Search found 103 matches

by scara
Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:23 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: HD 5770 non-reference fits S1?
Replies: 21
Views: 15598

Scara, please elaborate on what you did to ensure proper contact between the GPU and S1. I initially thought that the clear spacers were too tall. I simply pushed down on them to bend the mounting arms towards the fins, leaving roughly half of the spacer protruding above the base. Only about 2mm mo...
by scara
Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:18 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: HD 5770 non-reference fits S1?
Replies: 21
Views: 15598

I bought this card (HIS H577FM1GD) a month ago and fitted an S1 yesterday. The short story is that it fits and works very, very well. The stock card: The CCC shows that the card clocks down to 157/300 at idle with a minimum fan speed of 35% which in my case results in an idle temperature of 35c. The...
by scara
Fri May 22, 2009 8:44 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: What should I do to improve my Antec Sonata III case?
Replies: 9
Views: 4034

I was thinking of these Scythe mounts.
by scara
Fri May 22, 2009 8:22 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: What should I do to improve my Antec Sonata III case?
Replies: 9
Views: 4034

A shroud should certainly help quieten the PSU and sounds like your best place to start. Cutting the grills on the PSU probably won’t be beneficial as the internals will still be restrictive. How many hard drives are you using? You could use adapters to securely fit two hdds in the shroud. They wo...
by scara
Thu May 21, 2009 8:26 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: What should I do to improve my Antec Sonata III case?
Replies: 9
Views: 4034

How quiet you can make that case depends on how much you're willing to cut and spend. The main problem is that its airflow is restricted by the perpendicular hard drive cage. These threads: Speedmodding Sonata2 , Sonata mods , are perhaps the best examples of what you can do. Replacing the two case ...
by scara
Thu May 21, 2009 7:39 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Antec P183: The P182 Gets More Air
Replies: 145
Views: 127542

It's never been true of any case [that little modding be required], why should it be now? Because it could have been. If the top vent wasn’t a problem what parts of the case would you change to make it quieter? Is the Xfire test system still in the case? Would it be possible to do a short test fo...
by scara
Wed May 20, 2009 9:13 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Antec P183: The P182 Gets More Air
Replies: 145
Views: 127542

There are some solid improvements in this new version, but for me they are completely overshadowed by the top fan mount and new door. A case in this class/price range should require very little modding and with that in mind I’d like to see the following changes to improve the P183: 1. Keep the new...
by scara
Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:49 am
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: My new SFF PC ... just put together
Replies: 15
Views: 10297

It looks like your HSF and PSU are blowing in opposite directions just mm apart from each other! If thats the case then I'd definitely switch to an NT06L for better temps and less noise. You could also fit a VF-1000 to the 8800gt for similar reasons. That might allow you to undervolt all those case ...
by scara
Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:38 am
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: Gigabyte GA-7VA (r1.0?) northbridge cooling
Replies: 4
Views: 5644

Hi Air2

I used to use a GA-7VA and successfully swapped the northbridge heatsink with an NB47.

I would suggest simply removing the fan from the original heatsink instead though. Unless your case gets exceptionally warm, you should have no problems running it this way.
by scara
Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:14 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: new pc £500 limit
Replies: 9
Views: 3558

its the RAM i've been having the most trouble in selecting. I can get some corsair xms2 5400 for £93.46 from scan. or is there something cheaper i can get else where? Thats for the 2x512Mb kit right? I think you'd be better getting the equal specced(?) single stick for £82.88 or the Corsair value...
by scara
Thu May 18, 2006 4:50 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Power consumption 800xl Vs 7900gt
Replies: 3
Views: 2327

From a UK magazines' ( Custom PC ) recent test of most current graphics cards: System load running 3Dmark06 (they don't say if it was peak or average unfortunately) x1900xtx = 306w 7800gt = 216w x800xl = 214w x1800xl = 213w 9800Pro = 203w 7900gt = 200w 6200 tc = 163w All the cards that are faster th...
by scara
Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:38 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: question about timings to lower heat output? w/ATItraytools.
Replies: 6
Views: 3217

Hello vahagn, is there a specific reason you're aiming at 50°? Thats pretty low for such a GPU. Personally, I let mine top out at 70° and most of the time its 66°, I haven't had any problems. iirc the original 'fan profile' for this card aims at 60 or 65 and doesn't run the fan at full speed until i...
by scara
Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:20 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Quiet DIY OC'd Pentium D 830 System
Replies: 95
Views: 76296

1) Two reasons: I'm not the only user, and I didn't want to post embarrassing benchmark numbers :? The VRM that is overheating is the Vcore VRM; the X800 has its own on-card VRM which is completely separate. I think you've misunderstood what I was getting at there. I meant that in a typical setup (...
by scara
Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:50 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Quiet DIY OC'd Pentium D 830 System
Replies: 95
Views: 76296

First off, I'd like to thank Chris for submitting this interesting article which is quite different to most builds here. It seems that you've built a system that meets your high performance needs whilst remaining acceptably quiet; congratulations. I do have a couple of questions after a quick read h...
by scara
Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:50 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: x800xl owners please help
Replies: 6
Views: 2683

Hi, I have the HIS agp vivo version of this card and the PCB measures 22cm or ~8.75". Do any manufacturers list dimensions for gfx cards? You might have to check the exact card your looking at if space is tight.
by scara
Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:49 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: The Zalman ZM80D-HP can't be installed on a 6800 GT?
Replies: 3
Views: 2868

There is an adapter that lets you use a ZM80D on 6800 cards. Its called the ZM80D-IK1 but it can be hard to find (I searched but found nothing on Zalmans site). I'd be surprised if you managed to run a 6800gt passively though. It might be worth considering the usual Arctic Coolers or a vf700 looking...
by scara
Fri Oct 21, 2005 7:58 am
Forum: Watercooling
Topic: Low profile GPU waterblock?
Replies: 13
Views: 7418

The Koolance GPU-180-H06 should fit easily; measures 5x5x1.1cm.
Image
by scara
Fri Sep 16, 2005 2:20 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Presenting CPU coolers differently in reviews?
Replies: 10
Views: 3953

While I think thats a good idea, I don't think its a viable one. It would be difficult enough to keep the ambient temperatures level but to keep the same level of background noise would be basically impossible given spcrs' budget. Personally I think it would weaken the precise nature of the reviews....
by scara
Fri Sep 09, 2005 3:48 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Swap Antec's TruePower fans for Yate Loonies
Replies: 7
Views: 4228

Now that I check, Yate Loon 92mm pushes 32.35cfm vs 57.1cfm and the 80mm 25.3cfm vs 39.0cfm of the stock fan. Which fans you used? Also, if the airflow isn't enough, wont the PSU adapt the voltage to lower the temperature back? By which fan you tried to replace the PSU? Anyway, I'm looking forward ...
by scara
Thu Sep 08, 2005 5:10 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Swap Antec's TruePower fans for Yate Loonies
Replies: 7
Views: 4228

I used to use a TP 480w and tried various fan-swaps in that to quieten it down. In the end I gave up as I had to run the fans too fast to keep it cool (exhaust temp under 50C). I strongly recommend that you consider selling the TP and replacing it with something known to be efficient and quiet. Havi...
by scara
Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:32 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Is geforce fx 5700 nvidia equivalent to ati 9600xt?
Replies: 9
Views: 4611

Ah, sorry, I completely missed the undervolting :oops: Seems that a 6800LE with bios mod might be your best option at the moment then. I haven't seen graphics power consumption figures for a long time though so I'm just basing that on what I remember and what you've said. One alternative is to wait ...
by scara
Sat Sep 03, 2005 6:07 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Is geforce fx 5700 nvidia equivalent to ati 9600xt?
Replies: 9
Views: 4611

6800 has also separate clock and voltage settings for 2D i 3D. Mayby i can edit this settings (mod the bios) and set lower clock and lower voltage for 2D. I thought all graphics cards supported this, you don't need to mod the bios either (which would void the warranty). You can get programs for Lin...
by scara
Fri Sep 02, 2005 2:48 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Is geforce fx 5700 nvidia equivalent to ati 9600xt?
Replies: 9
Views: 4611

Even though you're only an occaisional gamer I'd still say go for the 6800. The 5700 won't be fast enough to play the more demanding new games, even at minimum settings, so you may have to buy a new card again quite soon. Isn't there a 6800LE or something that consumes similar power to the 5700 at i...
by scara
Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:30 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: New Case Advice - Quiet Media Center Style
Replies: 9
Views: 4234

Why don't you have one player and one writer? Many geeks may have 3 or more optical drives but they probably do not use or need them. Anyway, I second the Silverstone recommendation, more specifically the LC-17 . Its got six hard drive bays and excellent cooling potential compared to most HTPC cases.
by scara
Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:52 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Need help cooling down Barton
Replies: 5
Views: 2720

alexb wrote:ok, cool... I will try to add another fan. There's one fan on the top of the case that I disabled, it was loud.
Before you do that, why not just disable the two front fans?
by scara
Sat Aug 27, 2005 4:37 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Planning a system for a friend, need advice
Replies: 6
Views: 2769

I'm not quite sure what balance your friends system needs (how much encoding is he going to be doing?), so here's my thoughts for a general purpose computer. Motherboard, CPU + RAM A Venice 3000+ would do fine, but if you're not overclocking go for the fastest within budget. No need to go above 3500...
by scara
Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:37 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Sigh...Just what we all need
Replies: 40
Views: 18066

A PSU that can power my microwave and produce enough waste heat to fry the bacon....who wouldn't want one!
by scara
Fri Aug 19, 2005 2:35 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Does Arctic Silver make any difference?
Replies: 3
Views: 2383

Yes Arctic Silver does usually provide a better heat transfer between chips and blocks but the more important question is: is it worth the hassle? AS might lower your temps by ~2C, but it is easy to use too much, resulting in worse transfer. Coupled with the fact that you'd have to dismantle your co...
by scara
Sun Jul 31, 2005 7:17 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Front panel controller for processor fan
Replies: 8
Views: 5316

I don't think any front panel controller provides a feedback wire for the motherboard. There is a way to engineer one but I don't know how much work it would require, or if you'd want to do it. I presume the Zalman controller you have now is a Fan-Mate. If so then there are options for fitting it ex...
by scara
Sun Jul 31, 2005 7:02 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Cheap(ish) - but still quiet - system. Suggestions
Replies: 8
Views: 4938

The only S12 models officially available in Europe are the 430, 500 and 600. You might be able to find a retailer who has imported the lower range but that is very unlikely. You would be better going for an OEM version (the SS-301HT for example) as these are very cheap at around €40 and are readily ...