Has anybody noticed there are certain system components that are over-represented here compared to other websites on quiet PCs? For instance, the Antec P180 case, the Asus P5B motherboard, SeaSonic power supplies, the Scythe Ninja (one of Scythe's least-popular models AFAI can tell). Why is that?

North American availability.

Unless you're thinking of some site I'm not familiar with, most other dedicated "silencing" websites are EU based, so their users tend to talk more about products that they can get there.




Some of it might also depend on the knowledge levels of other forums. SPCR has a highly knowledgeable user base, so the products recommended frequently tend to be pretty good. Bad advice tends to get shouted down, and bad advice givers tend to go elsewhere quickly. I've been on other forums where the people have never even heard (pun!) of some of the products we talk about....if you've never heard of a Nexus fan, you're not likely to be recommending it to anyone.

First, what websites? Second, we tend to stick with what's known to work. Either because of good official reviews on the main-site, or because when someone recommends something like Nexus fans, people are more inclined to go with what's already been confirmed as being good, so less people are willing to experiment by buying other fans (or whatever).

Firstly, I only have one out of those four items (SS PSU), so that component set is by no means universal. I like the Seasonic because I consider it to be one of the most efficient, reliable and quietest fanned PSU's money can buy; the Seasonic "just works"(TM).

The Scythe Ninja is efficient and versatile, and doesn't need a fan strapped to it to work well. The subtle advantages of the Ninja are probably not well understood by users uninterested in optimizing their machines for low airflow.

I would love some links to the bad reviews

Please, seriously

Although those products are commonly recommended because they are fairly good at quiet cooling, they aren't used universally here. I tend to prefer Antec NeoHE and Fortron PSUs due to cost. However, I usually recommend Seasonic because they're quieter and Fortron seems to be slipping in the quiet PSU arena.

My current computer is the SFF in my sig and just uses the stock PSU and fan that came with it (fairly quiet) and isn't an Antec. The SFF also has an MSI motherboard which I regret getting because the temp sensors are offset about 15°C high (which always makes me worry) and I get random crashes from time to time. I'll probably lean towards ASRock in a future upgrade (hopefully on Black Friday).

We make recommendations, people buy them, is that really a big surprise? The P5B is the only item on the list that surprised me. We haven't reviewed it, so I'm not sure why that one shows up here more than others. The others are consistently solid products that have been recommended on SPCR for ages. It's no surprise that our users like them.

What alternatives have you seen on other silencing web sites? If there are better alternatives out there, we should look at them...

I would hard pressed to believe that the Ninja is one of Scythe's least popular models. If so, why would they make a updated version for AM2, why not let it die? Outside of SPCR, I see the Ninja listed for many users systems on various boards.

While we don't always get products available to the European market in the U.S., a good number of active members here are in Europe.

The good people that run this place are very methodical and even go back quite often and update their own methods to correct for what can be incorrect testing. They are very didcated to computer silence. So much that I've read other boards referring to spcr as anal.

Between what manufacturers and members send the reviewers, and user reviews, I think that many of the popular products on this board are proven to be good silent performers.

I'm not sure any of those examples are even unique to SPCR. Cruise through any popular hardware or OC'ing forum and you'll see recommendations of P180's, Seasonic PSU's, Ninja's and P5B's. The P180 is Antec's highest selling enthusiast case, Seasonic's have been well-reviewed by just about everyone, the Ninja has topped many a HSF comparo, and the P5B is one of the highest selling Intel motherboards out there.

I was just curious. I wasn't attacking SPCR or those components. I just ordered some of them.

Well, I have just built a new 'quiet' rig based on a P180b with a P5B Deluxe mobo... but not because of any prevalent consensus in these forums.

However, it was what brought me to SPCR - I had set my heart on a P180 from the start, but I wanted to make sure I was making the right decisions, so I trawled the web looking for reviews - and consequently I came across the good 3-part review of the P180 on here. And hence, I 've now joined the forums...

It's understandable that the P180 has higher profile here given Mike's involvement in it, but I find it's universally recommended with a handful of others across the geek communities. Likewise, the other components.

I'm a long-time member of the Bit-tech community which has it's roots in the modding and gaming communities, and of course, these days noise is as big an issue as performance and cooling. If you were to ask for recommendations there ( as I did) you would find these same components would be in the top 3 in each category. Why? Because the cream naturally floats to the top. You'd get the same recommendations at Hexus and Bleeding Edge, and everywhere else too.

Sometimes a given community might have a local favourite, but this is natural. One guy buys Component X and recommends it to 3 others, 2 of which buy it, and recommend it to 3 more others each. In no time at all, everybody who is anybody has Component X. The proviso is that Component X must be good in order to prosper.

And I will certainly be recommending the P180b and the P5B Deluxe to anyone who is prepared to listen.

CJM

For the most part, if the reviewers get a product that appears to be bad from initial testing, a power supply that is loud with no load for example, they simply do not waste the time to reveiw it. The attention to detail they take in the reviews makes it hard to reveiw all the recommended parts let alone waste a bunch of time on the bad parts.

That being said, it would be nice to see some reviews of popular parts that turn out to be really loud or really bad products. It would be nice to get some measurements of loud components for comparison. Maybe you guys can include a small note showing the products that were skipped and why.

Hello,

The recent review of the Zalman PS is hardly a ringing endorsement..

[Edit: other "negative" reviews on SPCR:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article711-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article701-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article654-page1.html

There are others; like the clunker fans in these reviews:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article689-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article720-page1.html]

Hi, can you point me at these EU websites? I'm in the UK but SPCR is the only silencing website I know about.

I think Seasonic is on top of just about every computer enthusiast sites recommended PSUs, not just SPCRs.

Ninja is also a pretty obvious recommendation, not only is it effective and bundled with one of the best fans out there, it is also cheap. At 46.90 euros here in Finland. For example Thermalrights are outrageously priced here. Ultra-120 sells for 65.40 euros. Add a nexus and you have twice the price of Ninja.

There aren't really that many "silent" cases with good availability and reasonable price. Antec has great availability everywhere, they are decently priced and are clearly the most silence oriented.

I think it's pretty clear why SPCR recommended products are overpresented here.

Hi Pelago, the forum link at www.quietpc.co.uk deals with silent computing from a UK perspective, but in my opinion it pales to this site in terms of knowledge.

I built my PC prior to reading SPCR

SPCR has a subset of good stuff recommended and often used. Also, we can know many are good, not counting sample variance, as SPCR has some of the best parts reviews on the web.

The P180 has been many enthusiasts' dream case, not just us quiet freaks. It has room for large cards, many drives, is good steel, generally roomy, with decent modding potential. As for SPCR, Mike Chin had a part in it, and being so hyped, it got a highly detailed review, eventually showing it to be an excellent performer all around, just not n00b-friendly. Many of us are used to spending hours on cabling by now, so that tends to be less of an issue.

The Asus P5B is recommended everywhere. When Intel makes a new generation of chipsets, there tends to be an Asus that people love. I've been seeing this trend since the P2B. While Asus has some duds like everyone, they and DFI seem to get the little things right more often than others.

The Ninja does get more love at SPCR, but it is a subset of common use. It's not hated or considered poor anywhere else, it just doesn't scale up to the new Thermalrights with a beefy fan. If the lowest temps aren't a concern, it's hard to find fault with it as a HS choice (though in terms of handling HS mounting, I must say I love TR).

Just as the Asus boards, Seasonic is recommended everywhere. Being so quiet with a fan, even under load, and not being known for blowing up or anything, it's an obvious choice.

In agreement with others, availability has a lot to do with it, too. All of Antec's cases are easy to find. I can get a NSK-4400 in a pinch for less than $5 more than Newegg or ZZF at Best Buy. If I hop up to Fry's, I should be able to swipe a Sonata or P180, too, or maybe even a 3000B. That most of them have nice touches already added for quiet operation is a bonus. Even without that, they are just nice cases, and priced well. Add to that that customer service appears to be good if you search here or Anandtech forums (most of us will never need to get in touch with them, but it's nice to know they have that down).