Search found 96 matches

by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:33 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: IR keyboards...are they any good?
Replies: 8
Views: 3531

Basically I want a backlit cordless keyboard with built in trackpad/mouse type doohicky, so I think the only other option is really the Dinovo mini.
It's a pity the G15 doesn't come in a cordless version :( Or the edge in a backlit version.
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:15 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: IR keyboards...are they any good?
Replies: 8
Views: 3531

IR keyboards...are they any good?

Hi,

I'm after a cordless keyboard and have seen a few of the older MS MCE keyboards that are IR controlled. I have the Antec Fusion case which has the built in IR receiver in the LCD. Will this keyboard work with this receiver?

TIA.
by nitram_tpr
Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:17 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Still loud, what more can I do?
Replies: 12
Views: 4675

I have read that the PSU in the Antec cases can be noisy, I recently built a system around the Antec case and I found the PSU to be nice and quiet. The case fans though even on low were too loud for me. I replaced them with 2 Akasa amber series fans and plugged them into the motherboard fan headers,...
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 17, 2008 12:38 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: AMD 780G: Best Ever Integrated Mainstream Chipset?
Replies: 140
Views: 108804

CAT 8.4's are now out. I'll give them a go at the weekend.
by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:31 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: AMD 780G: Best Ever Integrated Mainstream Chipset?
Replies: 140
Views: 108804

I use VLC to play the movies, it works a treat.
I have to assume the Media Centre will work perfectly with this.
by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:01 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

Nice one, so how quiet is it?
by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:06 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

Have a look at this P182 rig he has a huuuge heatsink in there.
by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:01 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: First custom build. I could really do with some advice. :)
Replies: 13
Views: 5828

The 780G motherboards do supprt Hybrid crossfire. If you want to run Hybrid then you will need to buy a ATI 3450, these are very cheap (£24 from Ebuyer). The thing with Hybrid Crossfire is that it will indeed combine the power of both the on-board GPU and the 3450 to get a boost in performance, but...
by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:35 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Need some advice builidng a silent HTPC
Replies: 6
Views: 3094

I have built a system with the 780G and a BE2350 and a Mini Ninja is able to cool this passively with no problems whatsoever. A full sized Ninja will not fit in this case.

All the reviews show that this chipset can decode at 1080.
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:34 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: First custom build. I could really do with some advice. :)
Replies: 13
Views: 5828

My current favourite motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G This would negate the need for a graphics card as the on-board GPU will supply 2 monitors. It will though use upto 512MB of the system ram so out of 2 gig you'll only have 1.5gig available. If I were to build another system based on...
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:24 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

The Gigabyte board will use less energy than the Intel board due to the GPU being on-board.
The GPU I have chosen for the intel rig is fairly expensive, you could get a GPU for a lot less than £100 that would run just as well as the one on-board the Gigabyte system.
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:00 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

If your current system is working as you need it to and are upgrading to get more upto date components then the 780G platform and AMD CPU's will work fine for you. If on the other hand you feel the need to have more processing power to enable you to do the work you need then hell yeah get the Intel ...
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:12 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

Unless the applications that you are going to be using can specifically utilise all 4 cores, then a dual core CPU should be just about right. You could get away with one of the 45nm Intel E8xx CPU's. These don't use that much power compared to the older 65nm Quad core CPU's. They overclock quite wel...
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:01 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

Yes you can use 2 graphics cards to hook up 4 monitors. I would say the P5E looks suitable for your needs. I don't understand this from you.... I actually still have one IDE drive, and it's looking like the P5E doesn't support ATX The P5E does support IDE drives 1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66/ up to 2 PATA ...
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:49 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc confusion
Replies: 18
Views: 6657

Firstly I wouldn't bother with DDR3, it is far too expensive compared to DDr2 and the cost of a DDR3 capable motherboard is also too much compared to a DDR2 one. As for a motherboard with energy saving, try the ASUS P5E As for a CPU cooler, there are a few to chose, bigger is better. Try the Scyth N...
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:06 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Antec Fusion: a couple questions
Replies: 3
Views: 2485

I too have a Fusion case, the black one with the LCD and volume control. I thought about taking my dremel to the side vents but aesthetically it would be wrong on the black case :( If it were the Silver one I think you could possibly get away with it. The fans that come with the case are not the qui...
by nitram_tpr
Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:59 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: First custom build. I could really do with some advice. :)
Replies: 13
Views: 5828

Does it have to be INTEL? You could get the Gigabyte 780G motherboard, the on-board graphics will handle H264 decoding perfectly. It also has the ability to provide 2 outputs for your monitors. If you add another graphics card you can then output to 4. it also has a full HDMI connector. And why Nvid...
by nitram_tpr
Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:45 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec Solo Vs. Antec Fusion 430
Replies: 12
Views: 7077

I recently built a system with the Fusion case, almost similar spec to yours, same mono, but I used a BE-2350 with the mini ninja. I replaced the case fans with 2 of these connected to the motherboard headers. The Antec fans are fairly quiet on the low setting but even from about 6ft away they are a...
by nitram_tpr
Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:18 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: What's the ideal mobo and CPU for WHS
Replies: 41
Views: 18368

When M$ say it is affected on multiple drives...is this for a RAID array or for a machine with multiple individual drives?
by nitram_tpr
Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:03 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Please critique my HTPC plan
Replies: 3
Views: 2908

The new HTPC biased chipsets from AMD/ATI and Nvidia will handle the decoding on HD content on-board without the use of an add-in graphics card. You don't even have to use a high end CPU. There are numerous reviews of the 780G chipset from AMD/ATI. I have recently built one and it's very good. I use...
by nitram_tpr
Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:41 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - Problems with 125W AMD CPUs on budget boards.
Replies: 27
Views: 10893

Goodness, do people here believe that a respected site such as Anandtech would be scaremongering? What they are pointing to (if you can be bothered to actually read the article) is (accidental) misinformation by the motherboard manufacturers. Here is what the overview for the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H ...
by nitram_tpr
Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:39 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: AMD 780G: Best Ever Integrated Mainstream Chipset?
Replies: 140
Views: 108804

Just reading on anandtech and the 780G motherboards as they are now do not support the new 125W TDP CPU's from AMD, these CPU's will kill the motherboards. Now I know most of the people here at SPCR are all about silence and/or low power useage, but there will always be someone who would want to ban...
by nitram_tpr
Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:31 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 & SD964 "heatpipe direct-touch&q
Replies: 160
Views: 109018

If the pipes are empty then yes they would be pretty fragile. I have always been under the assumption that heatpipes have some sort of liquid in them and that they are sealed at both ends. That gives the heatpipes some pretty good structural integrity due to the internal pressure and the fact that p...
by nitram_tpr
Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:12 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Planning new build, are floppies relevant any more?
Replies: 26
Views: 10791

I got rid of my Floppy drive ages ago, but I do have a USB floppy drive just in case.
by nitram_tpr
Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:29 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 & SD964 "heatpipe direct-touch&q
Replies: 160
Views: 109018

An excellent review of what look to be 2 cracking units :) I believe the ref 92mm fan is the REAL SILENT CASE FAN DF1209SL-3 I could be wrong though :roll: Will you be reviewing the new Battleaxe VGA cooler from Xigmatek soon? That looks pretty damn good too. X-Bit labs reviewed it recently but I'd ...
by nitram_tpr
Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:07 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: AMD 780G: Best Ever Integrated Mainstream Chipset?
Replies: 140
Views: 108804

You can use both cards to provide a 4 monitor setup. Tom's hardware actually showed this, looked pretty impressive. What I was doing when I built my system up was to have the LCD TV hooked up to the HDMI from the mobo and a monitor hooked up to the VGA output of the 3450. The crossfire application s...
by nitram_tpr
Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:42 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Antec Fusion 430, GeminII Cooler
Replies: 3
Views: 2254

I built a system for my Brother very similar to yours last week. i used the same case, same mobo, but a BE2350 instead of the 2400. I used a Mini Ninja Heatsink and discarded the fan and it cools the CPU excellently in passive mode. I also changed the 2 case fans to AKASA amber series ultra quiets. ...
by nitram_tpr
Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:34 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: System advice on new build - water, air, or both?
Replies: 6
Views: 3177

Have you thought about getting one of the dual core CPU's instead? Have a look at this latest Anandtech review of the AMD Phenoms, in the gaming benchmarks the E8200 beats the Q6600 and the Q9300 in Crysis benchmarks. Plus it's failry well overclockable. As it's a dual core it'll be easier to keep c...
by nitram_tpr
Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:15 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: AMD 780G: Best Ever Integrated Mainstream Chipset?
Replies: 140
Views: 108804

The only card that will work in hybrid is the 3450. Whilst in hybrid the onboard graphics outputs are disabled. It would be nice if you could add a more powerful card for hybrid. I couldn't get hybrid working with the Cat 8.2's I could only get it working with the 8.3's. I'm not too sure how much of...
by nitram_tpr
Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:19 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: HTPC: Antec Fusion
Replies: 22
Views: 16785

Well mine is all built now, my digi camera has died so I can't take piccies and my phone camera just won't do it justice. This case is a beauty, it's blimmin' large and heavy, but very well built. The 2 cables are for the power to the power LED (the blue and white one) and the other one is to allow ...