Ok, now it's my turn to ask for opinions!

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 1:54 am

Ok, here is what I've arrived at for the system I plan to build in January.
There are a few bits missing but I think the months of research have paid off!

Code: Select all

Enclosure
---------
Case: Lian-Li PC6070B
Mounted noise reduction: EAR grommets and fan mounts (scrounged free from EAR)
Ambient noise reduction: Heavy duty 20mm foam (left over from floor insulation!)

Power and Cooling
-----------------
PSU: Seasonic Super Tornado 400w rev A3 (already purchased)
Replacement case fans:
 - 3 x Nexus Real Silent Case Fan 80mm (www.kustompcs.co.uk) or
 - 3 x Panaflow 80L1A (www.dorothybradbury.co.uk) or
 - 3 x Papst N/2GML 80mm - 3pin has tacho (www.koolnquiet.co.uk, www.chillblast.com)
Fan controler:
 - Akasa AK FC-03 (confirmed as using V-Reg, not PWM)
CPU Cooler:
 - Thermalright XP-120 if compatible with motherboard, otherwise
 - Thermalright XP-90
CPU Cooler Fan:
 - Nexus Real Silent Case Fan 120mm (www.kustompcs.co.uk) or
 - Globe B1202512L-3M 67CFM max 120mm (www.koolnquiet.co.uk)
Graphics cooler: Zalman ZM80D-HP, hopefully without OP-1 fan
Northbridge Cooler: Zalman ZM-NB47J, if any required
 

System Core
-----------
Motherboard: Asus A8N series
CPU: AMD Athlon64 S939 Winchester (either 3000+ or 3200+)
Memory: 2 x Crucial Ballistix BL6464Z402 (512Mb PC3200 2-2-2-6, www.crucial.com/uk)

Multimedia
----------
Graphics: GeForce 6600GT Dual DVI-I
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 7.1

Storage
-------
DVDRW-DL: 
	- Nec 3500A (cheaper + RPC1 patch available), or
	- Pioneer DVR-A08XLA (overpriced, no RPC1 yet)
DVD-ROM: ?not decided?
Harddrives: 3 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 S150NCQ (120gb 7200rpm 8mb, www.span.co.uk)
Floppy: Generic black
Card reader: ?not decided?

As you can see I'm still missing a DVD-ROM and a card reader, but other than that it's all there.
A few notes:
- Yes I know about the problems silencing aluminium cases. No I won't change my mind

- I already have 3 Barracuda IV's so I know what sort of noise levels to expect. I need the space, pure and simple, and for various reasons I need it to be spread over different physical drives. And I want those ones in particular because they have NCQ support.
- I know soundblasters are not the best in terms of audio fidelity. However, it'll be mainly used for games, and I think I'd be right in saying that Creative cards have the best environmental effects support, in hardware.

So, any thoughts?
Have I missed anything?
Am I plain crazy?

Thanks.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:28 am

Why not the Lian Li PC-V1100B? The 120mm case fans are a great improvement IMO even though the reversed lay-out is not as great a feature as you're led to believe. Definitely put Nexus fans in there, orange looks great with black

And yes, you're right about the Creative cards. Whether or not you're crazy... no comments, but the selection looks good. That A8N is the first Asus board I've seen with an active NB cooler in quite some time... does anyone know if the nForce4 runs that hot or is Asus just becoming as careful as the other mainstream manufacturers and can it be easily swapped for a passive one?

Do you already have mods planned, like drive suspension and/or cutting out fan guards?

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:48 am

The one and only reason I'm not going for the V1100 is because all the passive graphics coolers either say they don't work at all or don't work very well in that orientation, so I'd have to have active cooling. Annoying I know, but I think it probably works out quieter to go with the nexus 80mm's than 120mm's and active VGA cooling, especially as I'll have the fan controller.

I'm hoping Asus will release a "non deluxe" version of the A8N in time for my build because I really can't afford (and don't want) SLI. Hopefully that might have passive cooling. If not, then its over to the Zalman northbridge cooler option

Yes the fan vent on the back will be going, to be replaced with a wide spaced wire grill.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:07 am

Yeah, that is a problem with the V-series I never realized until it was too late. Fortunately, my 9800pro can be cooled with the original Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer rev. 3 and that one is still very quiet... the last really quiet one it seems. I do believe davidstone28 is running a Zalman in his V-series upside-down without problems but I could just as easily be wrong

The only board I've seen is the SLI as well... though it would be awesome to run an SLI setup performance-wise, it would be near-impossible to quiet down. If the 6070 has the same internal layout as my previous case (6089A) you can very easily suspend the entire drive cage with the disks screwed in.

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:24 am

Ah interesting you should say that, because suspending the cage was going to be my next option if the grommet thingies wouldn't fit. Great minds eh?

I've just had a hunt around, and there is another Asus nForce4 board, the A8N-E Premium. However, it won't be available til december and is more expensive than the SLI for reasons I haven't figured out yet.
It does, however, have a passive northbridge cooler.

Hmmm.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:29 am

I know you don't want to hear it, but ditch the 6070 case and get something that breaths better.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:28 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:I know you don't want to hear it, but ditch the 6070 case and get something that breaths better.

Dontcha love it when all your good ideas get blown out of the sky by someone who knows his stuff? Actually, that was the first thing that came to my mind too, that's why I suggested the V1100 instead. But I'm guessing that Ralfs comment won't have too much impact, because

meglamaniac wrote:Yes I know about the problems silencing aluminium cases. No I won't change my mind.

Actually, IMO aluminium cases can be at least quieted, but as for the airflow: there is a reason why I ditched my 6089A and the 6070 is similar in layout. I did stick with the brand & the aluminium though so I guess I'm a slow learner... or maybe I like a challenge, who knows.

The price on that A8N SLi is not too bad actually even though I won't be running 2 cards anytime soon... mmm... upgrade time?

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:23 am

Sorry Ralf, I'm set

For me looks come into it as well as noise, and much as I'd love to be able to get one that breathes better I think the majority of other suitable cases look ugly. The V1100 would be perfect if it wasn't for the upside down video cooler issue, so the 6070 it is.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:23 am

Man, I love it when I'm right!

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:07 am

I tell you what, if, in 1-2 months time when I've built this and I make my gallery post, I complain about noise levels then Ralf gets to say "I told you so". Sounds fair to me!

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:46 am

I'd say Nexus fans are definitely the way to go - I haven't heard the 80mm version, but the 92 and 120 mm Nexus fans in my system are practically inaudible, and from what I've read here, they're consistently that good.

I found the Ballistix cheaper at Dabs than Crucial, but you may find differently now.

You could skip the Zalman graphics coopler and get a fanless 6600Gt instead - Gigabyte do one, don't know if there are others.

The DVR-A08 is still not available in the UK - I ordered mine from Burn-Media, and they have withdrawn it from their site, though they say they'll honour my order as soon as the first shipment arrives in the UK.

If forced to choose between the ND-3500 and the DVR-108, I'd probably choose the Pioneer for its allegedly better media support.

You've seen the Samsung P80 series prove quieter than the 7200.7 here at SPCR, the P80 performs better at StorageReview (I think), and NCQ isn't a significant advantage for desktop use. However, you're welcome to pick the 7200.7 (keep an eye out for the 7200.8 - it may or may not be available by the time you order your parts).

Finally, Mitsumi make a combined 3½" floppy and card reader - Dabs sell it for about £18. It connects to an internal USB2 header, and reports here indicate that it's very quiet. Mine's still on order, due in on the 15th.

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 5:19 am

Spod wrote:Mitsumi make a combined 3½" floppy and card reader

This thread is full of co-incidences! I just found that very product while browsing on KustomPC's website not 10 minutes before coming back here. Looks worth while for the reasons you mentioned, plus of course it saves a drive bay.

As for the graphics card, my problem is I need dual DVI-I which limits my choice somewhat.

It's interesting you note the Samsungs perform better; I'd missed that info somehow. In that case it is probably worth me going for the SP's instead (so long as I can find Nidecs of course!).

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:43 am

meglamaniac, you seem to be looking at a system almost identical to mine! So I thought I'd give you some thoughts...

Firstly, how did you get an A3 Super Tornado in the UK?!?! Did you import one?

I think the new PCI-E nForce4 boards may need ATX 2.0 PSU's, worth checking the SuperTornado will do the job before buying a system! I'd expect it will work fine, but better safe than sorry. I got the NoiseTaker 475 2.0 myself and am very happy with it, expecially compared to previous Enermax's. With such a high efficiency as long as it isn't sucking in hot air the fans never spin up above minimum, and I've decided to make a PSU duct to keep it that way!

I'd personally recommend getting 120mm case fans instead. you get more air moved for the same noise as long as you pick good fans and undervolt them. I've got 3 Nexus 120-mm fans that really are as good as their rep here on SR.

If you're getting an A8N series mobo then the XP-120 is compatible. Actually, I've only "heard" it is - my A8N-SLI hasn't arrived yet for me to check! It has better be though! I'll post an update once it arrives - hopefully this weekend

Can't argue with the choice of CPU fan or NB cooler - I've got the ones mentioned.

The A8N-SLI is (as I write this) listed as in stock at "Vadim Computers" but I can't make any recomendations about them yet because i've never ordered from them before. If you're interested see http://www.vadim.co.uk/Components/Motherboards/AMD+64

Winchester's look good, but I've seen reports of problems with a few of them not running Prime95 even at stock. Possibly related to the reports in the last couple of days that dud AMD chips have been nicked and sold as good - so if you get one - test it thoroughly and if it bails out - send it right back.

Can't really help with the memory - I've not ordered any - just going to use my Corsair XMS3500 for now - with BH5 chips, 2225 timings. I've heard good stuff about the Crucial getting up to high clock speeds tho, and its not too expensive so it looks like a good bet, just check that it is the version with Samsung TCCD chips on it if you want to clock it up

I've had an NEC 3520A for a few weeks now and am very happy with it. So happy in-fact that it has made my loyal Plextor CD-RW obsolete, which my old DRU-500A failed miserably to do. I wouldn't worry about RPC issues because as long as you get a DVD-ROM with a patch it wont matter, but I suppose it is another plus factor for the NEC. At the current price of the 3520A why not just get 2 instead of 1 and a -ROM drive?

I would personally go with the SpinPoints not the 7200.7's. I currently have a 7200.7 S-ATA 120Gb and am not that impressed. It is noticeably louder than my old DeathStar, altho to be fair I had used the IBM feature tool on the old deathstar to quiet it down.

The mitsui card reader / floppy drives are excellent. I've got 1 myself, and was impressed enough to get 2 others for friends who's PCs I have recently upgraded. No complaints so far. They look very sweet too.

I can't really help you with the video card because I didn't know what to get myself. In the end I got a MSI 6600GT because it was the cheapest GT around and its supposed to be one of the quieter ones (according to Anandtech anyway). I guess it will easily be the noisiest thing in my system, and I'll have to do something to fix it. I'll post again when the system is up and running and give some feedback on it.

Finally - and most importantly - the case. Don't make a mistake! I wanted a Lian-Li for a very long time, but when I finally prepared to get myself one I noticed the CoolerMaster Stacker. After a long and difficuly decision I got the Stacker because it was a lot cheaper than the PC-V2000 which was the alternative for me. I do not regret it! Its an awesome case. First and foremost it looks awesome. It has several other advantages too - especially the mounting spaces for 120mm case fans, and the steel chassis is better from a noise point of view. It still has an Aluminium bezel so it looks like an Alu case. The 80mm fan hole in the top of the case is also very handy for a PSU duct. One final thought on it - I found the space in the motherboard tray that is meant for the cross-flow fan to be very convenient for routing wires to the motherboard.

I'm hoping the motherboard for my system will arrive this weekend. If it does I will post some more info and photos as soon as I can get it all up and running. For now see the photos of the half-empty case (and the "temporary" Pentium-II 350 system!) at http://jon.gotdns.com/photos/Technical/ ... lent%20PC/

Good luck!

Jon

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:18 pm

meglamaniac wrote:Sorry Ralf, I'm set
For me looks come into it as well as noise, and much as I'd love to be able to get one that breathes better I think the majority of other suitable cases look ugly. The V1100 would be perfect if it wasn't for the upside down video cooler issue, so the 6070 it is.

Note that there is a pre-modded 6070 available in the "For Sale" forums. It looks well done. If you don't jump on it, I think you be 'da foo.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:23 pm

WARNING !! That globe is a BALL BEARING fan. Just noticed it - after a month

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:03 pm

Jon:
Yep I imported the SST A3, it only worked out about £10 more than buying an A2 unit from a UK supplier so not bad.
Yeah the nForce4 recommends ATX 2.0 which the SST400 A3 complies with - I checked in advance

I can't get 120mm case fans for the Lian-Li as it only has 80mm mounts. However, with the nexus units I should be able to keep noise to a minimum.
I'll be getting the Asus A8N Premium (not the SLI board) when it becomes available (early Feb by the looks of things now) - if it's anything like the SLI board, and photos indicate it will be, then you are right, the XP-120 should fit.
Athlon64's and Prime95 seem not to get along in general. I've read numerous reports of the way they fail Prime95 for no apparent reason while passing every other test under the sun. As there appear to be no issues with them in the real world, I assume it's a fault with Prime95. The reports of dud AMD chips being shipped to the market are much more recent than the first reports of Prime95 failures, and early indications show that only China and Germany are affected by the shipments.
As for the memory, Crucial Ballistix continues to get very good reviews on the A64 S939 platform.
On the DVD drive front, I'd prefer a single drive as I'm slightly holding out for a second drive until the new HD-DVD drives become available.
Fair point on the SpinPoints over 7200.7's, I've pretty much been convinced already by another thread.
Thanks for the info on the Mitsui!
As for the graphics I'm probably sticking with the XFX 6600GT.
And I'm sticking with the Lian-Li 6070B I'm afraid - looks are a factor for me and I simply think it looks nicest. As I already have surplus foam about I should be able to avoid any resonance by padding where necessary.

Ralf:
In that case Mr T most likely pities me

I prefer to do my modifications myself, it's just the way I work.

Burcakb:
Yeah, I've been converted to Nexus now - my soul is saved!

Thanks for your input everyone.
Just waiting til feb for that damn board now...

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:08 am

JonScaife wrote:I've had an NEC 3520A for a few weeks now and am very happy with it. So happy in-fact that it has made my loyal Plextor CD-RW obsolete, which my old DRU-500A failed miserably to do.

Did you get that in the UK? If so, where? And do you know whether it does bitsetting?
The DVD R/W drive is the last thing for me to select for my forthcoming Winchester system.
Thanks
Cams

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:57 am

I got it from Ebuyer in the UK. Currently £43.47 for the black version. Plenty (610) in stock at the moment. I would have thought other places would have it too.

It doesn't do bit-setting out-of-the-box but you can flash it with the IO-DATA Firmware (it works, I have done) which auto-bit-sets all + media to -ROM
There is also RPC1 firmware available. See http://tdb.rpc1.org/

I used the IO-DATA 1.24 Windows Flash with RPC1 and Rip Lock.

P.S. - I haven't read all the terms and conditions of use of the forums - if i'm not supposed to be posting links or particular retailer names - someone please just let me know before I get banned

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 5:44 am

Thanks for that Jon. I may very well go for that then (NEC 3520) however I'm quite keen on the LG tri-format one (G4163) so I can use DVD-RAM for drag-n-drop backups.

Welcome to SPCR!

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:13 am

No no, SPCR isn't a retailer so there's no problem - unless you're a vendor in which case you should keep advertising to the Deals, Vendors & Classifieds board

I've just done some reading on the 3520 and it appears that sometime in march NEC will be releasing firmware allowing it to write to the new DVD-R/RW DL discs (note DVD-R not DVD+R, which is what's about now).
That makes it a worthwhile investment... I might have to change my mind.

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:45 am

meglamaniac wrote:No no, SPCR isn't a retailer so there's no problem - unless you're a vendor in which case you should keep advertising to the Deals, Vendors & Classifieds board

I'm only a vendor of useful information

And it's vended for free

Cams wrote:Welcome to SPCR!

Well - not exactly

I've been a regular visitor pretty much since SPCR appeared - but until now I've never posted on the forums.

meglamaniac wrote:Yep I imported the SST A3, it only worked out about £10 more than buying an A2 unit from a UK supplier so not bad.

Nice one! I looked into doing that, but it was just too expensive and too much hassle. Don't know how you managed it for £10 - you're obviously more persistent than me.

meglamaniac wrote:I can't get 120mm case fans for the Lian-Li as it only has 80mm mounts. However, with the nexus units I should be able to keep noise to a minimum

Heh - another reason to get the Stacker

meglamaniac wrote:I'll be getting the Asus A8N Premium (not the SLI board) when it becomes available (early Feb by the looks of things now)

Why not an SLI board? Surely you don't need the second Gb LAN or the extra 4 S-ATA ports? And isn't it nicer to have the option of adding a second 6600GT in a few months time? You can always get expansion cards for more S-ATA / LAN... (just curious)

meglamaniac wrote:Athlon64's and Prime95 seem not to get along in general. I've read numerous reports of the way they fail Prime95 for no apparent reason while passing every other test under the sun. As there appear to be no issues with them in the real world, I assume it's a fault with Prime95. The reports of dud AMD chips being shipped to the market are much more recent than the first reports of Prime95 failures, and early indications show that only China and Germany are affected by the shipments.

Only 90nm (Winchester) chips are having P95 problems as far as I am aware. The 130nm chips (Newcastles) don't seem to have any. Also - some Winchesters seem quite happy with P95 - its only a (large) minority that are having problems. I'm only speculating about the link between that and the dud chips - i'd expect dud chips to fail other tests too - but you never know. If my Winny won't run P95 I will be sending it back.

meglamaniac wrote:On the DVD drive front, I'd prefer a single drive as I'm slightly holding out for a second drive until the new HD-DVD drives become available.

Good plan! I'm actually hoping that all the reports of chip heat problems, dual-core not being faster for a while til the software catches up, etc. are true. It means the 939 platform will last a decent length of time - and its pretty upgradeable. Can easily add more disk drives, new optical drives, second video card, more memory (its nice having 4 dimm slots!) I don't want to have to replace much in this machine for at least 18 months.

meglamaniac wrote:Thanks for the info on the Mitsui!

I typo'ed that! Sorry. Its a Mitsumi. They're about £13 from ebuyer with free delivery. A couple £ more from MicroDirect. They're a bit hidden on Ebuyer - they're under "Flash Memory / Readers Writers Adapters" or something like that, rather than with the other floppy disk drives.

meglamaniac wrote:And I'm sticking with the Lian-Li 6070B I'm afraid - looks are a factor for me and I simply think it looks nicest. As I already have surplus foam about I should be able to avoid any resonance by padding where necessary.

Oh well, each to their own I guess

If you're going to use the optical drives much you will quickly find the door to be very annoying! Trust me

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:47 am

Is the NEC 3520 any quieter than the 3500? My DVR-A08 still hasn't come, and the A09 is due out in Europe at the end of January, but the 3520 is available now, and much cheaper (Kelkoo works). I'm torn again.

Oh, and meglamaniac, what's left that you haven't bought yet, apart from the DVD drive? I've lost track of what you still want advice on.

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:54 am

Spod wrote:Is the NEC 3520 any quieter than the 3500? My DVR-A08 still hasn't come, and the A09 is due out in Europe at the end of January, but the 3520 is available now, and much cheaper (Kelkoo works). I'm torn again.

Quieter? I don't think so. I installed a 3500A about 6 weeks ago for someone and I didn't notice any difference. Its silent when its not in use

When I'm burning a disk it sounds like a Delta-60 but I don't mind it making a noise when its burning. I wouldn't say its noticably louder than any optical drive I've had (LiteOn LTD-166 DVD-ROM / Plextor 52-52-24 CD-RW) - you just hear a loud whooshing noise caused by the spin speed of the disk I guess. The vibration is comparable to other decent drives. I've never really looked at getting a "quiet" optical drive.

Spod wrote: Oh, and meglamaniac, what's left that you haven't bought yet, apart from the DVD drive? I've lost track of what you still want advice on.

I think he's made his mind up on everything now - but if you've got anything new to add on any of the kit mentioned I'm interested

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:31 am

Yeah I just posted again here because someone else bumped the thread - I'm pretty much decided but waiting for that board to come out before purchasing.

To answer the last question (why not the SLI board):
SLI is only of any real use to real hardcore games who would, for example, want to run two GeForce 6800 Ultras. It works out no cheaper to buy two 6600GTs instead of one 6800GT, and even with two of them there are still some limitations over the single 6800. On top of that, there's more to go wrong, it takes up twice the space (and with a passive Zalman cooler that ain't funny, if you could even get two in) and probably produces more heat than a single unit.
Also, nForce4-SLI chips have active cooling - the others are passive

pdf27 · Post by **pdf27** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:33 am

meglamaniac wrote:Also, nForce4-SLI chips have active cooling - the others are passive

Yeah, that's the only think counting against it in my mind. And there doesn't look like there's any room for a passive cooler if the card overhangs the slot at all.
However, I do have a "cunning plan" I'd like opinions on. I plan to be watercooling the CPU and GPU, and the GPU block has a brass top. This will therefore be pretty close to the temperature of the water.
It looks like it should be possible to run a heatpipe between the bottom of the GPU block and a copper block pinned onto the Northbridge. There should be room to do this in the space available (NB isn't totally aligned with the card, so can fit the heatpipe slightly offset). Thermal epoxy between the pipe and the NB and some sort of bodge/mechanical fix at the GPU end should work. Opinions, anyone?

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:28 pm

Ambitious!

Sounds like an excellent project though.

I assume you mean you would epoxy the heatpipe onto some kind of copper block that would be mounted on the northbridge using the normal mounting holes, rather than epoxying anything onto the NB itself?! Direct epoxy onto the NB would leave the mod a little difficult to undo!

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:26 am

Hmm, I don't see why it shouldn't work... but then I'm not very experienced with heatpipes and so on...

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:42 pm

OK guys. All the stuff came - its all working great. The quietest PC I've encountered yet, and I haven't even really started modding yet!

1. The MSI 6600GT PCI-E that I got IS surprisingly quiet for a fan-based model.
2. The zalman northbridge cooler fits very easily (altho i only have 1 GPU I can easily fit it in either slot)
3. The XP-120 easily fits on the A8N-SLI Deluxe
4. These 90nm Winchesters overclock a lot without a voltage increase - mine is at 8.5x300 = 2550 at the moment. Voltage set to 1.50 coz the supplied voltage is too low for some reason. Supplied voltage reported as 1.44 in windows. Anyway, the XP-120 with nexus 120mm at 700rpm WILL cool it!

Sooo, now I want to request some advice, but I think i'd be better starting my own thread...

JonScaife · Post by **JonScaife** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:53 pm

P.S. - Anyone got any ideas why I can't post a new topic? I get a HTTP400 bad request error

Update: Had to split my new topic into multiple posts to get it to submit successfully. See http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... 150#149150

Cheers