Maybe it's just me but an internet/office HD movie pc well really you don't need a whole lot of firepower to do that. So I see no problems with the AMD E-350 in this context of "intended use" Have you actually tried using a low power CPU for a HTPC day in/out w/ downloaded movie HD files? I did, an...

Maybe it's just me but an internet/office HD movie pc well really you don't need a whole lot of firepower to do that. So I see no problems with the AMD E-350 in this context of "intended use" You don't buy that kind of processor for power users video/photo/rendering so unless the OP has another requ...

Difficult choices for a budget system. Personally I'm not sold on the super budget Intel take on things yes they do some nice stuff but I've gone down the Athlon II road for budget builds myself For a number of reasons even for somewhat demanding users (video editing and similar activities) the Athl...

I'm pretty happy with Gelid switched over to mostly this make of fans for a while now. No problems to report so far at least. I've used normal 3 pin Gelid Silent fans on CM heatsinks (as a quieter replacement to the not that quiet CM fans) Again I'm very satisfied with their performance in terms of ...

I always liked the Sonata cases and the builds I did for clients it was easily one of the most liked cases I've ever used. Classy was a phrase people used with those cases. I still have one in use today looks good too. But as time has moved on the Sonata range did show me a few flaws..one obvious on...

Good enough means quite a lot to different people! Yes the i3-2100 is pretty good..but be aware despite the "AMD suck" attitude on forums..if you are doing video work then the i3-2100 isn't an ideal choice. Even a x4 Athlon II would have an advantage for that type of work Now I'm not suggesting you ...

Massive update v your old PC (I had the same set up but updated to a dual core x2 4200 a few years back) Personally I think you are overspending on many components motherboard wise I've regretted spending big bucks on those over the years they get outdated quickly and a mid level one will likely hav...

Not used SilenX for years now and I'm not very likely to bother either I too had major problems with premature bearing wear. Maybe they are better now, but as we have other makers around I would be tempted not to bother. The cougar fans look interesting what kind of warranty do you get with them I c...

I'd be wary of going purely on manufacturers numbers we have know way of knowing how accurate they are.

You don't always need a PWM fan to get proper control of speed. My Gigabyte has PWM options for CPU and a front PWM fan connector, but will happily drop speeds down using only 3 pin fans. I use 3 pin fans on this board. Using their own software you can modify the bios fan speeds, and temp control to...

No it might not be a game changer but B3 will have to be quite a decent revision because if it's not then that will not go down well! If they can tweak it to improve performance (at least a decent bit) but more importantly reduce power consumption a good bit they're in with a shout. It's a bit frust...

They really go for it Noctua don't they! "inner surface microstructures" I don't mid the integrated anti vibration pads not a bad idea really. But what really counts is how it performs not the marketing and PR or cutting little bits out of the plastic. So what's the RRP anyway? Probably too much. I ...

I've always felt very high end expensive processors (and we can go back many years on this) were/are very poor value for money esp as in the longer term they get beaten out by much cheaper alternatives as time goes by. The review was interesting but rather highlighted this critical point. One for th...

Well I am in Europe (Eire/UK mostly)
Where are you ordering from if you don't mind letting us know!

Nexus use sleeve bearings from what I can gather. Now I'm not saying all sleeve bearings are bad, but ultimately I'm not convinced their as durable as the hydro or ball bearing ones. Noctua (and some other makers) do make a big deal about their bearings. Ball bearing fans def do last quite a long ti...

I didn't know you could get Noiseblocker fans that cheap.
It would be interesting to compare them.

The Wing series is more for gamers than silent folks though they're pretty decent for their intended buyer. The silent range is a better bet I prefer the 3 pin fans as they have less rpm's than the PWM ones. I used both and the non PWM is better overall but if you can keep the lid down on temps the ...

I see a note about multi streaming and Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3.
If you're serious about sound you'll be using a dedicated sound card anyway.

Problem is it's so cheap to buy a board, processor and DDR 3 ram (dirt cheap) you could easily replace all those for under £100 and get far better performance and lower power consumption. I'm all for using stuf if it's still decent and does the job. But when my old X2 4200 board died I junked it and...

Depends which ones you are on about "Noctua" wise. They are good but personally I thnk overpriced unless they hit their MTBF numbers ala last for ages and ages! You can't really look at the numbers on many of these fans some makers figures are pure bunk (ie not reflected in real world use) some make...

I know the "GentleTyphoon" ones are listed as using double ball bearings.
Some of the Scythe range use normal sleeve bearings.

I'm voting for Gelid again I've ramped up all my builds with Gelid now and I'd dead happy good price, long warranty, quiet and the cover it all PWM, TC, and normal 3 pin. Nexus just don't last give it 12 months and things go downhill no point buying a fan if it isn't quiet down the road. I've replac...

The CPU was in development for years so AMD should have been well aware of potential problems. IMO the design is flawed so really they'll have to make significant modificantions to that to deliver better performance and power efficiency No real excuses on this one from AMD if it were a 6 months mad ...

I'm looking back to Athlon XP Athlon 64 days. Yes they should have more performance per clock cycle with reduced clock speed v their current speeds AMD should know only too well that FX is not optimal and is poorly designed it simply doesn't have the legs to run for the next few years. The performan...

Trinity isn't that interesting it's another new socket (FM2) promising BD design (which is doubtful as it is) and higher clock speeds. I'm dead set against a dual socket approach. Back to FX it's a turkey power consumption wise as the article shows they even said if AMD used the older processor desi...

Depends what "light gaming" means. I play the odd game though bar RE5 and Fallout new vegas most are not that demanding (some older ones, some non graphics heavy stuff) Then resolution comes into play if you're playing on a smaller TV/monitor at 1366 x 768 (I have one at that res) a 6450 will do a g...

That is fast Hitachi have a good record on out doing the other makers def a step up from a WD black and a nice boost over a C model I've just replaced a WD green 1TB with a 5k3000 2TB (repair job) as far as green drives go Hitachi own it now they're quiet, fast and a cut above the WD greens it's a b...

True new Atom's are on the way
However right now the E-350 is a pretty good choice v current Atom's

Neither has the grunt of a desktop processor but then for many folks they don't need it anyway

Coolermaster seem to have updated the 212 and TX3 now adding EVO at the end of them. They look the same (Bar the fans) and they are quoting "lower" noise levels in the specs. But they are still not as good as they should be. But even so for the price and replacing a fan they are a good deal and perf...

They look interesting though the hybrid's are a bit pricey for my tastes. I've been running Silent M pro's for some time in a few systems I built and I have to say I've been very happy indeed. They are very quiet and deliver excellent performance and voltage stability. At the moment I don't have any...