They don't comment on the build quality, but it looks a little homemade to me. http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/psu/2008/amacrox-calmer-560/07.jpg It also falls out of spec on the 3.3V line above 90% power. It's no SPCR review, that's for sure. They don't even open it up, and look at all those sc...

Felger Carbon wrote:That's the easiest way to clean the dust off that 9-blade fan... Hmm?

I guess, but whenever I've tried to do that before, either for cleaning or lubrication, I snap off a fan blade. Never had an Enermax fan before, though.

I don't get it. Do they want you to take the fan apart?

I have also a passion for mATX-cases, as well as sleek looks. I like the looks of the NSK 1300, http://www.antec.com/images/160/nsk1300_q.jpg but the NSK3480 looks like the most boring thing in Antec's inventory. http://www.antec.com/images/160/NSK3400_q.jpg I haven't seen one in person, admittedly...

Stefan, three thoughts: 1) I'm impressed you're doing this. 2) One reason heat exchangers do not usually involve bubblers is because of fluid contamination. Crap from the air can get in the oil, and oil can get in the air. I don't know if evaporation is a health concern, but if it is, this will incr...

t might be worth buying just to drive the neighbors crazy when their phone drops out...

I apologize for not doing any research, but aren't there laws against products that cause RF interference?

nutball wrote:Why would you presume that?

Well, duh, it's a smaller part number! If it's so much better at decoding BR, the 3450 must be obsolete already.

Shaman wrote:Did Antec assume most users would put the case on top of the desk...?

I don't know what they were thinking, but putting the optical drive on the bottom is a big con in my book. A quick glance at Newegg suggests the length of optical drives is not readily available information.

I have the BIOS configured with CPU Q-Fan enabled, Profile is Optimal. ... I have the BIOS configured with Chassis Q-Fan enabled, Chassis Fan Ratio is 60% and Target Temperature is 36. Hey Sonic. I have a Asus P5B and also use Q-Fan set to Optimal. There is very little discussion about Q-Fan here. ...

Wow, the HD3450 doesn't help much with playing BR-DVDs! I guess it's slightly older silicon? For Blu-Ray: Peak CPU HD3200 IGP - 21% Peak CPU HD3450 - 47% It sounds like a great board as long as you're not counting on Hybrid Crossfire. And be honest, who of you were? On that note, can someone explain...

Leave your computer off overnight to let it cool down. Then turn it on in the morning and as soon as windows lets you, check the HD temps. If you STILL get 34C, then you should be suspicious of your temps.

What will you be doing with your HTPC besides watching DVDs? Because your computer is 100x overkill for playing DVDs. And what other A/V equipment are you trying to incorporate? Do you have a Cable Box like jhhoffma mentioned? It'd be helpful to know what else you need to hook up.

My answer is that an HTPC is not about what you do with it, but how well it integrates with home theater settings/equipment. So you say it is NOT a HTPC just because you watch TV (or movies, etc) on it. You're saying it should be attached to something that could be described as home theater equipme...

Um, why would this be useful?

Edit:
Okay, I admit I'm all for cool gadgets and using technology to improve efficiency. I even like thermodynamics. However, this seems a little pointless. The < 2 watts a CPU fan uses is peanuts.

You just need to "plumb" in the northbridge, southbridge and VRMs from a montherboard like this one: http://www.pcper.com/images/reviews/462/heatpipe.jpg and you could use one heatsink and one fan to cool everything ! Don't tell me that "Orochi" thing isn't big enough to handle all that. An ATX size...

AZBrandon wrote:I'm all for it, TV is a cancer and rots peoples brains.

Geez, tell us how you really feel! I haven't heard that sentiment expressed that way in years.

It's an interesting situation. My understanding is that Congress allotted basically no money for commercials, mailings or other public awareness campaigns, basically counting on the companies that sell the boxes to handle it. Of course, news outlets can distribute this information too, if they think...

Upscaling is handled by your video card and codecs, not your media center program, AFAIK.

Give GB-PVR at try. It's easy to set up and very reliable. Very customizable. And free. :D I don't know what exactly jhhoffma meant by "depending on what you are doing with your HTPC", but I use GBPVR for pretty much everything HTPC related. If you're just playing DVDs and DivX files, maybe you want...

I understand it literally is an abbreviation for Home Theater PC. However, many people seem to be building "HTPC / Gaming / Work / Server / Hotplate-for-my-coffee PC." To me, that is just the definition of a PC. Sure, it can do all of those things. But a HTPC is designed around doing Home Theater fu...

Ha ha, I completely agree with Mr Poopyhead. The phrase "Rock Solid" makes pretty good sense as a slogan, but "Heart Touching"? That makes me shake my head every time my computer comes up. It must make sense in East Asia.

Grits plus scrambled eggs! Gotta get some protein in there! Or grits with cheddar cheese. Or eggs and cheese! So many options! :D Eat with a banana for a complete meal. Time is the biggest problem, though. :? I agree with djkest in general, though. I add oatmeal to lots of things: cereal, bread, smo...

Sorry for the mis-communication, Nutball. :? I was trying to say it was the decoding of the H.264 that is computationally intensive. In the US anyway, OTA HD signals are broadcast basically an MPEG-2 format, which is much easier to decode. jhhoffma and yamahaSHO kept telling Dave his CPU and GPU cho...

Yikes, it's -20F (-30C) in Winnipeg! :shock: Maybe your CPU is at 22C. Woah.. I have not heard about that "device." I kind of quit doing research when I got my HVR-1600. Again, having not done any reading, it seems like there's a lot unsaid about that thing: 1) It's designed to record HD from compon...

What upcoming Hauppauge HD tuner are you talking about? There are a bunch already available.. I have a HVR 1600 with a C2D 6300 and a 7300 GS, and it does OTA HD *almost* fine, but the CPU hardly pushes 30% when watching HD, and I'm pretty sure it does nothing while recording. I think my video card ...

Is the PSU held on to the top of the case with tape ? :shock: I've got the same CPU as you at the same clock speed, although with the Intel cooler. With the room at 22C I idle at ~52-54C, loaded goes up to 62-64C. I'm glad to see someone else is in the same ballpark. I kind of think I broke one of t...

I realize they are trying to "point" the air at the back of the unit, away from the exhaust, but I think we can agree that a fan with a "baffle" must move less air than one without. I'm no expert, but it's not obvious to me that this would provide better cooling at the same noise level. It looks lik...

I assume the "baffle" is there for a reason.. but it looks like it blocks half the fan area! It looks like patchwork design. It must be cheaper than designing the unit so the heat sinks are in the natural airflow path.

The 650i chipset is a hot, ~1 year old budget SLI chip. It's really not the most obvious choice for a new audio recording setup. Unless it's at a good price.

Take the parts out first? :D ... sorry, I couldn't help myself. What kind of advice are you looking for? I've never painted the inside of a computer, but I imagine the same sort of advice for painting anything else would apply: remove dust and oils, use a primer, use more thinner coats and wait plen...