Just to pile on: you can get a 32 or 40 GB SSD for around $100 now. In terms of dollars against difference in performance (using it as an OS and app drive) it's one of the cheapest upgrades I've ever made. And for perspective, SSD $s per GB are now about where mechanical disks were 8 years ago. http...

I have a similar question, so maybe I can tag along here. I want to run 3 or 4 monitors, 1200x1600 pixels. No gaming. I'm doing word-processing, spreadsheets, that kind of thing. goals: (1) the least possible heat inside the PC (2) quiet This seems to lead me to business-oriented cards like the NVID...

I used to hang out on an audio board where Bose-bashing was a favorite sport: Bose's success in foisting overpriced, polished turds on the general public showed how stupid most people were, and by contrast how extra-smart audiophiles were... Nope. Acquiring expertise about gear is time-consuming and...

Thanks ces for your entertaining post at 5:56.

I'll speak up for those of us who like 'em small quiet and cool -- this is the only site addressing that fetish. And seriously, there's plenty of useful stuff on this site if you want to make more heat.

another +1 for jessekopelman's response. Your money and time are almost always best spent going after noise at its source via quiet components and design. What kind of noise problem are you trying to fix? (If you still want to experiment, McMaster-Carr sells open-cell foam in different shapes and si...

The holes are a great mod for this case -- better routing and better use of its limited space.

Ditto the above. I'm real happy with an x-25M after a week or so of use. If your work involves a lot of opening large files, it's a big time-saver. Depends heavily, of course, on what you do with your PC. I'd also agree that given the silence and low power requirements of these things, a little geek...

Thanks, Jamie: right now Speedfan is showing a couple 40C readings but nothing alarming. So I think I'll let 'em roast. I do have all the side and back venting holes in the case blocked, and there's no obstruction in front. Ducting to the bridges is an interesting idea, though. Forgot to mention tha...

This was designed for work and for upgradability to Windows 7. Thanks to people who commented on the first draft of the parts list. Parts GIGABYTE GA-MA78GPM-UD2H AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e cooled by Thermalright HR-01 with bolt-through kit Intel X25-M SSD 80GB HITACHI Travelstar 5K500.B 500GB Pioneer D...

I got a DVR-216DBK via Amazon last week. From something called BuyDirect Corporation. Looks like it's still in stock.

FWIW by "switch" I mean both the electrical switch mounted on the metal chassis and the crappy plastic button that engages it. In any case the 2-part design is part of the problem, no? Why not pull out the plastic buttons and assemblies to leave holes in the bezel, and mount integrated pushbutton sw...

These are momentary-contact SPST pushbutton switches, right? Has anyone considered just replacing them with a sturdier switch?

Ditto the above: I would do some temperature monitoring, and then then start removing fans and seeing what happens. I really doubt you need those intake fans, for example. Try some Nexus or Noctua fans. Sometimes this case works better if you block the vent holes above the PCI slots, so that all the...

1. I share porkchop's interest in how to compare this with 2.5" drives. My experience with 2.5s has been good in terms of noise and power. And they're easy to suspend. 2. I'm planning a new PC combining the Intel X-25M (80GB), for OS and apps, with a larger HDD for storing documents. In that applica...

Not to argue, since it looks like you've made up your mind, but just to comment on the questions raised: -- I have considerable experience setting up parents and other aging and capacities-declining relatives with computers. For this purpose Macs are infinitely preferable to PCs. They are much simpl...

Could you cool the Athlon II X2 250 passively? That is, a Ninja or equivalent plus a case fan?

I really appreciate your work on this. And yikes, that's a lot of power consumption. I'm pinning my hopes on competition around notebook chips.

The Intel drive is only $314 at Newegg. But I should look again at the OCZs.

Thanx!

Weak point silencewise of my plan is the Earthwatts 380W PSU bundled with the Antec NSK 4480B II. Sounds like at minimum I should swap its fan. But I'm tempted by a Fortron Zen 300W, with maybe a B-Stock Antec NSK 4400 or 3480.

Thanks much! Let's up the RAM to 4GB.

Does RAM spec matter for this kind of application?

Fan: Nexus 120mm.

Goals: (1) low noise/power/heat (2) snappy performance with many MS Word and Excel documents, pdfs, and browser windows open, plus ability to handle Windows 7 if I have to upgrade. Current idea: GA-MA78GPM-UD2H AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane Ninja 1GB generic RAM Intel X25-M 80GB SSD for OS, apps H...

Did they do a scatterplot of the temperature/noise data?

I can't think of any PC-building site that has a higher signal/noise ratio than this one. Not even close. You've also built a good community on the forums. Part of it is that you've resisted pressure to get something new up every day. I really appreciate your geekish devotion to getting stuff right....

No quarrel with your assessment, Vertigo. Just to clarify, I pulled out the fan-grilles etc. at the case front, so there's pretty unobstructed airflow from the front to the back and that's what the air does. This case allows very little airflow from the upper PSU chamber into the rest of the case. I...

FWIW I have: Antec Solo BIOSTAR TA690G BE-2350 with Ninja Antec Phantom 500 PSU four 2.5" HDs and one 3.5" GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H video card All cooled with a single 120mm fan, in the regular place exhausting from the back. AFAIK the backup fan on the Antec PSU has never come on, and the whole thing ...

This is from a McMaster-Carr order a little while back. It's basically thin bungee cord; the polypropylene protects against sharp edges. Worked great.


50 Ft. 8858T821
Polypropylene Covered Elastic Cord 1/8" Diameter, Black (Same as 8858T82)
$4.50

Thanks for a timely review. I've usually used smaller and slower drives including notebook drives, OTOH you need more of them.

Suppose you want 2TB of capacity for a 24/7 server. From a power/noise standpoint, what's the best combination of drives?

Thanks a lot for doing this. Very enlightening and must have been a lot of work. What are the benefits that this setup would offer over a similar AMD package, using, say, a Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H with a low-power (maybe even Brisbane) CPU? Comparing reviews, the power usage seems pretty similar. I...

I've had similar thoughts and the VIA NAS 7800 jumped out in a search http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/motherboards.jsp?motherboard_id=610 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5xyJ9An4E8 but apparently it's "not a consumer product" and the closest I can find to one on sale is http://www.e-itx...