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X-bit labs – Articles – High-End CPU Coolers Roundup: The Battle for Silence and Efficiency (page 16). _I normally recommend the Thermal Right XP-120 which has a massive 5 inch fan, but they got good results with a smaller cheaper (e.g., less than $50) Cooler Master model._

The best cooler among the models we tested today based on performance and silence criteria is CoolerMaster Hyper 48 KHC-L91. It is not only utterly silent, but thanks to advanced design and heatpipes can cool-down even the hottest chips very efficiently. Furthermore, the KHC-L91 also boasts with easy installation.

[VR-Zone Hardware] – Pentium Announcements

The Pentium 4 600 series, and the Pentium 4 3.73EE was announced today. Along with their support for EM64T, Intel’s 64-bit extensions, these new CPU’s also include SpeedStep power saving technology, upgraded security features through Executable Disabled Bit, 2MB of L2 cache. The 660 runs at 3.6GHz, 640 at 3.4GHz and 630 at 3.0GHz.

Intel is gearing up for the launch of their first dual-core Smithfield processors in the second quarter with three models in place; 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2Ghz. They will be available at US$241, US$316 and US$530 with model numbers 820, 830 and 840, respectively. The Extreme Edition of Smithfield will include Hyper-Threading Technology providing the ability to process four software threads simultaneously and probably a faster 1066Mhz FSB while the mainstream version of dual core Smithfield will have 800Mhz FSB but without HT. Two new chipsets, the 955X Express codenamed Glenwood and 945G/P Express codenamed Lakeport will be available when the new chips arrive.

The performance reviews show that they are roughly comparable to the AMD Athlon 64 4000+, so it looks like Intel is catching up. It will be interesting to see how Smithfield does. It is coming out very soon. The cores continue to run very hot, but at least going from 1MB to 2MB L2 cache didn’t cause even more power consumption.

Ok “King Young”:http://kingyoung.com.tw makes some super small form factors machines that both “Logic Supply”:http://logicsupply.com and “Cappucinopc”:http://cappucinopc.com resell. Here are the choices:

* S615. This is a fanless 6×10x3″ case that has a downclocked Celeron running at 1.33Ghz, so it should be as fast as an Eden, but is slightly bigger than mini-ITX. $495 from Logic Supply with just the processor, so memory, hard disk, optical are extra.
* S625F. This is also fanless but uses the very expensive Dothan Centrino M or Pentium M chips at 6×10x2″. It is $643 from cappucino with a Celeron M 1.3GHz and 128MB memory.
* S620. This has a fan, so is not completely noiseless, but it is super small. $289 barebones from cappucino or $325 from logic supply. It can use any socket 478 processor and is 6×10x3 uses the Intel 865GV chipset. This isn’t such a bad option for me just because I’ve got two spare 478s around, plus memory around from a blown Shuttle.

Net, net, there are two fanless options and one small PC equivalent.

Kind of a fun month for PC recommendations because for once the underlying hardware is quiet. No big announcements of processors, video cards or motherboards, so instead of high, medium and low, let’s focus on some “odd” machines that might be fun to have. Think of them as alternative PCs. Sort of like taking a break and driving a Prius or a Hummer around:

h2. Compact Performance PC

Shuttle’s XPC SN25P mini-barebones system. I haven’t recommended a Shuttle in a while because they have been underpowered in the power supply and overnoisy. The SN25P changes a lot of that. It is still loud at 45dBa (you can build a bigger system running at whisper quiet 25dBa right now), but it is compact. It is a hairs breadth away from being the fastest PC ever (that honor would go to a DFI LanParty Nf4 Ultra system). Here’s what I would get given the new Shuttle has 350 watt power supply and much more room inside:

| Component | Price | Comment |
| Shuttle XPC SN25P | $420 | Coming Soon |
| Athlon 64 3200+ | $200 | 2GHz can get to 2.3 or so |
| nVidia 6800GT PCIe | $440 | Expensive right now |
| Western Digital WD740GD | $180 | Fastest on the planet |
| Maxtor DiamondMax 300 | $205 | Biggest ever |
| Benq DW1620 | $70 | DVD that does everything |
| Crucial 3200XL 2×512MB | $250 | Or any Samsung TCCD Ram set is fine |
| Total | $1695 | A screamer in a lunchbox |

All of this in a nice small form factor, if you want the same performance but whisper quiet, you’ll have to go to an Ever Case 4252 case ($50), XP-120 fancooler ($50), Seasonic Silencer 400 ($100) power supply and DFI LanParty Nf4 Ultra motherboard ($140) to replace the Shuttle but it will be very quiet for a few bucks less than the Shuttle.

h2. Compact Silent PC

OK, here I would get something that is completely noiseless. I haven’t tried the unit yet, but a good recommendation would come from “Logic Supply”:http://logicsupply.com. Here are some small PCs that are just fine for running Office or watching a DVD:

“Sumicom S615″:http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/51/products_id/240. This is a Celeron 2GHz running at 1.33GHz. It is just 6″x10″x2″ in size. Comes with just about everything and uses a very quiet 2.5″ notebook drive. They come custom from Logic Supply, but a 256MB, 40GB drive with CD-RW/DVD is $781 plus shipping. This should run office well, although I don’t know about Divx decoding. DVDs should be fine.

It is not as small as a Mac Mini (6″x4″x6″), but pretty darn close.

h2. Small but noiser and faster PC

If you want something that is small but has a fan and some power

Dell Optiplex “SX280″:http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/optix_sx280?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&~page=3&~tab=specstab#tabtop is not a bad choice. It is ultra small at $934 would give you a 2.8GHz Pentium, 512MB DDR2 PC1066 memory, 80GB, DVD/CDRW. With the Prescott in there I’m sure it runs hot, but it is only 10″x10″x4″

Logic Supply gives you a similar “Sumicom S620″:http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/51/products_id/167 with Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB PC3200 DDR Ram, 160GB 7200 drive, CDRW/DVD for $870. It is mainly much narrow at 6″x10″x3″

h2. Ultra small and quiet

If you are willing to sacrifice all for small and silent, then there is the

Mac Mini. Just 4″x6″x4″ and super cute and hard to beat at $500, althought $600 would give you 80GB of disk.

If you want a PC-based system, then you can get a Epia M board now, but I’d wait until April when the Epia SP ships. This is much faster and supports MPEG4 decoding.

When you get it, you can fit it into one of two systems:

* “Logic Supply C134″:http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/29/products_id/72. This is the PC equivalent running the VIA Epic chipset. Fanless if you are not doing Divx and xvid decoding, it is just $510 with a 600Mhz ME6000, 256MB PC2100 memory, 2.5″ 30GB disk, CDRW/DVD drive and is 7″x10″x2″. You can also get one with a 25dBa fan with 1GHz which can run Divx and xvid decoding at full speed. These prices are assembled.
* C134 do-it-yourself. Alternatively if you want to go totally do-it-yourself, you can buy the C134 case ($144) and Via motherboard ($160) from Logic Supply and then go out into the merchant market for the rest of the components. For instance low profile DDR RAM, slim CD/DVD and 2.5″ 60GB hard drives are available from Newegg.com. You can put together at ME10000, Valuemax 512MB memory, LG 10×24x24 CDRW/DVD and Fujitsu 60GB hard disk for about $550. This should be a very fast system for Office/Multimedia decoding.
* e-Otonashi. This is a little bit bigger, but completely fanless even with a 1.2GHz M or 1.33Ghz SP board because it uses a special heatsink.

X-bit labs – Articles – BenQ DW1620A DVD±RW/R Drive Review: Joker in the Pack or a New Winner?. I just happen to have one of these drives. It does pretty well, but you have to get the B7T9 firmware update to solve lots of the bad DVD burning problems.

Naturally, you can’t just go to “Benq.us”:http://www.benq.us/ServiceAndSupport/Drivers/drivers.cfm?product=647 to get them, they appear to only have the older B7K9 update on the USA site, so you have to go to the completely separate “support.benq.com”:http://support.benq.com site to get the latest updates, this is the global site and I’m guessing maintained by a different group. Arrgh.

Here the latest at the “1620″:http://support.benq.com/front/BenqMain.asp?MenuHead=128&ShowType=program&FileURL=service/driverlist.asp&Dataid=16041&downloadclass=Driver&product=3731&langu=null&ops=null&GenMenu=&RootId=undefined subsite is B7U9 dated 22-Feb-2005, so even later than the B7T9 version mentioned in the review.

Here are what the various updates do:

* B7P9. 09-Nov-2004. This one adds 4x writing for DVD+R DL so it is a big deal. Was a major update.
* B7T9. 23-Dec-2004. This fixes writing errors and speed for DVD+R and DVD-R. Was a major update.
* B7U9. 22-Feb-2005. This improves WOPC (what ever that is)