I think we should have a new section in the off topic forums for troubleshooting. I saw many threads about troubleshooting dead PC's, hard disks, video cards or Windows and I think a section for general troubleshooting could be helpful.

Maybe we should also split the general off topic section in two: One section for general discussion (sport, politics, coffee, dead mice, etc.) and another one for general computing (anything about computers that is not related to silent components).

What do you think?

i came into here to post this exact same post. i'd say at least 2 or 3 more off topic computer related sections are needed

I think that would encourage people to post more off topic computer related stuff.

I don't think that would encourage people to post off topic content, I think it would encourage people to post their threads in the right forums. Adding a troubleshooting section would help to keep the forums on topic and more organized.


Here are some threads about troubleshooting:

• Troubleshooting dead system: CPU or motherboard? (System advice)
• Troubleshooting help - blank screen at bootup (Off Topic / Not Silent)
• Troubleshooting PC (Off Topic / Not Silent)
• Troubleshooting Spinpoint 1614N Failure (Silent Storage)
• PC locks up in standby mod! (The Silent Front)
• Plz help me fix my XP hibernation HDD corruption issue (Off Topic / Not Silent)
• Newbie in trouble : ( (Newcomers Briefing Room)
• Possible PSU problem (Power Supplies)
• Power Supply keeps dying on me??? (Off Topic / Not Silent)
• Troubleshooting: Strange sound every 24 seconds (The Silent Front)
• Help! System doesn't boot after changing PSU fan! (The Silent Front)
• Weird hard drive squeal (Silent Storage)
• I think something hates me. (Off Topic / Not Silent)

This is just a few of them, there are much more, and as you can see, they are all over the place. A similar problem for a power supply was found in 3 differents forums (Silent front, Power supplies and Off Topic). Having a new Troubleshooting section would help in different ways:

• By removing the troubleshooting stuff and placing it its own section. This would also help to keep the forums more organized.
• With all troubleshooting stuff in a common section, it will be easier for any user to see if his problem was already solved. There are too much threads about installing Windows XP with SATA drives. But they are all over the place, in different sections, and difficult to find. Having them in a single section would help to reduce the number of threads with the same subject.

I don't think we need 3 or more sections. I think the Troubleshooting section is needed. Another section for General Computing would be helpful too. Right now, the Off Topic section is badly organized. I think a section for General Discussion and another one for General Computing would be enough. There are some computer products that are not silent at this time but they are promising and worth mentioning. Also, I saw a few threads in System Advice, The Silent Front and Off Topic where users were asking for the best smartcard readers, SPL meters, floppy drives or CRTs. Those thing don't belong to silent components and could be placed in the General Computing section, keeping the rest of the forums more organized.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

I'd also like to see a not-silent-but-computer-related forum here, for the sake of organisation.

I'm sure some people would think would think "There's a forum for these kinds of posts, so they can't have anything against them." or "There's 4 non silencing forums now, so it must be expected that it'll get significant traffic", and so on.

Because of this potential to steer the focus of these forums, I think it would be more appropriate to first add a "silencing other things" forum.

I have sorta come to a point where i am happy w/ my silencing endeavors (read: just to lazy to do anything else..including suspending my HD's) and its nice to still come back here and post on other topics in a familiar atmosphere, and still keep up w/ whats going on in silencing...

Same here. I'm too lazy and cheap to silence further (but not to lazy to speculate about better silencing methods). I wouldn't mind it at all if SPCR expanded, although I think if it does it should expand into tangental areas. But that would increase bandwith costs, and would increase the burden on mods.

Yes, it's the same thing for me. SPCR is the only place where I'm an active member. Many forums have more avatars and big signatures than good content. Here, we have an intelligent community who has many things to share. Being able to help or get help from others in this endless task of silencing a PC, and being able to post off topic content as well is very nice! No need to register to other forums!

I just feel that a bit of organization is needed to improve the quality of the forums. The only dedicated off-topic forum is for [email protected]. Some users are still asking for not-so-silent components, or asking for unrelated troubleshooting advice in System Advice or The Silent Front. These threads are off topic and could be placed somewhere else. I don't think having one or two more sections would urge people to post off topic content. This would however encourage them to post any unrelated stuff in the proper sections. And new sections about "silencing a component"? Which ones? A mouse, a keyboard, a monitor? These ones can be discussed in the Silent Front or other sections right now... I like the way most of the sections are organized. But there are some users that need help to troubleshoot their dead PC's, or have trouble installing Windows on their new HDD's, and many of them are confused and not sure if they post in the right section... So a troubleshooting section might be helpful. The other one is just to have the "computer" stuff and the "very off topic" stuff in two different sections for the sake of organization...

Anyways, it's my opinion... Maybe I should add a poll to get better feedback...

The silent front doesn't get nearly as much traffic as it did before, apparently because the forums are so well organized with the specific categories. In system advice, there seems to be a natural tendency to drift towards non silence related topics, partly because sometimes you don't know what can affect noise levels.

don't see any mods in this thread... i do hope this catches on...