I haven't tried that one. I do, however, own an unusual IBM mouse with a trackpoint-like push thing in place of a scroll wheel (looks like this ). Aside from the push thing, which feels wonderfully natural at times and doesn't work at all in others, I have to say the quality and the feel is no matc...

Has anyone used the companion IBM mouse? Or the more-convenient wireless keyboard+mouse combo (granted, a bit overpriced)? For some weird reason, I have an obsession with matched input devices.

Don't you also get an Intel sticker in the retail box?

That's quite impressive electrical performance (the efficiency, especially) for a brand like Ultra. I was a bit surprised in that respect, but the noise output was to be expected from a PSU aimed at gamers. They're improving, which is good. I'm still concerned about the lack of basic UL and FCC appr...

Motherboards.org has their review of the abit NF-M2. It ranks rather low among AM2 boards that the site has tested (netting an 82 out of 100), but beats the ASUS M2NPV-VM by one point (the lowest-ranked), for what that's worth. Read the full review for details. EDIT: I just read the whole review, an...

Ah, this is the other interesting AM2 IGP board. I was just looking for it to be carried by one of the major retailers. According to Anandtech , this MSI mobo is the only Xpress 1150-based board with DVI. It certainly looks like a good alternative to the abit NF-M2, with the new SB600 southbridge an...

If you're willing to go with Dell, I can offer a recommendation. I just purchased an Inspiron E1405 in October that I'm quite happy with for college duties. It's an Intel-based dual-core system that's very responsive and relatively quiet, much quieter than my old HP notebook, but certainly not inaud...

Yet another review of the Reserator 2, this time by Tweak News.

Maximum PC has just made their review of the Zalman Reserator 2 available online. Overall, they rate it lower than they did the original (7 versus 9 Kick-Ass), saying that it corrects some flaws while introducing a few of its own. I guess what they were really turned off with was the price, however...

Thanks, simbloke. Do you have an update for us, regarding reliability and stability?

Why not the quieter S12-430?

That's great! I can't wait to hear your experiences. You will tell, won't you?

abit NF-M2 nView abit NF-M2 nView Manual (.zip) I am so interested in this motherboard that I have created a topic dedicated to it. It's mostly user experiences that I will be looking for once it gets released and is widely available. The board's main attraction to PC silencers is its passive heatp...

That Abit board looks promising. I like Abit's new blue/black color scheme, and heatpipes on an mATX board are nice to have. It would be perfect if not for some minor problems, including: (1) No TV-Out (or even headers, I believe). I understand the heatsink at the end of the heatpipe needs to dump i...

No, you didn't get my hopes up; I already know this thing does not exist.

Add me to the waiting list, Shuttle.

Changing the case fan voltage from 12V to 7V caused only a 3°C drop in GPU temperature with the Sytrin fan set on Low.

That should be rise.

To my knowledge, Ceramique is easier to apply than Arctic Silver 5 (why are you using AS3?) but performance is not quite as good. The difference should be only a couple degrees, though. If you want the best there is (performance-wise), that title probably belongs to the Coollaboratory "Liquid Pro" l...

Excellent. What size sleeving did you use for the fans? 1/8"?

Thanks for the link. I remember reading in an old issue of Maximum PC that PC Power & Cooling refused to make modular PSUs because of increased resistance. I don't think it matters much in reality, and I can certainly appreciate the convenience and reduction in cable clutter. Now if only an S12 had ...

Yep, Conroe CPUs support SpeedStep, but even without it enabled, they should engage their C1E halt state when at idle. According to Tech Report, however, the C1E state drops only clock speed (to 1.6 GHz), not voltage. SpeedStep does both, obviously.

Nice build. How's the LG drive working for you noise-wise? I'm thinking about trying one.

Bah... what a disappointment. It couldn't even beat the 7000 at either noise or cooling. And reviews on other sites seem to suggest the thing is quite alright. All I have to say is... Go SPCR!

Thanks for the review, Devon.

Seems like a lot of trouble to work with. The Silverstone TJ08, used in the recently reviewed Puget Core Duo system, is only a bit bigger but roomier and allows the use of a standard ATX PSU. It is expensive, though, at about $100 without PSU.

shimq1 wrote:When I read the thread title, I thought your hard drive literally was on fire. LOL...

Same here! I was hoping for a pic of a flaming beast... LOL. Anyways, I would RMA that thing right away. Not safe to keep data on it any longer, IMO.

Rest assured that the SE 16 is no slow poke. In fact, the 400GB version has been Maximum PC's favorite (read: fastest) 7200-RPM drive for some time... that is, until its 500GB brother took the thrown, offering very similar performance with a capacity boost. So, SPCR's stellar review of the drive com...

While browsing the HTPCnews.com forums, I found a reference to Seagate's Directed Offline Scan in their noise reduction guide . The relevant info is reproduced here: User experiences can uncover noise issues that quick reviews dont find. A quick example would be with my current Seagate 7200.7 drive....

The article mentions that the 7200.10 was compared to the Samsung P80 as well as the other reference drives, but I don't see the data for it. Perhaps it was just forgotten? Otherwise, an excellent review. I wasn't expecting quietness out of such a high-capacity drive, and the review confirms that I ...

Does anyone know if the ASUS 7600 GS is much better at cooling than the reference passive 7600 GS (eVGA, XFX)? The heatsink wraps around to the bottom of the card, which faces up so that that part of the HS can get some airflow from the exhaust fan and/or CPU fan.

I'm with ultrachrome on getting a heatsink that will accept a larger fan instead of bolting on a fan adapter. I've tried a 60mm-to-80mm adapter on my other computer, and the distance between the fan and the fins is a bit much, causing loss of cooling power. Unless you can get a low-profile adapter, ...

According to this translated HKEPC page of the first testing of AM2 Semprons, all these new Manila-based Semprons have CnQ except for the 3000+ (both "regular" and Energy Efficient versions). It looks like Wikipedia was wrong. That's a pity, as I really liked the 3000+ EE, what with its low power co...