smilingcrow wrote:
One shows a Core Duo 2.0 with the fan at the minimal speed setting having a peak temp of 42C. The other, a Core Duo 2.16 at the same fan setting with a max temp of 54C.
For the hothardware.com review, they had QFan set at "Optimal", which is not the quietest setting. I have an N4L-VM with QFan set to Optimal, and 42C under load is consistent with what I'm seeing. The fan starts is roughly 800rpm at idle at around 38C and it goes up to around 1100-1200rpm as the processor activity increases. I haven't played much with the quietest setting (called Quiet or Silent), because I did run into some kind of error once where the BIOS complained that it couldn't enable QFan or something.
Also, regarding questions about the Away mode. The motherboard support CD does include the software for it and it does install/get enabled on Windows XP Pro. ASUS posted some updated version for Windows MCE. When I tried installing the updated version, it would not install saying that I did not have the correct OS. Anyways, Away mode works fine but I could not find a way to get the computer to go into Away mode automatically like you can with Standby. Instead, I have to remember to press the power button. Maybe it makes more sense if you use a media remote.
Overall, I'm pleased with the N4L-VM, but I'm not trying to make my system as quiet as possible. For people who don't need to upgrade right away, I'd wait until more motherboards get released. In my case, I broke my old computer so I had no choice but to upgrade.