I've got an Asus A8N-SLI motherboard, donated to me by a friend, including an AMD FX-58 processor and 3 GB of RAM.
I'm building a HTPC.
Doesn't sound like a good combination - SLI motherboard & HTPC. None the less, it is pretty quiet, apart from one thing.
The chipset fan. If I briefly stop it, the PC is almost dead silent. I have adjusted CPU fan speed in BIOS and set up the allowable temperature to a higher but still safe value. I will probably underclock the processor a bit, too, and turn on AMD Cool 'n' Quiet with aggressive settings. (I also want to save power, as the PC will be on 24/7.) I can't help but think that little 50mm fan is going to ruin it for the rest of it.
I looked up the specifications of the motherboard, and apparently the chipset fan is synchronised to the CPU fan, whatever that means. Does that mean they get the same PWM drive? Because they do show up as separate fans.
I'm wondering if I will even need the fan if I am running the processor at a low clock and only using a very basic graphics card - an Nvidia 8600 GS probably. I am considering connecting it to one of the 5V lines or a 12V line with a series resistor and running it slower, keeping a careful eye on chipset temperature. What would be a danger temperature for this chip?
The intent of this computer is to smoothly play 720p and 1080p. My current Scaleo E struggles with 720p and 1080p is jerky on all but a few specific formats and even then eats up 95% of the CPU. Adding the 8600 GS improved it from the standard integrated Intel but it's still not as good as it could be. And it disappoints the trash picked 42" LCD...
I'm building a HTPC.
Doesn't sound like a good combination - SLI motherboard & HTPC. None the less, it is pretty quiet, apart from one thing.
The chipset fan. If I briefly stop it, the PC is almost dead silent. I have adjusted CPU fan speed in BIOS and set up the allowable temperature to a higher but still safe value. I will probably underclock the processor a bit, too, and turn on AMD Cool 'n' Quiet with aggressive settings. (I also want to save power, as the PC will be on 24/7.) I can't help but think that little 50mm fan is going to ruin it for the rest of it.
I looked up the specifications of the motherboard, and apparently the chipset fan is synchronised to the CPU fan, whatever that means. Does that mean they get the same PWM drive? Because they do show up as separate fans.
I'm wondering if I will even need the fan if I am running the processor at a low clock and only using a very basic graphics card - an Nvidia 8600 GS probably. I am considering connecting it to one of the 5V lines or a 12V line with a series resistor and running it slower, keeping a careful eye on chipset temperature. What would be a danger temperature for this chip?
The intent of this computer is to smoothly play 720p and 1080p. My current Scaleo E struggles with 720p and 1080p is jerky on all but a few specific formats and even then eats up 95% of the CPU. Adding the 8600 GS improved it from the standard integrated Intel but it's still not as good as it could be. And it disappoints the trash picked 42" LCD...
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