Review Suggestions?

lting · **Posted:** Tue Jan 07, 2003 6:44 pm

Mike,

How about the Fortron PSU? It's claim to be running at 18 dba and the price is very reasonable.

http://www.exoticpc.com/merchant2/merch ... SILENT-PSU

http://www.directron.com/fortronps.html

Li

lting · **Posted:** Sat Jan 18, 2003 8:38 am

How about the new IBM Deskstar 180GXP series HDD? Good review at:
http://www.storagereview.com/welcome.pl ... 207_1.html

-Li

Herb W. · **Posted:** Sat Jan 18, 2003 1:14 pm

That new Lian-Li Silent PC case looks intriguing... Model PC-6070. Still not up at the Lian-Li website though.

GamingGod · **Posted:** Sun Feb 02, 2003 3:21 am

Any chance of someone getting one of those huge ncu-1000 p4 heatsinks? I was thinking if i could get one of those and put it in one of those 4u rackmount servers with a 120mm fan right behind it then hopefully i wouldnt need a cpu fan at all. Oh and that Deltatronic heatpipe looks cool too. both are in another thread: http://forums.silentpcreview.com//viewtopic.php?t=3120

trogman · **Joined:** Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:17 am **Posts:** 2

Or maybe the new Antec SLK3700AMB case? It has dual 120mm fan slot... it probably a good case for building a quiet PC (or very loud one...)

jhh · **Joined:** Sun Jan 19, 2003 4:47 am **Posts:** 218

I'd like to see you cover a few more areas of computing like a laser/inkjet printers section in recomended. I like to keep mine on 24/7, and it's silent save for the startlng "whir" it'll give out every two hours or so for no reson.

Bat · **Posted:** Mon Feb 03, 2003 1:59 pm

Good idea. Idle and working sound levels can both be important for printers.

lting · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2003 4:27 pm

I've experienced a Sony Vaio desktop that's really quiet. I've also heard that Dell 4500 is very quiet. Those PCs are much cheaper than a specially build quiet PC. Sony build their own proprietary PSU (they had to recall all of them one time). A review of these systems will help many reader who are interested in ready build quiet PCs.

lting · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2003 4:32 pm

Quiet PSUs are expensive, often in the $75 range. However, if the reader is willing to void the warranty, he can buy a good quality PSU (like SPI) and simply replace the fan with a low noise one. How about a review of these home tweaked PSUs vs the recommended PSUs ?

lting · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2003 4:36 pm

A simple and effective but not elegant way to stop HDD vibration, is simply placing the HDD on a piece of soft foam at the bottom of the PC case. How about a comparison of this vs. suspension?

GamingGod · **Posted:** Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:08 am

I think that we need a quiet hardrive roundup as there are lots of new drives coming out that use fluid bearings that claim to be as quiet as seagate drives while offering fast (western digital like) performance.

bkh · **Joined:** Tue Jan 28, 2003 10:20 am **Posts:** 93

How about a brief review of fan controllers?

There are several out now; newegg lists 4+ channel controllers from Galaxy Technology and Vantec Nexus;
there's the Sunbeam Rheobus, the
Zahlman 6-channel controller....

There's also the 1-channel controllers like the FanMate.

Do they produce much heat? Do they make the fan buzz? What is the output voltage range? Two-pin, or ompatible with fan speed monitoring?

Ralf Hutter · **Posted:** Sat Apr 19, 2003 4:02 am

bkh wrote:

How about a brief review of fan controllers?

There are several out now; newegg lists 4+ channel controllers from Galaxy Technology and Vantec Nexus;
there's the Sunbeam Rheobus, the
Zahlman 6-channel controller....

There's also the 1-channel controllers like the FanMate.

Do they produce much heat? Do they make the fan buzz? What is the output voltage range? Two-pin, or ompatible with fan speed monitoring?

I'll second this request and add a request: Tell us how far the knobs stick out the front of them. Us guys with doors on our cases have Enquiring Minds, we need to know.

gmontem · **Posted:** Mon Sep 29, 2003 1:09 pm

Will you guys be reviewing the harddisk enclosure you recently mentioned in your news page? I'm curious to know how well they handle 15k rpm SCSI drives. I am also interested in knowing how they perform when placed outside the case. I might consider converting these into external enclosures.

Riffer · **Posted:** Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:37 pm

Glad this thread was resurected.

I would like to see the MikeC treatment on the new Silverstone PSU's.

ruprag · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 2:25 am

I would really like a comparative review of harddisk enclosures,

INCLUDING rubber and aluminium :-)

MikeC · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 6:24 am

Riffer wrote:

I would like to see the MikeC treatment on the new Silverstone PSU's.

Just looking at the spec of "Backgound noise 26 dBA when the system is running normally" from the Silverstone web site, http://www.silverstonetek.com/, I doubt it is worth the work. It makes no advance in noise performance, and though high efficiency is claimed, no spec is given for that. 26 dBA is not a level any of the diehards here would be happy with: A Panaflo 80L is rated for 21 dBA at 12V -- and NObody likes to run it at 12V if they can help it.

MikeC · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 6:27 am

gmontem wrote:

Will you guys be reviewing the harddisk enclosure you recently mentioned in your news page? I'm curious to know how well they handle 15k rpm SCSI drives. I am also interested in knowing how they perform when placed outside the case. I might consider converting these into external enclosures.

www.pcsilent.com is sending a LEY-ECD hdd enclosure sample, but I have no 15k SCSI drives. I suppose I could borrow one from somewhere...

Harry Azol · **Joined:** Fri May 02, 2003 9:21 am **Posts:** 228

How about a test of the ThermalTake SilentBoost heatsink?

MikeC · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 7:03 am

Harry Azol wrote:

How about a test of the ThermalTake SilentBoost heatsink?

I think I sent them an email a while back about this. No reply. Maybe you and others reading this could remind them that if they want their HSF to be verified for noise, SPCR is the place to try and get a good review from.

BTW, the photo in this review shows the fan to be a FBA08A12M rated for .17A, NOT the low speed version we all prefer here. They measured the rpm at 2765 with MBM5. Panaflo rates its standard casing 80M fan at 28 dBA/1m. This should be about the same.

SO... As you know, a Panaflo 80L at 21 dBA/1m is considered by most here to be about as loud as they want a fan to be. Note that unlike some of the other Thermaltake HSF, this one does not come with a fan controller switch. To get it down to 80L noise levels, you'll have to have some other fan voltage reducer.

Riffer · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 1:13 pm

MikeC wrote:

Riffer wrote:

I would like to see the MikeC treatment on the new Silverstone PSU's.

Just looking at the spec of "Backgound noise 26 dBA when the system is running normally" from the Silverstone web site, http://www.silverstonetek.com/, I doubt it is worth the work. It makes no advance in noise performance, and though high efficiency is claimed, no spec is given for that. 26 dBA is not a level any of the diehards here would be happy with: A Panaflo 80L is rated for 21 dBA at 12V -- and NObody likes to run it at 12V if they can help it.

Good call,

New review at DarkVisionHardware shows it to have a 38dB(A) ADDA fan running off some kind thermal control:

http://www.dvhardware.net/modules.php?n ... tent&id=54

A little louder than the 80mm L1A @ 5V I have in my current PSU

mfeingol · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 1:53 pm

A review establishing the effect on disk temperatures of the new heatpipe-based Zalman hard drive cooler combined with a suspended disk and an optional intake fan.

Ralf Hutter · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 4:51 pm

MikeC wrote:

Harry Azol wrote:

How about a test of the ThermalTake SilentBoost heatsink?

I think I sent them an email a while back about this. No reply. Maybe you and others reading this could remind them that if they want their HSF to be verified for noise, SPCR is the place to try and get a good review from.

BTW, the photo in this review shows the fan to be a FBA08A12M rated for .17A, NOT the low speed version we all prefer here. They measured the rpm at 2765 with MBM5. Panaflo rates its standard casing 80M fan at 28 dBA/1m. This should be about the same.

SO... As you know, a Panaflo 80L at 21 dBA/1m is considered by most here to be about as loud as they want a fan to be. Note that unlike some of the other Thermaltake HSF, this one does not come with a fan controller switch. To get it down to 80L noise levels, you'll have to have some other fan voltage reducer.

CONFIRMED - The fan on the TT Silent Boost is an M1A. There's a picture over at Anandtech from a guy who peeled the TT label off his fan and you can see the M1A part number clearly.

Harry Azol · **Joined:** Fri May 02, 2003 9:21 am **Posts:** 228

MikeC wrote:

I think I sent them an email a while back about this. No reply. Maybe you and others reading this could remind them that if they want their HSF to be verified for noise, SPCR is the place to try and get a good review from.

BTW, the photo in this review shows the fan to be a FBA08A12M rated for .17A, NOT the low speed version we all prefer here. They measured the rpm at 2765 with MBM5. Panaflo rates its standard casing 80M fan at 28 dBA/1m. This should be about the same.

SO... As you know, a Panaflo 80L at 21 dBA/1m is considered by most here to be about as loud as they want a fan to be. Note that unlike some of the other Thermaltake HSF, this one does not come with a fan controller switch. To get it down to 80L noise levels, you'll have to have some other fan voltage reducer.

I know..

I also know that you usually test heatsinks with L1A's..

btw, it's a FBL, not FBA..

also, according to: http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/app ... common.pdf
the -2DX designation does not seem to exist?

(the FBL does not seem to exist either!)

MikeC · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2003 5:58 pm

I have an FBL 80mm L... and find the noise level the same as as a FBA 80L. I would presume this holds true with the 80Ms as well.

silenceseeker · **Joined:** Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:47 am **Posts:** 79

MikeC wrote:

But are there specific products you'd like to see us review? If you have any thoughts on this, speak your mind here! We'll listen.
[addsig]

Well, after being burnt by attempting to build my own silent PC (simply spent too much time on it - time I no longer have), I decided to see whether there are ready made silent systems (high performance, not the mini-itx ones). I was glad to find one here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=21&page=1

but the Dell Optiplex GX240 no longer exists... It would be nice to have an updated review for the latest offering(s) from DELL. It would even nicer to have many more ready systems reviewed and compared (just noise, no need to compare performance or other features).

Thank you!
Sam

MikeC · **Posted:** Thu Oct 09, 2003 10:55 am

silenceseeker wrote:

...It would be nice to have an updated review for the latest offering(s) from DELL. It would even nicer to have many more ready systems reviewed and compared (just noise, no need to compare performance or other features).

Sam, it certainly would be nice. But other than ARM Systems, no one has ever bothered to submit a system. (They make good quiet PCs btw, see the review.) The big guys ignore me. I need to turn into a PC World or Tom's Hardware to get any samples from them...

tanj_tanstaafl · **Joined:** Sun Jan 04, 2004 4:50 pm **Posts:** 1

Didn't find a New Review topic in CPU coolers, so here it is.

I am curious if this cooler lives up to its hype. Claims to run idle at 19db and only weighs 331 grams fan included.

Being new to quiet cooling, I am still leary of playing with the heavy weight coolers.

ColdFlame · **Posted:** Sun Jan 04, 2004 6:59 pm

I'm not sure about everyone here but I personally would be _very_ interested in a review of some quiet water cooling solution. I know nothing about water cooling and an article showing how to water cool quietly would be great. I'd suggest it should be commercially available and relatively easy to assemble.

MikeC · **Posted:** Sun Jan 04, 2004 7:16 pm

Quote:

Nexus AXP-3200 CPU cooler?

A rating of 19 dBA for a 70mm fan spinning at 2400 rpm seems highly optimistic. As you might know from even just skimming these forums, our reference quiet fan, the Panaflo 80L is rated for 1900 rpm at 21 dBA. It's hard to imagine how this HS could have a fan spin 500 rpm faster, be jammed up against the fins, yet be a couple dBA quieter...

Naturally we'll take a look at it if/when we get a sample.

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