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General Hardware General hardware related questions. |
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Me too. However, Creative cards are more for gamers; audio lovers typically go for M-Audio or something like that. I don't think you will hear much difference if you use a "typical" computer speaker. Now if you take a digital output from the sound card and connect to a decent stereo, that's different.
FWIW, I still use the old Quad 57 electrostatic loudspeakers. Quirky as hell, and very directional, but they still sound great. |
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Hmm. That one is not listed on the Antec site. Maybe its an EU thing. You should look as a minimum for compliant grommets to mount the hard drives; most Antec cases have them. Otherwise, they usually are pretty decent. I've mentioned that I like the P150/Solo (without PS); it is on sale here at Fry's for $69 at the moment. I know that's not an option for you.
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http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/3...hmarks,24.html Quote:
My soundcard: Code:
% cat /dev/sndstat FreeBSD Audio Driver (newpcm: 32bit 2007061600/i386) Installed devices: pcm0: <Intel 82801I High Definition Audio Controller> at memory 0xfeb70000 irq 22 kld snd_hda [20080420_0052] [MPSAFE] (1p:2v/1r:1v channels duplex default) Quote:
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__________________
religions, worst damnation of mankind "If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened." Linus Torvalds Linux is not UNIX! Face it! It is not an insult. It is fact: GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not UNIX”. vermaden's: links resources deviantart spreadbsd |
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'compliant grommets to mount the hard drives' = This is what it says about this case: http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=00400 However, a review of this case says 'its a beautiful case, but its a little bit small for default mainboards. Thats why its a hassle with all the cables inside'. Should I take a different case? From this page, which one should I take? http://www.pcmegastore.nl/catalog/de...php?cPath=1_24 (I don't care about 'beautiful' or stuff like that, it has to be functional and next as cheap as possible provided it is quality). |
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Raaah
( As said, I am very thankful for all your help of you all, make no mistake about that. Its just here I am again, Saturday, 6000 tabs open and trying to find different hardware ). Quote:
So I was looking at the WD RE3 that Carpetsmoker recommended, but in the above drive tests you mention the RE's aren't really 'the fastest' ones. So this would be a tradeoff between speed and reliability (reliability being most important of course to me, but then again, reliability at the cost of an utterly slow HDD is also not ideal. These WD Black editions, are these the so-called 'standard consumer disks' that Carpetsmoker talked about, which are 'less'? Quote:
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Which LG drive do you have? Quote:
I originally picked the Seasonic S12II 430W. Seasonic based on the recommendations in this thread, and the 430W was initial but I planned to change that to the 500W again based on your feedback. But...(): 1. On reading this on the Seasonic website: http://www.seasonic.com/new/twevent20081002.htm 2. I asked the vendor if the S12II-500 they offered was a genuine retail S12II-500 or an OEM. 3. Next you know, this morning, both the S12II-500 and the S12II-430 are no longer on the website (). Well, I guess, that's my answer to my question 4. Now 3 is not a problem per se, however, the remaining PSU's of Seasonic are quite expensive: http://www.pcmegastore.nl/catalog/de...&filter_id=393 5. When I asked them to create an offer, they already recommend a different brand to me (OCZ), because they said 'cheaper and better'. 6. On checking that brand out I learned that Seasonic actually is an OEM for OCZ sometimes, but then again, I've also learned that Seasonic makes to the specifications of OCZ, meaning Seasonic inside doesn't necessarily mean the same quality as original retail Seasonic itself. So, here I am: the 'real' retail Seasonics remaining on the website suddenly are quite expensive, so I am thinking of moving away from Seasonic. That leaves me, again, with a search for another PSU. Of course, 80plus-certified, but then a good quality and not so expensive as Seasonic. EDIT: A Corsair, one of these, would that be ok? http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/res...se&vc_oc=False Or a 550W here: http://www.corsair.com/products/vx/default.aspx Picking hardware is depressing (How I long for the old days: can I have that 386SX16, yes, make it a monsterous machine, put in 4 MB of ram instead of 1 ). Last edited by Broodjegehaktmetmayo; 31st January 2009 at 12:49 PM. |
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148377 Quote:
Also 430W Seasonic PSU will do here without any problem, I have recently created (for gaming - for my family), a box with Intel e2160 CPU + ASUS 965G motherboard + 2GB RAM + GeForce 9600GSO + HDD + DVDRW and Mode Com Feel III 350W does the job without any problems there (works for about half a year now). OCZ PSU are also not bad. Quote:
__________________
religions, worst damnation of mankind "If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened." Linus Torvalds Linux is not UNIX! Face it! It is not an insult. It is fact: GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not UNIX”. vermaden's: links resources deviantart spreadbsd |
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http://techreport.com/articles.x/15588/1 That doesn't do bad (it does very well, it seems), and the black should be the same. I'm trying to find a review of a WD black 500GB now. About the PSU: yes, Vermaden, my first choice was Seasonic but as I wrote above, its now getting too expensive. What about the Corsair I posted? |
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The hours fly by
() I'm looking and looking and looking, but I can't seem to find any reviews on the WD 500GB, either RE3 or Black edition. My question now is, which one should I take
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I was thinking, instead of taking a separate Antec case and Corsair PSU, I could perhaps also take this Antec with an integrated PSU:
http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetai...?ProdID=08142# The PSU is 80plus (Antec EA-500, http://www.futurelooks.com/antec-son...case-review/3/), so that would be ok. Would this one be better than the separate PSU and the Antec case I've selected previously: http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=00400 ? (The pricedifference is the Antec case with integrated PSU is 10 EUR cheaper, so that's not relevant. It would be merely a matter of which one is to be considered the best quality, both from a technical/reliability perspective and from a 'future expansion' perspective). It's down to two things now: the case, and the HDDs. Again, thank you for your help |
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Lots of new posts!
On the grommet comment: in the old days, hard drives were mounted with screws directly into the case. The issue is that hard drives vibrate, and the small drive vibration is coupled through the mounting to the rest of the case. The large flat sides are wonderful resonators. Consequently, the amount of noise the computer makes goes way up. This bothers me a lot. I like silent computers. Not everyone cares about this, but if you do, you should look to minimize case vibrations induced by the hard drives. One way to do that is to screw the drive to the case (or drive sled) through a flexible grommet. That lessens the amount of vibration that reaches the case. A more extreme, and very effective method, is to suspend the drive with elastic bands. The Solo models derived from the P150 do this, and it works very well. (They also have the soft grommet mounting method too.) The Antec you cited doesn't have suspension, but does have soft mounting. I've used both the 520W Corsair (made by Seasonic) and the 500W Antec (I don't recall who made this one for Antec). I really like the Corsair. Solid, quiet, detachable cables, and very stable. The 500W performs well enough, but makes an odd noise (coil whine) that is irritating. I probably could have had it replaced, as this is a common power supply defect. I didn't, because the noise did not bother my customer (my wife). They have the reputation for being decent supplies for the price. This one also has fixed cables that you have to put somewhere, so it is less convenient to work with. So I think either would be fine, but I personally would go for the Corsair. It should add that it has been about a year since I've looked in detail at power supplies, and like disks, the model line-up and the OEM changes. Personally I'd avoid CWT (Channelwell) as an OEM -- not that there is anything wrong with them, I just prefer the Seasonic-derived units overall. The Solo case you cite is derived from the first case designed expressly for quiet operation. It is fine, and you can often find them on sale for a good price. It has side-mounted drives: if you have the case open, the drives on their sleds pull out towards you, instead of to the back of the case or out the front. That's a nice feature (I have a similar layout on three computers in different cases), but honestly I don't pull drives that often. The rest is OK, and if you like the looks of it, you can build a quiet computer using it. I've just preferred the P150-derived series; I think it looks better, does not have a front door covering the CDs, and it has the drive suspension system. Antec does often give very good prices on their combined case/power supply packages, so you may well save quite some money going this route. My observation about SATA drives recently has been that Seagate does not perform quite as well as its competition, but has had longer warranties and some people claim that their error checking is better. Most of my drives are still SCSIs, so I don't follow the SATA drive market that closely. But do trust techreport -- they are very good. So is Vermaden. Oh, and the PATA DVD-RW I bought seven years ago is still working fine, as is the one I bought 5 years ago. Both have been used heavily, and show no signs of failing. Rather than despairing over all of the hardware choices, you should rejoice! There are a lot of fine options available to craft a system exactly as you want. This does take some work, but the upside is that you will get a system that is fast, reliable, quiet and will last a long time. You should also be able to overclock you CPUs with the heat sink you are using to get performance that will be comparable to a prebuilt unit at about the same price. What's not to like? |
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What's not to like? I am extremely charmed by FreeBSD (extremely ), and it's sort of frustrating that it costs me so much time (really, way to much) to buy what I consider to be commodities: 'it's only hardware' (I know, this is insulting to the fine hardware engineers that do their utmost best to design quality stuff, and I don't mean to insult them. Yet again, I think I do want to insult the 'marketeers' that make it so complex to choose a piece of hardware, with their 1 zillion different models ). I'd rather have I could quickly buy a PC (as in the old days, where the questions were simple: you want an Intel386SX16 or a 'real' (copro) 386, the Intel386DX33, or even 'a monster', the AMD386DX40, and you want 20MB or 40MB, and 1 MB ram or 4 MB ram, and black and white or color VGA?), and then move on to fun stuff: FreeBSD. Now, it seems picking hardware is more difficult than learning FreeBSD Btw: don't expect me to, after I have this PC, to post a zillion 'noob' - questions on FBSD: I've bought 2 excellent books around 1 year ago, and I plan to memorize them from begin to end, from left to right, from top to bottom, and then backwards If only I can get this hardware stuff to be out of the way, and then, let the [s]games[/s] fun begin Last on my list now: the HDDs. Hopefully somebody can tell me which WD would be the wise choice. Thanks again DrJ |
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It is called the Solo these days. Here's a link:
http://www.antec.com/usa/productDeta...an=us&id=18500 It is not the perfect case -- none is -- but overall it has worked out remarkably well for me. Quote:
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Could I ask what you have against the one I originally picked (well, actually, have been told is 'good enough' by the shop), this one: http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=00400 Because the one you are suggesting is considerably more expensive. You wrote: Quote:
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(It's the same as with my car: I bought it because it is top quality. I don't care what kind of 'piezo-injector' is inside it, I only want to enjoy driving it). Two left now: the HDDs, and the case Last edited by Broodjegehaktmetmayo; 1st February 2009 at 03:06 PM. |
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So I guess it will be the WD RE3
I am sort of camping behind my PC
The problem was, I couldn't find a decent test of the WD RE3 500GB. Is seems I've found one now. Just for academical safety: I don't really have a clue if the tests used here (and, moreover, the testsoftware) are the right tests, but I am figuring 'since all the HDDs have been tested using the same tests, it should say something about the relative position of the disks towards eachother' (margin of error here: in case the tests are complete crap and each and every one of them doesn't measure anything usefull at all). Main points in this test: Quote:
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http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/627/1 So, unless any of you tells me 'too bad, son, but that test is rubbish' () I'll take the RE3. Performance is ok, and I'll gladly pay a little bit extra for increased reliability. Btw, this is my current HDD, Seagate 7200.7, measured with HDTunePro 3.50: Remaining, thus: the case. |
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Back to the PSU (pfff)
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http://www.overclock.net/power-suppl...0hx-550vx.html However, this is an old thread. How do you determine who is the OEM for a particular type Moreover, it seems that these are two different PSUs (from different product lines), and I really am too much of a hardware noob to interpret what their differences imply. I've found two 'reviews', but its all abracadabra to me: Corsair VX550 http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=62 Corsair HX520 http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=18 And, in addition, posts like this: http://www.overclock.net/power-suppl...x-550vx-2.html Quote:
The same with this: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032191533 Quote:
The same is here: http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=...50aHVzaWFzdA== Quote:
What should I do? (I know I am a pain in the *ss, sorry :-( ) Last edited by Broodjegehaktmetmayo; 1st February 2009 at 04:51 PM. |
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__________________
UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. |
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Hum, yes, I make backups every day Not :-) I will do that tonight, then. Thanks for the advice, appreciated. |
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One small question about the RAM
I will need to buy each and everyone of you a beer for having to put up with all my questions
The thing about RAM is this: in the past, I was advised to take Corsair because of the reliability/quality. So this was originally planned: http://www.informatique.nl/cgi-bin/i...7305&Kader=Aan When receiving offers the shop told me I shouldn't take Corsair but Kingston, as 'Kingston has much better compatibility with your mainboard (Asus P5Q-E) than Corsair'. So they recommended 'Kingston HyperX DDR2 4096MB PC6400 Matched Pair': http://www.kingston.com/hyperx/produ..._ddr2.asp#800d I've already found out their statement is rubbish (the QVL - Qualified Vendors List) for the mobo clearly also lists Corsair, but one question remains: should I worry about the brand? I mean, is Corsair better/worse in your opinion than Kingston? |
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On the Antec case you would like to buy, I'd ask CS. If he has had success using it, then by all means go for it. I tend to reuse equipment for many years, and having the extra capability of the Solo is worth it to me. For example, I am reusing one to put together a "new" computer from existing parts. It will have a bunch of SCSI drives in it, and they really vibrate like mad. The Solo will really help for that. Such a thing may not be important to you.
Bear in mind that our household and my small company have about a dozen active computers and a bunch of spares and parts. Buying things that are more long lived and flexible is important here. It may be less so for you, and that's fine. On the power supply, modular cables help to keep things clean by using only the cables you need at the moment. If you add new components, you then add another cable. That's very convenient, but it may not be worth it to you. I also go for the most quiet components I can (SCSI drives excepted), so the noise profile is important to me. It may not be as important for you. Also, I build these myself, so I can buy things on sale. The Solos I bought for between $50 and $60, the 520W Corsair for $70, and an Antec Designer (the Solo + Antec 500W PS) for $100. I have that flexibility. If you buy from someone else, like CS, you don't really have that option. You gain other things, of course, and for you that may be more attractive. On the disk issue, computer people tend to make a big deal about small performance differences. I'd bet you could not tell the difference in performance between any of the SATA drives you are considering if they are of comparable vintage and rotational speed. The differences really come when you compare those drives with SCSI, SAS or the 10K RPM SATA drives like the Raptor family. Within a particular drive class, I'd look for longevity/reliability, warranty, and noise. The differences in power consumption are not that big a deal for a desktop, and the performance differences usually are not large. Last, I think you are over-thinking your decision. One benefit with purchasing from a systems integrator like CS (you are still doing that, right?) is that they have a lot of experience. A lot more than vermaden or I likely have, since they have had the chance to work with a greater range of hardware. You are in part paying for their advice. Use it! I've known CS through the boards for many years now, and I believe him to be honest and with very good knowledge about computers. If he recommends this component or that, and it fits with your overall goals, I'd listen to him. |
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