Search found 705 matches

by merlin
Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:45 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: About the PSU in the Antec ISK 300-65 Mini-ITX
Replies: 5
Views: 2934

Re: About the PSU in the Antec ISK 300-65 Mini-ITX

I've been looking at building something LGA1155 with this case, and while I think any CPU with a "T" in it's name should work great in the case, I've just now figured out all the motherboards I'd put in it have both the 24-pin ATX power patch, but also the 4-pin one as well. My problem is that A) I...
by merlin
Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:37 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

Just finally got my htpc setup with this board. As joseph mentioned, the fan levels are from 1-9 and the fans never turn off. I'm testing out with the stock Core I3 heatsink/fan first, which seems acceptable noise at idle. I think the first thing I need to do is replace the 80mm fan in the Antec ISK...
by merlin
Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:30 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Lian Li PC-Q08 Mini-ITX Mini Tower Case
Replies: 53
Views: 73676

Re: Lian Li PC-Q08 Mini-ITX Mini Tower Case

Are there any alternatives on the market for 6 HDD NAS? I would like it to be small as possible and this case still waste much space with 5,25 drive and huge fan, probably even power supply. I found only fractal design array r2 - quite unacceptable design. And fractal design define mini - quite nic...
by merlin
Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:09 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Llano mini-ITX build
Replies: 3
Views: 3973

Re: Llano mini-ITX build

Btw the ISK-300 was confirmed to be able to handle a 90w power brick and possibly even more. It's actually the option I'm taking...but only assuming the 65w doesn't work. I'm building a core i3-2100 htpc and hoping it'll stay within power parameters. (Almost done too!) Important to note, the ISK-300...
by merlin
Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:02 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: mini-ITX LGA1155: efficient PSUs? PicoPSU+brick? or other?
Replies: 16
Views: 11477

Re: mini-ITX LGA1155: efficient PSUs? PicoPSU+brick? or othe

Also the ISK300-65 is another option. Antec has stated you can use 95w bricks with this as well if you need more power than the included external power supply.
by merlin
Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:59 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II
Replies: 177
Views: 278486

Re: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II

Yep I use the 3 bays of the HD cages all the time in my current machine. The other bay is left open to make it easier for my video card to breathe. But I don't need any gigantic gaming cards in my solo, it's supposed to be a quiet gaming machine in the first place. I never wanted it to fit bigger ca...
by merlin
Tue Jun 21, 2011 5:06 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Three uATX Sandy Bridge Motherboards Examined
Replies: 6
Views: 3837

Re: Three uATX Sandy Bridge Motherboards Examined

Just one question. Why? Seriously...the CPU maker goes to a lot of trouble to determine the maximum safe clock. Why mess with it? What's the point? Well there's one clear error here. The cpu maker does not determine maximum safe clock. They determine some sort of clock they want to sell chips at al...
by merlin
Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:18 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Will the Antec NSK1380 Provide Enough Power For My Build?
Replies: 8
Views: 3175

Re: Will the Antec NSK1380 Provide Enough Power For My Build

Way more than enough. You're probably only going to use maybe 100-120w, leaving enough room for even a high end video card (Although the size and heat from that would be terrible in the NSK1380). Heck even my build with the old Antec Aria will use more power than that, and that has an older psu sti...
by merlin
Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:38 pm
Forum: SPCR Announcements
Topic: Re: Mike's final sign-off - POSTPONED
Replies: 70
Views: 145284

Re: Mike's final sign-off

Also imho, as long as computers have moving parts and even coil whine, there's a purpose for spcr. Even though it's nowhere near as bad as the old loud P4 days, there's still plenty of noise to go around, and not even just in normal computers. I really wish Antec was still working with spcr on case ...
by merlin
Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:28 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Will the Antec NSK1380 Provide Enough Power For My Build?
Replies: 8
Views: 3175

Re: Will the Antec NSK1380 Provide Enough Power For My Build

Way more than enough. You're probably only going to use maybe 100-120w, leaving enough room for even a high end video card (Although the size and heat from that would be terrible in the NSK1380). Heck even my build with the old Antec Aria will use more power than that, and that has an older psu still.
by merlin
Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:32 pm
Forum: SPCR Announcements
Topic: Re: Mike's final sign-off - POSTPONED
Replies: 70
Views: 145284

Re: Mike's final sign-off

Whoa that's a major bomb! This is by far one of the most useful sites on the web for computer hardware compared to many other ones. I'm going to be extremely sad to lose a major resource if there isn't someone who can continue with the same standards that you have. But I can see after 10 years why y...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:54 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Top vs. bottom mounted PSU.
Replies: 11
Views: 7901

Re: Top vs. bottom mounted PSU.

I feel like bottom mounted psus were more important when hot air would cause psus to become extremely loud in the past. There's a lot of options for psus that can handle hot air many times better in current times, especially when the X-series can stay passive up to a pretty good load. It's still hel...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:43 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec 280 OMG!
Replies: 40
Views: 36085

Re: Antec 280 OMG!

Looks like Antec is giving up on the CP-850? Wow I haven't heard much mention of the CP series in a while. I assume it's going to quietly die off. The main advantage was the extra cooling space and the really low price. But I'm guessing things like semi-fanless 90% efficient psus kinda makes the pu...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:36 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II
Replies: 177
Views: 278486

Re: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II

Flimsy power button not fixed? First and only thing I looked for, as soon as I saw it I stopped looking for the other improvements that might be. Yea no kidding, this looks completely full of disappointments. I remember even posting to the AntecRep here about improvements...and they've ignored almo...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:32 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: "Fully" Modular PSUs
Replies: 6
Views: 3848

Re: "Fully" Modular PSUs

Fully modular is kinda rare at really low prices. Like Andy said, the X-650 goes on sale sometimes. That would be a definite best buy if it ever goes to $99 again. Otherwise i'd say look for a sale on one of the high end fully modular seasonics or seasonic-derivatives. Oh and woland, looks like you ...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:30 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

I don't believe most boards say anything specific about undervolting. It's just about which options you have for cpu voltage control. I believe there was some review of one of the versions of this board that did say there was a range that went from minus to plus. And the asus version allows you to u...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:32 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

You don't choose/build a cooling system for idle. If you're going to underclock a regular part, you should be buying a slower part to begin with. That'll save you a lot more than $10. The 2100 is not the slowest dual-core. Obviously the chart is irrlelevant. See ntavlas's post. Or I can buy a Core ...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:22 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

News to me. Both my C2D's are both overclocked and undervolted without much hassle and no crashes. People blow money for all kinds of purposes, why is this any different? I'd think we're on this site because we want stuff that's both fast and quiet. There's no harm in getting stuff that's faster and...
by merlin
Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:32 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II
Replies: 177
Views: 278486

Re: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II

I don't even want a bottom mounted psu, due to the fact it generally makes a case bigger and makes cabling really annoying. Plus most of the really good psus don't spin up much anyways. But indeed, the long graphics card area is kinda pointless for me. I preferred having more hard drive cages where ...
by merlin
Tue May 31, 2011 10:41 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II
Replies: 177
Views: 278486

Re: I give you the ANTEC SOLO II

Hmm this 5.25 bay setup looks very unpromising so far. I'll have to see more details though.
by merlin
Tue May 31, 2011 10:09 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

Do you have actual information about binning of T CPUs or lack thereof? Or is your opinion not only "humble" but also gratuitous? Heck I ever get bad efficiency because the T version uses more overall power to do things. I bet you're using an irrelevant metric. Uh, or I just read the review of the ...
by merlin
Tue May 31, 2011 9:01 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

The levels sound totally perfect. Way better then the stupid boards that have "Smartfan on or off". And I never want the fans to be completely off, that ruins the point of keeping a well cooled system. A silent fan is better than no fan. Also imho, the 2100t is absolutely worthless. I'd much rather ...
by merlin
Thu May 26, 2011 10:19 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550W Power Supply
Replies: 23
Views: 17019

Re: Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550W Power Supply

90%-92%-89% are the requirements of the 80Plus Platinum certification, so I would argue that it doesn't make that much sense to call it 90Plus when one of the load levels doesn't need to be 90% or over. Yea I suspect if they add an other level that isn't 80plus unobtanium, it might be 90plus next. ...
by merlin
Thu May 26, 2011 12:59 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Re: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

Wow I'm surprised your chip is throttling at such low temps. Luckily I'm not going for high performance since it is a htpc, not a work/gaming machine :) If you get the chance, I'd love to know what undervolting options there are. Also are there any detailed fan control settings in the bios? I find i...
by merlin
Wed May 25, 2011 10:41 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550W Power Supply
Replies: 23
Views: 17019

Re: Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550W Power Supply

Ah more confirmation this superflower platform is pretty damn good :) Jonnyguru has some reviews of the same platform and they're quite positive. I think everyone is a little concerned how lax the fans are though as you also mentioned. Even with such high efficiency, air cooling helps when component...
by merlin
Wed May 25, 2011 3:47 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Antec Solo or Define R3?
Replies: 8
Views: 3599

Re: Antec Solo or Define R3?

If I were to build another computer right now, I'd most likely pick the Define R3 too. Which is sad because I do love my current solo, but the deficiencies would be too much in a future build. Antec only needs to make a few major improvements to have an awesome case on their hands, but nope, nothing...
by merlin
Tue May 24, 2011 6:00 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?
Replies: 28
Views: 27303

Asrock H67M-ITX/HT as HTPC board?

Hey guys, just curious if anyone has any experience with this board? I realized it's an almost perfect board to pair with a Core I3 for htpc purposes considering it has built-in wifi, MCE remote with power on and off, and all the handy features you'd expect from a H67 board. Also wondering if anyone...
by merlin
Mon May 23, 2011 2:31 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Intel Core i3-2100T & Core i5-2400S Low Power CPUs
Replies: 48
Views: 44635

Re: Intel Core i3-2100T & Core i5-2400S Low Power CPUs

Uh yes you can undervolt a H67 mobo. See the Asus Review right below this one :ppp I actually buy ASUS motherboards religiously for their BIOS features. What other manufacturers tend to include undervolt options? I know I've been disappointed by Gigabyte in the past :( No idea for Socket 1155 as I'...
by merlin
Mon May 23, 2011 11:22 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Intel Core i3-2100T & Core i5-2400S Low Power CPUs
Replies: 48
Views: 44635

Re: Intel Core i3-2100T & Core i5-2400S Low Power CPUs

"This has been our biggest criticism of these specialty low power processors — you can create your own with simple undervolting on a decent motherboard." I don't think you can undervolt with an H67 based motherboard. I don't see the point to comparing the lower TDP CPU versions to regular CPU chips...