Search found 198 matches

by Steve_Y
Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:34 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Western Digital Scorpio Black -> Noise?
Replies: 6
Views: 4273

I'm using a WD3200BEKT in my desktop PC and it isn't particularly quiet, especially for a 2.5" drive. I wouldn't recommend them for laptop usage, or hard mounted to a case, not if you're bothered about noise. Fortunately they're easy enough to silence in a desktop case. Soft mounted it's pretty quie...
by Steve_Y
Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:49 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Is there a 790GX board that undervolts?
Replies: 3
Views: 1910

I've just tried CrystalCPUID with my Foxconn A7DA-S 790GX and undervolting works perfectly. AMD Overdrive allows undervolting too, but unlike CrystalCPUID it doesn't seem to go lower than 1.1v.
by Steve_Y
Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:59 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Low power card capable of 1920x1200?
Replies: 15
Views: 5630

With a bit more research I've found out why the display quality is so poor. I should have mentioned that it's actually a HDTV/monitor, a 28" Hannspree HT09. I'd assumed, from what I'd read, and from my experiences with a couple of 22" LCD TVs, that there was essentially little difference between a L...
by Steve_Y
Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:50 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Low power card capable of 1920x1200?
Replies: 15
Views: 5630

Thanks for your all advice and help so far. It looks like you're all right about the onboard graphics. I think the reason why DVI output gave me such a messed up display was due to bigger problems with my hardware. I tried hooking up a 22" LCD TV to the system, first to VGA, where it displayed a nic...
by Steve_Y
Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:12 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Low power card capable of 1920x1200?
Replies: 15
Views: 5630

Low power card capable of 1920x1200?

Until now I've been happy with my motherboard's built in x1250 graphics. But I've recently bought a 1920x1200 monitor and the onboard graphics don't seem capable of driving it. DVI output quality is really horrible, VGA is much better, but still annoyingly blurry. I'm really missing the pin sharp di...
by Steve_Y
Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:57 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: WD Green Power - a new quiet 3.5" hdd standard
Replies: 76
Views: 142048

I think I've found a replacement for the 160Gb laptop drive in my media centre build... Edit: I've just read that these drives are used in the new WD MyBook series of external drives. From the look of it they're passively cooled and with these drives they should be very quiet. The 1TB Home version i...
by Steve_Y
Fri Dec 07, 2007 4:33 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Samsung SyncMaster 20XL LED-backlight monitor
Replies: 14
Views: 15982

Even considering the RGB LED backlighting, I'm surprised at how much power this consumes. IIRC that's not much less than my old 21" Sony CRT, which I always considered to have better colour accuracy than the LCD displays I've used.
by Steve_Y
Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:37 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: fan replacement in PSU ?
Replies: 14
Views: 7405

Re: fan replacement in PSU ?

My questions are : * howto know what speed the fan will run (maybe I should measure the actual fan voltage when idling and in burn) if I change it? * will the fan control system of the PSU handle a new fan? if so, will it behave correctly ? * most important of all : will it make less noise ?? what ...
by Steve_Y
Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:12 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: There are silencers and then there are...
Replies: 11
Views: 8554

I took time to read entire thread, needless to say it was quite entertaining. :roll: To a certain extent I envy them, especially the people who are happy to sleep near a noisy PC. Personally I find it hard to sleep if there's any continuous noise at all. Even a buzzing power brick at the other end ...
by Steve_Y
Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:12 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: There are silencers and then there are...
Replies: 11
Views: 8554

I've known a few people who go out of their way to make their PCs as loud as possible. They'll stick in the loudest fans they can find even when building a low powered media centre system for the living room. I think it's more about appearing cool than cooling their PCs. Louder=more powerful and mac...
by Steve_Y
Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:46 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Asus M2A-VM HDMI: Ideal AM2 mATX motherboard?
Replies: 45
Views: 40690

Re: HSF for M2A-VM

Hi - I have one of these shipping over soon. Anyone have any recommendations on a quiet HSF that fits on this board? It will be used as an HTPC, no overclocking, I really just want it as quiet as possible. If you're not planning on using a low profile case you could always fit a Scythe Ninja. You c...
by Steve_Y
Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:40 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations
Replies: 13
Views: 8496

My favourite so far is the CoolerMaster X-Craft for eSATA. I have 2 them actually. The bracket that came with it works great too. I remember reading back 5 months ago that some people had problems with them but it seems like CoolerMaster has fixed the problem. Looks pretty good, and reasonably pric...
by Steve_Y
Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:31 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Modding Antec TruePower 430Watt ===> MODDABLE FANS ?
Replies: 3
Views: 2434

You could always pick up a cheap fan controller that'll power a few fans from one PSU molex cable. I used a couple of Nexus fans, the 92mm one running at 5v, the 80mm fan running at around 7v. That was perfectly fine for the low power system it was running, in fact that cooled the system's CPU as we...
by Steve_Y
Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:21 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Modding Antec TruePower 430Watt ===> MODDABLE FANS ?
Replies: 3
Views: 2434

I've replaced the fans in an Antec TruePower in the past and they worked fine. I powered them using motherboard headers rather than trying to connect the fans to the PSU's non-standard fan connectors. As long as the system doesn't draw too much power you can get away with low airflow fans. However, ...
by Steve_Y
Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:24 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Asus M2A-VM HDMI: Ideal AM2 mATX motherboard?
Replies: 45
Views: 40690

Re: Temperature in bios

Also, note the core temperature as reported by speedfan in your review, 14 C. Unless your test environment is really cold, this is obviously wrong. That is wierd. Speedfan on mine is reporting a much more realistic core temperature of 27C (idle). In Speedfan Temp2 seems to be the chipset temperatur...
by Steve_Y
Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:13 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Asus M2A-VM HDMI: Ideal AM2 mATX motherboard?
Replies: 45
Views: 40690

I was a bit surprised to see that the BE-2400 couldn't be undervolted below 0.95V @1Ghz. My old 90nm 65W 3600+ undervolts to 0.8v @1Ghz without any problems (with the system drawing 38-39W rather than 41W when idle), and from what I've read that's not unusual. It's a shame that the review didn't tes...
by Steve_Y
Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:31 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: The demise of Oink, the RIAA, and Waffles.fm
Replies: 12
Views: 7809

Everyone can end up paying levies on media even if they don't infringe copyrights. Everyone can be under the rule of even worse copyright laws that effect us in ways outside of copyrights. - Varies country to country though the industries will lobby various countries and with trade agreements laws ...
by Steve_Y
Sat Nov 17, 2007 4:47 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: The demise of Oink, the RIAA, and Waffles.fm
Replies: 12
Views: 7809

It is possible to do your bit to hurt the major labels without breaking any laws... You could simply buy your CDs from the small RIAA free indie labels, or direct from the artists where possible. Any major label CDs that you absolutely have to own you could buy second hand. Then support the artist b...
by Steve_Y
Thu Nov 08, 2007 3:59 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Ducting Material Advice
Replies: 25
Views: 17311

Regarding noise amplification due to thin cardboard ducts; I've used cereal box ducts in a few PCs, and for the most part I haven't found that they've increased noise. The one exception was when a duct was vibrating against the side of the case, adding a buzz that was much louder than the fan it con...
by Steve_Y
Thu Nov 08, 2007 3:35 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Antec MX-1: Actively Cooled External HDD Enclosure
Replies: 98
Views: 103796

Like you I'm very unhappy with the noise produced by the MX-1 and have had no luck getting a quiet replacement. It's interesting to see that the temperatures aren't extreme when running it without the fan for a while. Maybe it's possible to improve the temperatures you get without the fan running? D...
by Steve_Y
Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:59 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations
Replies: 13
Views: 8496

External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations

Can anyone recommend a decent 3.5" enclosure or external drive with an eSATA connection? I've tried a number of them and have been unhappy with them all. I've tried several Antec MX-1 enclosures, they're fast and the eSATA cable fits nicely, but I find them far too noisy for regular use. In my exper...
by Steve_Y
Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:16 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Jammie Thomas
Replies: 33
Views: 16977

2. Penalty should be harsher than #1, because it would be easy to make a case that this resulted in loss of more than $2120. Really? How would you show that such a loss occurred? Would you just go on the assumption that every download equaled a lost sale? If you had to judge two criminals, one who ...
by Steve_Y
Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:09 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Jammie Thomas
Replies: 33
Views: 16977

The answer is an amount great enough such that it will strongly discourage her and others who would do like her to not do it. Sending a litter lout to prison for 30 years would probably discourage other people from dropping their trash in the street, but I'm not sure that would make it a reasonable...
by Steve_Y
Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:05 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Jammie Thomas
Replies: 33
Views: 16977

She did NOT "steal" their music, [....] Sure she did. She and her peer-to-peer partners are thiefs no different than if they went to the local shop and stole CD's off the shelf. They want it for free so they stick it in their pocket and hope no one is looking. Surely you can't be serious? It's copy...
by Steve_Y
Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:04 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Jammie Thomas
Replies: 33
Views: 16977

Just today I read a piece in my local paper about a thug who had been making the lives of local people a misery with violence and intimidation. He'd committed a string of crimes, but was eventually convicted of animal cruelty after he threw half starved dogs into the path of moving traffic. His puni...
by Steve_Y
Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:27 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: What are you listening to right now?
Replies: 4309
Views: 2479756

I'm just finishing listening to the new Radiohead album In Rainbows for the second time and I'm definitely impressed. I think they're doing something pretty exciting by cutting out the record industry middleman and letting you choose how much you want to pay. Other bands may have done the same thing...
by Steve_Y
Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:29 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Jammie Thomas
Replies: 33
Views: 16977

I suppose the argument is that each and every download of the 24 songs she was convicted of sharing equals a lost sale. That's nonsense of course, but I think that's why it's actually considered worse than stealing the physical CDs. Whatever anyone feels about copyright infringement, this does seem ...
by Steve_Y
Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:16 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Antec MX-1 fan undervolting
Replies: 0
Views: 1340

Antec MX-1 fan undervolting

Has anyone successfully undervolted the fan in the Antec MX-1 enclosure? I bought a couple of them but find their fans disappointingly loud, especially if I screw down the hard drives enough to reduce its seek noise (presumably there's more turbulence due to a smaller gap between the drive and the f...
by Steve_Y
Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:49 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: GigaByte GA-965P-DS3: Core 2 Motherboard for Everyone
Replies: 27
Views: 25892

Personally I was quite surprised and impressed with the system's power consumption. With one HDD/optical and a X300 card, its idle power consumption at stock speed is only about 10W higher than my undervolted X2 3600+ system with onboard x1250 graphics. I'd have expected a larger difference than tha...
by Steve_Y
Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:55 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: HDD in external eSATA enclosure; viable noisewise?
Replies: 12
Views: 6034

Re: HDD in external eSATA enclosure; viable noisewise?

Why don't you replace them with different power supplies of the same specification? There are a few places that offer them with custom outputs. :) It's something I considered looking into, but I didn't bother for a few reasons. Firstly I wouldn't know for sure that the replacement power supply woul...