system and will probably go with an Ivy Bridge CPU over Sandy Bridge. But I haven't found any of the newest generation Z77 and etc. motherboards with the features I'd like. The board that most meets my needs is the ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM, which has both a PCI slot (beco...

Should have gotten another pico-PSU before completing your tests.

By the looks of it, you might be able to open the door to the right, without bumping into a plugged in USB drive. Probably could if my house keys, car key and remote fob weren't on my keychain along with the USB key. In fact, one of the things I like about cases like the Fractal Design Define R3 or...

Would be OK as a small, low power file server, but until Intel quits their practice of purposely crippling the onboard graphics in Atoms and their chipsets, I'll be sticking with AMD Brazos (E-450, etc.) boards for entry level low powered desktop systems. Comparable computing power, and _much_ bette...