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...