One of the dumber things in this design are the front ports in the little peek-a-boo window on the front door. I carry around a very well-used USB flash drive on my key chain. I could just see plugging it in, as I do every day, then needing to access the optical drive behind the door.

Is this going to be stamped from sheet metal or machined from solid stock? If machined, it's going to weigh a freaking ton. If stamped, it's going to take a lot more than just punching out flat pieces of sheet. There are a lot of very subtle three dimensional aspects even to something as simple as a...

ces wrote:Here is my opinion:
viewtopic.php?p=556784#p556784

Thanks. Yes, it seems to me that the primary value of case damping may be one of damping vibrational resonances rather than actually muffling or absorbing fan noise.

I'm wondering if it's worth the extra expense (and fairly narrow choices) to use a commercially damped case instead of simply choosing components and fans wisely. To sidestep the problem of how few factory-damped cases there are on the market, you can applying damping to a case yourself, but the mat...

I don't quite understand the idea of using a fanless PSU and then having to use additional case fans to provide positive pressure through the case. Seems you accomplish the same thing with a PSU with fan. Is the lower vent on the Define Mini normally blocked or always open? Also, is the lower drive ...

How the motherboard controls the fan depends on the motherboard and the BIOS settings. What are you aiming to do, just set the fan to a constant lower speed? I was thinking of that, but was mostly just wondering how it was done. And again, wondering about the reason/advantage of undervolting rather...

I haven't bought a motherboard in a number of years. Do the motherboards actually adjust the voltage or do they use PWM? I assume this is configured in the BIOS. Can they be configured to set fans at a fixed speed, because I thought PWM was used primarily for varying fan speed according to some onbo...

How do you undervolt a case fan that attaches to a three-pin motherboard fan header?

Or, for that matter, one that attaches to a 4-pin Molex connector from the PSU?

Is there any advantage to undervolting, say, a 1200 RPM fan, rather than just using the 800 RPM version of the same model?

metron wrote:The Recommended Fans page is 4 years old.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article63-page1.html

Is the list still valid?

Good question. I think it's true for nearly all of the recommendations here. They quickly become outdated.

Actually I'd also remove the dust filters too, as they're kind of restrictive. "Kind of"? Dust filters are far more restrictive than any grill I've seen. Even when perfectly clean, and then they gradually get worse. It's a simple choice - allow dust into the internals or else live with the restrict...

The Solo II is a disappointing fingerprint magnet How often do you touch your case? I open and close the DVD tray, occasionally hit the reset button, and every once in a while plug in a USB stick. That's about it. One thing I like about the SOLO II are the external 5.25" bays, as I prefer not havin...

I suppose the biggest concern I have is for cooling of the PSU itself, and whether it can be adequately cooled if any of the internal intake vents are blocked. (That sticky thread has had three replies in the last five years. I don't tend to read through many eight year old threads, even when sticki...

One thing I should clarify... I'm talking about when using a PSU with a single bottom intake fan that can be flipped when the PSU is mounted at the top of a case. I doubt that the idea would work at all well with a fanless PSU, as I presume they rely on the internal positive air pressure of the case...

Many (most?) cases, whether they sport a top or a bottom mounted PSU arrangement, now have air intake vents positioned immediately above or below the PSU. This, in theory, lets you draw in cool air from outside. They all (AFAIK) then exhaust warm air out the back. Is it a good idea to force that PSU...

This is a new card on the market (can't find it online for sale yet). It's fairly low-end, but can run up to four DVI monitors out of the box: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/galaxy_gt520_mdt I think I may try it for my setup that will have three (or heck, maybe four) monitors. One thing, th...

I have the PowerColor Radeon 5750 in a NZXT H2 with very little airflow. With Furmark, temperatures exceeded 95 C afterwhich I stopped immediately. I don't know how temps would be when gaming, but I strapped on a fan running at about 3-400 rpm via zip-ties. It went very easy and afterwards temps wo...

Steve, thanks for the shopping list. That looks a lot like what I've put together as a preliminary build. Thanks for taking the time to flesh it out. washu, I appreciate the advice. I wasn't aware of that. I think I may see how well the onboard graphics handle the two monitors I have now, and can al...

I want exactly make a lsit of specific models, instead I'd like to give you some guidelines for some components. Of course, some of these are personal preferences, but I'll let you judge the arguments. Fantastic. Just what I'm looking for. CPU. Right now, you should even consider AMD processors. Sh...

I'm looking at newegg's available i5 and i7 LGA 1155 processors. What's the difference between K-series, non-k and S-series processors?

No AMD candidates?

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=63794

I'm looking for suggestions for a new home desktop build. I don't build a new system every year. In fact, the current system will be six years old in March (how did that happen?), so while I want to keep the cost reasonable, I also want a system that I won't feel has been left behind in a year or tw...

Currently, which models of desktop processor from either Intel or AMD offer the best value? I'm building a desktop PC, want more than two cores and am considering spending under $300.

Doesn't have to be cooled passively, although I will at least want a good aftermarket _quiet_ CPU cooler.

One question: is there a more appropriate case? I really like my Coolermaster Centurion 590. It's well-designed, sturdy and inexpensive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119152 http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=19&product_id=2709 It has nine 5.25" bays ...

Very nice job. What exactly is the material ("bitumen carpets") that you've used for sound damping? Is it a commercial case damping material or something made for another purpose? You recommend using a nibbler to cut holes instead of a hole saw. I've never used one. Can you easily cut clean, round h...

Is there any advantage to, say, 1.8V memory over 2.0V when it comes to overall system power draw and cooling? Or to using two dimms instead of four to achieve the same amount of RAM?

Before going this route I decided to test out this theory. I am going to buy 1" thick styrofoam insulation from Lowes (it is used for sound reduction). I know this material is likely low-end, but I can test it out for under $20. If I see any difference I can then invest in the good stuff. I really ...

Foam acoustic wall treatment would probably be your only inexpensive solution. I would think it would be difficult within the rack itself, so would install it in the closet, including the back of the door, if possible. http://www.acousticsfirst.com/polyfoam.htm How is the closet itself ventilated? H...

Does anyone know for certain whether the Xigmatek 1283 will fit into the NSK-3480 case with the ASUS M3A78-EM motherboard? I've read that the case can cause some fit problems with larger CPU coolers on certain motherboards. I imagine I'll have to remove the side air duct, but I'll probably be sealin...

So you're running this board now? What's the difference between the -EM and the -CM models of the M3A78?

I have a few WD 6400AAKS drives on my network right now, so yeah, I was thinking of the 3200AAKS.

I'm in the process of building a server where I've had to take a rotary tool to remove all of the little tabs in the 5 1/4" drive bays. Needless to say, there's a lot of iron filings all over this case. Before starting, I was bright enough to remove absolutely everything that could be removed from t...