Perhaps a silly point (I'm sure that the people at Lian Li have thought of this), but wouldn't the side mounted 80mm fan (right side, close to middle of motherboard) pose clearance issues with the CPU HSF?

Unfortunately, I recently read a review (in PC Magazine I believe) which indicated that, despite Asus' claims, this system would probably not meet SPCR standards (I will try to provide a link/more info in the near future).

Hi All. I recently came across this review of the ASUS DiGiMatrix barebones HTPC. It appears to be an aesthetically appealing and full-featured HTPC. One potentially significant drawback is the limited "upgradeability." As far as the all too important quiet consideration goes, the review claims that...

Nearly all CRT monitors will eventually buzz and/or hum over time. You say you have $350, so LCD monitors are in your price range. Also, a 17" LCD monitor has a viewable space comparable to many 19" CRT monitors. They run cooler, silent, and your eyes will thank you too. I recommend that you look i...

I experienced a similar situation with my HTPC. The instability in my system was isolated to a Seasonic 300W Super Tornado (replacing this PSU with a 350W Forton PSU w/120mm fan resolved the problem...and the Fortron is also fairly quiet). EDIT: Well, after reading the rest of your post, I realize t...

Yes I second this. A rather simple/stupid case in point is that one time when I was transporting my computer (w/SLK-900U and Zalman HS on Radeon 9500), I must have a taken a turn too fast and my computer actually managed to flip 180 degrees forward. Much to my surprise (and pleasure) my system surv...

Andru: I am using the LG combo drive that you listed and am quite pleased with it. It is quiet (as far as optical drives are concerned) and performs well. Take care.

Will do guys (I might not be able to get to it until next weekend though; work has been crazy lately)...Tom P: check out these pics from NewEgg.com (in particular, the last picture shows the S-video out bracket...

Hey lacsap, if you're willing to consider an AMD-based solution, the Leadtek K7NCR18GM motherboard seems prime. It uses the well regarded nforce2 chipset and also offers s-video out (a surprisingly rare feature on micro-ATX motherboards). In any case, I am presently in the process of building an HTP...

As others have previously indicated, the FSP350-60PN is an amazingly quiet PSU (especially considering that it costs ~$50). I just installed this in my new system (note to all folders, my Barton 2500 is now back to folding full time!) in place of the SilenX 14dBa 400W PSU (from SilenX.com) and I am ...

Gandalf: for future reference, you might consider purchasing this heatsink. It costs ~$15, not including S/H (somewhat pricey, but nonetheless it is a quality, low-profile HS that comes with thermal tape pre-applied). In fact, this is what I am using to cool the southbridge on my NF7-S. Take care.

ravton: considering that I am far from being an expert re such matters, perhaps I shouldn't comment. However, as an SPCR member that has much respect for the knowledge and opinions of both Dorothy (jafb200) and Rusty, I must agree that your tone is rather inflammatory. To wit, your contributions to ...

It would be much more appealing (in my eyes) without the "Antec" holes on the sides and if the right side panel could be opened...

tragus: consider buying an internal drive and putting it into an enclosure (i.e. this one ). I am not quite sure how this will affect the economics of purchasing an internal drive (it has been some time since I've been in the market for one). However, considering that several online retailers carry ...

According to the same AnandTech thread that I posted above, the 9700 pro is available for $250 at some BestBuy stores, which is $50 less than the 9800 non-pro. Also, re the 9700 non-pro vs 9500 pro, I don't know that a $50+ price difference (assuming you can get the 9500 pro at BestBuy) is worth the...

Sapphire Radeon 9800 non-Pro at NewEgg (scroll ~3/4's down the page, retails for $299). Unfortunately, I have yet to see any reviews of this product. However, I agree with Rusty that, at least at the moment, the Radeon 9500 is the way to go if price is a factor. In fact, according to this thread at...

Hi Hawkeye. I've had a similar experience using SilenX PSUs. Specifically, of the two SilenX PSUs that I ordered, one continuously whines whereas the other recently developed an intermittant whine, similar in nature to the whine that you described (the whine is getting worse with time though). I e-m...

Hi All: Alas, the SilenX woes seem to continue. As I mentioned in a previous post, the first (of two) SilenX PSU emitted an annoying, high-pitched whine which was audible from over six feet away, even when the case was closed. Thus, I decided to RMA this PSU and, for the time being, use the other on...

GBR: I realize that this is the advertised description of the new Shin-Etsu compound, but Halcyon's previous post (which showed a 5 deg. C rise in CPU temp. upon applying the new compound) indicates that this may not be true. Take care. PS That is to say, it would be wonderful to have a compound tha...

Halcyon: any follow up report re the new Shin-Etsu compound? I only asked as I would love a compound that combines the efficacy of G-751 with the ease of application of other compounds, such as AS3 (I must admit that it took me forever to properly apply the G-751)? Many thanks. Take care.

Hi All, sorry for posting so much, but I think that I may have answered my own question re the ATC-630: it uses a propietary PSU (200W stock) and only accomodates half-height PCI/AGP cards (see picture here; thus making it a somewhat less attractive option, at least to me). Take care.

By the way, does anyone know if the CoolerMaster ATC-630 accepts a standard ATX PSU? I thought that I read on CoolerMaster's site that it comes with a propietary PSU, but PCMods' site suggests that it can take a Fortron PSU. If so, it's an attractive case that is more compact than anything else in t...

HokieESM: The advantage of the ATC-600 case over other products in the CoolerMaster desktop series is that the stock case allows mounting of 60mm fans on the sides. It is important to note that these fans are not mounted directly onto the sides of the case, but rather onto rail-type supports that ar...

Hey Ken. Yeah, that was the original plan. However, I opted for the mATX for the following reasons: price (saved ~$120), I thought that the stock PSU (2U unit, I believe) might be noisy (and probably harder to replace than an ATX PSU), and I think that, once modified, the mATX case (ATC-600) should ...

I am also in the process of building an HTPC style media PC. I recently purchased the CoolerMaster ATC-600 ($109+S&H here if you do not mind the grey colored top and side panels or $129+S&H here for the all black version, which was my choice). In any case, I too was concerned about using noisy 60mm ...

I recently ordered some 92mm Papst fans from Dorothy (see her thread in the Deals section if interested) and am quite pleased with them. To my ear, they seem significantly quieter than the 92mm Panaflo. I cannot comment on any decline in quality as these are the only Papst fans that I have. Also, th...

Though this may be theoretically possible, one practical consideration is that it is unlikely that both drives will spin at the exact same speed simultaneously (i.e. as the sound from the one drive would not be of equal frequency and 180 degrees out of phase w/sound from the other, the noise from th...

Since Shin-Etsu is in town, I called them up. They have minimum order of $120, but that will get me 50 grams (1 gram/syringe, about 2 uses/syringe) of X-23-7762 (the best they have availible, 7798 and 7783D are no longer in production). I'm debating buying me a whole load of shin-etsu and selling i...

And I'll add another machine soon (Barton 2500) and another one in a month or so (XP 1700; although it may not be folding full-time...depends on how quiet I can make the mATX case). Take care.

I too am in a similar situation in that I have one PC in a CoolerMaster case (ATC-111) and another in the works (that will be situated in an ATC-600 case). In any case, I'm afraid that I can only provide advice re the firewire problem. I think that the simplest solution would be to acquire a PCI fir...