fans: Nexus 120mm Real Silent case fan, 500-2000rpm, PWM I don't know how good the PWM version of these fans are. Also, the max speed of 2000rpm is a bit high - unless you plan on using something like SpeedFan to control them. You might want to stick with the non-PWM version. If you want a PWM fan,...

I have no problem modding it as long as it doesn't involve power tools. Well, if it's true, then you can stick with your Lian Li: josephclemente's Lian Li PC-A05NB . FrozenCPU does a top panel with a pre-cut 140mm fan hole (no fan included) for $40: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10665/cpa-348/L...

Solo/Sonata Con: no front intakes; top PSU; big dislike of either white bezel or black "mirror" finish The Solo-based cases do have front intakes - 2 x 92mm front intake fan mounts with an indirect noise path (they draw air through the holes in the side bezel) - see the picture halfway down the pag...

When I installed a S-Flex F into my previously noisy Zalman PSU in my P182, I soft-mounted it with some rubber fan holders. I didn't have the replacement S-Flex fan hard-mounted at any time for comparison, but since you are installing a new fan, you may as well soft-mount it.

By surface area, a lot of fan grills can actually block 20% or more of the airflow coming in or out of a fan positioned next to the grill. This means higher fan rpms are needed to get the same amount of airflow as compared to without the grill. I don't recall doing before and after tests on my P182 ...

ZM-NB47J is pretty decent in my experience, if the chipset isn't overly hot. The mounting system isn't the easiest (small screws (grrrr) and final adjustments are a pain) but it works. If your chipset really gets toasty (if you overclock like crazy for example), I don't think it's your best bet. Th...

Well, here's a basic start using NCIX pricing: AMD Athlon II X2 250 Dual Core Processor Socket AM3 3.0GHZ 2MB L2 Cache 65W Retail Box ($71.76) Gigabyte 880GMA-UD2H AMD880G mATX AM3 DDR3 1PCIE CrossFireX DVI HDMI GBLAN SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard ($110.99) Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA2 7200RPM...

Does any of your coding software benefit from a quad core - compiling speeds etc? If a dual core would do, there are cheaper i3 Intel CPU's available. A cost saving option could be a i3 530 + Gigabyte H55 mATX board. With the cost savings, you could fit a 60Gb SSD like the OCZ Vertex 2 ($155@PCCG) i...

What kind of uses are you planning for this computer? If you are just thinking of a fairly basic computer for Internet browsing, video watching etc, then most modern dual core Intel or AMD CPUs, a micro ATX motherboard with integrated graphics, 4Gb of RAM, a small SSD for your operating system and a...

looking forward to the review, i'm particularly interested in the efficiency of the psu- pico like psus aren't readily available around here. Just thought I'd point out this website , if you haven't seen it already. Their stock levels are pretty poor though. (I'm kicking myself for not buying a pic...

I don't think the TX650 is all that quiet. Have a look at the SPCR Recommended PSUs and buy something listed there instead.

As for the case, go for the R3 out of those you have listed.

The molex connector on your fan is there because it is designed to be plugged directly into the power supply, with the fan speed regulated by the L/M/H switch attached to the fan. If you wanted to connect it to the motherboard, you would have to find a 3 pin fan connector to 4 pin molex cable adapte...

Have you considered the Lian LI PC-8FI ? (I'm guessing it might be a bit expensive though). I'm not sure if the front fans have filters though. 2 x front 120mm and 1 x rear 120mm, with an optional top 140mm fan (comes with a blanking plate as standard) if you need the extra airflow. If you remove th...

If you do buy an SSD, make sure to go with a version of Windows 7, which natively supports SSDs. Doesn't all versions of Windows 7 work equally well with SSD's? Hmm, I didn't quite express that clearly. Yes, I meant to say the OP should go with any version of Windows 7, all of which natively suppor...

For your proposed system, a picoPSU + large tower heatsink in the Q07 is highly recommended. I've done this with the main system in my signature. Add an SSD instead of a traditional hard drive with a slow and undervolted fan on the tower heatsink and your system should be almost inaudible. OCZ is an...

But, buy what you need with some headroom. Anything more actually hurts (since most psu's aren't efficient below 20%). For instance you buy 800W. 20% = 160W. You're idling this puppy at 50-80W. Guess what, you're getting 45-60% efficiency out of that high priced box. Get a kill-a-watt or other devi...

Nope, you shouldn't need any front intake fans. The fans on your CPU cooler, together with the rear and top exhaust fans, should be more than enough for your system.

I didn't see a graphics card mentioned in your parts list. Also, are you planning to do any overclocking? If not, you don't need all those fans. If you are aiming for a very quiet pc, those 1850 rpm fans will not be all that quiet even at 5V using your fan controller. I would consider dropping the G...

The 24 hard drives, which I guess would be hard mounted in that Norco case , are likely to make more noise than that Corsair HX-750. You're unlikely to be able to get a PSU that can support 24 HDDs too much cheaper than that, anyway. The 700W Coolermaster Silent Pro M700 PSU might be enough power ( ...

Assuming you would install your applications and games to the SSD, I would go for a WD Caviar Green instead for the HDD, which will be significantly quieter than the Caviar Black if you are just using your HDD for data storage. Either way, you should suspend the HDD in one of the 5.25" drive bays. A...

I'd probably go for one of the Scythe Ultra Kaze 120*120*38 fans - I believe they do 1k, 2k and 3k rpm versions. FWIW, SPCR has reviewed these fans here and they did not do so well. From what I've read on other forums, maybe consider a lower speed San Ace 38mm fan (undervolted if necessary) if you ...

Definitely go for the larger Kabuto over the Shuriken, if your choice is that narrow. However, with the P180 Mini, a tower-style heatsink, rather than a blow-down heatsink would possibly be better due to the large top exhaust fan. Consider the Coolermaster Hyper 212+, Scythe Mugen 2 or Xigmatek S128...

I would snip out the rear fan grill and soft-mount your rear exhaust fan, which might make a bit of different to the noise coming from that fan. For GPU temps, maybe open up a few more of the PCI slots, and add a little baffle between the left side (as you are looking at it from your pictures) of th...

PWM fan speed control with a splitter cable is a basic solution for load or temperature based fan speed changes. Unless you use SpeedFan or similar software to tweak fan speeds at certain temperatures, you are limited by your motherboard's BIOS settings related to PWM fan speeds and CPU temperatures...

Wow, very clean build indeed! I've always liked the NSK3480, but never had an excuse to build a system in it.

I'd be interested to know how your 5870 + TT Pro combo fares in a GPU stress test. It looks like the airflow around the TT Pro is a little constricted.

Akasa makes a PWM fan splitter cable - Google it and you should be able to find some shops stocking it.

Otherwise, Arctic Cooling's PWM fans have an integrated PWM splitting cable that allows multiple PWM fans to be chained together and run off a PWM-capable fan header, like the CPU_FAN header.

Lian-Li Q-07R case $70 Seasonic SS-300ET ps $40 i3-530 cpu $115 Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3 Mini-ITX mb $105 Corsair XMS3 4GB RAM $94 WD SCorpio Black 320GB 2.5" HD $60 That's $485 total. When the mini-ITX LGA1156 motherboards came out, I thought of re-building my Q07 system with something a little simil...

fan bay controller? What are good ones? I really like my Scythe Kaze Server, which has manual, semi auto and automatic fan speed modes. From memory, automatic mode turns fans off until temperatures on a corresponding temperature probe exceed a certain level, then the fan turns on to a set rpm. The ...

The Gigabyte motherboard only has two memory slots, so you will need a 2 x 4Gb RAM kit. Since the i7 860 is a does not have an integrated GPU, you will also need a discrete graphics card. Otherwise, read some of the reviews on the web about this motherboard. From memory, I think the motherboard is o...

What about the Scythe Kama Stay?