Search found 105 matches

by Herb W.
Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:33 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case
Replies: 12
Views: 10412

I too would love to see a comparison with the P193, as these two cases are natural choices for those of us planning a dual-GPU build. Thoughts: the P193 with its more enclosed structure might do a slightly better job of masking the fan noise of the GPUs (the only real issue here), but on the other h...
by Herb W.
Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:49 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Good heatsink for i7 920 that is less than 150mm tall?
Replies: 13
Views: 6412

Hi Mats, I have both HSF (SI-128 SE & Ultra-120 Extreme Rev C). I tested them on my i7 920 (OC to 3.6GHz). I think the performance of SI-128 SE is on par with Ultra-120 Extreme. The CPU temp is about the same with both HSF, but the NB&SB temps are 7-9C lower with SI-128 SE than Ultra-120 Ex. You wi...
by Herb W.
Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:42 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)
Replies: 173
Views: 141127

The initial information we have is that the 5870X2 will be 12.1" so RV02 and FT02's honeycomb grille will need to be removed to accommodate it. How easy is that going to be, and is it going to cause any safety issues (I presume you are talking about a grill over the inside face of the fan(s) at the...
by Herb W.
Sat May 31, 2008 5:53 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: The Noctua NH-C12P: two new rave reviews
Replies: 2
Views: 2771

The Noctua NH-C12P: two new rave reviews

This new Noctua has just received two more rave reviews, confirming that offered at Dragon Steel Mods. One comes from the widely respected Mikhailtech folks, another from TweakTown . No comparison yet to the current champ, the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, but it looks more usable in smaller/HTPC ...
by Herb W.
Thu May 31, 2007 7:36 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Which PSU for P182? (cable length)
Replies: 5
Views: 3439

Good question and thanks for the answer Mike - the "solder it yourself" responses may be fine for DIY electricians but some of us would just prefer to avoid the hassle...
by Herb W.
Thu May 31, 2007 7:32 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: 1000W power supplies
Replies: 22
Views: 17665

Yes I caught that after posting - the quote I posted didn't mention the fact that it was the at-the-wall measure, so given the 80% efficiency of the PSU only 567 watts were used by the computer - thanks.
by Herb W.
Thu May 31, 2007 4:52 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: High-po PSUs and household wiring - safety issues?
Replies: 2
Views: 2894

High-po PSUs and household wiring - safety issues?

I am hoping that someone with a good grasp of household wiring issues can help me here. I am looking at getting a Seasonic M12 for an SLI system I'm building that at full load at the wall will draw up to 650+ watts. I live in a condo with no real flexibility to improve my wiring. The computer will b...
by Herb W.
Thu May 31, 2007 3:07 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: 8800GTX SLI system with Phantom 500
Replies: 23
Views: 13052

Try SnooP's calculator. From what I've read and checked it's more accurate. Snoop's figures for a 8800GTX SLI configuration seem a little on the low side if you look at the careful real-world testing of such as system at BeHardware: "we are at 384.7 watts in stand by and 687.6 watts in load. " Also...
by Herb W.
Thu May 31, 2007 2:50 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: 1000W power supplies
Replies: 22
Views: 17665

While 1K may be over the top, if you want some headroom with SLI'd 8800 GTX cards as I will, you have to go pretty high - consider the results from the aforementioned testing on such a loaded system at Be Hardware: Consumption doubled compared to the previous configuration, because we are at 384.7 w...
by Herb W.
Wed Dec 29, 2004 12:16 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Question for fellow XP-120 owners...
Replies: 27
Views: 14537

A tip for bringing load temperatures down that may apply with your motherboard (check your BIOS): My A8V by default sets the CPU speed and voltage at the BIOS's "auto" setting. When I discovered this and set the voltage manually to the nominal 1.5v (the CPU spec), my reported voltage dropped from th...
by Herb W.
Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:44 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Question for fellow XP-120 owners...
Replies: 27
Views: 14537

Interesting point Ed - I was not not aware of that property of heatpipe coolers, and that might help explain why the idle temp is high while the load temp is quite good. It might also explain why the measured efficency of the cooler (the C/W ratio, checked during the calibration procedure) was not f...
by Herb W.
Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:37 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Removing Stock Retention Mechanism from an A64 Board
Replies: 4
Views: 3015

My experience is the same as Keith's - just unscrew the A8V bracket and mount the new one. However do NOT use the origninal screws as they are too long for the new bracket - use the ones that come wtih the heatsink (I got wrong advice from my retaler on this). Let me add one piece of advice - mount ...
by Herb W.
Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:45 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Question for fellow XP-120 owners...
Replies: 27
Views: 14537

CPU Temperature calibration results....

Following the CPU temperature calibration procedures given in the SPCR guide, I got some interesting results - the caveat being that I could not test over as wide a range of CPU speeds as might be desireable due to the A8V's inability to either let the FSB go below 200, or to reduce the default 13X ...
by Herb W.
Mon Dec 27, 2004 1:05 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Question for fellow XP-120 owners...
Replies: 27
Views: 14537

And what exactly is a sharpie?
by Herb W.
Sun Dec 26, 2004 10:51 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Question for fellow XP-120 owners...
Replies: 27
Views: 14537

Thanks to all for the advice and sharing of experiences. I will definitely run the CPU burn utility (although I know I will be sweating that one out). I will also run the temperature calibration procedure described on this site. As to the motherboard, which I should have noted, it's the Asus A8V rev...
by Herb W.
Sat Dec 25, 2004 2:12 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Question for fellow XP-120 owners...
Replies: 27
Views: 14537

Question for fellow XP-120 owners...

I'm wondering what you found the base surface on your XP-120 to be like. I recently installed one and found that when I ran my fingernail across the base there was a a marked roughness, and very close visual examination revealed a ridge/valley look to the surface. I am wondering if mine is defective...
by Herb W.
Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:27 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: AMD FX-55 CPU Coolers
Replies: 8
Views: 4173

It may fit the motherboard but that does not mean it will fit in your case - the photos I have seen show the heat sink hanging over the edge of the mb by quite a ways so it may bump into your PSU....
by Herb W.
Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:59 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Comprehensive new CPU wattage tests at Toms.....
Replies: 7
Views: 4075

Yup, my information was wrong, I thought Tom's had put these tables up today but they are a week old. Had I known that I would have done a search of the forum before writing, found that thread you mention and saved myself the time....
by Herb W.
Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:08 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Comprehensive new CPU wattage tests at Toms.....
Replies: 7
Views: 4075

Sorry - link fixed!
by Herb W.
Mon Nov 22, 2004 8:57 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Comprehensive new CPU wattage tests at Toms.....
Replies: 7
Views: 4075

Comprehensive new CPU wattage tests at Toms.....

Today Tomshardware put up an impressive set of tables showing empirical measurements of power consumption at both idle and full load for a wide range of current Intel and AMD processors: Tom's tests The results are pretty discouraging for the new Prescotts - their wattages at rest aren't bad, thanks...
by Herb W.
Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:30 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: The Top SPCR Quiet 120mm Axial Fans Compared + 120mmAC Fans.
Replies: 197
Views: 528765

Silenx 120's

Has anyone had experience with the SilenX 120mm 14dBA (!) 1800rpm 58cfm fan? It's readily available in Canada at bigfootcomputers.com. I dropped in there and gave it a listen, just plugged right into a PSU and it was a lot quieter than the L120 Panaflo in my Sonata case - about the same at 12 v as t...
by Herb W.
Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:48 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Sapphire 9600XT Ultimate - Where to get it in Canada?
Replies: 9
Views: 5054

I have a 9800 Pro Ultimate just coming out of my system (replaced by an X800XT PE). Worked well in my Sonata case. PM me if interested....
by Herb W.
Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:43 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Artic Cooling new version sucks
Replies: 21
Views: 11517

Kevin - thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I just installed an X800 XT-PE, and it suddenly sounds like someone left a hissing tap running in my otherwise pretty silent computer. Having upgraded from an Ultimate Edition 9800 Pro with passive cooling, I don't appreciate the added noi...
by Herb W.
Wed Jul 16, 2003 10:56 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Quiet DVD-ROM: Sony DDU-1621
Replies: 11
Views: 6843

Thanks for the tip, just shopping now for a silent DVD drive - and I am looking for a black fascia too (to match a Sonata case)....
by Herb W.
Wed Jul 16, 2003 10:54 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: usb memory sticks
Replies: 6
Views: 5013

Having recently got one of these babies, I can confirm that they run quiet :) . More seriously, though, not all motherboards support booting off a USB port - you would need to check the BIOS section of the manual. And not all flash drives are configurable as bootable devices - in fact very few are; ...
by Herb W.
Sat Jul 12, 2003 12:04 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Fan Isolation Mount Problem
Replies: 11
Views: 5136

Ralf, could you say which model of the McMaster fan isolator fits the Panaflo 120? I need 'em for a Sonata....

Tx.
by Herb W.
Fri Jul 11, 2003 11:50 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Sonata/3700 fan mounts
Replies: 7
Views: 5601

Does anyone know of fan isolator that will fit the 120mm Panaflo properly when it is used in a Sonata case?
by Herb W.
Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:00 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA : No AAM support too !
Replies: 12
Views: 6923

I don't think I'd be too concerned about noise with the SATA DiamonadMax Pro 9 - from a recent review at HotHardware: "We didn't compare the drive to every disk in our lab but the DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA drive has quieter spindle and read head acoustics than either the Western Digital SE or Barracuda...
by Herb W.
Tue Jun 03, 2003 1:10 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Beware - Antec's front USB/FW ports do not work (in USB2.0)
Replies: 12
Views: 9595

The general rule of thumb with these guys is......

If they don't explicitly state they support a cutting-edge feature, they nearly always don't.
by Herb W.
Tue Jun 03, 2003 1:10 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Beware - Antec's front USB/FW ports do not work (in USB2.0)
Replies: 12
Views: 9595

The general rule of thumb with these guys is......

If they don't explicitly state they support a cutting-edge feature, they nearly always don't.