Real men use coax. ;) I think I read somewhere that although optical may have greater bandwidth, coax has a slightly cleaner signal. But only a true audiophile with a $2,000 set of speakers could really tell by hearing it. The rest of us in-duh-viduals with less trained ears can live with less than...

I wonder how many people hook up their PCs to an audio receiver? Except for occasionally plugging a computer into the TV for watching shows over Hulu, all the computers around here use analog speakers with a direct 3.5mm plug. I've got a pretty good set of 2.1 speakers on my PC (Creative T3100). The...

Modern onboard sound from Realtek is pretty good for most applications, although it does have a hard time not popping and making noise with half a dozen cars at the starting line in Midtown Madness 2. I've noticed with music (especially while wearing headphones) that the sound quality feels like it'...

The SilenX PSU failed. What a surprise!

I notice you occasionally pulled out a Gentle Typhoon in the review. I think mine is great, but what did you guys think of it?

Lack of a flat base does not seem to have hindered the Prolimatech Megahalems. Although there seem to be some initial quality control issues there's no doubt that Scythe intend to have a non-flat base too. It's true that other manufacturers of heatsinks have purposely made non-flat bases, but they ...

SPCR, just out of curiosity, have you ever tried lapping the base of a heatsink before? It looks like your sample of the Ninja 3 could use it, and I thought it might be interesting to see how it performs with a perfectly flat base? I'm not going to run out and replace my CNPS9500 since it works perf...

I personally wouldn't use the Evercool or the Silenx. Evercool's larger fans are pretty good, but it seems everything less than 80mm in size has problems (I've tried a couple 50mm fans myself. Quiet for a while, but they quickly failed). Silenx has one of the worst reputations for fan failures I've ...

Replacing a PSU fan can be pretty easy as long as you're careful (DO NOT TOUCH THE PC BOARD COMPONENTS INSIDE, ESPECIALLY THE CAPACITORS!). I had to replace my PSU fan a while back because the sleeve bearing Globe fan used wasn't holding up. I used a Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1,150RPM. The connection wa...

The favorites in quiet fans haven't changed much. The Nexus 92mm is still one of the top quiet fans in its size, and the Noiseblocker and Noctua models are also around the top of the list. About the only one I can think of to add would be Scythe's 92mm Gentle Typhoon. I have a 120mm model, and it ha...

The belief of "life is pointless" is one of the reasons that I'm glad to be a christian. My belief gives me and many of the people around me a purpose to live. "Love God and love people". Many people mistake christianity for a religion full of ceremonial stuff, strict rules, no fun allowed, and peop...

I've never used an Apache fan, but I love my 1,150RPM Gentle Typhoon. I used it to replace the cheap fan in my PSU, and I can't even hear it over the rest of my computer. :D My PSU isn't a higher efficiency model (Xion 630W), but it's never even had a chance to overheat with that Gentle Typhoon in t...

Because LED fans usually use a clear plastic that's lighter and more brittle than the usual black fans, they end up being a little or a lot noisier. I like LED fans, so I do have some experience with them in 80mm and 120mm sizes. So far, the only ones that I would truely qualify as "quiet" LED fans ...

What you are saying seems internally self inconsistent. Can you describe it using more words so that there is no doubt about the position of the fans you are talking about. I think the problem is that different people may have different interpretations as what horizontal and vertical means with res...

Lawrence Lee wrote:The new fan testing rig is pretty much ready to go. Expect a few roundups in the coming weeks.

Alright! I'm looking forward to it!

I've fixed a couple Antec fans with this problem. The original grease has dried up into more of a thick paste. If you clean the old stuff out and put in some fresh oil or grease (I used Vaseline, but there are probably better choices), it should work fine for a while longer.

Nope, vertical mounting. The D14 is mounted so the air from the two fans is going straight towards the rear exhaust. Fans blowing towards the back of the case are horizontally mounted. Remember, verticle is up and down, horizontal is side to side. :) Sleeve bearing fans will probably last longer mo...

I'd also like to see their thoughts on some of the other "quiet" fans out there. Thermaltake ISGC: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1164&ID=1863 Some people say they're silent, others don't. SPCR could clear things up. Gelid Wing 12: http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?lid=1...

It could be the RPM signal from the fans is flaky at those settings. As long as everything's working fine, I wouldn't worry about it. I just keep my TT at 5 volts all the time, and it cools my 8800GT at any load, so I never even think to check the RPM. :) You can try and determine the speed by the t...

The V1AX seems to have poor to average reviews from users: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106124 . Thermaltake is also known for having acoustically poor fans, and any fan from about 80mm and up is going to be pretty noisy at the V1AX's maximum of 2,000RPM. Fans above 92mm ...

The Accelero S1 has the advantage of being able to have pretty much any fan mounted to it, and the huge surface area allows slow fans to be used. It's one of the best options for silent cooling on a video card. I have an Accelero Twin Turbo mounted to my 8800GT video card, and it cools so well that ...

Yeah right. Are you serious ? What about all those crazy abortion ppl that shoot doctors ? Or Christian fundamentalist in states and that ******** they call "intelligent design" I mean those poor brainwashed souls are refusing to even acknowledge evolution.... Or the same crazy christian souls stop...

I would keep the stock fans. A projector makes a lot of heat, and I wouldn't want to risk over-heating the electronics inside. I could be wrong, but it's better to be safe, right?

I once mounted an Enermax Marathon to a VF700 (which uses the same fan as the VF900). It was almost completely silent, even at full speed (not having the "box" around the fan got rid of all turbulence noise). Mounting can be done with some sort of glue or a strong double-sided tape. Or you can figur...

Can you get NoiseBlocker fans in Australia? I know FrozenCPU carries them, and they say they ship to Australia. SPCR said the 92mm XE1 sounds as good as the Nexus 92mm fan, and after getting my M12-S2, I'd believe it. :D http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8405/fan-522/Noiseblocker_NB-BlackSilentFan_X...

It's nice to see that Zalman has brought out a more affordable full size cooler. Of course, if someone were to add fans from someone like Noctua or Gelid, the price would go right back up to where the other expensive coolers are. I'm still curious about the CNPS10X QUIET, which has noticably wider f...

Can you undervolt the fan? That may be all it needs to stay quiet, and a hard drive shouldn't need much airflow to keep cool enough. Most 60mm fans available are inexpensive and no better than tolerably quiet. The only "quiet" 60mm fans out there I know of are made by SilenX, but based on their very...

4Him: Sacred Hideaway
http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuse ... id=8123301

My 1,150RPM Gentle Typhoon makes a high-pitched bearing noise, but it seems to disappear from a couple feet away. My computer's on the floor by my desk. The GT is completely inaudible over the rest of the system.

Another little fix just came to mind. It worked with my Globe 120mm fan, so it should work with other sleeve bearing fans that have problems with blowing in the up position. Take the blades out. Take the little rubber washer out from the front. Put the blades back in. Put the rubber washer in the ba...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article901-page8.html

SPCR's test shows it to be a pretty good cooler, but it's still beaten by the high-end tower coolers from Thermalright, Noctua, Prolimatech, Xigmatek, and even Zalman's own CNPS10X. Most are similarly priced or cheaper than the 9900.