I thought I read before that the newer ATI cards support mkv meaning no need to install video codec before playing .mkv movies ... is this not the case? Did I read it wrong? You're correct, if the video player supports it, and you don't have any other codecs for h.264 content installed that will ta...

Do all the new nvidia cards these days support hardware mkv acceleration? There is no such thing as an mkv accelerating video card, as mkv is a container format and not a video codec... I guess what you want to talk about is H264 acceleration when the stream is contained in mkv ? I thought I read b...

Do all the new nvidia cards these days support hardware mkv acceleration? It's been a while since my last upgrade. Was considering the following fanless ATI cards for my two new Dell Inspiron 545 systems .. but now I'm hearing nVidia can do mkv also with CUDA so I'm not sure which to choose. MSI Rad...

Just recently purchased two Inspiron 545 Minitowers and was looking for silent video cards for them (likely a 4670 and a 4350). Does anyone know if the following video cards would fit in the case? And lastly, do these support playing .mkv media without installing software codecs? I heard ATI video c...

Finally picked up my Phantom 350 from RMA a few days ago. This time it's brand new sealed and still in shrinkwrap. Serial is D05015566420. Popped it in yesterday, hope third time's a charm. :D Oh, and my Phantom 500 has finally shipped too! Woohoo!! Let's see which of the two last longer. :)

Well, it's still preferred if they can allow RMA without receipt, because then you can buy/sell your second hand parts without worries. But I guess it all varies depending on the company.

oh, that's strange. That would explain it. Strange that a more expensive model would be missing such a useful feature like temp readings. Looks like my temps are pretty good!!! Just did a google and it seems to be even better than the fanless Gigabyte versions with the stock built-in heatpipes. :D

I've installed the VM-101 on my new MSI NX6600GT-TD128E today. So far so good, no lock ups. :D And to my surprise, the latest drivers do have temp readings! Check it out and see for yourself! http://img107.echo.cx/img107/6642/image93fj.jpg The idle temps are 44C GPU, 43C Ambient, and after a few tes...

Thanks, that's very good news!

Any news on this yet? Mine still seems to be on backorder.

hmmm .. i got my card at a pretty good deal which is why I guess I'm stuck with it. Well, unless I sell it and get the fanless Gigabyte. :D So should I install it anyway? What I'm worried about most is long time heat damage (which I've experienced before). I imagine it'll probably be fine for at lea...

Also the reviewer Edward mentioned there's no temp reading in the drivers. Is that the nVidia drivers or MSI drivers? What about latest revisions of these drivers? Do they show the temp? (or maybe the card just doesn't have temp sensors?)

yeah, I read it several months ago, which is partly where I heard of compatibility problems with crashing and such. I read it again just now, and I'm still not sure because some people say it might do some long term damage from heat problems (which I know is very possible where problems don't show u...

oh. The system is in my sig .. right now i'm using it with a 6600 ...

I also have an Antec Phantom 500 power supply on backorder .. so when it arrives I'll be upgrading to that (hopefully more reliable than the 350 ones )

Quick question. Will the fanless AeroCool VM-101 work on a MSI NX6600GT-TD128E GeForce 6600GT? Last time I checked, someone said they weren't successful with heat problems on a 6600GT. Can anyone confirm? I just got a new 6600GT and I want to use my now spare VM-101 for passive cooling.

My Enermax 485W EG495P-VE SFMA ATX 2.0 power supply starting making rattling noises after about 1 month of use. I am 100% certain is the power supply because I know it stays on for a few minutes after everything else is powered down. Is it defective? Should I RMA it? Is it true Enermax RMA is very b...

I know SPCR did a review on this recently. But how come there are no big threads about this new hybrid powersupply? I just ordered the Phantom 500 recently .. call me crazy because I had my third Phantom 350 die on me just the other day. Or should I assume that no complaints yet means no problem uni...

I don't know .. but i just ordered a Phantom 500 (the new fan/fanless hybrid). Hope it not a big mistake and doesn't have the same problems as the Phantom 350 ...

Is this more reliable than the Phantom Menace 350's?

my third one just died a few days ago .. grrrrrr... .

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=18825

damn .... third phantom died just 2 days ago. Looks like it lasted just over a month. Same problem as last time. Woke up one day and found my computer shut down, with power light blinking. Turn off power supply and on again, no go. Then waited a few hours/minutes and turned it on again and lasted a ...

Yeah, this board requires well over 300W. The DFI employees at dfi-street actually recommend 480W, and that may even cover it if you plan on doing SLI in the future. Maybe that's why my first Antec Phantom (350W) died within seconds of a minimum boot. :( After a second failed phantom, my new Enermax...

yup, a 6600GT is worth more than 6600 no matter how much ram it has.

We have it for $266 and $275 CAD here in Canada. So about the same cost, and cheaper than buying a fanless heatpipe cooler separately.

Very interesting about the RS480M2-IL. But I guess many of us want DVI, especially in the long run so we'd want to upgrade the video eventually. Searched for it on google .. http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=RS480M2-IL&class=mb http://www.msicomputer.com/product/mb_image/MS-7093.jpg

As far as the functional difference in the amount of memory, I don't know. However, the Gigabyte GeForce 6600 PCI-Express is available in both. The GV-NX66256DP uses 256mb of DDR and the GV-NX66128DP uses 128mb of DDR. (The code seems to be "G" is Gigabyte, "V" is for video card, "N" is NVidia chip...

is there a big difference between 256MB and 128MB? For say an A64 3000+?

Guess you're right. No wonder why it's $459.00 here in Canada (Canada Computers).

How does this compare to the fanless 6600GT in terms of performance in HL2? What about power consumption? All the reviews I've come across so far only compare against other ATI video cards.

hmm. .. interesting. One of my defective units was D04 as well (same with the replacement). I no longer have the serial of the other unit (Canada Computers kept the original receipt after I returned it).

I've had several 1710 units, one 1740, and one ML-6 ... can't remember the model but it was one of their first laser printers. Yes they would smell and your lights would flicker whenever you print in a house and not a condo (too much power consumption?) and the drivers suck (took 1 year to release W...