Is it this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074 I can't seem to find any that say B3 on the model number. What about the samsung f1 series? I can't seem to find the 250gb or 320gb version of these drives anywhere. I also read that the WD B3 is rather slow... Newegg ca...

Here's the HDTune results:

PCMark05 Results

There is some variation from part to part.

The extra RPMs aren't going to make a difference in your case.

Lawrence Lee wrote:I burned out a fan header doing this with a Gigabyte DS3. The same thing with a DFI Ultra-D. They were two low power fans too (1.8W a piece). Can't say I recommend it.

Thanks for the warning. I guess I'll use separate fan headers.

psiu wrote:You could overload the plug--it will be drawing twice the current.

Is that likely to occur with two low-rpm 120mm fans? Say, 2x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E?

I recently purchased a new Gigabyte DS3R motherboard. Like all recent Gigabyte motherboards, the DS3R has bios fan control for the CPU header. While the CPU is below a temperature, it will reduce the fan header voltage to reduce the speed (and noise) of the CPU fan. My question: Can I use a Y-splitt...

Your picture link is broken, so we can't tell what model you have.

The stock cooler is unlikely to provide sufficient cooling without a fan. If you want to go fanless, you could replace the stock cooler with a larger, passive heatsink like an Accelero S1 ($25).

Note Nvidia will release the 9600GT in two weeks.

It should run cooler than the 8600GT, with double the performance, but it will cost $150-$175.

Thanks again for the testing Conroy.

I guess Gigabyte users must use Speedfan for now.

Humm....I'm not at all convinced it makes much difference what side of the fan the airflow resistance is placed, as long as the resistance is a sufficient distance from the fan. If you put the resistance very close to the fan's exhaust side, you get back-pressure effects which are different from re...

That's interesting. EasyTune has no option to control the sys_fan2. The help pages mention control of the northbridge cooler, but my board doesn't have that. I had some trouble installing easytune5 and I can't figure out how to see version number, so I'm not absolutely sure that I have the latest v...

I am curious whether the SYS_FAN1 (or SYS_FAN2) header is controllable with speedfan on revision 2.0 and 2.1 boards. Does anyone know? Yep, I just tested it on my GA-P35-DS3P rev 2.0. The manual mentions nothing about the SYS_FAN2 being controllable (even though it mentions controlling the CPU fan ...

This is new to me. I rechecked the specs and documentation (for GA-EP35-DS3P) and found no mention of speed control on the SYS_FAN2 header. What board, revision and BIOS version are you using? Do you have a 3-pin or 4-pin fan attached to that header? AFAIK, only the CPU fan header is bios-controlla...

Running Aero and running Aero fast are two different things. If you want Windows to be responsive, especially at higher resolutions, then you really need a card that will get you 5.0 or better in the Vista Aero graphics test (Windows Experience Index). I would look at a 8600GT or Radeon 2600XT. IIRC...

mine has 2 controllable fan headers with Speedfan, the third one will monitor the fan speeb but cannot control it Can you elaborate? How many fans can be controlled by the bios and Gigabyte's own software on your GA-P35-DS3 (what revision?)? Is Speedfan required to change the speed on the second fan?

Tomson wrote:KenAF: If comparing this new series to GP line, is the noise level of both drives the same, or is the GP still less noisy?

Unfortunately, I don't have a GP drive in my PC to compare.

AFAIK, all of the above models are limited to fan control for the CPU fan. I believe you've got to step up to an Gigabyte X38 or X48 board to get fan control for multiple headers. The Abit IP35 Pro remains the best P35 board for fan control, but Abit still has work to do before they fully support th...

Ace of Spades wrote:may I ask where you ordered this new 320GB model? I am very interested in purchasing this drive for storage usage. Thanks!

As I noted in another thread, I got them from this ebay seller.

When you submit payment with Paypal, specify in the note that you want the new WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 version.

mr_plow_king wrote:could you send one to MikeC so he can test it ?

Western Digital should send him one for free. What's his contact email? I will forward the address.

Edit: Nevermind, found it.

I received several of these drives today. I got them from this ebay seller.

When you submit payment with Paypal, specify in the note that you want the new WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 version.

There's a new king in town.

I got my 320GB Western Digital WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 today and it produces noticeably less noise than my Samsung HD501LJ. It is faster too!

The 640GB WD6400AAKS and [updated] 320GB WD3200AAKS are based on Western Digital's new, higher density 320GB platter. The older 500Gb and 750Gb versions are based on <200GB platters. The new 320GB product code is WD3200AAKS-00B3A0. The B3 tells you that it is the new version. Manufacturing on this u...

i just bought my hd501lj thank to all that help me so far ;) anyway i noticed that out of 500GB, i only have ~465GB available. should there be this massive 35GB difference or does mine have some issue? For marketing purposes, drive manufacturers quote capacity based on 1,000,000,000 bytes per gigab...

I just ordered one of these and will be comparing it to the new WD 320Gb platter drive in the next two weeks.

I think the Samsung HD250HJ vs Western Digital WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 would make a nice shootout at SPCR.

Looks like we may have a new leader in silent storage. While we wait for Anandtech's review, I found these benchmarks of the new WD3200AAKS-00 B3 A0 on Planetnow.de. here times some results in the comparison to seagate 7200,10 with 250gb also 16mb cache HD Tune Seagate 250GB/ WD 320GB Min(MB/sek): 2...

If you haven't already bought a motherboard, some feature built-in fan control to reduce the voltage on every fan header during idle.

One example would be the Abit IP35 Pro.

KenAF wrote I assume the bios also retains those % speed settings after you turn off the computer? So you just need to set everything once, then the software is no longer needed? Correct, the software is just used to recalibrate the settings and does not need to be running. Thanks. The picture abov...

I don't think it's the motherboards. One guy went through three E8400 CPUs, and they all reported different temperatures and were "locked" on idle. The "locked" temperatures is what some motherboard manufacturers -- such as Abit -- are doing as a temporary solution until they implement proper suppo...

There is no flawed sensor. Some motherboards just don't handle the sensor correctly . An E8400 used in different motherboards from different manufacturers will report wildly different temperatures. Abit is one manufacturer that is known to handle the E8400 sensor incorrectly. They are working to fix...