I had a pair of the non-PWM versions of that fan. Wasn't impressed... vibration was unusually high and there was more bearing noise that I'm used to hearing (compared to Scythe's FDB fans). I've mounted mine (PWM version) using vibration damping mountings, so I can't speak to that. I do agree with ...

I'm waiting for someone to try it out. :-P Why are you still waiting? There are plenty of posts about the 12025PWM by actual users. I have two. It is a decent fan, nothing great. You need to get it down to < 800 RPM before it could be considered inaudible. I've never tried it horizontally, but it s...

I‘ve replaced the fan with a Panaflo FBA08A12L that I picked up from Scan UK for about 50p and it easily cools my current CPU: The main problem with the Intel HSF has historically been the crappiness of the fan, not the effectiveness of the cooler. It seems like some of the more recent Intels act...

...going all the way up to 90% would only take you down to 22W-AC -- a 4W difference wouldn't excite me . . . A 4W savings on a load that low would get me excited. Why? 4W is 4W. Going from 400W to 396W saves exactly the same amount of electricity as 26W down to 22W. Now if the goal is to run somet...

In SpeedFan, the reading labeled "CPU" comes from some motherboard sensor. It is unlikely to be particularly accurate. The readings labeled "Core0", "Core1", and so on, come from sensors inside the CPU and can be more reliable. Some CPU, especially certain AMD X2, are known to have terribly unreliab...

I think the problem with your "fat" tower concept is that it is not aesthetically pleasing to the general public. In general, people don't like looking at computer cases. Trust me that I am quite sensitive to the aesthetic and visual issues Of course you know what you want and like. My point is tha...

35C maximum operating temperature means the maximum temperature of the room, not the temperature inside the case. Naturally, the CPU will be somewhat hotter than 35C when it's working. Errr... No. You misunderstood me. Maximum operating temperature means the environment of the box, not the room. My...

But that means that there's not much to get excited over the upgraded bronze rating. The lower the base draw, the less difference efficiency makes. If you had 26W-AC at 80% that should yield 25W-AC at 82%. Even assuming you were only at 75% before (more likely, since 80+ ratings are only good down ...

Should have been a "hybrid" option - variable fan control, but set up to spend most of the time at minimum speed unless something extraordinary happens What you call hybrid is the typical use case for variable fan control. The goal of variable fan control is to have the fans spinning as slow as pos...

For your applications, it seems like a Mac Mini would be the perfect fit. Still, sometimes the fun is in the building . . . I think the big issue here is whether you are comfortable mucking around with Linux or would rather save the bother but pay the $100-150 "Windows Tax". I'd be inclined to pay t...

Shuttle, or perhaps Mac G4, started the cube revolution NeXT had a cube all the way back in 1989 . I think the problem with your "fat" tower concept is that it is not aesthetically pleasing to the general public. In general, people don't like looking at computer cases. Those that do tend to get spe...

I'm not sure I understand the processor guts well enough to understand the impact. The thing that seems to get people confused is that neither RAM nor CPU are advertised at their fundamental FSB clock speed. In the case of CPU, Intel advertises 4X the fundamental clock (eg 1066 => 266.7 MHz). DDR2 ...

If you need decent processing power, the best value proposition is an AM2 motherboard that supports undervolting coupled with an X2. With integrated graphics, a 2.5" drive, and a DC-DC PSU, your idle draw will be <30W.

quicksilver wrote: Does anyone know of an Nvidia 9400M mainboard that will take a Core 2 Duo? The only ones I've found have an Atom 330 soldered on them.

Would you settle for NVIDIA 9300? Shouldn't be much of a performance difference.

Are things like the Zipang2, and AXP-140 designed to get the maximum cooling? My take was they are designed to achieve reasonable performance, while fitting in somewhat narrow/low cases, where a tower design like the Thermalright U120 won't. There is something deeply wrong about stirring the warm a...

While on subject of this "beeping"... yes I've heard it million times. Can this cause any harm to the speakers themselves other than just make an audible beep beep beep? Probably not. I'd only be concerned if you have the volume cranked up near max (prolonged usage of which might well break poorly ...

If something has been out for a while and a forum search comes up empty, chances are that it's nothing special. If it is new, but good, chances are that someone will eventually volunteer a review. I don't think repeating requests over just a few weeks will spur anyone into action . . .

Anyway, I thought the Thermalright SI-128 SE was an older top-down cooler that was easily out classed by many of the top tower coolers. First off, we are specifically talking top-down coolers -- it doesn't matter whether any of them can beat any tower-style coolers! Second, it's older, but the easi...

It also seems like there are a lot of new high-end top-down coolers coming out lately. Scythe Zipang 2. Thermalright AXP-140. Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro. So, maybe the component manufacturers aren't as out of step as the OP supposes?

but I've always been skeptical as for the effect of foam in a PC case. At one point I put some in my Solo and it didn't seem to make any difference to me, so I eventually removed it. The hard to deal with PC noises, spinning of fans and HDD, are too low frequency to be helped by foam (unless it is ...

I voted variable, but feel that fixed is certainly better. It's just that fixed is only usable in a more constrained set of circumstances. You need the right components and ambient conditions. If you have them, then by all means go fixed. For the rest of us, there is variable.

Ever heard that beeping from loudspeaker just before cell phone starts ringing? That's very good example of EMI at work... GSM transmitter itself operates at GHz range but there's still other sources like power regulating circuitry. I find it is GSM phones operating in the sub GHz range (eg 800/900...

Scythes do come with very nice fans, but I've heard few arguments that their top-downs are actually the best heatsinks. Thermalright SI-128SE has a big following. Thermalright AXP-140 looks to be very potent. Thermaltake Big Typhoon also has a large following. There is now a Big Typhoon VX and even ...

Googer wrote:So, there's really no need to have to worry about stuttering issues while getting an SSD on-the-cheap anymore.

Not being nice to our European (and elsewhere) friends who don't have access to such pricing, are we . . ?

I'm pretty sure this particular motherboard, Epia 5000, was actually designed to be run in a case with no fans. That said, you'd have been better with a case that had more air holes than the 3677 (3677 was designed to be used with a fan) -- something like Mini-Box's M350 . In the end, whether your p...

It's has a JMicron, what did you expect? :lol: It's not about what I expected . . . Lots of reviews are saying this revised JMicron is good enough to not stutter and don't include serious random write tests. Lots of people still don't know what's important in terms of metrics or even how the differ...

Reason for wanting to buy one is space limitations. Not sure which would be the best out of all the ones i have read about. Explain your space limitations in detail. The most potent top-downs are just as big as many tower-style heatsinks. You also need some space between the top of the case and the...

In terms of just concern over EMI, mesh would be fine as long as it is metal . Another thing to consider is that EMI is clearly not that big a deal for most people as you see open cases like Antec Skeleton, as well as cases with whole sides made out of plastic/resin (neither of which do much to bloc...

Look at the second graph on this page (the Maximum one). Notice how the SSDNow V is the only SSD to have a worse write score than the conventional HDD. Notice that it is also worse by a huge margin! This is what makes makes me dubious about this drive. Yes, the better SSD cost nearly double what the...

I like WD drives, but that's a big enough price difference to go with the Samsung. You did rank price > noise, so it's kind of a no-brainer.