Thank you for the updates this review has provided. It's nice -- and quite vital -- to have confirmed, real-life data from an established source. I especially thank you for reviewing the Noiseblocker Blacksilent fan, I've been waiting to hear your opinion on them for some time now. The review sounds...

And right you are, if it indeed consists of nothing more than Q-FAN2 and Intel's EIST. The Asus Q-FAN system, as I understand it, monitors component temperatures(CPU only?) and adjusts fans to maintain set temperatures. The Q-FAN interface is embedded in the board's BIOS. It works great for users wh...

They might just as well replace "Features" with "Marketing", it's just a sales pitch. :lol: I thought you had gone through the specifications as well: I just looked at the specs page for the P5W-DH that the OP has, and it doesn't mention it in the features list. But obviously I took it too literally.

The ASUS AI Quiet function (Intel EIST plus ASUS Q-FAN2 technology) dynamically controls CPU speed and reduces temperature and fan speeds when peace and quiet are what you desire. (Note: ASUS AI Quiet function requires Intel 600 series CPU with EIST function) http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews...

adobian wrote:I like Seagate and Maxtor because they offer 5 year warranty on their 500GB drives.

Just in case this comes as a newsflash, Seagate owns Maxtor nowadays.

Having little experience with 7200 RPM 2.5" HDDs but some with single-platter 3.5" HDDs, I'd say go for the former. I'm basing my opinion mostly on my personal experiences with a 160GB Seagate that I still own and use every day: it is a never-ending torrent of vibrations, seek noise and whimsy spin-...

If it's just a tiny one like that... yea.

In the Compaq cases for the old Deskpro series(?) the speaker's about the size of a small fist.

Magnets never play nice.

Most HDDs are now well-shielded, even against magnets, and a stationary drive might not get damaged much by a magnet mounted vertically to the drive, but why take the risk.

I'm thinking this is an old Compaq case where there's an actual speaker, not just a beeper?

They list two fans in that thread: the Noiseblocker S2 and some Yate Loon 80mm. If they find them adequate, that's a base to build on, both performance and size wise. There was also a Yate Loon listed in this thread, so do some creative thinking. :idea: If you're unsure of how fan motor mounting wor...

Haven't had experience with the latest GeForce cards, but every card up to my current 7800 GT has had insufferable stock cooling. I'm personally more concerned about that than the HDD or the CPU fan, as the HDD is supposedly very good at quiet. But if you're an enthusiast, you'll want to swap the CP...

Sound advice on prices. The state of development right now also makes it a good choice to get a separate modem and router: optic, xDSL, HomePNA and cable systems are pretty much standard now, so a modem bought today will still be a modem for years to come. If you buy an overpriced, overcomplicated m...

Thank you. And my fingers are crossed for the next roundup then... Sorry for failing to mention that both case fans are decoupled with Coolink studs(blue) and the PSU has a retrofit silicone grommet from Antec. This has gotten rid of all the resonance I had before, especially with Noiseblocker SX2 P...

You're welcome.

Networking used to be a mystery to me too until my summer jobs started to force framework maintenance on me...

New face here. First of all, thanks for a great site and thorough reviews. You've explained a lot of the harder stuff for me, and helped me in my struggles for a quiet rig. You review little but with immaculate precision, and even though your shortlists are short, they are to the point. But allow me...

Don't be fooled by numbers. 100M is plenty for a home network, and if you have WLAN for friends, the wireless connection won't reach anywhere near 100M speeds. Even if you have three machines sending data simultaneously, the bottleneck will be the router's capabilities, not the line speed. As for In...