Hi! Looks like this is going to be an all swedish thread... :D Fractal Design was formerly known as Cooltek. I haven't tried them myself but I have a friend who uses the 140mm version and he likes it. Don't think he is as obsessive with silence as I am though. Here's a link to a test in the Swedish ...

I've searched Rosewill and Masscool but can't seem to find these being sold in Aus either. I'm sure there would be something like it by one of the "bigger" names, but I can't seem to find anything like that design. Although if there is a more square/rectangular shaped cooler that fits in the space ...

No, I'm not sure what happened in my case. It seemed like if I pushed it by hand, it spun a little more than it would if it wasn't plugged in to anything. But it would never really start. And as I said, the original fan which did start at the default voltage wouldn't work either. I broke it good. B...

Thank you for the reply. I will probably buy a NSK3480 soon, so I'm getting a new EarthWatts 380 with the case. I will probably buy a Noctua 80mm fan at the same time and try. My old EarthWatts will go in my mother in law's computer with the Minja fan in it. If this doesn't work the way I would like...

I have a Antec EA380 PSU that I have swapped the fan to first a Scythe Minja fan but since I had some clicking noise to from time to time I wasn't satisfied. Now I have installed a Nexus 80mm fan but it doesn't start until 4.4V, I have tested it, and I think the EA380 starts at ~4V. To my question, ...

I have tried changeing to AHCI now and so far it seems the setting sticks after reboot :D. I used WinAAM to set it. So thanks a lot for the tip Zoob, you saved me some money since I considered buying a 2.5" drive instead. Maybe this will help all the others on this forum with the same problem. I jus...

Do you have AHCI enabled? For some reason WinAAM makes my Samsung F1 1TB stick. I have AHCI enabled, running Vista X64 I tried enabling AHCI a while back but I couldn't get my computer to boot from CD/DVD. I only knew about Hitachi Feature Tool then. Might be worth a try again. Do you know if I can...

My problem isn't setting AAM, I just wonder if doing so every start-up will affect the life time of the HDD. i don't see why/how it would. AAM makes seeks slower, not faster = less stress on read/write head. I was just thinking that I probably write to some kind of flash memory each start-up. If I'...

You can use WinAAM (small / no installation needed) to set the AAM setting each time on startup. Create a shortcut to winaam.exe in your startmenu->autorun and add these parameters. winaam.exe -Id:all -Level:128 -Quiet Can't post a link yet.. first post :-> therefore just google for WinAAM.. Works ...

Arctic Cooling has a new low-profile cooler.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=159&disc=

I'm thinking of putting a 2000rpm Kama Flex 80mm in my Antec EarthWatts 380W, so I wonder if you have tested at what voltage it starts? If not would you mind doing so? If it doesn't start at 4V do you think the 2500rpm might do that? What counts is, will the PSU circuit start it? So, spend some kro...

Hello FC!

I'm thinking of putting a 2000rpm Kama Flex 80mm in my Antec EarthWatts 380W, so I wonder if you have tested at what voltage it starts?
If not would you mind doing so?
It it doesn't start at 4V do you think the 2500rpm might do that?

Thank you!

I have tried Notebook Hardware Control, Hitachi Feature Tool, Samsung Hutil, WinAAM & HDParm. None of them makes the setting stick.

The reason the setting sticks with NHC is that NHC sets AAM every time it starts. If you uninstall it the setting is lost atleast that's what happened in my case.

I have a Asus P5E-VM HDMI and a WD 500GB GP.
The seeks from the HDD is the greatest noice source in my computer.
Since I have a Asus MB the AAM setting won't stick after reboot so I wonder if setting AAM to 128 with WinAAM or HDParm each time i boot to Windows will affect the life time of the HDD?

JonyEpsilon wrote:I've got one coming today, so I can let you know my thoughts when I've had a chance to build it into a system.

That would be great. Thank you!

Anyone?

I discovered the Silverstone GD02 case about a week ago when I checked out Silverstone's website. I think it looks like a really nice alternative to the NSK2480 as a m-ATX HTPC case. I might replace my NSK2480 with a black GD02 + Corsair VX450 when the GD02 is released in Sweden. I haven't been able...

I'm about to upgrade my HTPC with a GPU since it can't handle HD DVD and Blu-ray movies to well. Even with the CPU overclocked to 2.88GHz the MPEG4 AVC coded movies stutter when the bitrate of the movie hits about 40Mbit/s. So now I wonder if it will make a big difference if I choose a GPU-card with...

One of them is the video decoder. The difference in efficiency and quality between these decoders is sometimes huge, and probably the reason why your playback is asking so much cpu power. That was my second guess. I suppose that the h.264 and VC1 codec in VLC, which I use, uses more CPU power than ...

Does anyone know if the Matroska (.mkv) container format requires more CPU power than .mov or .wmv files? The reason I ask is because I have noticed that .mkv 1080p h.264 or VC1 coded files stutter more on both my computers than the .mov 1080p h.264 and .wmv 1080p VC1 HD-trailer clips I have tested....

Fenix, would you by any chance have any power draw figures for your HTPC system? Thanks very much. I did some measuring when I built it with a very cheap wattage meter so I don't know how accurate it is. Idle: ~60W Max: 101W Since then I have changed HDD to a WD Caviar GP so the numbers should be l...

Yes, this completely changes my plans for a AMD HTPC. But what motherboard to get for these CPUs? I can't seem to find any m-ATX motherboards with the P35 chipset. There are some with the G35, but none with the newer P35 or X38. The G35 is more or less a P35 with onboard GPU. I don't where you got ...

Antec has got rackmount cases.

Go to http://www.antec.com and check out Products/Rackmounts.

What about the Asus P5E-VM HDMI for a mATX board? It has got 6 SATA ports.

You can read a test of it here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article785-page1.html

According to ASUS website it does. "High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a set of digital video standards that delivers multi-channel audio and uncompressed digital video for full HD 1080p visuals through through a single cable. Supporting HDCP copy protection such as HD DVD and Blu-ray Di...

I like your computer (I have the same case, MB, CPU HS)! Have you experienced this situation with your motherboard: you're using the HTPC at native resolution (1280x720 in my case) normally, you switch to TV but leave the HTPC running, and when you switch back to the HTPC it has changed resolution ...

I have the same problem with my HTPC. I can change the AAM setting boot after reboot it is back to 254. I've used both Ftool 2.08 and hdparm 6.9. I have an ASUS P5E-VM HDMI and a WD Caviar GP 500GB (WD5000AACS). It's not a very big problem for me since seeks on the GP are quiet even at 254 but it's ...

I finished my first HTPC today when I changed the interim fans and HDD I have been using for a while. I'm really pleased with the result myself. It's quiet enough not to hear it when the TV is on and at the same time keeping all the temps nice and low. http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/5803/01mu8.t...

I've used both SOLO and NSK4400 to build computers. Both cases has strengths and weaknesses. SOLO Pros - HDD mounting system - Good airflow - 4 x 5.25" bays - Up to 4 HDD in silicone grommets or 3 HDD suspended - Damped side panels - Good HDD cooling if you add one or two 92mm fans Cons - Only one c...

I've just built my first HTPC in an Antec NSK2480 chassi. Now I'm trying to decide which fans I should by for it. Right now I'm using an Adda 1000RPM and a Scythe 1200RPM@1000RPM. The temps are fine with my current fans but I would like to change them to quieter ones. The case is about 3m away from ...