Search found 95 matches

by Irrelevant
Sun Jun 11, 2017 1:24 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Silent, fast, 4k video editing system
Replies: 3
Views: 4392

Re: Silent, fast, 4k video editing system

Check to make sure the software you use is capable of utilizing GPUs for extra horsepower (e.g., uses OpenCL or CUDA). If it isn't, all that oomph is useless, and a GTX 1080 would probably be no better than onboard graphics. And even if your software does use OpenCL/CUDA, you might still be better o...
by Irrelevant
Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:34 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Case Choice - Is the Fractal R5 really a good case?
Replies: 11
Views: 10041

Re: Case Choice - Is the Fractal R5 really a good case?

I'm more annoyed by electronic sounds than just fans - especially coildwinding is a nightmare for me. Because of this I want a dampened Case. Contrary to popular belief, case dampening material doesn't reduce airborne noise (like coil-whine) significantly. The guideline for an effective acoustic ab...
by Irrelevant
Sun Apr 17, 2016 12:03 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Skylake+thunderbolt+good bios fan control=?
Replies: 9
Views: 8274

Re: Skylake+thunderbolt+good bios fan control=?

It's been a few years, but last time I checked, there was a <$100, USB-based unit with a software UI for Linux and BeOS, for example. To which unit are you referring to? Unfortunately, I can't remember the name for the life of me, but IIRC, it was one of the first such units and the Linux/BeOS soft...
by Irrelevant
Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:41 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Which case for me?
Replies: 24
Views: 13920

Re: Which case for me?

Depending on your components, fan control, and workspace, open-air cases can actually be pretty quiet and low on dust because less airflow is needed to keep things cool. Also, using an aftermarket cooler may or may not worsen VRM cooling, but likely not. Barring manufacturer stupidity, you can usual...
by Irrelevant
Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:05 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Skylake+thunderbolt+good bios fan control=?
Replies: 9
Views: 8274

Re: Skylake+thunderbolt+good bios fan control=?

Why not use third-party software or hardware for fan control? Unless you're using a truly strange OS, I'd be surprised if there weren't something like Speedfan available that you could get to work with a Gigabyte board, and if not, there are a variety of programmable hardware units that might suit, ...
by Irrelevant
Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:15 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Case under $200
Replies: 5
Views: 6432

Re: Case under $200

I've been quite pleased with my black Fractal Define S. Panel and frame are pretty hefty steel, with a truly excellent powder-coat. The front bezel and ModuVent covers are plastic, but have also held up remarkably well to some abuse and don't really look plastic-y. IMO, it's fairly good-looking, ver...
by Irrelevant
Thu Oct 29, 2015 1:47 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise
Replies: 26
Views: 12773

Re: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise

Second, because it's not completely wrong, just mostly wrong. Is there any real difference? Sure, because if it's all wrong, there's only one thing you can do: go through its pockets for loose change. :lol: So what about those drives which cannot be kept between 30°C and 40°C, like high speed or en...
by Irrelevant
Wed Oct 28, 2015 3:38 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise
Replies: 26
Views: 12773

Re: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise

where (HDD) failure rates double or triple when you exceed 40C where exactly do people come up with this completely wrong factoid? and why is it so prevalent? :? First, because that's the way the Google study's results were initially reported: with hyperbole and oversimplification. As usual, the tr...
by Irrelevant
Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:20 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Skylake thoughts
Replies: 81
Views: 58449

Re: Skylake thoughts

Not sure if anyone but me cares, but I thought I'd post this anyway: two of Gigabyte's previous Z170 mobos have now received Thunderbolt 3 certification , suggesting that TB3 support doesn't require a whole lot more than an Alpine Ridge controller. Here's hoping that's true, because TB3 really has a...
by Irrelevant
Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:59 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise
Replies: 26
Views: 12773

Re: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise

An i7 is overkill. Blizzard games run excellent with just a fast dual core as do many others. Having four physical cores (i5) is still the sweet spot for more demanding games. Perhaps at the moment, but I'm not sure that will be true 4-5 years from now. Developers are getting much better at multi-t...
by Irrelevant
Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:58 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise
Replies: 26
Views: 12773

Re: Gaming PC (AIR+QUIET) - Please advise

Yep, I am not in a rush to change the monitor and I think I will go with a GTX 970. I've been looking to buy a new GPU myself, and it looks to me like only the tippity-toppest GPUs (eg, Titan or Fury) can handle 4K without going SLI. No way they'll handle 4K five years from now. On the flip side, m...
by Irrelevant
Fri Oct 16, 2015 5:06 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Skylake thoughts
Replies: 81
Views: 58449

Re: Skylake thoughts

Just a note to everyone: just because a mobo has Alpine Ridge doesn't necessarily mean it's Thunderbolt-capable. Gigabyte used to have Thunderbolt support listed on all their Alpine Ridge-equipped Z170 mobos, but they've since removed it (and well after commercial release, too, I believe) and then r...
by Irrelevant
Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:25 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Top 5 silent cases?
Replies: 10
Views: 8219

Re: Top 5 silent cases?

Banally it's how you actually use it that makes an enclosure well suited to run with the least amount of noise, that's why there ain't no such thing as a silent case, that's why is a bit pointless looking for the most silent cases. :wink: Unquestionably, usage patterns and component choice do make ...
by Irrelevant
Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:27 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Skylake Memory Scaling with Kingston Predator DDR4-3000
Replies: 13
Views: 15506

Re: Skylake Memory Scaling with Kingston Predator DDR4-3000

Excellent article. Given how important system RAM is for iGPU performance, it'll be interesting to see what happens when developers really start to sink their teeth into DX12. If they can make good on Microsoft's promises of efficient, concurrent use of disparate GPUs, system RAM might become far mo...
by Irrelevant
Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:39 pm
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: Transforming current PC to silent one
Replies: 29
Views: 18718

Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

There's another solution to GPU noise: aftermarket coolers. They take up a lot of expansion slots, void most (if not all) GPU manufacturers' warranties (though in most cases if you just swap the original cooler back in before you RMA, you're golden), and can be tricky to install (non-reference cards...
by Irrelevant
Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:50 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Cold fusion ressurected?
Replies: 30
Views: 53334

Re: Cold fusion ressurected?

Besides, fabrication is probably far more expensive than the materials. I'm just extrapolating here, but it sounds like whatever the metal is, it has to be made into an extremely low-density, open-celled foam with a very consistent cell size, something that's damn tricky to do. Isn't this what manu...
by Irrelevant
Wed Oct 07, 2015 11:01 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Cold fusion ressurected?
Replies: 30
Views: 53334

Re: Cold fusion ressurected?

'Fraid this sounds a lot like BS to me. If there were anything to it, I'd expect some buzz, but there doesn't seem to be any. The concept of cold fusion is so appealing that it only takes a shred of credibility to make a bit of a splash in the media. On the other hand, the scientific community does ...
by Irrelevant
Fri Sep 25, 2015 2:26 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: thermal pad on the back of the mobo
Replies: 3
Views: 3725

Re: thermal pad on the back of the mobo

Do you think adding a thermal pad between the back of the motherboard (over the CPU socket) and the case would help dissipate the heat? I doubt it. The PiPO X7 is pretty unusual. Its standoff height is about half that of most ATX/mITX/mATX cases, so it should conduct heat twice as well to its mobo ...
by Irrelevant
Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: NH-D15 or smaller cooler??
Replies: 28
Views: 17792

Re: NH-D15 or smaller cooler??

12% doesn't seem like much, yet it's probably a greater improvement than moving from Haswell to Skylake. About the same, actually. The Haswell-Skylake difference is usually placed around 10%, on average, but that depends a great deal on the application. In some benchmarks, Skylake's actually a teen...
by Irrelevant
Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:15 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Do PWM case fans make sense?
Replies: 5
Views: 8963

Re: Do PWM case fans make sense?

Will it help with overall noise levels under load rather than using a constant speed for case fans? Probably. Computer fans are not nearly as directional in their airflow as one might think, so without enough intake/exhaust to keep air moving, interior fans will waste a lot of work on futile cyclin...
by Irrelevant
Thu May 21, 2015 8:54 pm
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: Any reason to not use stock cooler if not overclocking?
Replies: 13
Views: 8315

Re: Any reason to not use stock cooler if not overclocking?

Sorry to derail my own post: I was originally going in the direction of "what is the cheapest way to be quieter than the stock fan?", which I'd still like to know :) If the mods want to split this out into a "best 140mm limit tower heatsink" thread, that might help others. There are some good coole...
by Irrelevant
Tue May 12, 2015 9:01 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: M.2-to-PCIe adapters
Replies: 2
Views: 4920

Re: M.2-to-PCIe adapters

Definitely a good thing to know, though all the mITX mobos I checked out had PCIe-enabled M.2 slots. There was a lot of variability between 1x- and 4x-enabled M.2 slots, though, and I think the keying is incompatible, though I might be wrong about that. I'll definitely double-check before I buy anyt...
by Irrelevant
Fri May 08, 2015 4:26 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: quiet pc build -- advice on transporting
Replies: 12
Views: 7967

Re: quiet pc build -- advice on transporting

My experience (which is quite extensive) is that a properly packed computer will ship just fine, and an improperly packed one will arrive at its destination utterly destroyed. My recommendations: Ship it in the case's original packaging. A professionally fitted box and polystyrene padding offers far...
by Irrelevant
Fri May 08, 2015 2:19 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: M.2-to-PCIe adapters
Replies: 2
Views: 4920

M.2-to-PCIe adapters

So I'm planning an upgrade and am toying with the idea of hooking a PCIe audio interface into an M.2 slot with an M.2-to-PCIe adapter and a flex-riser. Power shouldn't be an issue, thanks to the adapter's Molex, and AFAIK the M.2 PCIe connection is just treated like just another PCIe slot, but no on...
by Irrelevant
Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:24 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: Custom carbon fibre case
Replies: 8
Views: 8593

Re: Custom carbon fibre case

Sweet! I've been wanting to build a custom case for a long time, too, and it's nice to see another SPCR'er go the custom route. BTW, if you do end up buying an aftermarket GPU heatsink, the 90-degree mobo orientation is going to make selection tricky. Even the best heatpipes under-perform once the h...
by Irrelevant
Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:27 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: As you get older are you planning for bad times?
Replies: 34
Views: 94947

Re: As you get older are you planning for bad times?

I think these anecdotes only show that some states/regions are better prepared than others and shows what a crucial role a well-funded government plays. I rather fight for that, than stockpile food and water at home. Good government is indeed the best form of emergency preparation, but some of us a...
by Irrelevant
Wed Feb 11, 2015 5:41 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: As you get older are you planning for bad times?
Replies: 34
Views: 94947

Re: As you get older are you planning for bad times?

No, not "etc. etc." ... unless you also think that maybe a high UV Index warning or a hay fever alert is going to keep people from taking to the highways. The "etc, etc" was a way of saying that I was sure there are others I hadn't thought of ... and there are. Additionally, traffic volume might ma...
by Irrelevant
Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:22 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: As you get older are you planning for bad times?
Replies: 34
Views: 94947

Re: As you get older are you planning for bad times?

I can't think of too many emergencies where they would not be. Snow would be the most likely, but even after the most extreme snowstorm, major roads are cleared within a day or two Flooding comes to mind. We're now facing rising sea levels and more unusual weather patterns caused by climate change....
by Irrelevant
Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:54 pm
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: As you get older are you planning for bad times?
Replies: 34
Views: 94947

Re: As you get older are you planning for bad times?

> 3. Keeping a food stash. What for? So I can survive for a few weeks in my own filth in my house and eat cracker and rice & beans cooked on a camp stove? No thanks, I'm not planning for a nuclear winter or zombie apocalypse. So, in an extreme weather emergency you drive 1/2 a day to where there's ...
by Irrelevant
Wed Dec 10, 2014 10:18 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Quiet Mini-ITX Gamer Build Guide
Replies: 56
Views: 56283

Re: Quiet Mini-ITX Gamer Build Guide

The extra 4 wires are there only to ensure enough current capacity, which for a sub-100W CPU seems like overkill, as any VGA card that actually calls for substantial 12V has separate PCIe 6/8-pin power connectors. Not necessarily. I can envision scenarios where sloppy PCB layout and/or skimping on ...