It seems the new chipset is a huge power consumer. There are no fewer total busses with just moving the memory controller from one chip to another. Yes the bus is still there, but I was thinking more about bus utilization. You would still use that bus for PCIe traffic, for example, but for memory i...

No, it does not. It has very high idle power, which is what most desktop CPUs do most of the time. Not that THG is a great source to quote, but they measured idle power to be some 1-2W in idle. It's load power consumtion that has increased, but given the higher performance you get, it actually tran...

I think all motherboards are supposed to have the same space between slots. Otherwise, PCIe cards wouldn't line up with the cutouts in the back of the case. That said, I have a GA-EP45-DS3R which looks to have about the same configuration of slots as the DQ6. My video card is an HD4870 with an Accel...

No its just 2 slots. Even at 75% the fan is quiet. At 50% its dead silent. 55%-75% is quiet also but their is a faint whirly sound, nothing bad still quiet and still better than stock. That sounds great. My S1 w/120mm Nexus blocks 4 slots (including the card itself), and I get about the same temps ...

That first photo looks like my Visiontek board. One nice thing about it is the VRMs are all arranged in a line, so if you're using the VRM sinks included with the Accelero S1, it's easy to fit them on without the fins overlapping each other. Other than that I don't really know how much you can tell ...

I just did up my 4850 last night with an S1, so I have a few observations: 1) I couldn't figure out how to get AC's VRM heatsinks to fit over all the little power FET chips on the end of the card. There are 8 of them arranged in 2 squares of 4 chips each, while the included heatsinks seem more appro...

Somebody already has this cooler? I wonder how many, and which ram & VRM heatsinks come with this cooler. And what the quality of the adhesive of this sinks will be. The sinks of the Accelero S1 don't stick that good, I read. Has anyone tried using a thermal epoxy (e.g. Arctic Silver Adhesive) with...

When is the Velociraptor supposed to be available in the USA for sale? When is SCPR labs getting theirs for review? :) From the StorageReview article: "While initial VelociRaptor shipments will go exclusively to a certain gaming-oriented OEM, WD estimates that individual units will hit distribution...

I recall reading somewhere that many of the motherboard peripherals (i.e. SATA raid controller, 2nd GigE port, etc.) on the A8N32 are PCI Express, whereas on the Premium they sit on the PCI bus. Probably not a big deal unless you are using them heavily, but it is a difference.

To answer my own question, in case anyone is interested, the Scythe bracket works just fine on the Asus A8N Premium with an XP-120. I also managed to break the Asus-supplied backplate (tightened the screws too much and broke off one of the standoffs!), but fortunately I had a spare plastic one that ...

This pin crimping tool from Jameco is designed to work with 0.1" square crimp pins like this one. I'm not sure if it will handle the smaller pins for the 3-pin fan headers but it should point you in the right direction.

I have an XP-120 on a P4 motherboard that I'd like to move over to a Socket 939 board (Asus A8N-SLI Premium). The problem is, I think I lost the parts kit that came with the XP-120, which includes a replacement for the stock AMD retention module that makes it look like a Socket 478 module. I do, how...

Ed, count the number of blades on the fan. If it has 5, then you have the somewhat noisier original Yate Loon. If 7, then it should be the better Adda. Does this apply to the 430W version as well? I have a 430 that I bought last April but ended up not needing it until now. It doesn't have any stick...

I believe the BenQ drives are produced as a joint venture with Philips. From what I've read at CD Freaks , the 1620 is about the best +R writer on the market in terms of burn quality (i.e. low error rates, good media support), and is one of the best drives out there in terms of overall quality and f...

At $62, it's pretty reasonable. It comes with no PSU (important to me, because I wanted to use my PSU choice) and is black--always nice. Just say NO to the ugly beige box. IMHO, the omission of the PSU on the 3000B is no bargain. Newegg charges exactly the same shipping for both the 3000B and the 3...

I have read plenty of reviews that only give the product one or two stars. I guess it depends on how strongly the criticism is worded. I remember writing a positive review a couple of years ago and not having it show up either so who knows how the selection process works. In general I take end-user ...

My NF7 puts the socket right up next to the power supply when mounted in an AMB-3700. It is definately a capable cooler though, no complaints. Did you happen to notice how much the heatsink overhangs the edge of the board on the NF7? I'm wondering if this thing will fit on an NF7-S in an Evercase w...

DVI digital cables do have their limits. Just to add a data point from personal experience: I have a Belkin 2-input DVI KVM switch that I use with my Samsung flat panel at 1600x1200@60Hz to switch between two DVI-equipped PC's. Each computer is connected to the switch with a 6-foot DVI-D cable, and ...

Rusty075 wrote: If the heatsink's were 500°, then things would be different.

Just be patient. Intel will find a way...

I'm not optimistic that any new Samsung drives will solve the quality control problems with the spindle motors. I have not heard any indication that Samsung views the noise of the JVC motors as a problem (as evidenced by the fact that they seem to be using more of them than ever), so where is the in...

One thing occurred to me...if the screen tilts, then doesn't that mean that you can tilt the HD to an out-of-spec angle? I was under the impression that most hard drives allow 0 or 90-degree mounting orientation, with a few degrees of tolerance around those numbers. Or have the HD manufacturers most...

I believe the 7K250's are among the fastest currently available 7200RPM drives. I would be very surprised if they didn't beat the 7200.7 in most performance areas. Here is a review of the 7K250 including comparisons to other drives (no 7200.7, though they have a Barracuda V): http://storagereview.co...

I have a Leadtek A280 VIVO (GF 4200ti) board with an obnoxious fan. Does anyone know if the Rev 3 VGA Silencers will work with this board? The AC compatibility list only mentions GeForce 3, not GeForce 4 boards.

I believe they are metric M3 size. I forget the length off the top of my head...I think it's 5mm max.

I could be wrong, but the FK333 seems to have the same problem as the Evercase, which is that the PSU is mounted almost flush with the motherboard. Of the cases mentioned, only the Antec SLK3700AMB/Compucase LX-6A19 have a reasonable amount of clearance for the Zalman 7000A. I would also add the Che...

I have not looked at the 2650 too carefully, but one thing I noticed is that there is no fan in front of the 3.5" HD mounting, so I would not mount more than one HD there unless you mod it somehow or suspend the drives in front of the front intake fan. There are some air holes though so you'll proba...

lucienrau wrote:Just FYI about the PSU that comes with this case, its a bit shoddy compared to the seasonics I'm used to working with.

Is it a standard form factor (is there even such a thing when it comes to MicroATX cases?). I wonder if it's possible to swap it out with something better.

Can anyone comment on the reliability of laptop drives? I've heard that many of them are not designed for the same level of 24/7 operation that desktop 3.5" drives are.

Remember that a significant percentage of heat from the CPU does not go into the heatsink, but is dissipated down through the pins into the power/ground planes and other copper traces in the motherboard. So if you want to build a CPU die simulator and then use it to work backwards to estimate power ...

I'm looking forward to hearing about the voltage and noise characteristics of the PSU, and the effectiveness of the CPU duct.