The ThermalRight XP-120 is an awesome cooler, and surprisingly light. The SI-120 takes away some of the weight, but retains almost all of the cooling (and reduces noise by letting the air flow through the fins more smoothly).

I think people have the wrong impression - this isn't about hiccups (US spelling) or hiccoughs (UK spelling) - it's about hickups. My guess as to the meaning of this word is that it describes the increase in naivete or gullibility of a person coming from a rural setting into a metropolis. By a city-...

Here's an unusual pair: Matrox G550 PCIe and Matrox G550 Low Profile PCIe. Here's the non-low-profile one: http://www.matrox.com/mga/workstation/3dws/products/mill_gseries/g550_pcie.cfm Both are passive (using small heatsinks - classic northbridge size), both are dual DVI. Really interesting part is...

:D The next thing I read in my e-mail mailbox was from Matrox. I've lost some faith in their products, but I thought you might be interested in this one. Matrox have just announced a G550 PCIe. It's a dual DVI, passively cooled video card (as requested), but the kicker is that it is PCIex1! That mea...

Gigabyte has such a card: GV-NX66T256D - it's a 256Mb 6600GT with Zalman heatpipe cooler and dual DVI (+ TV out). I just bought two of them and put them into a Gigabyte GA-8I945P-DG motherboard in an Antec P180 case. They run rather warm by my standards (about 59 degrees C idle, 70 to 80 degrees som...

The fan cover is optional, so you can leave it off if you need to.

If I had to buy a new case, what would it be?

Well, the last three cases I've bought (in the past 2 months) have all been P180s.

If I had to buy a new case, it would be a P180 unless there was a compelling reason otherwise.

The Zalman additive, as shipped in the Res 1plus, is not smelly. There's a faint sweet odour (ethylene glycol has a sweet smell), but that's all. Haven't noticed any smell at all since I put the lid on the reservoir. Both my Reserators (a 1 and a 1plus) are on 24/7 (as are the PCs they are attached ...

I liked the explanation of power ratings vs temperature, and how a hot PSU may not deliver its rated output. Then I noticed that PC Power and Coolings ratings (on their website) specify their rated output at 50 degrees C. Now I appreciate the significance of that annotation (and I'm more impressed w...

Also, when you left holes open like MikeC does, what about electromagnetic emissions? PCs were designed to be run in closed, metal cases. That dampens electromagnetic emissions a lot. Think about all the dual-fanned and 120mm PSU's on the market today. There's a big hole at the bottom where all tha...

PC Power and Cooling offer a "TurboCool" 510W power supply that supports SLI (it has two 6 pin VGA power cables) - it gets various names, but you can identify it as the "510W SLI power supply that costs a lot". It fits nicely into the P180 (it's exactly the size of the PSU cage). It is well-suited,...

ok, I have added a few generic shops recently because a lot of silent gear is becoming mainstream. Re: MSY. I buy all my base parts from here, and they are one of the few companies to stock HIS. When my HIS 9800 Pro (iceq) died (2 weeks out of warranty) they sent it back, and got me a brand new one...

My 7800GT is loudest at boot, and ramps down when the Windows drivers load (with both 77 and 78 drivers). Idle and 2D are considerably quieter than boot.

PositiveSpin wrote : There are some inaccurate/incomplete statements in the post above - technology has advanced since those statements were true. You're right : I was assimilating 2 RAMDACS = 2 GPUs which is not correct. I am actually wondering what is the current extent of those display issues ? ...

New Gigabyte passively cooled PCIe 6600GT: GV-NX66T256D.

Note that it features 2 x DVI (that's the reason I'm getting it instead of the 128Mb models - they are both VGA+DVI).

Teejay Wrote : I think this limitation only applies to the low end of graphic cards, since over time my nVidia FX5600ultra, ATi9800pro and ATi X800XL all support dual analog devices (CRTs), with one screen connected to the D-sub and the other one through a DVI>D-sub adaptor. FWIW, I've never run in...

I've been looking at the 6600GT's for my next build (dual core athlon), since they provide a good price point/performance, but it really annoys me that none of the stock silent ones have Dual DVI. I have a pair of Dell 1704 FPV monitors, and the digital picture is really sharp and beautiful. Right ...

I'm awaiting the arrival of the newest Gigabyte silent offering - 256Mb 6600GT with dual DVIs: the GV-NX66T256D. I already have a GV-NX66T128VP, also passively cooled with large heatsink and heat pipe. So passively cooling a 6600GT is more than possible - it's being done. I think the newer Gigabyte ...

For things that can be hard to find elsewhere, Computer and Parts Land is pretty good (www.cpl.net.au) - Melbourne only. Not especially cheap, but not bad. For all the mainstream stuff (NOT quiet specialists) I shop a lot at MSY Technology (www.msy.com.au) - I've been buying from them since they got...

It doesn't have the diagonal slits in the fins, so no, it doesn't look that much like a Ninja.

Used not to worry about noise level too much - had a number of Lian-Li cased PCs. Then I started reading here. And noticing noise. And reading some more... Then came the buying and trying and discarding... 1. I tried an Antec Sonata. Not so good, standard PSU noisy, rear exhaust noisy, Intel cooler ...

Now that Motherboard Monitor is no longer supported, I find myself without a complete answer to the question "how do I tell how hot my PC is running?". I use almost nothing but ASUS motherboards, and ASUS provide a really useful program called PC Probe (now PC Probe II, with added glitz/bling!). On ...

I have to disagree about the noise - I have one of each (a 1 and a 1plus) and they sound the same to me - silent - I can't tell if they are running unless I check the flow indicator. I used all the supplied tubing, so I have a fair bit of length between the tower and the case - I would definitely no...

I have one of each, and I like them both (had the 1 for longer). Blue is nice, black is nice - I just don't like silver :D After reading about the pumps, I used additive in the 1, and it's working fine. The additive I use was intended for a different brand, but it works fine (they all do the same th...

There are two different clearance issues with the Gigabyte 8N-SLI Royal, and I'm looking for suggestions. This motherboard, for those that don't know it, uses NForce4 for Intel chipset. First: I'd like to run the "dual power" card because I'll be running two video cards and a dual core 3GHz P4. Prob...

I've not seen any VGA+DVI cards that don't support a DVI->VGA adapter so you can run two d-sub monitors off the card. Not all of the cards include the adapter, but it's a standard pinout, so you should be able to get one after-market. Strongly recommend you look for an adapter and try it - should co...

I have great difficulty believing this set of results. It claims that the Intel boxed cooler is substantially quieter than a Zalman 7000 or 7700? That the XP90 is cooling better than an XP120?

Makes me wonder if money changed hands to get these results.

Friend of mine runs a Mac mini as a file server - very quiet indeed. In his place the fan hardly ever runs.

Once you have a file server, yes, switching to a notebook drive will eliminate the HD sound, especially if you go to extremes and suspend the notebook drive in the lower chamber.

I have the PC Power and Cooling 510 in a P180, and I was surprised how quiet it is. I bought it for power and reliability (this is a 7800GTX gaming box - not expected to be too quiet), not silence, but it's only just audible. That may be partly because of the P180, and partly because of the straight...

That 1000W power supply is not very pretty. Compare it with the 850W beast from PC Power and Cooling: http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=T85SSI - note that this one supports 950W peak (that's real close to 1000W!) I know which I'd prefer to install in an insano machine (beca...