Kaleid wrote:Yes, but the seek noise can easily be fixed with a program such as winaam.

Thanks. I will try some further AAM software. My F2 is only on for a short while most of the time so I haven't bothered with AAM. I am determined to make the most of an already good drive. It's serving me well so far.

Take my last post a little on the sarcastic side. While not "essential", I still find it useful in certain situations. It's incredibly noisy and slow though, which is why I am going to try moving all my bootdisks and diagnostic utilities to USB flash drives and optical media.

I think the most stable is intel cpu and intel board. Not just intel chipset. THis has been the best way for stability in the past. That's what often gets recommended. Audio enthusiasts for example had always preferred Intel+Intel over anything else. I think that's still true today although some DA...

toronado455: "The main complaint I have with hard drive noise in general is ultra high-pitched whine at idle. Seek noise generally doesn't bother me." Good, because seek noise is the only thing in F2 Ecogreen that sucks. It's practically inaudible (even variants with several platters hand high capa...

I'll actually push it back further away.. When a 256GB drive becomes available for something like €100 then it will finally offer a decent price:storage ratio. This size is enough for windows, games and even something else. Yep. Enough for a few extra mp3s, oggs, etc. By that time, Windows will r...

I've moved on from 7200RPM 40GB IDE Barracudas to 5400RPM SATA Samsungs both 2.5" and 3.5" and I'm happy so far with the Samsungs. The slower access times will mostly not be noticed. The better transfer speeds will make up for any losses in that regard. I'll later upgrade to the 7200RPM F3s also bef...

Yes they have. That was a rumour put round by Intel, and I can personally vouch that is exactly what Intel did. Some people still believe things they heard 10-years ago to be true, even without a scrap of proof. AMD CPU's have been fault free for a decade or more, the problems with chipsets vanishe...

PC Authority (Australian mainstream technology magazine with an I.T. industry focus) posted some articles recently on 64-bit Windows http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/154856,64-bit-windows-should-you-switch.aspx http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/155159,64-bit-windows-guide-part-2-those-pesky-compa...

Why would average non-technologically-oriented users want a media hub - let alone a self-built one where they micro-manage their components? HTPC's are currently - and probably forever will remain - a very niche market. Looking through the forums, you would think everyone has or wants to own a medi...

I've been an AMD user for almost a decade so I'm not speaking totally out of ignorance. But, like a footballer who's spent most of his career at one club, through the highs and lows, it's time for me to join the club the other side of the river to end my career. Granted that AMD has good value produ...

Of course, if power consumption is your be all and end all, then it'll serve well. But if you want to use your computer for more than a glorified DMP, it doesn't seem worth it IMO. CULV also makes it possible to build computers in very, very small form factors where regular desktop parts would othe...

Keep researching and reading up in the meantime. Just don't let it consume you too much. By the time you're ready to buy, things will have changed a bit, but at least you will have been informed and seen how things have progressed. This is what I do to keep track of things before that big day arrive...

AMD can only compete on (low end) value. Sorry AMD, you'll always be the bridesmaid. Keep at it though. Someday, you might actually make some money.

Yes, you still need the floppy drive power connector. I would not remove it if I were you. The FDD is an essential part of any system. Why do you think motherboards still retain FDD support in the days of SATA6, eSATA, USB3? It's not just there to look good. There will be a time when that flash driv...

CULV CPU speeds seem pathetically low. 1.2-1.4GHz is circa 2002. For the same price or less, you can get a more powerful spec'd system that can do more than browse the web and playback your media files. (You'll probably need a corei7 to run the next version of MS Office. Okay, maybe a corei5.) Then ...

SSDs Integrated Graphics on the CPU SATA 6GBs USB 3 I think it's about to all start changing faster than most will be able to keep up with. Which is often the worst time to upgrade. You may be stuck with hardware that doesn't support the new "standards". But 2010 should be a great year, if not one ...

I've ignored matx for some time, primarily due to the fact that truly top notch enthusiast matx boards were usually few and far between, and expensive to boot. With the appearance of many good 785G and X58/P55 micro boards, and a new office layout that requires my PC to be on my desk, I've found my...

The main question (for my ears) is vibration sound, I don't care so much about seek clicks. Do HD103SI and HD502HI have similar vibration level? Hello. I would think vibration would be similar, but better in favour of 1 platter HD502HI. 2 platter HD103SI vibration level is quite good already, meani...

(...) The more seasoned Linux user would know how to dig out all necessary information to make that printer or wi-fi work but most people don't have time or energy to do that. It's much easier to just pop in the manufacturer's driver cd and click install. Until Linux and open source has gotten ther...

I'd just like to pick up on this point here - I have a 6-year-old and perfectly functional Canon scanner, for which Canon have not seen fit to write x64 drivers, no doubt recognising an opportunity to flog new hardware to people who wouldn't otherwise need it. It *does* however work in Win7 Profess...

...constantly messing around with XP not knowing how stable it's going to be in a few months time For me it's the opposite. At work we use XP Pro's 32 bit and they're rock solid, never had a BSOD or freeze. It's not that I don't find it rock solid. I like XP and it's served me better than any OS th...

Well put, spookmineer I agree with a lot of what you said. But that doesn't meant we can't have a dig at our "favourite" case manufacturer every now and then, especially if some of us feel they might be "abandoning" us with some of these ghastly designs. The quiet PC market may not be their bread an...

If you're after low price and low consumption, TN is the way to go. The other panels cost more and use more power. Personally, I will take quality over price and power anyday. I'm a mainly budget user but a monitor is not something for me to go cheap on. I value image quality, viewing angles, constr...

it's one case. antec is dominant in cases and just wants to have one or a few that will appeal to a "certain" kind of buyer. they are still going to do their bread and butter designs. hate the case, not the case maker. It is isn't just "one case". Antec have had several likeminded cases in recent t...

Okay, the only thing(s) that is stopping me from going 64-bit is no compatible drivers for my modem, printer and mouse. Sure, eventually, I will replace them with new gear that has the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo, meaning 64-bit is supported out of the box. The modem and printer will inevitably...

I decided that if I'm going to make the big change to Win7, I may as well buy the full retail version rather than the upgrade or OEM one. Probably spending more than I need to but just happier if I do it that way. WHOA WHOA WHOA...hold up there, speedy. The "upgrade" software is still the FULL vers...

Again on pricing, MS is made to look a little greedy -- by Apple of all people. Mac users can upgrade to the latest Mac OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard" for just 39AUD for a single user or 69AUD for a 5 user licence. Even for older users of a Mac OS, the full retail version is 229AUD. Quite a lot cheaper tha...

Austrailian students can get it for $49.95 AUD Heres the link: http://www.microsoft.com/australia/windows/offers/windows-7-student-upgrade.aspx I dont know about the MSDN alliance if thats only in the USA or everywhere cause Im getting win7 pro 64bit for free through my school from that alliance. (...

It's quite laugable really that you have to spend that much for an OS. Not for all people. All US students (with a college email address) can buy Win 7 Pro x32 or x64 OS's for 30 dollars. Legally. yeah, it's expensive if you're not a student...still worth it IMO. US prices are usually lower compare...