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Thread ID: 35337	2003-07-09 10:06:00	W2K vs WinXP (again)	Tom McB (832)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
158467	2003-07-09 10:06:00	Getting a new PC next week and leaning towards W2k - checked the previous thread (Mar 2003) on this topic and agree with most comments. Intend to do some video conversion (VHS to VCD / DVD) and so was wondering whether there is anything in XP worth considering and changing my mind. Many thanks Tom PS wanted a quiet PC - somebody told me that PSU is biggest noise factor. If this is accurate, can anybody suggest a good, low-db brand?	Tom McB (832)
158468	2003-07-09 10:14:00	> wanted a quiet PC - somebody told me that PSU is > biggest noise factor. If this is accurate, can > anybody suggest a good, low-db brand? Not so in general, the CPU fan and video card fans are noisier than a normal PSU fan these days i my experience. Win 2k and XP share a lot of commonality at core level, and I have used both. XP has matured to the stage where I would not go with the older OS now.	godfather (25)
158469	2003-07-09 10:27:00	Thanks GF. Was thinking of sticking to vanilla hsf if psu was the main culprit. Also getting a 128megs GeForce 4 Ti4200 - that OK noise-wise?	Tom McB (832)
158470	2003-07-09 10:37:00	The skinny little fans on video cards are noisy, with a much higher pitched noise. The gruntier the video card the more powerful the fan, the noisier the fan as a rule of thumb. Do not expect a Ti to be quiet in that case? Some configurations and brands may be better than others, see if they give a dB rating on fans? Noise is a definite downside to fast PCs and Video GPUs A lot to be said for water cooling?	godfather (25)
158471	2003-07-09 10:48:00	> The gruntier the video card the more powerful the > fan, the noisier the fan as a rule of thumb. Sounds right, sorry about the pun. <off to check threads on gpu fan replacements > > A lot to be said for water cooling? Been considering that but was afraid to use the family PC as learning platform, not with school starting again after next week (last time I opened up the P233, went cold turkey for 6 weeks). Hmmm, maybe I can rig up the tropical aquarium and do away with the Jager internal heater altogether. :^O	Tom McB (832)
158472	2003-07-09 11:49:00	I can recommend the Enermax power supplies. Bought one a few weeks ago - made a huge difference! I can kinda sleep with the comp on now :) I think http://www.pp.co.nz/ have the best price for them. Thats where I bought mine, great service + free delivery. Definitely power supply one of the noisiest things. Well worth the investment for a quiet one - depending on where the computer is situated.	PoWa (203)
158473	2003-07-09 13:14:00	Thanks P. I had that brand in mind - must have been from one of your posts. You got a 350w right? I'll give the psu a go first then the gpu fan transplant as the graphics workload increases. Still no comment on advantages of XP over W2k for video work??? Cheers Tom	Tom McB (832)
158474	2003-07-09 13:20:00	Have a look at Quiet PC (www.quietpc.com) for starters can't get www.silentpcreview.com to load for some reason, an interesting site if you can get to it. Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
158475	2003-07-09 14:14:00	Yep 350W it was ;) I do a bit of video work with XP. It works great as long as you don't upgrade to SP1 or get MS updates :p Hell SP1 crawls.. I don't like win2000 as much as xp. Xp much nicer to work on. 2000 is ahh whats the word ..ugly that will do :)	PoWa (203)
158476	2003-07-10 00:08:00	Not sure if this helps. I ran 3DMark on a Laptop and XP scored 40% better than 2K. I prefer 2K for Daily use. However, I would lean towards XP if you want the most up to date performance, and are happy with the Product Activation issues. If you rebuild you PC a lot, you will need to reactivate again and again. 2K will be my last Windows version, before fully converting to Linux.	KiwiTT (4082)
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