Search found 502 matches

by SometimesWarrior
Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:38 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Testing CPU cooling
Replies: 3
Views: 1702

The CPU Burn apps will heat up the processor like nothing else (including the drip animation and other 100%-CPU applications). There is no Athlon64-optimized CPU Burn, AFAIK, so the BurnK7 app is the best you can do. My information source: Power consumption compared . I suggest also using a 24-hour ...
by SometimesWarrior
Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:26 pm
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: O'Reilly Book: Building the perfect PC
Replies: 1
Views: 1610

Obviously there were two different writers working on that chapter. :lol:
by SometimesWarrior
Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:02 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: How much power a PSU is drawing
Replies: 27
Views: 10837

The Xbit-labs article sthayashi linked is good. Also, here's one where actual CPU power consumption is measured . But the strongest evidence comes from all the Kill-a-watt measurements scattered throughout this site, the forums, and elsewhere. It says right on the display, "This PC is using 130W at ...
by SometimesWarrior
Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:49 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Low power AGP card - nowdays ?
Replies: 8
Views: 5482

Hmmm... is it possible to run the server without any video at all? Just work on it over the network with a remote shell. Maybe borrow a graphics card from a nother system for installation, and then take it out. Anyway, in my experience hard drives and optical drives (anything that moves) are much mo...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:40 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: ATI Silencer 1 or VGA Silencer rev. 3 on Radeon 9800 Pro?
Replies: 11
Views: 5971

It also costs less, on the other hand, since it's being phased out it might not be as easily available. I see new VGA Silencers being sold every few hours on eBay. You could "buy it now", but since most go without any bids, a single bid at the intro price of $8.95 (assuming no reserve) will give yo...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:35 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: ATI Silencer 1 or VGA Silencer rev. 3 on Radeon 9800 Pro?
Replies: 11
Views: 5971

rev 1 will probably have a better chance of fitting on the 9800 pro w/o modifications... Here's arctic cooling's compatibility list: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/downloads/compatibility/ati_comp_1024.gif That list applies to the various versions of the ATI Silencer, not to the VGA Silencer or its ...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:12 pm
Forum: User Reviews
Topic: Aerocool VM-101 fits MSi NX6600GT VTD128
Replies: 61
Views: 74908

Could this possibly dissipate enough heat to cool a 6800? My NV5 is too loud an annoying, and I'm thinking this might be a viable alternative, if it can actually cool it efficiently enough It should. 6800 uses less power than 6600gt, therefore less heat. http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.p...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:04 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Magnetic Floating Bearing (MFB)
Replies: 6
Views: 4698

Interesting idea, so I hit up the ol' SPCR search. Check this link: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=10604 Also search for "Maglev" for more hits. I've read through most of the results and haven't seen any listening results, although Ed Ng had a thread where he looked like he was pre...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:41 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Is earth/ground important?
Replies: 7
Views: 4882

The Xbit-labs PSU Testing Methodology article talks a bit about when a ground is important for a PC, and when it isn't. Check page 4, maybe it will answer your question?
by SometimesWarrior
Tue Feb 01, 2005 10:52 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: OCZ Powerstream, Antec Truepower, and Bequiet at Xbit
Replies: 9
Views: 4218

I sent an email to the reviewer a couple weeks ago, after his PSU Testing Methodology article, asking him to report on efficiency numbers at wattages other than full load. He does it on some of the PSU's, although I think that had nothing to do with my request. :) The OCZ power supply looks about as...
by SometimesWarrior
Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:27 am
Forum: Site Feedback
Topic: How many browser windows or tabs do you keep open?
Replies: 36
Views: 29551

Kerio Personal Firewall displays active connections, and I can see that opening a page in Firefox starts several simultaneous connections. They close soon after the transfers are complete, but in the meantime the server gets a big spike in load. Part of that is due to the network tweak I had install...
by SometimesWarrior
Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:29 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: High Performance + very quiet, can it be done?
Replies: 35
Views: 19231

Let's identify the possible problem components: CPU, power supply, motherboard chipset fan: these are commonly discussed on SPCR, and there's a wealth of readily-accessible information for picking good parts. Two considerations: the PSU will need a strong 12V rail to handle the extra drives, and PSU...
by SometimesWarrior
Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:13 am
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: under clocking/volting P4 prescott 3ghz
Replies: 5
Views: 3100

A quick calculation suggests that your processor is at 40% of its original power consumption: 2.4/3.0 * 0.9875^2/1.4^2 = 0.398. That's quite a savings! Anyway, I suggest running a Prime95 torture test overnight for a system stability check when you get a chance, although in reality you could have a ...
by SometimesWarrior
Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:54 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: The 'Pareto Components' of a noisy pc
Replies: 8
Views: 6526

I say the worst component is the hard drive, because it's so hard to make silent and it's expensive to replace if it's too loud. You can suspend a hard drive, or put it in a sealed enclosure like the Smart Drive, but there are few easy fixes after that. For example, I am running a dual-AthlonXP syst...
by SometimesWarrior
Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:43 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Looking for a new sound card.
Replies: 4
Views: 3934

At last count, I've heard approximately 4 million good things about the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 and its sister product, the Revolution 7.1. :) If I was going to get a new soundcard, I would choose one of those two without hesitation--probably the Revolution, because I want mini-jack outputs. The onl...
by SometimesWarrior
Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:42 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Sound savings: non-OC 3500+ w/ Zalman heatsink, fan
Replies: 3
Views: 2617

I tend to spit venom at Thermaltake (Tt) not because their products are crap, but because their marketing literature and noise specs are just lies lies lies. The same probably goes for Coolermaster, although not to the same extent. pony-tail's experiences with the Thermaltake Fanless103 are basicall...
by SometimesWarrior
Sat Jan 29, 2005 7:05 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Fanmate 2 and determining voltage levels
Replies: 11
Views: 4186

I just held the two multimeter probes on the high and ground Fanmate pins and tried not to short them too many times. :lol: I used some white-out to mark on the Fanmate 1 casing where the minimum (~5V), 7V, and max (~10.5V) levels were. For me, it was at 7 o'clock, 10 o'clock, and about 12:30, so ev...
by SometimesWarrior
Sat Jan 29, 2005 6:45 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: HDD analysis tool that both WRITES and reads
Replies: 6
Views: 2757

Maybe something like SpinRite would work for you. It's really overkill for this job, because its main feature is the ability to repair drives like your own, but it will also be able to detect the problem. But if it does repair your drive (by reallocating the broken sector or whatever), then you don'...
by SometimesWarrior
Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:08 am
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: ATI Silencer 1 or VGA Silencer rev. 3 on Radeon 9800 Pro?
Replies: 11
Views: 5971

VGA Silencer rev. 3 will likely be quieter, because it has a fast/slow switch and the plastic housing isn't as brittle. There are probably a dozen threads on this board (use the search) that talk about the VGA Silencer on 9800's (standard, Pro, XT) and the performance it gives. The general feeling I...
by SometimesWarrior
Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:07 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Is the Panaflo L1A adaquate as a CPU fan?
Replies: 3
Views: 2124

I have the same heatsink, on an XP1600+ (Palomino). With a Panaflo L1A at 12V, I think the max CPU temp is in the low 50's. I run the fan at about 8 volts, which means an idle of ~50C and load of ~60C. A friend has the SK-7 too, with an even-lower-speed NMB 80mm fan, on his XP1700+ Thoroughbred (OC'...
by SometimesWarrior
Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:02 pm
Forum: Video Cards & Monitors
Topic: Monitor Flicker -- Monitor or Card the Culprit?
Replies: 6
Views: 3113

First make sure the monitor plug is securely connected to the video card. After that, the only thing I can think of is the refresh rate setting for the monitor. Try changing it around a bit in the display control panel, and try changing the resolution as well. Maybe some combination of resolution an...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:29 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: SI-97? Hah! We don't need no steenking SI-97's !
Replies: 24
Views: 9882

No one will ever buy a real 16dB cooler when their first introduction to silent computing comes from Thermaltake's marketing department. I wonder if they chose that figure just by looking through product specs of actual silent hardware, and picking a number that's a bit lower? Ahh, nothing like a go...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:02 am
Forum: The Silent Front
Topic: Despair at ever having a silent system
Replies: 5
Views: 3060

Depending on where you live (if you don't mind, would you fill out your "location" information when you get a chance?), you can get a whole heatsink-fan combo for less than a Nexus fan. For example, I used the Arctic Cooler Copper Silent TC on a Thoroughbred-A XP1700+. It was $15 with shipping (same...
by SometimesWarrior
Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:26 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Lian Li V1000/V2000 Blower Set -- $5 shipped!
Replies: 2
Views: 2141

Thanks for gambling five dollars for us. ;)
by SometimesWarrior
Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:05 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: SilenX 60mm 8dBA 1400rpm 9cfm Case Fan - Panaflo
Replies: 10
Views: 4849

So I got the Zalaman 7000B, because once I started reading, I thought it would be good to invest in a good heatsink that was compatible with various motherboards. Thanks for the good advice and your patience. Been a while since I felt like e newbie :) Sounds like a good choice. I think I've narrowe...
by SometimesWarrior
Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:50 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Super Silencer or Super Tornado?
Replies: 14
Views: 6924

Re: so which is it?

I've read the review, and this discussion, and the forum discussing the article. I'm still not sure which one to get, the Tornado or the Silencer. I want to get the 400W so that later when I have a huge HTPC system I'll have enough power. But the article reviews the 300 Tornado and the 400 Silencer...
by SometimesWarrior
Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:55 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: SilenX 60mm 8dBA 1400rpm 9cfm Case Fan - Panaflo
Replies: 10
Views: 4849

The ugly truth about SilenX can be read here: Open Letter re: Peter Kim & silenx.com . I don't think SPCR owes SilenX any reviews or free press, or any business, due to their deceptive business practices here in the past. And, it looks like Peter Kim / SilenX might still be at it on other forums. Re...
by SometimesWarrior
Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:29 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Will my PC overheat with these configuration changes?
Replies: 10
Views: 3951

Shining Arcanine, do you have something like this for your PSU , one of those Thermaltakes with the built-in power meter? There's a good chance that power meter is incorrect. SPCR reviewed another PSU with a power-meter panel, a 450W CoolerMaster , and found that the meter overshot the real power us...
by SometimesWarrior
Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:06 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: quietest active cooled PSU in decibels
Replies: 1
Views: 2869

If Thermaltake marketed a jet engine, they would claim 18dB. Their loudness numbers are so bad they cast doubt on the logarithm operation itself. The other two PSU's are probably somewhere on the mathematicians' most wanted list, too. There's basically no way to make a 2-fan PSU that's quieter than ...
by SometimesWarrior
Sun Jan 23, 2005 1:47 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Undervolting Athlon XP
Replies: 1
Views: 1229

ocinside.de has an interactive pin-mod for Athlon XP's (check their Workshop sections), but it says you need to cut some bridges on your CPU first in order to lower voltage. But I wonder if your motherboard will be stable at lower voltages? If it doesn't support voltage adjustment, and if it doesn't...