Passive is the nirvanna of silencing IMHO, but I have to say I am with Endo on this one. While the chimney idea is an interesting experiment, I think that there are more practical solutions than this. Heatpipes to big heatsinks give you a lot more control over the shape of your case, and offer a ver...

I looked at the LM74 which if I remember did 2 remote sensors, higher quoted accuracy. I would have gone for it to but maxim kindly sent me a couple of sensors. The LM seriers works of a 3.3v input, I was going to use a fixed voltage power regulator and a couple of caps to get the right voltage. The...

Well time for the glamour shots... Here is my take on the maxim 1668 temperature controller. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/justblair/IMG_0853.jpg And here is the soldering job on the chip... http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/justblair/IMG_0856.jpg And the repair job on the power regula...

Update... I finished the pcb. Mostly without trouble, but I had an issue with the power regulator. First of all the good stuff. The temperature sensor worked straight away. Even though soldering the 5mm 16 pin soic looked terrifying, it was as easy, if not easier than the through board solders. http...

That was indeed my error. Rerouted a bit a bit of jump wire and the thing is working now.

Thankyou for helping out...

Blair

The pullup resistors on hte data lines AFAIK are only to tell the smb bus that it should comunicate. I'm pretty sure that they dont affect the accuracy of the thing. It may be that an IC bus requires them and SMB doesn't. i included them cause I had 10k resistors in my toolbox doing nothing, it seem...

Just saw your edit. I possibly should have used a grounded shield, wasn't sure which ground point to attach it to. I know the answer should be them all. But as the grounds were coming from the smb, the graphics card and the psu, I was nervous that in fact they may have caused issues. I have only eve...

I ended up using Molex kk .1' headers and plugs, Got them and all the other components bar the maxim chip and the pcb from Farnell. The challenge was finding the pins that matched the molex sockets. This was really tough, I stumbled on the right ones eventually. There are a bewildering array of mole...

I got mine working the other night. I will have to post a photo. Stuck it onto a pcb which I designed in ExpressPCB. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/justblair/Centralcontrol-1.jpg I used an OHP to print a photo-resist board with the design, I have put other stuff onto the pcb that I am still ...

I'm not a proper freelance scientist, but the tower collapse seems quite genuine enough to me. I watched a documentary about its construction. They were basically two big steel tubes, with the floors suspended in the middle. This was a cheapo way of constructing them. The floors were then pinned to ...

I dont want to sound like a killjoy, but I think your HD enclosure is going to be a disapointment to you. I just made one, but in my case I used a Flanged (I love the word flange!) Hammond box. I suspended mine. It is silent, well up to 20cm away, then it is near silent. However, and this is why you...

Update: Been spending the few days learning how to build pcbs. Have been using ExpressPCB. At first the whole pcb design thing seemed difficult, but now I seem to have got the knack of it. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/justblair/Centralcontrol-1.jpg Here is the pcb I have came up with with ...

Update. Tonight however I made my HD silencer. Thanks to Alleycat for sharing this gem... You guys have got to make yourself one of these things... its awesome. So here goes... The recipe for HD silence. 1 Hard drive. 1 Cable 1 Power molex extension (mine was cut off a PII cpu cooler) 3 Gel packs (a...

I'll try it. Being playing with Eagle tonight. Proving difficult for me, but new things always are till you get good at them. Might give Express a try tomorrow, see if it is more my cup of tea. What method of transfer did you use? I'm torn between toner or photo etching. Got a kit which will let me ...

I figured out the molex question anyway, Someone at bit-tech gave me a very obvious solution. Try pin headers from a fan, they are .1' as it happens.

Got a coulple of maxim 1668 chips to try it with and some pcb board.

Looking for a good pcb designer thats preferrably free.

Thats one to refer to Zalman.

If the claim is untrue, thier lawyers can fight the case far more effectively than you or I ever could. The advantage in this case (for your cause) is that they have made a like comparison. Differences in testing methologies then become a mute point.

Ok Bluefront, perhaps my suggestions for a new cause were a bit tongue in cheek, knowing your views on a few issues. But my point was valid.... Rusty though highlights a golden rule of campaigning... Know your enemy! If this firm is Californian (and it claims it is on its webby) then it must fall un...

Well in that case you are sort of going about it in the right way. But I'm still convinced that your "on to plums" You could try contacting officialdom with your concerns. In the UK we have the advertising standards agency and trading standards. Perhaps you have the same sort of thing stateside? In ...

I think waging a one man war against a brand virtually guaranteed to fail as a strategy. If you dont like what a company advertises, then dont buy their product. Pure and simple. If you wish you can e-mail silentx and explain why you are boycotting them, but there the protest ends. Anything else is ...

It is a basic question, but could you give me the specs of the connectors you used? I have sourced all the other stuff I need for a temp guage like yours (though based on an LM84 IC) But searching catalogues for connectors is hard.. too many choices, and most of them look the same :? They look like ...

Can you give us some idea of the intended purpose of the system? I think that has a lot to do with how feasable it is as an idea. I am building a fanless one right now..... But its pretty low powered by most standards, and has been a tricky but rewarding build. Have a look at my worklog... PC lpayst...

My brother uses the breeze case and is very happy with it. The PSU is very quiet when he takes it out of the cupboard! It ramps up the speed a bit because he has it in a warm location. The case is also very good at ridding HD noise, even without suspension. I was very impressed with this in fact. Th...

I cant remember the links, sorry it was 11 months ago when I was buying. I recall searching on google for heatsink roundups. I looked at quite a lot of reviews before I settled on the typhoon. It was a pragamatic decision of price vs performance. I dare say that quite a few test methodologies were e...

I use the TT heatsink, and the weight of it doesn't bother me. I has a weight spreader on the back that would appear to do its job quite nicely. In fact I have modified 2 of them making them heavier still. Everything still works just fine. Its fan can cool even hot processors at 800rpm which is in p...

I have never experianced a whining psu, I use the Silverstone one and its silent. I have on the otherhand experianced a whine from a mobo, in the power regulation circuits of course. The high pitched whine starts immediatley when the psu is plugged into a wall or surge protector. ive tried multiple ...

That looks damn near perfect now. I take it that will be your final for now attempt?

With the tape on it, we get a really good impression of what the final result will be.

Good luck with your move.

Blair

lol. I feel like a big girls blouse now (Its a scottish term). I'm still reluctant to push it that far... At least till I get the case finished. Still see some costs ahead before this project gets it complete sticker... Dont want any more! I think if I can aim for 60c then i can sleep at night... Es...

Thanks for the kind comments..

I must take a picture of the sheet steel effort I made. Its sitting in the corner of my living room. Every time I see it now I apreciate the alu one better.

Endo... I know that the processor can take a bit more, but I am also terrified of thermal runaway. Though the mobo will shut down before the thing fries I suppose... But I dont want to test it, much in the same way that I dont test the airbags of cars by aiming at trees. Thermaphobia is a good one :...

In the UK at least...

The **Cough** Thermaltake **Cough** Big Typhoon comes in at a very good price and is an excellent performer. 2/3rds of the price of the Ninja.

I understand that it costs a bit more stateside.