I really appreciate all the work going into that. Esp. the thermal load tests and temps. One can always deduce something about the noise from the fan speeds knowing the type of fans used. I can understand the lab noise floor and meter limitations. I wish I had a 18dBA noise floor too with no spectra...

Thanks for all the benchmarks.

I'd appreciate a 'real world' rerun and comments on experiences after a month of use after a real OS install + some app + paging , etc.

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on 2*30GB Vertex drives, but I am constraining myself for now :)

Great explanation, thanks!

Thanks for the additional comments. My limitation is the case width, which is absolute maximum 39cm (c. 15.3"). Ideally the case height would be below 14.5cm (5.7"). This calls for Antec MicroFusion Remote 350 or Antec Minuet 350 , which then limit me later on add-on cards (sound, tuner, etc) to low...

Origen AE M10

Mini-ITX
External PSU 150W
LOW-profile cards only
1*2.5" internal
60mm fans
VFD + IR module
black / Silver

Looking interesting. No info on release date. Must be expensive as Origens usually.

Anybody know more?

SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Low Profile Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102829 I'm looking at these myself, as I'm considering Antec Minuet for my HTPC build. BTW, more options in this thread at Slickdeals forum...

Thanks for the good comments. Clarification, I won't put 3*3.5 disks there, just one disk and perhaps even 2.5". I sepearately run 3 WD GPs on my other system and they perform nicely. How is the DG45FC for HD playback ? I read in the renethx HTPC build guide @ AVS that it's not beefy enough for post...

I'm completely out of the loop, not having built a system for 2 years. Now I would like to build a system for: + 1080p h.264 / avi / mkv / qt playback + playback of my music files (flac, mp3, mpc, etc) + torrent client + occasional file serving to other machines, but not a dedicated NAS + DVB-T reco...

More reviews (quality varies, just FYI): Eiskalmacher (vs. Xigmatek HDT-D1284 @ 12V/7V/5V) http://eiskaltmacher.de/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1699&Itemid=53&limit=1&limitstart=4 Xbitlabs (vs. Thermalright Si-128 SE @ various fan speeds) http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/...

The 90% PSUs are finally coming to market. I remember crying out for these 3 years ago when switching amps were already at 92%. Well, here they are now: http://i43.tinypic.com/mb4bup.png The only question: why only 500+ Watt PSUs? I don't need 600W of power. I want a good 300W PSU with >90% efficien...

A slight word of warning: I had to pick up a 1TB drive *quickly* out of the 'on the shelf' options due to an impeding HD failure. Ended up with WD1001FALS aka Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB. Yes, it's quite spiffy, but also not anywhere near as quiet as my WD 10EACS WD Green 1TB drives, which - gr...

I beg to differ with elemental and Dan's Data :) One needs to do proper loading, several tests on each paste and then calculate results. If you want to shave off the last 1-3 C off your temps, consider the application of the paste & spreading it (e.g. with pressure on the sink, not with your finger)...

Reasons: 1. Not all drives respond to DriveSpeed (Nero) or CD-Bremse or other sw utilities to throttle down the drive speed. 2. When the software works, it only works after the software is loaded (old Plextors and Pioneers being exceptions to this as they saved the settings in firmware) 3. Some of u...

AnandTech has a review http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3280&p=8 I was taken aback a bit by their measurements starting at 15dB(A), but they claim to have built an anechoic chamber and have a system with self noise down to 15dB(A). What is interesting is that: http://images.an...

Purchase the unit you fancy (most are the very same under the shell anyways), install Nero Drive Speed…problem solved. Had you actually bothered to read the whole thread, you would have noticed that most drives do NOT react to speed reductions commands given by Nero Drive Speed. So, it's not a pa...

Also, if you run out of 3,5" space, there's also this:

http://www.mitsumi.com/products/fa402amain.html
http://www.sostore.com/siig-9in1-memory ... p-274.html

yefi, glad to hear you like your unit. I think maybe some people have too elevated expectations and they are hoping for a near silent noise load. That will not happen with any of the modern dvd players - at any playback speed. At least no the tray loaders (haven't tried most of the slot loaders whic...

Considering it bested Ninja CU and TRUE at 5V, I think it is the new champ. At least, until the next one :) However I do believe that current heatpipe based basic designs are nearing their performance ceiling. I think a degree or two may be able to be shaved of and that's about it. It probably requi...

I seem to be bumping into this Xigmatek more and more these days. Now they have a decently performing VGA cooler, it seems: Xigmatek VD964 review w/ Auras Fridge http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/xigmatek-auras-vga_10.html#sect1 Xigmatek vs Zerotherm hurricane (no acoustic measures) h...

Not directly silence related and take for what it is worth:

http://www.behardware.com/news/lire/28-03-2008/

500 units is not a totally shabby sample, assuming it's somewhat representative. Of course, this is a snapshot in time...

I was browsing through stores yesterday in search for a 8-16GB fast read/write USB Flash memory and an UDMA Compactflash card. I found out that SLC type memory made by Samsung is being mostly phased out of production. This was the type of memory responsible for the fastest USB Flash thumb drives lik...

Some more reviews: Relative performance against Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme at low/high fan speeds http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-xigmatek_9.html#sect0 Load temps with overclocking against watercooling kits http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/1283Cooler/4.ht...

I just finished reading 7 reviews of EP-35-DS4 (sorry, too tired to find the URLs again, try testseek.com). Points of interest (some already covered): 1. Does NOT work in Linux currently (i.e. not software available to control the stepping of power phases) 2. CAN be used along with Intel EIST and do...

These are marketing specs. I'd be surprised if the drive performs anything like that on a normal mixed-mode load.

Apparently it's a Samsung drive (1:1) in a fancy case.

Now let's just wait for the price to come down 2/3rds and see some real reviews and not HdTach numbers :)

Sony's are Optiarc or (less often LiteOns) these days. Optiarc are not too quiet, as I stated above. I haven't had the chance to test the very latest from Asus, but earlier they were equal to Pioneer's more quiet models, which is no surprise as they were based on Pioneer drives with just different c...

I have three genuine Plextor drives (Premium, PX-716 and PX-760) and yes they can be throttled down with Plextools. However, they are no longer being made and what few pieces remain in the retail channel are the last breed. For burn quality they are not perhaps the best of today's breed. The rest of...

I have DVR-115D (PATA) and it actually doesn't spin up like a jet engine when I start playback of DVD-videos. That is, at least my unit does not sound bad. This is with fw.1.18. It is also fairly non-vibrating (relatively speaking, LiteOns are horrible in this regard). Sure, with 16x burning it is v...

Jmke, I'm sorry if I came off as harsh. I should not write in a hurry. Let me walk through what I meant: - high bg noise (36 dBA) The noise level of a recording/monitoring room should be set with noise criteria contours (NC) or equivalents like NCB or NR. While 36dBA fall within the range NC range o...

I didn't mean it in a bad way, but compared to the SPCR reviews and general measurement recommendations for industrial noise: - high bg noise (36 dBA) - no spectral characterisation - no loudness estimates (only SPL) - mis-characterisation of 'twice as loud' (based on 10 db(A) diff) - 44dB(A) as a t...

Any updates on this test? Inquiring minds want to know :)