sILENT
pc rEVIEW...
I am a reviewer for
Silent PC Review. "SPCR," as we like to call it, was actually launched
a while back, in April of 2002, by Mike Chin. Since then, it has basically
become the web's hub for all things associated with silent computing, based upon
its strong reputation for rigorous, thorough reviews, unequalled for acoustic
analysis of PC hardware on the web. SPCR receives well over 100,000 unique page
views on a daily basis; full pages, not just hits! According to site
statistics, readers are 70-75% American, ~15% from Europe, 5-10% Canadian and
the rest primarily Asia/Pacific. Around January, 2004, I discovered SilentPCReview's unique community in my quest for PC silence, and began to
participate quite a bit in the forums. Eventually, I took it to the next
level and decided to join as a reviewer; Mike Chin gracefully accepted, and now
I'm part of the SPCR team.
Here's a list of official articles that I've done so far:
April 9th, 2004:
160GB/8MB-Cache Faceoff: Samsung vs. Seagate
Compares Samsung's SpinPoint SP80-series model SP1614N to
Seagate's Barracuda 7200.7-series model ST3160023A in terms of both, acoustics
and performance. Read to see who came out on top!
June 9th, 2004:
Cooler Master Hyper 6 Heatsink for P4/K8
A review of Cooler Master's 1 kilogram copper beast, using
an open-air Alpha Three as a test bed. Also has numbers from a
Thermalright SP-94 to compare. The results may surprise you...
August
1st, 2004:
Spire CoolGate Heatsink for P4
First review on my new P4 test bed, built from a FIC/VIA P4PB400 mainboard, Celeron 1.7, GeForce2 MX, Seasonic
Super Silencer 350 and Seagate ST3160023A. Also includes numbers from
Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu.
August
23rd, 2004:
Cooler Master Vortex Dream review
on P4 platform
Second test on the new P4 test bed. This cheap
($22MSRP) cooler proved to be a very decent performer, but the acoustics of its
stock fan were its downfall. 70-80mm adapters can be utilized, however, at
an added cost, and additional tests were done with such an adapter in
conjunction with an 80mm Panaflo L1A.
October
24th, 2004:
Thermalright XP-90 CPU Heatsink
We take a close
look at Thermalright's XP-90, little brother to the ultra high performance
XP-120. This is one of our first joint-coop reviews, with different
reviewers taking care of different aspects, including myself shooting the
photos.
December
14th, 2004:
Cooler Master Real Power RS-450-ACLY Power Supply
The second coop review, I shoot the photos for Mike Chin's
review of Cooler Master's unique power supply with its, "Human Computer
Interface."
January
17th, 2005:
CES 2005: A Silencentric Summation
Russ Kinder,
Charles Gilliatt and myself attend the international 2005 Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, and report on our findings. Pictures by yours
truly.
Upcoming articles:
TBA
Possible articles:
Water
Cooling for the First Time
An in-depth report
of being a first-time water cooler. Highlights mistakes that I've made and
how to avoid them, as well as important things to keep in mind. Will also
link to resources on the web that I think would come in useful, as well as try
to clear up some misconceptions common for people who've never tried it.
Other random but interesting, unofficial tidbits I
have in the forums:
"Water
Cooling Circuits Analysis (Single & Dual CSP-750s)"
A highly technical,
in-depth comparison of two different dual-pump water cooling circuits versus a
baseline, single pump arrangement. Includes a multitude of images of my
water cooling system in Gamma Three, as well as performance analysis and
technical discussion of various liquid cooling issues. Very interesting
read for water cooling newbies!
"!!!China
vs. Japan Panaflo and Globe 120 vs. AF120CT!!!"
An in-depth
analysis and discussion, with images, of the manufacturing consistency issue of
Panasonic's Panaflo line of low acoustics DC axial fans, as well as solid
evidence that the $8 120mm thermal fans by Globe, sold at
MNPC Tech, are exactly the same fan as AcoustiProducts' AcoustiFan AF120CT
(in other words, Globe manufactures the AcoustiFans).
"Seeking
best sound card w/S/PDIF."
An interesting discussion about high-fidelity (audiophile)
digital music reproduction on a PC, touching on different sound cards,
resampling, gain control and dithering.
"MikeC
and al bundy were right!--Updated: Pictures!"
A step-by-step log,
of sorts, of my journey of learning about the use of 2.5" drives (in this case,
a Fujitsu MHT2080AT) in achieving a silent PC. Includes in-depth thermal
test results as well as images of the final setup, Sigma One, which is
completely inaudible in my acoustics testing environment from any distance of
over a foot to the front of the machine. This level of drive quietness is
virtually impossible to achieve with 3.5" form factor drives.
"Aerocool
VM-101 fits MSi NX6600GT VTD128"
By utilizing an Aerocool VM-101 and a fanless Thermalright
XP-120, I build a K8/6600GT machine relying on tightly managed air flow for
inaudible, high performance 24/7 computing.