Slashdot Mirror
Mini-PC w/o Fans?
blinky2 asks: "I just read this article on Tom's Hardware about small PC-cases. I would really like to have a small box next to my current one for development stuff etc. Here's the problem: I don't want to have any fans in it, and case like the one in the article needs heavy cooling. Is there anything out there that is small and doesn't need any cooling? the box should run 24/7 here in my room and i don't want to hear some noise while I sleep. A case like the SAX01 from Gigabyte would be nice, too. BTW, there is no need for a high-performance box: something like 300-500 Mhz with a moderate amount of RAM would be enough." A while ago, Ask Slashdot tackled this very question, has the intervening time made such a system a practical possibility?
NEC makes a fanless Crusoe server, but I don't think they sell them outside Japan. Also, the Netwinder 3100 was a fanless server, but Rebel.com is no more, so you'll have to find it used.
Get an ABIT NV7M micro atx Nforce chipset motherboard. Softmenu III allows you to underclock and undervolt your processor. Buy the XP1800 (good value for quiet & fast). I have an old Swiftech MC462 that can cool my XP1800 to sub-40c when I reduce the multiplier to 7.5 and voltage to 1.65 without a fan. I put a paper tube around the top of the heatsink to take advantage of the chimney effect. Remember, air MUST move but you can let the chimney effect do it for you. Nforce allows tiny design because no pci cards are required for a full fetured system. Slow hardrive @ 5400rpm or 40 Gb IBM 2.5 inch laptop drive willl be coolest. 36x max cd or 4-8x dvd for reduced noise/heat. Sorbothane shockmount everything. Get a vastly over rated powersupply 460w and throttle the fan down with a rheostat. The power supply will never be working at full load so you can safely reduce the fan rpm. Should be nearly silent, 800 to 1000mhz depending on how cool your processor is and cost less than 600 bucks. Oh, don't use paper for your chimney, that was just for test purposes.
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
To quote Tom's hardware on the koolance:
"As far as the noise level is concerned, the new Koolance system is not quite as inconspicuous as the old one. At medium heat levels in the processor core, the three fans can produce quite a racket."
Also, It's a mid tower not a micro atx as pictured here (This is the propper link)
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
Getting a fanless power supply has been a problem plaguing quiet-pc enthusiasts for some time. The company TKPower has manufactured them, but have been unwilling to sell to either individuals or small vendors.
Finally, Silicon Acoustics (who also sell the fanless 866MHz VIA C3 processor) have managed to wrestle some power supplies from TKPower. At $200, it is a bit steep, but is the only real safe way to have a fanless power supply. The form factor isn't standard ATX, but it is electrically compliant. If this could fit into that Gigabyte appliance case along with a C3, that'd be the way to go.
Ian
Some kits with dials are sold for this job, though you can do the same thing by doing some math and calculating what resistor to get. Plenty of details are in the links below;
http://www.cocoon-culture.com/lib/noise-report/c om puter-noise-report.htm
http://www.hardware-corner.net/guides/fanbus_1.p hp
http://people.freenet.de/s.urfer/fan_control.htm
http://www.overclockers.com/tips746
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
If you want to stick with an Intel processor, you may want to look at the 0.13u version of the Celeron processor and cut the bus speed down to 66Mhz (if the chipset supports it) and cut down voltage (if possible). That should reduce the power consumption (and thus heat dissipation) by a fair amount.
Apple's G4 Cube, aside from looking cool with the right lighting, tackled this problem. Their solution was to put HUGE heatsinks on the CPU and vid card chips, leave a large area at the top of the case for hot air to get out, perforate the bottom profusely and stand the machine about 4-6" off the desk, letting convection do the cooling.
They also pulled out the power supply, which I think would be a must for ANY fan-less system. Putting this heat-generating monster outside the case significantly drops the temperature (and provides the user a GREAT foot-warmer).
Finally, as many other readers have said, look at ways to reduce heat generation - slower or cooler CPU & vid card, lower RPMs on your hard drive, etc. The G4 can blow quite warm when I'm giving it a workout and it's only 400MHz, I think anything over 5-600 may be beyond the limits of convection cooling.
/~mikeg
Also, if you have allergies, a device that accumulates -- and heats! -- dust is not the best thing to have around.