Search found 26 matches

by marcmercer
Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:11 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Budget Low Power CPU
Replies: 31
Views: 16694

Do you have a requirement for this system to be on 24/7? If not are you using S3 suspend? I'm running a dual tuner MCE system with a 3000+ venice. I'm not actually using CnQ because it can cause tv to stutter a little in media center. Idle is around 64W measured at the wall, which isn't too bad cons...
by marcmercer
Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:19 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD A64 TDP Poll
Replies: 71
Views: 84297

If it is of interest I posted a similar poll on the ocuk forums. lots of people have replied with their TDP.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showth ... ge=1&pp=30

Marc
by marcmercer
Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:58 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD A64 TDP Poll
Replies: 71
Views: 84297

3000+, 939, DH8-E3, 53C, 32.4W

I was initially annoyed when i got an E3 chip instead of an E6. Can't complain if that TDP is accurate though.

Marc
by marcmercer
Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:59 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: How much power does your system draw at idle (Poll)
Replies: 70
Views: 59647

I agree there is the issue of power meter precision and this thread won't give us a definitive x chipset uses more power than y .... but I think that if enough people post it, any trends may give anyone looking to build a particularly low power machine an idea of which components are good and show u...
by marcmercer
Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:07 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: How much power does your system draw at idle (Poll)
Replies: 70
Views: 59647

yes - I realise the PSU is pretty long in the tooth now and probably isn't at all efficient at low loads, but I'm holding on until the antec fusion case is released :) Any system power readings would be interesting socket a or otherwise. I should perhaps add my outgoing socket A system: Motherboard:...
by marcmercer
Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:00 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: How much power does your system draw at idle (Poll)
Replies: 70
Views: 59647

How much power does your system draw at idle (Poll)

Having seen Mike mention that one of his systems runs at just 36W idle , I'm curious to hear from everyone else who has the ability to measure how much power their systems use. I'm asking having just built a new htpc, upgrading from a socket A system and not seeing as much of an improvement as i exp...
by marcmercer
Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:45 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: 35 Watt X2 3800 on the way from AMD
Replies: 38
Views: 32254

Here's why I'm not going crazy about it: That X2-4800+ featured in my recent CPU power article... I've now got it running undervolted on another board w/ an 80+ PSU. At idle, system power is 36W. W/CPUBurn x2, it's at 107W. Avg power will be 43W if you go by the 90% idle/10% max formula I used. It ...
by marcmercer
Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:02 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Antec NSK2400 Media PC Case
Replies: 249
Views: 307551

I've been on the hunt for a <120mm tall "tower" style HS off/on for weeks. Perhaps if everyone reading this thread goes on the hunt, we get get a few together to review & try out in the NSK2400. The Spire SP601B3 I mentioned earlier is OK but not great because the fins are too tightly spaced for go...
by marcmercer
Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:25 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Antec NSK2400 Media PC Case
Replies: 249
Views: 307551

Does anone know when the fusion version of this case is likely to be released?

Marc
by marcmercer
Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:06 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: MSI K8NGM2-FID or what?
Replies: 8
Views: 4057

What are the issues you have with the Neo HE and the MSI mobo? I was just about to buy the MSI with the intention of putting it in an antec fusion case when they are released. The fusion of course includes the Neo HE PSU.

Do you know if the asus also has trouble with the Neo HE??

Marc
by marcmercer
Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:58 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Socket 754 Motherboard for HTPC
Replies: 10
Views: 5420

I believe the Jetway a200gdms pro allows undervolting down to 0.8v.

The other option is something like the biostar 6100 m7 with a 3000+ sempron or higher (so it has cnq). then you can control the voltage and clock speed for the cnq steps using crystalCPUID.
by marcmercer
Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:16 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: what is a good socket 939 motherboard that is not by asus?
Replies: 16
Views: 7435

I have an asus A8N-E and it is the most stable board I have ever owned. Not one crash in weeks - and it lives on 24/7. However - it wasn't always that way - I had problems with the latest nvidia drivers. The ones on the CD worked ok ... but the v6.66 caused many crashes. If you need the v6.66 driver...
by marcmercer
Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:04 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Fanless Heatpipe CPU Cooling System by FMAH
Replies: 80
Views: 70928

Article on home made heatpipe:

http://www.benchtest.com/heat_pipe1.html

He used R132a as a working fluid

Marc
by marcmercer
Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:58 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Fanless Heatpipe CPU Cooling System by FMAH
Replies: 80
Views: 70928

I never noticed this article before! Funnily enough I made a very similar test rig myself in early 2003 for my dissertation! Biggest difference is that I tested using a test rig rather than an actual CPU. This incorperated a machined alu block (shaped like an athlon XP processor) with a resistor so ...
by marcmercer
Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:13 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Undervoltable mATX socket 754 and 939 mobos + Turion in UK
Replies: 15
Views: 10317

:( bad luck nutball

Hope you have more luck with the replacement. Let us know how you find it once up and running.

Incidentally - are you running Media Centre on this PC?

Marc
by marcmercer
Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:53 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: GeForce 3 500 Ti passive heatsink?
Replies: 12
Views: 4194

I am passively cooling a GF3 Ti500 My solution is rather ghetto though as I am not too worried if it dies. I had an old globalwin socket A heatsink, drilled and tapped 2 holes in the bottom and screwed it onto the GPU! Temps do hit the high 70s +, but i ran a GF2GTS without a fan for 3 years at a st...
by marcmercer
Sun Sep 25, 2005 4:26 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Undervoltable mATX socket 754 and 939 mobos + Turion in UK
Replies: 15
Views: 10317

I look forwards to hearing how you get on!

At the moment everyone seems to be out of stock of the a210 version, but I have a few stores who have promised to e-mail me as soon as they get new stock.

Marc
by marcmercer
Fri Sep 09, 2005 7:42 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Undervoltable mATX socket 754 and 939 mobos + Turion in UK
Replies: 15
Views: 10317

Taken from another forum here are some of the over/underclocking features of the a210gdms pro: "it supports fan throttling and cool and quiet. RAM controls are as follows ras active ras precharge ras to cas and command rate are all controllable. it is settable to 100/133/166/200 , and these numbers ...
by marcmercer
Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:55 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Undervoltable mATX socket 754 and 939 mobos + Turion in UK
Replies: 15
Views: 10317

It seems it does support NCQ :) "The same can be said for the ULi 1573 south bridge, which supports Intel's "Azalia" High Definition Audio standard and Serial ATA RAID with Native Command Queuing. While RAID and NCQ are nothing new, the ULi 1573 is the first south bridge chip to bring 32-bit/192kHz ...
by marcmercer
Thu Sep 08, 2005 5:24 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Undervoltable mATX socket 754 and 939 mobos + Turion in UK
Replies: 15
Views: 10317

Undervoltable mATX socket 754 and 939 mobos + Turion in UK

Hi All In trying to build a silent HTPC after lightning killed my Biostar M7NCG, I've searched high and low for undervoltable micro atx socket 754 and 939 motherboards. As far as I can tell the best bet seems to be either the Jetway A200GDMS-Pro on socket 754 or the Jetway A210GDMS-Pro on socket 939...
by marcmercer
Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:55 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: ASUS K8N-E Deluxe and Sempron 2600+ E6 754 undervolting
Replies: 16
Views: 7964

Have you tried an older pre-sempron E6 bios?

I'm guessing here, but it might be worth a try as although the bios may not recognise the chip for what it is - you may then be able to access the voltage options.

Marc
by marcmercer
Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:19 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: BenQ 1640
Replies: 21
Views: 9908

Can anyone who has the BenQ 1640 confirm it's behaviour when watching DVDs? I know many drives have a "riplock" feature that default the drive to 4X when reading DVDs in order to keep it quiet. My searches on the net give conflicting opinions on whether this is enabled or not on the benq. I'm planni...
by marcmercer
Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:04 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Database of suitable 2.5" HDs inc. older models
Replies: 6
Views: 4055

The Toshiba 2018GAS 2.5" HD arrived yesterday. Sadly I'm not hugely impressed. The drive has a high pitched annoying 'whine' which is clearly audible above my 160gig samsung spinpoint. I haven't tried enclosing / foam padding the drive. I'll give this a go and report back - I suspect the whine can b...
by marcmercer
Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:40 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Database of suitable 2.5" HDs inc. older models
Replies: 6
Views: 4055

Nice enclosure Isaac. I fully intend to enclose/damp the drive. I figure that the quieter the drive is to start with the better. Of course the beauty of the 2.5" drives is that did wonder what i could use to enclose it ... the PSP case looks like a good solution! Hyper - thanks also for your tips. I...
by marcmercer
Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:33 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Database of suitable 2.5" HDs inc. older models
Replies: 6
Views: 4055

Hi All If anyone has any experience of drives listed below (or any other 2.5" drive) it would be great if you could post them here. I'm just as interested in listing drives that are unsuitable for quiet pcs as ones that are. The Toshiba MK2018GAS I was meant to receive never arrived - instead I was ...
by marcmercer
Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:23 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Database of suitable 2.5" HDs inc. older models
Replies: 6
Views: 4055

Database of suitable 2.5" HDs inc. older models

Hi all I was hoping to draw on your experiences with 2.5" hard drives, especially the slightly older models, to produce a list of suitable quiet drives (or at least to eliminate the totally unsuitable ones). Please post a reply if you have any useful info or opinions. Background: I have just built u...