All I can say is that I recommend 2 TB 3.5" HDD's. Large cheap storage capacity is the only advantage left for HDD's. I know that's not a great way to achieve silence, though.

I'd solve this by using a fanless power supply. As long as there is some amount of airflow on it, it'll be fine. And without fans it won't pull in hot air

My plan is to use the SG03-F with one of the new Seasonic fanless 460W PSU's that are coming, and a Dynatron G618 2U fanless CPU cooler on a 130W CPU. There will also be a fanless HD5750. Never! ;) The video card is not a problem, because the front intake fan is close by to blow air across the pass...

If you want your kid to have fun playing Starcraft 2 or Diablo 3, spring for a graphics card. Your kid will not enjoy lag or poor-quality graphics very much.

My 256MB 8600GTS is barely enough for SC2.

It's expensive but for $258:

http://www.hd-plex.com/H10.ODD.html

If you're willing to take the chance, go for it.

I think it hurt the performance, though. How much remains to be seen. I think the solid wick structure inside the heatpipe could be damaged, hampering the flow of the fluid.

...SG04-FH... Don't do it! It puts the PSU tightly up against the CPU area, on the left side. Very cramped space for cpu heatsink, and likelihood of high cpu/psu heat interaction. Think it'll be that bad? I'll find out. My plan is to use the SG03-F with one of the new Seasonic fanless 460W PSU's th...

I've got news for you: NewEgg doesn't make up names for the products. They enter the manufacturer's product name into their database. [quote=zodaex]4. Having to wait 10 seconds for the "the way it's nvidia ment to be played" logo to go the fuck away when you launch a videogame and want to play the v...

You're looking to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. There are not common problems with the temperature of these components. Adding cooling costs money, power, and noise. Show me the benefit of those expenditures, and it better be more than theoretical component life if you want to convince ...

IMO it won't benefit you at all versus the integrated ethernet. The motherboard architecture isn't the bottleneck; Windows is. Vista/7/Server 2008 use a newer TCP/IP stack that significantly improved network throughput compared to XP, but it's still not capable of using the hardware's full potential...

Based on some Googling (not 100% reliable) it sounds like the box of your HD 3850 recommends at least a 450W power supply.

If that is indeed the case a PicoPSU won't cut it.

I think a properly secured motherboard can easily handle a couple pounds of tension. The Thermalright bolt-thru kits are pretty secure.

I just know I love my HR-01.

Awesome, thanks for your suggestions you guys. The case is an Antec P182 that's heavily lined with AcoustiPack sound-absorbing foam. I'm not sure much EMF is getting in there. Based on all your input I'm pretty sure the subwoofer itself is the problem, and is amplifying the interference to the speak...

I have a set of Creative Inspire P7800 7.1 speakers. They are great for the money ($80 when I bought them a couple years ago). However, they are very susceptible to interference from EMF-generating devices such as cell phones. When it was only a problem with cell phones, it was not so bad as the pro...

Good luck; I always run into conflicts when combining a wireless connection with a wired one. When troubleshooting network issues on a laptop the first thing I do is disable the wireless adapter.

Just wondering, why do you insist on 'fun' instead of 'fan'? Not trying to nitpick but you were just so consistent with it...

I would go with whichever is cheaper. The differences will be incredibly small, and you'll be happy with either case.

A case with airflow will keep components cooler than an open case. It also protects them. Also, personally I think that the open-style cases (like the "Bzerk" case or the Antec skeleton case) look terrible (I prefer a clean look). If you moved the Noctua 120mm on the case near the CPU, then the HR-0...

Are you able to fix the images in the first post? I'm curious to see the temperatures and how effective the heatpipes are.

The filters on the P182 keep the inside of the case pretty darn clean, but thank you for the reminder. Usually a good idea to open it up and clean it out whether I think it needs it or not.

Hi Everyone, Here are the specs of the machine: Case = Antec P182 Fans = 3× Noctua NF-S12-1200 (1200 rpm but I don't remember if I put in the resistors to lower the rpm, too lazy to open the case to check) Hard Drive = Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 HDS721616PLA380 (160GB) Hard Drive Cushions = 2× TheraPr...

I'd guess that you should be OK if you put the 3 hard drives in the lower chamber along with one of the 1200RPM fans. Put an 800RPM fan in the rear opening. Put a 3rd fan in the top exhaust or clipped to the middle drive cage depending on how you want air to flow over your CPU. Personally I have had...

What type of components are you cooling and how are they arranged? If you have a fanless PSU or you have multiple hard drives in the lower chamber, you should probably put a fan there. Do you have a fan on your CPU heatsink? I don't, so I put fans in both the rear and top 120mm openings to pull a lo...

Alright, that's what I thought, just wanted to check before I broke something off that didn't need to break.

Thanks!

Hi, I'm building my first system in a P182 and I'm trying to install my DVD drive. The manual only says: "Carefully remove the plastic drive bay cover and the metal plate covering the drive bay." The plastic cover popped right out as it should. But the metal plate seems to be a part of the case. It ...

Lensman wrote: Will the 8600GTS feed sound over HDMI? That's the main reason I'm inclined to get the 2600XT.

Ah, OK, I see. Didn't think of that. I looked at the MSI website and the 2600XT has an integrated HD audio controller.

No mention of anything like that on the 8600GTS.

I'm still without the video card, trying to figure out what to buy. I'm mostly torn between the MSI passive 2600XT card and the MSI passive 8600GTS card. At the moment I think the 8600GTS is the better choice but may have to go with the 2600XT because it would be much more convenient for me to have...

With the right arrangement of several powerful magnets, you could "levitate" the drive in mid air. Oh, wait... ;) Too risky. The last time I was playing with really powerful magnets I managed to hurt myself. The magnets were stuck together so strongly that when I finally pried them apart one with a...

Liquids transmit sound much better than solids, but solids transmit vibration much better than liquids. Sound is vibration. 8) True. I'm no physics expert but let me give this a shot. A solid will directly transmit vibration in the same direction and amount it is applied to the solid (ie if you hol...

So do you guys think it would be better if I used a non-conductive water cooling fluid like Fluid XP+ Ultra or something? (cost for a 32-oz bottle is roughly the same as a couple 12g tubes of AS5) I wonder what density/viscosity would be best to use. Liquids transmit sound much better than solids, b...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/images/alleycat/index.html My idea starts with this SPCR member's concept of gel-packs cushioning the drive inside an enclosure which I will then suspend in the case. Here's what I'm thinking. I want to use some heat-sealable anti-static bags. I was thinking of ma...