Search found 93 matches

by RBBOT
Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:41 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: SilverStone Fortress FT02 Revisited
Replies: 39
Views: 29332

Re: SilverStone Fortress FT02 Revisited

I've had one of these since it was first released, and I have no complaints whatsoever. My old P180, the door hinges lasted about a month before breaking; this has stood up to a couple of years as a combination PC/footrest. I have the intake fans on the stock low setting and a Noctua D14 cooler with...
by RBBOT
Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:04 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: New study of DRAM errors and ECC memory
Replies: 16
Views: 10836

KVR1066D3E7SK3/12G
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:39 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: New study of DRAM errors and ECC memory
Replies: 16
Views: 10836

Memory errors could lead to a crash or corrupt data - depends on whether the data being read from memory is code or data. If its code it is likely to crash, or at least execute wrong instructions changing data in some way. If it is data it may still crash depending on what it does to the program log...
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:52 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: New study of DRAM errors and ECC memory
Replies: 16
Views: 10836

I've just built a new box with 12gb of ECC ram and I noticed that while finding the limits of the overclocking and testing with Prime 95, at no point did I ever see a calculation error in Prime; the limits were always caused a blue screen or lock up suggesting something else failed before the RAM st...
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:37 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: WD green - really quieter then WD blue?
Replies: 8
Views: 5289

Theoretically the WD Green drives with the 64mb cache should be quieter for a different reason. They are the first of a new generation of drives that have 4kb sectors instead of the traditional 512 byte sectors that were a hangover from floppy disks! (this needs vista or newer). Larger sectors = red...
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:32 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Intel x25-M SSD - Need to be FORMATTED? How turn off defrag?
Replies: 12
Views: 5956

Windows 7 does disable defrag for SSDs but not by the method of turning off the scheule that is often advised in articles for Vista. Instead if you look at the details of the scheduled task under Windows 7, you'll find in the list of disks to defragment, the SSD disks are unticked by default. This m...
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:24 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141121

I got the X650 and I fitted it facing outwards as I thought there would be enough cooling in the CPU area already so by pointing out outwards I had a good chance of the fan not spinning up most of the time. As I mentioned in my previous post, the peak wattage I measured was 334w even with an overclo...
by RBBOT
Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:45 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141121

Finally my processor turned up and I got things built. From my original worries: 1. The top 5.25 being above the motherboard turned out to be very bad thing rather than a good thing, as there isn't enough room behind it to afix a SATA power cable, unless you can find one that had a right angle twist...
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 13, 2010 1:00 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: CPU idle consumption chart
Replies: 24
Views: 22687

I believe the technical manuals on the Intel site list the idle power consumption for each model.
by RBBOT
Mon Jan 11, 2010 3:42 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: SSD and HDD Recomendations for daw
Replies: 4
Views: 3632

If your drive supports the TRIM command Windows 7 will not suffer from decreased write performance as it gets full. The only additional recommendation I would make is buy enough RAM that you can switch off the page file. See the article linkede above on Anandtech.com and its successors for more deta...
by RBBOT
Mon Jan 11, 2010 3:18 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Active Noise Cancellation For Computers?
Replies: 15
Views: 19029

I have bose active noise cancellation on my car stereo, so its certainly feasible for a PC. However, it isn't as effective as it is on the headphones and only mildly reduces the low frequency noises - it doesn't completely cancel them.
by RBBOT
Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:55 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141121

You can replace the 180mm fans with 120mm - they have mounting holes for them. You can also use 140mm fans that use 120mm mounts.
by RBBOT
Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:05 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141121

Mine is non-windowed. Unfortunately some of the parts I ordered are still on backorder so I can't tell about performance yet, apart from the Intel X-25M which I slung in my old machine to see what difference it makes, and that I can confirm absolutely rocks. I installed Windows 2008 on a virtual mac...
by RBBOT
Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:11 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141121

Just unpacked mine and while I wait for the rest of my components to arrive, some first impressions that I hadn't gleamed from the reviews: Good: The top 5.25" drive bay is entirely above the top edge of motherboard so if you only use this bay then you have room for a custom cooler on a 2nd GPU card...
by RBBOT
Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:08 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: SATA SSD for PATA motherboard?
Replies: 17
Views: 12222

Remember trim only affects the write speed of the SSD - it will still read at full speed and it spends far more time reading that writing.
by RBBOT
Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:58 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: understanding power requirements - multi-core CPUs
Replies: 2
Views: 2116

A TDP of 65W means the chip is designed to withstand a maximum draw of 65 watts accross the whole chip, and it is normally just below the point at which the designers expect thermal protection to kick in if the chip is being cooled to design specifications. In real world use, especially when not ove...
by RBBOT
Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:33 am
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: New to SPCR, help appreciated, quiet PC for HOT environment
Replies: 21
Views: 11959

In the 256-bit VGA card category, the Radeon 5850 seemed like "right" one to get. I really don't play games much (although having the hardware capability would be nice), I'm just trying to get whatever will be easiest on my eyes over long hours of screen-time. If I'm wrong about the need for a 256-...
by RBBOT
Wed Dec 30, 2009 4:42 pm
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: New to SPCR, help appreciated, quiet PC for HOT environment
Replies: 21
Views: 11959

n addition, AFAIK the current 1366 chips don't have turbo mode (which auto-overclocks for single-threaded apps). They do, they just don't have as big a margin of increase as the Lynnfield models. Given you plan on using a resolution of 1680x1050, an HD5850 may be overkill and a quieter, cooler & ch...
by RBBOT
Wed Dec 30, 2009 4:17 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Your suggestions please
Replies: 3
Views: 2302

That may have some merit. Anyone know the German for 'out of stock' / 'in stock' ?
by RBBOT
Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:11 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Your suggestions please
Replies: 3
Views: 2302

Your suggestions please

for suitable forms of torture to inflict on the online UK computer component retailers, none of whom have the CPU I want (Xeon W3520) in stock. Grrrr.

Is there anything more annoying than having an almost complete new system sat in boxes on living room carpet?
by RBBOT
Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:45 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Seeking advice on Desktop vs Laptop
Replies: 13
Views: 6641

I can't see an argument for buying a desktop these days unless you want to play games, have specialist requirements for storage/memory, or, like many here, enjoy building computers as a hobby - a mid-range laptop suffices for anything else. As others have said, don't buy an SSD from dell. I was also...
by RBBOT
Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:47 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: how much could i run with a 400w power supply
Replies: 8
Views: 3791

I just bought myself a power meter and found my machine draws from the wall 180W when idle and 275W during game play - and as you can see, there are an above average number of components: Core 2 duo E6600 overclocked to 3Ghz 4 x 2Gb DDR 800 RAM Nvidia GTX8800 with 2 displays 1 x 500Gb Hard disks Sou...
by RBBOT
Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:15 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: HD 5750 cards
Replies: 39
Views: 26650

The tweaktown reviews do show only marginally quieter levels from the Vapor-X card, but remember it is factory overclocked. The overclocking would also account for the increased power consumption.

If you switched it back to stock speeds the power and noise levels would drop.
by RBBOT
Fri Dec 04, 2009 4:14 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Silverstone Raven Two
Replies: 31
Views: 26890

This bodes well for the FT-02 given the overall design similarities and much better hard drive cage. Mike - do you know if you will be reviewing the Fortress soon?
by RBBOT
Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:57 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Silent PC for Web Development
Replies: 6
Views: 2929

If you going to be running virtual machines with development software on them, I'd recommend more than 4gb of RAM.
by RBBOT
Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:22 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit)?
Replies: 72
Views: 36541

64-Bit OS can run 16-Bit software by running a 32-Bit OS in a virtual machine. Windows 7 XP mode is effectively doing this in a user friendly manner.
I suspect you wanted to type 32-bit.
Oops. Corrected above.
by RBBOT
Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:22 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141121

That Noctua heatsink looks like a winner; I hadn't noticed that before. Especially as some reviews have tested it with just the 140mm centre fan and it still beats the competition, which means the other 120mm fan can be used as an exhaust.

That's assuming it fits in the case height-wise of course.
by RBBOT
Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:59 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: NH-D14 : New Noctua CPU Cooler
Replies: 6
Views: 6611

by RBBOT
Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:47 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Flight Simulator X hardware recommendation request
Replies: 6
Views: 3468

Shame it doesn't like ATI cards - if ever a game was made for Eyefinity...
by RBBOT
Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:48 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit)?
Replies: 72
Views: 36541

Microsoft have already abandoned 32-bit for their server OS. Windows Server 2008 R2 has no 32-bit version and neither do any of the future releases of their server applications - SQL 2008 R2, SharePoint 2010 etc. The desktop is sure to follow soon, especially as most 32-bit software runs ok under 64...