My current "quiet" system contains a 36 gig Seagate 15k3. Obviously it isn't silent. Of course my Samsung drive blows it away in terms of noise and heat. However, it is a sacrifice I'm willing to make and I will not replace the drive with anything slower. That and I don't have money to spend on new ...

Glad to be of help :D I'm still pretty new to this too. Be sure to report back and tell us how the project works out for you. I'm kind of curious to learn whether it is better in practice to figure out which fan configurations work best in an exhaust ducted system. (Intake fan blowing in, extra exha...

Well the idea behind the exhaust-ducted system (cpu duct and vga silencer) is that the internal case temp should remain failry close to ambient. This is because the heat from the hottest components doesn't get a chance to circulate and raise temps. So while the CPU temp will probably not be as low a...

Actually, the A64 DOES use the 12V rail. A64 boards use the same ATX12V supplement that P4 boards use. Of course, you shouldn't worry too much about it because 18 Amps @ 12V works out to be about 200 Watts and thats plenty of power.

The main reason I'm tempted by the 6800GT is because nVidia's linux and 64-bit drivers are superior....ATI where are my 64-bit linux drivers?? From a silent pc perspective, it'll just be more of a challenge to use an nVIdia card. Whats the point of a silent machine if it doesn't meet your needs? :)

If you are going to use an A64, why not get a 35W mobile A64 and forget about trying to make CnQ work in linux?

Any more thoughts on slapping a ZM-80D + 5V panaflo on a non-ultra/non-gt 6800? Thats basically what the Galaxy Card is right?
I'm an ATI person but their OpenGL and Linux drivers leave much to be desired. I plan on running a 64-bit linux distro and that rules out ATI at the moment.

Well I played with an 80mm thermistor fan with RPM sensing by SilenX. Plugging it into the CPU fan header on my K8V deluxe prevented the system from booting--even when set to ignore CPU tach warnings. That was definitely very annoying. Considering the cost vs a panaflo, I was not that impressed.

This is a good place to start :wink: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm Some people spread it evenly on the CPU and others follow the directions and just place a dab on the center (which gets squished into place when you put on the heatsink). As long as you don't apply far to...

Be sure to go over the jumper settings again. I haven't used a Seagate IDE drives yet but no jumpers usually does not mean SLAVE in my experience with other manufacturers. Example of a quirk: Western Digital actually has 4 states --MASTER, SLAVE, CS, and SINGLE DRIVE However, if both failed running ...

I didn't do an awesome job cutting mine but I found a straight edge (ruler with metal edge) and an Exacto knife to work well enough. I did require multiple passes. If you aren't concerned with a very pretty cut, I found that folding the sorbothane along the crease formed by the first cut leads to te...

Hello. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. My first experiment was undervolting in the BIOS of my K8V Deluxe. At stock CPU speed (10x200 = 2.00 Ghz) I was able to only get to 1.4Volts. So taking this for what it was worth, I abandoned further "classical" undervolting attempts and took a diffe...

Not all that often I would say considering the stock cooler is sitting in a drawer
Seriously though, it happens if the temps rise to the levels in the post. It only happened a few times but it did happen. Of course, it was during prime95 or folding (or maybe 50/50 on both).

Cool n Quiet was officially meant to be a way for a computer to slow down when under light load/idle. If you use the AMD CnQ driver or any software provided by your motherboard manufacturer (which includes the AMD driver) it will be automatically applied and you have no control as the precise voltag...

Well if any of the SPCR reviewers wants a stock A64 cooler to play with, I've got one sitting in a drawer. All they need to do is ask. However, I don't have a spare retention plate as I managed to break the one that came with my motherboard when I installed my new cooler. Stock cooler uses two holes...

Well, you can do what i did here and take advantage of CnQ to do your own custom underclocking/undervolting which can be far more agressive than CnQ default.

Any board that supports CnQ should allow undervolt to your heart's content. If you enable CnQ, you can manually set multiplier frequency and voltage from within Windows even if you don't see voltage options in your bios.
See theCustom Undervolting thread for more info.[/url]

Well the minimum multiplier I am able to find using ClockGen is 4 (which means 800 mhz). I don't think you can get the system at 300mhz as that would mean a multiplier of 1.5 --and I haven't found a way to make that happen yet.

Socket 939 Athlon 64 3700 or 3800 - Asus K8V Deluxe - You'll probably want an A8V unless you feel like finding a creative way of interfacing a socket 939 chip in to a 754 board :wink: If you've got $3K, I'd look into getting some dual opterons for your render box. If you don't plan on doing lots of...

Running a video card fanless is a nice thought--but it isn't as awesome as you may be thinking. Chances are very high that other components in your system will be making more noise than a 5V panaflo attached to the Zalman Heatpipe. Fanless is not necessary unless you are the ultimate silencer. In th...

I'm running an APC SmartUPS 1500. I was a little concerned when I read the manufacturer's noise sheets myself but don't get too hung up on it. My unit is inaudible from my position. There is a slight buzzing that can be heard from ridiculously close by---only if the room is very quiet. Anyway, noise...

Just wanted to let you know that the Asus K8V deluxe does support undervolting. I'm writing this as a K8V deluxe owner. You can manually set the CPU parameters. Also, if you enable CnQ, you can use 3rd party software to customize your CnQ experience (ie custom undervolting from within windows). CnQ ...

Hmm... I adjusted the sorbothane to leave some gaps to the sides...it became a lot softer feeling! It seems to work decently when used properly

I retract my previous statements about the lack of squishyness.

I'm using an L1A in my BQE power supply. Not too much trouble to switch. It was a little tight but as I have posted before it can be done with a little coaxing. (Bend, hit, etc). As for an L vs an M series fan? I think it comes down to personal choice. Do whatever makes you sleep soundly at night (e...

I think that 40 durometer was what was on the label. I can't confirm because the label it is gone now, but I can mail you a small chunk. It seems to be much more firm in a large sheet than when chopped into smaller bits. Anyway if you choose to accept, the 1" x 3" strip will be yours to keep.

I'm sure my system isn't quiet enough yet to really hear the difference. It is just that after lots of googling, all i could find about sorbothane was marketing about it being a custom polymer. My drive sleds still vibrate a bit but I guess I'll make sure to leave some space between the sorbothane s...

Sorbothane has been somewhat overhyped IMO. I bought some for my BQE but I haven't noticed that much of a difference yet in terms of seek noise and case vibration. I've noticed that in a large block, it isn't very soft at all (ie it needs to be in thin strips to be "squishy"). Perhaps I need to pick...

Noticed this on a hot deals forum: http://www.nexfan.com/evpecoairco.html Seems interesting....*cough* BS specs *cough* Model : PCAC • First unique turbine lateral cross-flow fan design, high air flow volume provides up to 100 CFM which allows the blower to dispense large volume of heat. • Classical...

Distilled water is still a good idea for that fishtank and any water cooling setup. Tapwater has minerals like calcium that may precipitate when heated + impacting a surface at high speed...clogging up your water blocks over time. It depends on how "hard" the water in your area is. Also, the lack of...

0.9V BSOD was @ 1 ghz I may be able to take the Vcore a little lower but there seems to be a point of diminishing returns. I'm back at 1.4V experimenting with a ghetto duct I made from a 2-liter coke bottle--but it doesn't seem to be going so well. Rear exhaust is now the CPU intake and the front in...