So, my machine at work is in a sad way. It's time for a clean install, and Windows 7 is the logical choice for me. However, this is an old machine. Although it was purchased when PCI express, socket 775 and DDR2 were already well established, the clown who chose the parts (just before I arrived) dec...

Memory latency is tricky, because it is specified in terms of clocks. So: a CAS latency of 7 @ 1066MHz equates to 6.56 nanoseconds a CAS latency of 9 @ 1333MHz equates to 6.75 nanoseconds The CL7 RAM is only 2% faster to access a memory column in absolute terms. As for real world performance, I don'...

It's a tight budget, but I've ordered quite a few machines in this price range here at the office given the tight rein on the IT budget. Given your budget, I'm assuming you don't include the price of the Windows 7 and XP licenses in the cost? Here in Aus, Windows 7 Pro OEM will set you back US$150, ...

I thought BE (Black Edition) meant unlocked multiplier?

Prime95 seems to be a widely used test for this purpose. I used it to determine the underclock voltage for mine, and it worked well for me. As for advice, what is your end goal? Are you aiming to reduce maximum power consumption at full CPU load to bring down max fan speeds? Do you have a target CPU...

Does anybody else find those ads with people jumping around on the front page of SPCR at the moment as soul destroying as I do? Every time I see them a little part of me dies as I think about the indignity which people are willing to undergo to make a few bucks. The worst part is it works. I can't h...

Looks nice mate. That's a very distinctive machine now! So to make the stencil, you made a sticker and stuck it on there while you sprayed? Did you take the netbook apart to spray, or just mask up the rest of the PC as much as possible? Because it looks like you did a good job of covering the lid wi...

If you have configured it in your power profile, yes. The idle time until power down for hard disks is configurable in Windows. Go into the control panel and take a look.

Yep, you've got it. Unless you have some unusual specific requirements, it's going to be much of a muchness.

Hey there. There is in fact a distinction between transceiver and controller. The 8111 controller chipset implements an Ethernet MAC and PHY. The 8211 transceiver only implements a PHY. If you are buying a PC motherboard, this won't matter to you. If you are designing your own, the difference is imp...

I've been wanting to do some iPhone development, and have been waiting for the new Mac Minis. It irks me though that Apple wants us to pay AU$849.00 for the base model here in Australia, but in the US the same machine is US$599 (AU$650 at current exchange rates). Sorry to jack the thread, but can an...

Uses standard sound cards. Nifty: http://stevetarzia.com/sonar/

Also check out his low cost 16 core workstation. He's using 4x Opterons with Xigmatek coolers.

That's bad luck man, bad RAM is really annoying. As you say, you have to test for such a long time to get a conclusive result. I've never seen the failure mode you describe before (only a single error, always at the same byte) so I don't know exactly what it might signify, but so far I've found memt...

I bought the 4GB model way back when, and it was the fastest flash drive I'd ever seen. But yes, they are pricey.

Even though your media is replaceable, why not just use each disk as a single partition and not bother with the RAID0? That way, you can use all your space and the loss of a single disk will only affect the files stored on that disk. The only potential benefits of RAID0 are: - performance (which you...

Ethernet flow control, good call fwki!! Bleh, that would certainly explain the stuttering. I wonder which device is the culprit? Maybe fire up Wireshark and figure out where the pause frames are coming from? Also, if you're interested here are comments from switch vendors on issues around flow contr...

Interesting problem! The throughput you quote sounds about right to me for the configuration you described. I would think that's plenty for stutter free DVD playback. Do you have jumbo Ethernet frames enabled for your network cards in both machines? If not, that may improve your throughput further. ...

I've used Puppy before and been impressed with the speed on old hardware, but thanks for the tips on the Puppies distro and Unetbootin! They both look like very useful software.

Holy crap, that's a lot of work you went to! I really enjoyed Portal too. Nice to hear it's quiet enough for you too.

By throughput requirements, I mean how much data must be transferred to and from the disk continuously when using the HTPC in the way that you intend? Another word for throughput is bandwidth. You could test this on another PC. Run your HTPC software, and use a monitoring tool (eg the built in Windo...

Not sure about your price range, but here in Australia the Asus M3A78-EM can be had for AU$70 (About 41.50E). It's uATX with Gigabit Ethernet.

Agreed, I don't think you will get any benefit from going with that expensive CPU if it is just going to be used as a NAS. Save your money. If you have an older but serviceable CPU/motherboard lying around with enough SATA ports, you could consider using that. If you want new hardware, go the Sempro...

I'm no expert on HTPCs, but I'm a bit surprised that hard drive performance is an important consideration in an HTPC. I would have expected that any modern hard disk drive should be able to read or write fast enough to stream video to and from disk, especially given the large amount of RAM available...

Wow, that's a lot of options. I'm pretty sure I only have two voltage controls on my (Gigabyte) board. I'd suggest reading the manual for your motherboard, and failing that get some tech support through their website. Never owned an MSI board before, so I'm not familiar with their BIOS, documentatio...

That's interesting, my cool and quiet only seems to drop the multiplier, not the voltage, according to Everest. I haven't used CPU-Z. I have configured my voltage in the BIOS to 1.05V (auto voltage is 1.375V). Here's an example: Time CPU MHz CPU Mult CPU1% Temp C RPM Core V 6:28:14 PM 2405 12 100 24...

Personally I've found that undervolting makes a bigger difference to power consumption than underclocking. I've read that power consumption of a CPU is roughly proportional to F * V^2, where F is CPU frequency and V is Voltage. For me, undervolting made a huge difference to my idle and peak fan spee...

Sad story, that must be very frustrating for somebody who appreciates silence.

Good to see a fellow West Aussie on here. Are there a few decent computer stores down in Busso (assuming from your nick) or do you usually order from further afield?

Seems like a reasonable way to achieve your goal. You may find performance is an issue, but there's only one way to find out! Give it a go and let us know. Even if the disk I/O is a bit slow, I wouldn't think that playing compressed video would required lightning disk throughput anyway. EDIT: There ...

There are significant "shakycam" sections (filmed to look like a TV documentary), but not the whole movie. It's not handycam quality though, more TV crew in conflict zone level. It didn't detract from the movie for me. I really enjoyed it. It did feel a little rough around the edges, but it's one of...

40974111: Thanks for the tip. How do they compare in power consumption to a 3850? My home PC has a passive 3850 and it's been alright for me so far (it certainly does get hot, but doesn't seem to affect the other components noticeably). JamieG: You are right about the W.A. stores of course. I forgot...