What is the best way to control the cooler fan voltage with a Mugen-2? Is it better to use some sort of hardware device or something in the BIOS, or software. I guess I ideally want something non-software that plugs direct into the fan power cable and just allows adjusting the voltage lower than 12v...

I want to soft/elastic mount a standard desktop SATA HD inside an Antec Sonata Elite case. This case has 4 semi-soft rubber grommets for each HD that attach the the HD screws to the vertical rail mounts, to limit direct vibration transmission to the case. Here is what it looks like: http://www.overc...

In case anyone is looking for something similar, I just bought an MSI R4670-2D1G/D3 Radeon HD 4670: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127399 And an Accelero S2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186017 It looks like all of the more powerful cards, includ...

I'm looking for a moderately fast video card (< $150) that is passively cooled with a decent airflow case and does not require a secondary power connection from the power supply (just because it seems excessive to me). I will occasionally/rarely play games on a 1080p monitor, but silence is much mor...

Thanks for your comments. The Sapphire 4670 passive does look decent. I'll check out the review as well. Sadly, I don't see any stock passive ATI 4830 cards out there, if I wanted better gaming performance than the 4670, so I guess I would have to buy a third-party passive cooler for that card. The ...

I'm looking for a passive video card for an PCI Express x16 (2x) motherboard. My goals are: - Around $120 or less total (prefer less than $100) - Prefer stock passive, but I can handle buying/installing an Accelero S2, etc. myself - Needs very good 2D/desktop speed and good enough 3D performance for...

The word is that the new generation of PS3s in manufacturing now use a 65nm chip process and will produce less heat then the original 9nm chips. I might return my PS3 and wait for the new ones that should hopefully be quieter. Right now, I can't stand listening to the PS3's fan during the low-volume...

Does anyone know if there are the quiet 120mm fans that will reliably start at 5V? I'd be willing to try that, if it is reasonable. If that won't work, I guess an AC/DC transformer is the best way. Anyone have experience with those? Would something like this work: http://lanadapters.stores.yahoo.net...

Does anyone know of a USB port powered fan power source? It can have either bare wires I get get up to 12V on, or some fan "motherboard pins". Alternatively, can anyone recommend a simple, small, and inexpensive AC to DC converter that can output a couple of 12V lines to power two 120mm fans? I'm tr...

Thanks for the ideas. I'm not sure I can use any case fans, even if they were large enough (it would need to be 160mm or larger!). I think I really need one designed to move air from the center of the fan and then off the fin edges. I think the Thermaltake fan is still mainly designed to move across...

I'm using a Playstation 3 (PS3) as a "HTPC" of sorts (CD, MP3, Blu-Ray, JPG, DVD, SACD, mpg movies, etc.). I'm happy with nearly everything about it except the noise it makes (and a couple of unrelated issues like no IR). The fan has 3 automatic speeds based on temperature: off, low, high. In off mo...

I wanted a quiet modular power supply, so I recently bought an Antec NeoHE 430, while keeping in mind the warnings here. In case it helps anyone, NewEgg shipped me the recent A4 revision with a serial number like S0605xxx. So their TN warehouse, at least, is likely out of the old revisions. I find t...

My XFX 7600GS Extreme passive idles at about 56C, which is warm to the touch, but well within the safe operating range. I don't play games much either. I uncovered half of the PCI slot below it to move some air over the heatsink. Before opening the slot, it idled hot to the touch, and I think it was...

I'm assuming now that the two temperatures are a CPU diode and a socket temp, so that should explain the difference: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article191-page1.html

One temp does act like the diode temp explained in the article above, since it jumps up very quickly under load.

I recently installed a Zalman CNPS9500 cooler on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ processor. The fan on it runs at a lowish 1400 RPM. Core 1 idles at 33C and core 2 idles at 26C, according to SpeedFan. Is the difference an issue of concern? There is a similar difference with load, though code 1 never goes ...

You could have replaced the fan/heatsink on the 7600 GT with a Zalman VF700 for around $29 dollars. Yeah, that is also a reasonable option, but I had some expiring gift certificate $ I needed to spend, and a friend is buying my old card at a reasonable price. That and I had a bad experience with th...

I've got the eVGA 7600GT in my PC now and I will have the factory-overclocked passive XFX 7600GS in 2 days. I"ll be happy to post any numbers people want once I have both in hand. How do I get the GPU temp since SpeedFan does not display that number? The 7600GT fan is very loud before windows boots ...

I see the news about the 7600GS now. I just ordered my PC parts, so I missed the news by a few hours. It is inevitable better/cooler choices come along - this time just a little faster than normal! :) If I don't like the noise of the 7600GT, I'm sure I can sell this card or grab a compatible Zalman ...

Thanks for your reply. I see that one on newegg now, but it ends up slightly more than I wanted to spend (and out of stock at the moment). I'll probably just go with an nVidia 7600 and live with the noise until there is a good passive or near-silent cooler appearing in the reviews.

What is the highest performance card out for sale now that comes passively cooled stock from the manufacturer?

Is there a third-party passive cooler shown to support the nVidia 7600GT PCIe cards?

I have a similar need. I need good 2-D, but I also might play a game now and then. I'm looking for a passively-cooled dual-DVI PCIe card. I've searched all over including newegg and these forums, and can't find a one that will handle basic/light gaming and is out for sale. Anyone seen one? It looks ...