Windows Vista

I had a PC made from spares, a Northwood 3,0Ghz, Albatron 865Pro M/B, 1GB of cheap RAM, an nVidia FX5600XT 256MB, my Nexus modded Fortron PSU, a used P180, WD250 HDD. I decided to install Vista in it. I downloaded RC1, installed it, and it was the fastest and easiest installation ever. All the drivers were there, Aero is working perfectly. AVG needs permission every time I boot, but it's not digitally signed yet. I'm currently using it as my main browsing machine, and it's fast and perfectly stable. Eye candy is high, and I'm VERY impressed by the network speed. In XP, opening Network Places takes a lot of time, finding new machines takes forever and (possibly) a restart. In Vista it's FAST and reliable.

Core2Duo in Antec P180

I just finished my first Core2Duo build for a friend. Everything was straightforward, after upgrading to the newest Asus BIOS of course. I have some slight hangs when inserting anything in the DVD drive, but that could be due to the strange brand. The machine feels snappy, but not much better than even my old Northwoods. With multitasking of course, it's waaaay faster than my machines. But I have four... ;)













I was impressed with the stock Intel HSF's fan quality. It only became audible after 20 minutes of TAT, a neat program I found in SPCR. Intel, at last, are using just three small strips of TIM, instead of the tons used in older HSFs. I used a Zalman ZM460B-APS PSU, which was very nice, though not as quiet as my Antec NeoHE. Overall the PC turned out very quiet out of the box, using the stock case fans. I think it's the quietest one I've built, prior to tinkering. I also used one of Western Digital's new silver top WD320KS drives, and I couldn't hear any seeks from a meter away! A fanless 7300GT graphics card completed the build. I put the top fan in the middle, as shown, to cool the GPU and the hot Southbridge.

Specs:
Case: Antec P180
CPU: Intel C2D E6400
M/B: Asus P5B
RAM: 1GB
GPU: nVidia 7300GT
HDD: WD320KS
DVD-R: ?
PSU: Zalman ZM460B-APS

SonyEricsson K800i

Just got me one, its camera is really good. Blog photos will improve!

DAX!

This blog is put on hold for a while, as my new project DAX restoration is under way...

Screen!

The screen arrived yesterday and I'm seriously impressed by its quality, considering the below €400 price.


Good, sturdy frame, nice tension system.
First projections with total darkness were jaw dropping.

Noisewise, the projector is by no means quiet, it's on the table in front of me after all. When installed in its permanent position (when I decide where that will be :) ), things will get better. I always use it in the low brightness-low fan speed mode, fan noise character is not bad, but it's too loud for me.

I'm watching about 10 DVD-Laserdiscs per day, not paying much attention to the movie, but black-white levels and color temperature and gain!

New projector

I got a new Epson EMP-TW600 1280x720 LCD projector last week. The Screenline 183x103cm 82inch screen will arrive on Friday. I'm temporarily using a canvas with a sheet!!! to project on, hanging in front of my old RPTV.

Initial impressions are very positive with video, the warm colored walls being the main problem. The projector needs cooler than 6500K (8000K) settings to compensate. My Laserdisc collection's newer (after '95) additions are a pleasant surprise, definitely watchable. Older ones are so and so. DVDs are, as expected, wonderful! SDTV through satellite is also watchable, even pleasant.

PC sync is bad, fonts are a real problem with the old 5700 graphics card, much better but not good with the 6600. Tweaking doesn't improve things much, but we'll see when the screen arrives...

SI-120 for Server

I got a used Thermalright SI-120 for the P180, and was very impressed with the reduced load temps. 10 degrees lower running 2xCPUBurn, maximum load temp 51c at 12 volts with the fan pulling air up.

















I then reversed the airflow and load temp dropped even lower, at 49c. With the fan running at 7 volts load temp was 55c. An accident happened while cutting the fan corners in order to fit the standard retention wires of the HSF, and the frame broke! I had to improvise, I used double sided tape for the hub and tied the fan brackets with some wire.













Nice!

Peri's P180

My friend Pericles wanted to change his Thermaltake Shark case to something quieter. The Shark was very noisy, even after my earlier attempts to quiet it down. Quiet fans and covering of the side grill proved to be insufficient. And he has 5 HDDs with 1,5TB of storage! He also needed some headroom for another 1-2 hard disks.

I think that the Antec P180 has the best balance between quietness and storage available today, that's why I got it for my server needs. So I ordered one from Pixmania in France. It arrived in 2 days, but Labour Day delayed delivery for another 2.

Installing 5 disks meant that one had to be on the upper chamber, and a PCI SATA controller was needed.
Out goes the WiFi card, the Gigabyte board only has 2 PCI ports and the other is the satellite TV tuner.

Hiding cables.
















Lower chamber with 4 hard disks. The original 35mm Tricool was thrown away, and I used a 25mm from the upper chamber.


The back.















Inside.













It turned out surprisingly quiet, just the muffled hhhhhh from all the hard disks working together. It will be positioned under his desk, with some carpeting to absorb more noise, in a semi quiet room, so it'll be OK. The rear and lower chamber Antec fans are heavily undervolted and inaudible from 50cm away, but the Zalman HS fan will soon need replacing, it chirps slightly even at 5V. The Chieftec PSU fan is a bit noisy, and will be needing some "modding" soon. :)

Specs:
Case: Antec P180
CPU: Intel P4 640
M/B: Gigabyte GA-81915P-D Duo Pro
RAM: 2x512Mb Kingston
GPU: nVidia 6200
HDD: 2xWD3200JD, WD250JD, Seagate7200.7 200GB, Seagate7200.9 400GB
DVD-R: Pioneer 110D
DVD-ROM: Teac 516
PSU: Chieftec CFT500W

mmstac's quieting projects

mmstac has very interesting projects with mini fanless power supplies in his blog. The small one is a also a PSU!

Nexus fans!

I got a new delivery of Nexus fans, and a screwdriver set. Very cheap from Silent PC in Holland.

The Asus N6600

The Asus N6600 on the new board. I thought about trying a Zalman NB32 northbridge cooler, since the 6600 power consumption is only 27-28? watts at load. In the case HS temp is 50c idle and 60c load, using the airflow from an open slot. The downside is the extra dust... I have to filter it somehow.

New graphics card for TNN500AF - Albatron 7600GT

I went shopping yesterday, to get a new server for Peri, I'm his assembler! As we were picking parts, I saw it... Perfect for HTPC duties, with Dual Link DVI, Purevideo, 2 DVI. Now this I needed, and it was cheap(ish)! I installed it in the TNN case at 5 in the morning after I finished the server (he needs it by Monday). Initial impressions:
1. The DVI connection really makes a difference! I used VGA on the 6600 card, because my Eizos looked different when one was on DVI and the other on VGA. Image quality went from 7,5/10 to 8,5/10.
2. The card idles at 43 degrees Celsius, loads at 53 degrees with rthdribl for 30 minutes. The TNN can handle it perfectly.

3,0 Ghz Northwood from eBay!

Damn, I can't control myself! Got it at a good price though...

New Motherboard from eBay

I found a new 478 motherboard selling on eBay, got excited and bought it! It's an Asus P4GPL-X, socket 478 with PCI-E and Intel 915 Northbridge. It will be either installed in the server, or in a new HTPC. All I need now is a processor...

PC for Dad (and the nightmare begins...support!)

Nothing special, it had to be kept simple.








Specs:
Case: Antec Sonata II
CPU: AMD 3200+ Venice
M/B: A8N-VM CSM
RAM: 2x512Mb Kingston
HDD: WD2500KS
DVD-R: NEC 4551
PSU: Antec Smartpower 450W

I was very happy with the board in the P150 for Chris (after upgrading the BIOS), so I chose very similar components, except the case. Black is more "serious", and the PSU would work without problems. Installation was as expected, with limited cable management options, as the Sonata has a fixed right side (top, right side and bottom is made from one piece of metal). It runs very cool, fairly quiet. Maybe later I will undervolt the rear fan. The HD is audible while seeking, but there's no easy cure for this. Soft mounting it could improve things, but the case has to be able to move around, soo I gave up...

Maxtor is alive!

The nice people in Diastron where I had bought the drive, managed to reformat it, and it's once again in active duty! Till next time...

Another change in Antec P180, PSU this time

Antec Neo HE 430W from P150.










Since this PSU didn't work in the P150, I installed it in my server. The old one won't start when I get a fourth hard disk. Cable management from scratch!

New PC for Chris (my love 4ever). Antec P150

The new and the old. Antec P150 on the left. Best looking case I've ever seen!













Inside.















The PSU didn't work with the Asus board, but I already knew that and was prepared!



Hiding the cables.











No cablegami in here!










I had the Antec Smartpower 450 PSU from Charlie's Sonata II here, and used it in the P150. A very pleasant surprise! We wanted a quiet and powerful machine, so we decided to go with an AMD processor. This meant nVidia chipset boards, and got an Asus with on-board graphics. And that's where the nightmare began! Horrible drivers, buggy BIOS versions, and 2 Windows installations. Advice: First update BIOS and then install Windows! Finally, it worked and it's really good. Quiet and fast.

Specs:
Case: Antec P150
CPU: AMD 3700+ San Diego
M/B: Asus A8N-VM CSM
RAM: 2x512Mb Kingston
HDD: WD250KS
DVD-R: NEC 4551
PSU: Antec Smartpower 450W

PC room updated

Desk now.











Brackets for my Eizo monitors. Huge save in space.

Tweaking the Antec P180

One slot cover removed, GPU temps dropped by 5c!






Put the third HDD down with the others.









Cut off the back grill and replaced it with an aftermarket one. Better airflow = lower fan RPM for same temp.











Front grills also snipped off.

Geliath's on the wall HTPC

Surprisingly quiet.















The motherboard.
















Handmade start and reset buttons!








Hard disks, Optical drives and PSU.









The Home Theater part. Disco Ball and everything!







The projector with modded base. Still needs sound absorbing material padding.




Specs:
Projector: Hitachi PJ-TX100
CPU: Intel 530 3,0, Thermalright XP90, Nexus
M/B: Asus P5GD1
RAM: 2x512Mb Kingston
GPU: Asus 6200 T/C
HDD: WD250JD, WD320JD x 2, WD400KS
DVD-R: NEC 3520A
DVD-ROM: Plextor
PSU: OCZ Modstream 450

Picture is quite good, bright with decent contrast. The PSU, being on free air, never ramps up. Seek noise from HDDs is covered by the projector's fan. Second Nexus fan on the side of M/B for GPU and Northbridge cooling. Temps are very low and the fans are kept below 7 volts, using a cheap 3 fan controller.

300GB Hard Disk added in Antec P180

The whole thing now.
Specs:
Case: Antec P180
CPU: P4 3,2 Northwood
M/B: Albatron 865Pro
RAM: 1GB Transcend
GPU: Asus ATI 9250
HDD: WD250JS, WD250KS, WD300JD
DVD-R: NEC 4550
DVD-R: NEC 3500
PSU: Fortron 350 + Nexus

Temps at 100% load for 1 hour: CPU 50c, M/B 38c, N/B 40c, HDD 30-32.

I had to buy a PCI SATA adapter as my M/B has only 2 SATA ports.







I installed the WD300JD on the upper chamber, upside down, set to stop at 10 minutes idle to avoid noise.

Charlie's new Antec Sonata II

My friend Charlie needed a new PC for his office, and since the excellent Antec P150 is not yet available in Europe, we got a Sonata II. Unfortunately, the Smartpower power supply included did not play well with the Albatron 925 M/B, so I installed a Fortron that was lying around. Still waiting for news from Antec support.






It's fairly quiet with all fans at the lowest settings. It's in his office, so extreme quieting methods were not needed. It idles in the low 40s, 100% load in the mid 50s. Hard discs are always below 35 degrees. I liked the case overall, but hated having to remove the M/B in order to swap PSUs.



We didn't enable the Speedstep function yet, to check how it lowers temps, and therefore lower fan speeds even more.





Specs:
CPU: Intel 630
M/B: Albatron 925X
RAM: 2x512Mb Kingston DDR2
GPU: Asus 6200 T/C
HDD: WD160JS, WD250JS
DVD-R: NEC 4550
DVD-ROM: TEAC 516
FDD: Mitsumi
PSU: Fortron 350THN