Right to left in that picture, they are ground, +12V, sense input and PWM output. The BIOS is almost certainly looking for a sense reading. You could provide that signal by tapping the sense output of any fan in the system that is running off a normal 12V or 5V power source. Note that fans run with ...

it's my own d**m fault that switching fan voltages without turning off the supply could cause problems). I'm not sure how changing the fan voltage should or could kill the power supply? I alter the voltage of my PSU fan all the time with a fanmate while the power supply (and computer) is on and enc...

I purchased a Phantom 500 in August 2005, and it failed after about a week. It was probably my fault though: it died just as I was switching the settings on the P180 tri-cool fan switch. The symptom was that the motherboard LED would blink on and off in about a one-second pulse, and the system would...

Yep. Bend the tabs out of the way, drill a couple of holes, and do a proper softmount.

I have two Samsung SP2004C drives in my P180. I can feel them vibrate, but can't hear any hum. When idle, they make a faint hissing sound. I have to be within a few inches to hear it.

I recently bought an Antec P180 case to replace my old beige tower that had developed a rather nasty rattle. As part of the upgrade I got myself a Hiper 580w PSU, only to find that when installing it, it didn't fit with the lower 120x38mm fan still there. Since I want to house 2 x SATA drives in th...

I used AFDP 120mm fans to build my quiet system. They are indeed very quiet although over time they seem to get noisier -- one of mine developed quite loud bearing noise after a few months, and the others now have noticeable motor noise. But now that I've gotten the system ducting efficient enough t...

Hi All, Thanks for your useful responses to my last question, I've just got a quick Q about fan controllers, what are people's feelings on them, there seem to be a lot on the market but I'm not sure which one (if any) I should choose. My thinking is as most of the time I'll be working on the PC I c...

First of all I appreciate your work, it is a real challenge to quiet such a hot system. But my question is related to a HDD topic mentioned in your article: "Because I was optimizing the system for multiprogram performance, I considered the NCQ configuration to be better than the more popular bandw...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor_correction This is one of the rare times I'm disappointed by Wikipedia. That article is accurate, but not helpful. The big issue with switching power supplies, especially those found in millions of PCs, is that they (as a group) start to draw current on the...

I got my Antec Sonata with SP 450 in it today. It says it has PFC. I noticed this mentioned several times in PSU reviews. But also that it is usually found in EU PSUs. Why? And what does PFC do for my PSU? It claims to heighten efficiency, but how much? And how? (oh and I did search on PFC but have...

this review was posted today, what do you think? http://www.pro-clockers.com/article.php?id=127 Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm fan version. The Sharkoon web site shows two 120mm versions, 1000 RPM and 2000 RPM. The 1000 version is rated by them at 36.7 CFM and 19 dBA. Have they sent you these to ...

rage wrote:OMG, That Chris Thomson?

The very one. Thanks for your kind words.

1) Why did you decide to go for what was a high-end GPU when you say you're not into games? Have you tried putting the X300 back in and running those benchmarks again. I get the feeling that you're adding unecessary heat to those sensitive VRMs. 2) Did you consider watercooling? Could an off-the-sh...

although the extremely high temperature of that heat sink indicates that the stock thermal goo is pretty efficient. It's the silver one that says like fanless, no moving parts, ect. right? How hot does it get. My p5nd2-sli deluxe has the same heatsink and it doesn't feel hot at all. It might be bec...

I think the thermal diode is fine (unless mine is bad too). I have an 830 too and those temps seem to be about the same as mine. It's usually around 58ºC Did you consider the thermalright HR-05 for your northbridge? That seems like it would cool better (I haven't ready any reviews or anything so i ...

from the article The reported CPU temperature varies from 50°C when idle, to 75°C running two copies of CPUBurn. As mentioned before, the temperatures are way higher than numbers I see in other people's reviews. I suspect the thermal diode circuit in my system is out of whack. Apparently these high...

The VRM heat sink on the P5LD2 sits on top of 6 MOSFETs that are part of the Vcore 12V-to-1.3V converter, and is attached with a couple of plastic push-pins. It is a straighforward mod to replace the stock TIM. If you are going to go that far, why not replace the heatsink altogether rather than jus...

Did you put Arctic Silver 5 on the VRMs too? Or is that even possible? i really know nothing about VRMs. Doh! I certainly could, although the extremely high temperature of that heat sink indicates that the stock thermal goo is pretty efficient. Then I thought about putting silver next to high-power...

mikellpp wrote:As for the stated goal of performance... it doesn't perform any better then the alternatives whether you are an overclocker, gamer or video muxer.

Well, EXCUSE ME for buying my stuff 8 months ago!

[and oh by the way, it's "than", not "then"]

[snip]there is no way I would recommend this approach to a newbie looking for a simple build to make a quiet computer. Oh, you want my recommendation to a newbie? DON'T DO IT! Buy a Core Duo iMac instead. Alternatively, build your system around a Yonah or Sossaman -- you'll give up 64-bit, but also...

diver wrote:Some of the members have been unnecessarily harsh [snip]

Building a one-off PC is a hobby thing [snip]

Thanks diver.
This project provided less frustration and at least as much fun as getting my ego trashed on the golf course.

I think the same, that top fan is just in front of one flap of his CPU duct. Very inefficient and lots of turbulences that end as noise. True in theory, but this fan is running very slowly. I have to get within a few inches to hear it separately from the overall system noise. Besides, as I understa...

If we accept that quietly cooling this hot processor is a requirement for Chris, then Chris has done an excellent job of meeting this requirement. Thanks for assuming I'm not an idiot! [nice comments about CPU ducting omitted] * I would be a little concerned by the leverage (cantilever force) exert...

wow - impressive article and silencing effort! I can't help but think there must be a better way to route airflow in the top chamber - I just can't quite think what it might be. At the mo' hot air from the graphics card and NB over/ around the CPU HS and duct to get to the top fan, whereas the idea...

So many questions and comments! I'll respond to a bunch of them together in this post. My God....I thought I went over-board with computer quieting. Apparently all the fan speed changes were done with resistors.....I wonder why a manual fan speed controller was not used instead, maybe replaced by re...

Since you're planning to use a P180 (which is the case I use), I can make a few recommendations. Power supply: Antec Phantom (350 or 500). Heat sink: Scythe Ninja. Disks: Samsung SpinPoint (eg, SP2004C), nearly silent when mounted in a P180. Fans: 120mm, Nexus or AcoustiFan DustProof or Scythe (opin...

P5LD2 added. Is the CPU fan header the only one that is controlled by Q-Fan? What about SpeedFan support? Yes, only one fan header has speed control. All four have speed sensing. SpeedFan can read all four fan speeds, the CPU and MB temperature, the HDD temperatures if they have SMART, and the Vcor...

The only thing I am worried about is my high ambient temperatures as I live in a hot weather country... But I think I'll still manage to overcome it by doing some duct experiment and fan control with the Ninja, its mounted fan and the P180 fans (that, indeed, I'm thinking of replacing at some point...

... I'm a bit surprised nobody has mentioned the ASUS P5LD2 775 motherboard. I'd be happy to add it. Its passive which is good, just need some info on fan control and CPU core voltage control. The P5LD2 has one 4-pin fan header for the CPU fan. It has Q-fan control (which with the stock Intel coole...