Just thought I'd post this, I'm excited with my new CPU / motherboard combo that I got Saturday. Microcenter B&M 60 miles from my house- I made a prigrimage there to get some deals. I got an i5-2400 for $149.99 and a MSI H67MA-E45 for $85 with a coupon + I get a $10 MIR. For all this cheapness it's ...

I have noticed not a lot of people around here watercool their CPUs. My friend bought the corsair Hydro H50 and was bragging about how great it is- and Quiet (which is a joke, because he runs 2 ATI 5870s). Well this performance chart tells me: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1025/6/ It's pretty ...

Good information in this thread. I was wondering why 7V seemed to be so popular.

This is a simple thing. If you are not a gamer, do an i3-2100. It's plenty fast and it uses ridiculously low amounts of power. If you feel like you need quad core, get an i5-2400. Both are extremely powerful. If you don't plan on overclocking, the K series is a waste of money. So are the P67 motherb...

Well, I am open to that idea. I just need to figure out which Scythe bolt-through kit to use, and then try and find a quiet 92mm fan to strap onto the minja to make this complete. I have a scythe PWM fan and it screams, so a fixed speed would probably be ideal. I have a message into Scythe USA custo...

Well, the saga continues. I am frustrated with my Scythe Ninja Mini. I removed it today and realized that even though I had it secured 100% of the ability of the mounting system, that only 40-50% of the heatsink was making contact with the CPU! In frustration I removed it and installed the intel sto...

System specs in signature. Kill-a-watt measured 263 watts during 4x prime 95 and furmark running. So in my estimation, only using about 230W to run all that. I guess one question would be how much power on the 12V rail for the video card, but I'm using roughly 1/2 of the capacity of my power supply ...

I have an NSK2480 and a Mini Ninja with an i5-750. Temps are a little high and my 92mm PWM fan is too loud. I should provide some pics. Anyway, quick question: Can I undervolt the i5 w/o screwing it up, especially with turbo boost kicking in? Any alternative fans I haven't thought of? I think 120mm ...

I need to try MSI afterburner. I'll give that a shot, along with a mild undervolt, and report back.

At idle it's unobtrusive but definitely audible. It's a lower pitched kind of whooshing broadband sound of air. As the fans increase in speed, the pitch becomes a little higher and the whooshing noise gets quite a bit louder.

Well, I got it installed. First impressions of the card are- looks very solid and serious. And oops, those are very slim fans. At idle it is using the same power that my 5770 did, but during gaming the fans become very audible. I'm going to have to see if I can tweak the profile or do something beca...

XFX released an improved dual-fan 6850 a couple months ago. I ordered one. It was $10 more than the standard XFX model, and the cooler looks to be worth that additional price premium. Instead of a reference cooler, it has a direct-touch heatpipe cooler with what looks like 2x 120mm fans. It uses the...

I really like Paradigm speakers. Made in Canada by skilled craftsmen. With a budget of 300-400 euro though, I'm not sure you could or even should get paradigm. I'm not sure what kind of options are out there for a small, elegant, 2 channel reciever, but would be interested to find out. The above pos...

Thanks for the thoughtful reply- I like the way you argued points instead of just calling me stupid or something. To be honest, I really don't watch FN much. I've probably seen 2 hours in the last month, when I'm in the gym. I get much of my information from "Fox News Radio" local affiliate which is...

Fox news is biased. So is PBS, MSNBC, CNN, HNN, ABC, and NBC. Heck, even BBC does have some bias that I have noticed. The biggest mistake the "traditional media" makes is they ignore any story that doesn't support their viewpoint (make the president or a leading democrat look bad). Despite the probl...

Great info in this thread. Hopefully, I'll have something to report here in a week or so.

Yeah, I am ditching my 5770 this week due to a super loud annoying fan. Why can't manufacturers make a 2-slot card that uses adapters and a really large grill to exhaust all the heat out the back. Maybe it would be more expensive to have to use an adapter to DVI, but it would be so worth it.

Awesome. Sandy Bridge looks so efficient, but it's funny to realize that AMD (who did quad core first) has been doing quad core so long that they really aren't making new dual cores. It's a shame. I would have loved to have seen a modern 35nm dual core from AMD. I don't like their market strategy ri...

They are chosing to "stop defending" the defense of marriage act, thus deciding which laws they think they should enforce. They are still enforcing DOMA until it is either repealed by Congress or there are some definitive court ruling as to the consitutionality of the disputed Section 3. See here ....

Seriously- a corporatocracy? The current administation seems fine penalizing and fining and taxing and regulating our "free markets" to their own whims. Heck, "Obamacare" was judged to be unconstitutional and they are currently ignoring that. They are chosing to "stop defending" the defense of marri...

IIRC these cards were released before the new drivers were ready. The current drivers kind of work but weren't designed for the 6850/6870. New drivers should be out soon.

I didn't see an optical drive on your list, but a blu-ray player is pretty cheap now, might be worth having. i3-530 would be plenty for you, save you a couple bucks maybe, and it's a very minimal difference in speed (3%) 4GB of RAM, since it is so cheap, should be pretty much a requirement- running ...

Hey guys, Looking for a wireless keyboard and mouse for my HTPC. I do gaming mostly with the keyboard, it would be really nice if the mouse had a large range so as to control the computer from the couch or beyond (15 feet). Maybe this is a pipe dream. I have a cheap Logitech right now, and the range...

Yes, they use quite a bit more, which manifests itself in the form of additional heat. My friend has a Panasonic 50" plasma, uses 400-500 watts during use. Not sure how much at idle. Maybe time to bust out the kill-a-watt. My TV is a 46" LED edge-lit LCD, uses 120-150W from what I've read. Again, mo...

What resolution will you be playing the games? That'll set the baseline for gpu needed. Off the bat though, I'd stay away from the 465 and the 4830. The 460 outperforms the 465 in most apps, uses much less power, and runs cooler. The 4830 is a bit of an abortion: power hog, minimal performance gain...

Your right, the Zipang is "less tall" and so that one would probably be better suited. I dont' know the height on the mini-ninja, but I wonder how it compared to the zipang with a 25mm thick fan installed on the top. I would guess you need another 1" airspace above the fan, at minimum?

I think an HD 5830 compares very well to the gtx 465 and has a lot of options for aftermarket cooling and card varients with different coolers on them. Same price, too. Microcenter is awesome. BTW I would do this RAM instead.. seems like that stuff you have listed is kind of a waste of money... http...

Looks great, I should post pics of my rig right now. Although- currently it is less than silent. I need to buy some more 120mm fans. Looking at your prices, that seems a little high, although you are probably paying VAT. I think my prices from newegg in USD is similar to your prices in Euros. I got ...

Wouldn't the Xigmatek $35 tower heatsink work just fine? It's performance is excellent, although you might want to use a Scythe slipstream or Nexus fan instead of the included one.

SPCR just reviewed 2 heatsinks a couple months back that are actually better than the mini ninja, and both made by Scythe. They are top-down affairs and have funky names. One of them came with a fan that Mike said is the "quietest fan he's ever tested". They are $35-40 and honestly I'd get either of...