Search found 14 matches

by toto
Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:32 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Fanless PSUs: Kingwin Stryker STR-500 & Silverstone ST50NF
Replies: 20
Views: 14661

Re: Fanless PSUs: Kingwin Stryker STR-500 & Silverstone ST50

In January, 2012, I bought the STR-500 on sale (at Newegg) for USD $130 and it's every bit as good as the review says it is. In fact, it's really overkill. Measured with the Seasonic Power Angel, my new high-end graphics workstation only draws 40W at idle and rarely draws 60W under heavy load. It's ...
by toto
Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:26 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: HDD Reliability - Best Buys? Musts to Avoid?
Replies: 14
Views: 8380

HDD Reliability - Best Buys? Musts to Avoid?

Greetings, I need to upgrade my hard drives and while I used to always buy Samsungs, I've had two larger (120Gb and 300Gb) Sammy's fail in the past year. They were both about 4 years old. A third 300Gb Sammy may on the verge of demise, too. By contrast, my six 5+ year old 80Gb Spinpoints are still g...
by toto
Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:03 am
Forum: Deals, Vendors and Classifieds
Topic: Found: Samsung HD300LD or Controller Card for same
Replies: 0
Views: 1359

Found: Samsung HD300LD or Controller Card for same

I have a Samsung HD300LD that crashed and was looking for a working drive to strip for parts, new or used.

Thanks to a friend in Europe, I was able to buy one, made on the same date, through eBay Germany.

So, cancel the WTB.

Thanks for looking!
by toto
Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:02 am
Forum: Deals, Vendors and Classifieds
Topic: Sold: 350W Thermaltake Fanless Power Supply
Replies: 0
Views: 1116

Sold: 350W Thermaltake Fanless Power Supply

The 350W Thermaltake Fanless Power Supply has been sold.

Thank you!
by toto
Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:15 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Data Recovery Service Recomendations?
Replies: 0
Views: 1203

Data Recovery Service Recomendations?

I had a hard drive crash last week and although most of the data was backed up, I can't find backups of some important files. It's a physical problem and will likely require the services of a company that can open the drive case in a clean room. Can any one recommend a service that they've had perso...
by toto
Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:28 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: 35W AMD X2 3800+ in HP s7600e series PC
Replies: 33
Views: 45766

These are currently available from HP for as little as USD $429.99 (bare bones), including a rebate. There's actually a choice of 4 different AMD 35W CPUs, plus memory upgrades to 2G, among other upgrades, all at extra cost. HP s7600e Series The mini-ITX MB form factor is identical to the VIA EPIA s...
by toto
Sat Sep 30, 2006 6:24 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Tiny, Silent and Efficient: The picoPSU
Replies: 142
Views: 262202

is it ok or enough to use 2 of them(psus) (240w in total) for venice 3000 epox npa+ultra 512x2 ram 160 gb sata2 hdd dvd-r x550 i thought to use 1 for powering mb and the other for cpu, hdd and dvd-r I have an almost identical system (Venice 3200) and at idle am getting a draw of about 67W and under...
by toto
Sat Sep 30, 2006 6:15 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB: Big Low Noise Champ?
Replies: 107
Views: 119588

Looking over the consumer reviews at Newegg, there seems to be an unusually high failure rate with these drives. Of 76 reviews (as of 30 Sept 2006), about 19% report drives that were either DOA or which failed within a couple of months. Some reports mention excessive heat, but provide no details of ...
by toto
Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:32 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Sytrin KuFormula VF1 Plus: Can Cross-Flow be Quiet?
Replies: 15
Views: 13136

In putting together a PVR that would ultimately be used with a widescreen monitor/TV, I bought a passively cooled Sapphire Radeon 9250 graphics card with 256MB of video RAM. However, the skimpy heatsink that came with it got extremely hot, suggesting that it was selected for price, rather than effic...
by toto
Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:12 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Seasonic SS-300SFD 80 Plus SFX12V power supply
Replies: 43
Views: 39215

Having succeeded in getting my mid-tower home office pc as quiet as possible, the only noise left to deal with was fan in the Seasonic Super Tornado 300 PSU, which was previously unnoticeable. I already had a Seasonic SS-300SFD 80 Plus on hand and found that in swapping one for the other, the noise ...
by toto
Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:39 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Samsung Spinpoint T Series: Successor to a Quiet Legacy
Replies: 30
Views: 37579

A few weeks prior to this review, I purchased the HD300LD (300GB PATA version of this drive) to replace an 80GB Spinpoint P80 (same as the one used for comparison). Out of the box, my perception was that the P80 was much quieter in seek mode, but using the SilentDrive AAM (software) Tool on the quie...
by toto
Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:31 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: VIA EPIA EN12000E fanless mini-ITX
Replies: 64
Views: 61659

Going back to quiet performance though, it seems you can run the EN15000 without the fan, although obviously at your own risk The fan on the EN15000 is actually a fairly quiet 40mm unit that can be completely silenced by a Zalman fan controller (it only needs to be turned down about 1/3 to 1/2 way)...
by toto
Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:16 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Tiny, Silent and Efficient: The picoPSU
Replies: 142
Views: 262202

Even fanless bricks can and do make noise! It's the transformer, itself, that's buzzing or humming. The internal mount has come loose, is deteriorating, or the transformer is just a cheap unit to begin with. Strangely, the 4-pin 12V CPU adapter from mini-box that the Athlon and Pentium M's need onl...
by toto
Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:48 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Tiny, Silent and Efficient: The picoPSU
Replies: 142
Views: 262202

In going through the Mouser Electronics catalogue, I discovered another fanless external brick that should work with the picoPSU-120. It's spec is 12V @ 8.33A, 100W output. It comes with a 2.5mm right angle plug which I think is the correct mate. http://www.mouser.com Their part number is 418-TR100A...