Experience with a fanless computer?

Discussion in 'PC' started by Blue, Mar 21, 2019.

  1. Blue

    Blue Audiosexual

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    Hi everybody,
    Since I make music,computer's fans noises irritate me a lot,since we need,with ITB workflows,a computer not far from us.These noises are really annoying when you spend your days near your computer,because we need short calbes for our soundcards and our screens.I've measure my computer noise at 43dB spl with a phone's app from where I'm sitting!If you take into account that we mix at around 80dB spl,the computer noise isn't negligible.
    Since many times I'm looking fanless power supplies and passive cpu coolers,like that:
    https://graphicscardhub.com/passive-cpu-cooler/
    https://graphicscardhub.com/best-fanless-psu/

    Do some of you have ever used or use them?Are they a good alternative to computer fans according to you?

    Are they efficient,even during summer with temperature around 35°C/95°F,when your computer is solicited on big projects?

    Thanks in advance!
     
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  3. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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    Heya,
    finally somone else who cares about silence.
    My next built will become 100% passive or at least semi - passive.

    At the moment I have a XXL Tower with a XXL slow spinning CPU Cooler and a Radeon RX580

    The Radeon switch off its fans in idle and teh CPU fan is nearby hearable at all.
    The only thing which I hear is the PSU Fan, there are meanwhile passive PSUs but also semi passive which's fan turn off if not used.

    Here another related topic :
    https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/100-passive-cooled-custom-mac.264918/page-5#post-1876863
     
  4. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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  5. Lois Lane

    Lois Lane Audiosexual

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    Thanks, my next MUST be quiet and these suggestions are great.
     
  6. Blue

    Blue Audiosexual

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    What is your cpu cooler?A stock Intel?Because my stock Intel fan (i7 8700) makes much noise.And I have also a Fan on my chassis,which is noisy too.

    You can just remove the trap door is aesthetic isn't your first preoccupation,don't you think?

    Or something like that too,for a bit less dust inside the computer:
    https://www.quietpc.com/nof-cs-80
     
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  7. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    I'd say fan noise is overrated, really
    there are couple things to distinguish when making low-noise PC:
    1) airflow noise
    2) vibrations

    I'd say noisiest thing in PC is spinning (writing) HDD
    small fans make higher pitched noise, constantly changing speeds (and noise too) makes them annoying,
    that said big fans (120-140mm+) offer decent airflow at very low rpm which can cool things down effectively,
    key to heat dissipation is heatsink area - something like Noctua NH-U14S or ASUS Strix coolers are capable of passively cooling cpu (and gpu respectively) while being able to spin up fans more if needed,
    relatively important factor is PC case construction, airflow direction and dampening, something like Fractal Design Define R5 (without window) helps minimizing noise
     
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  8. 5teezo

    5teezo Audiosexual

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    I have a Hackintosh with a watercooled CPU. The Radiator of course has fans on it to cool the water down, but all the fans in the system are super silent ones. I also use a Define R5 Case with included sound dampening and a be quiet power supply. The only thing holding it back from being actually quiet is the fan of the GPU and physical hard drives spinning.

    So if you want a really quiet PC, use passive cooling on the GPU, no pysical drives, super silent fans running at low RPM and a low noise power supply.
     
  9. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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    I have a fractal design define XL with fans spinning a low setting.
    my CPU cooler is tis one : http://www.thermalright.de/en/archive/6/macho-pcgh-edition
    But I am sure I could even cool my CPU even fully passive or at least semi passive (i7 4770k)

    Before that I tried a water cooler but its pump noise drove me crazy
    .

    My next build will be as passive as possible with as less moveable parts as possible
     
  10. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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    Luckily I dont need any HDD anymore, all SSD here except Backup stuff

    depends on how quiet all other components are, it is quite relative.
    If you have no HDD spinning, and no GPU fan running you might hear the rest
     
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  11. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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    Yeah, something like this looks promising.
    Essentially we need a housing that have a string air flow from bottom to top.
    Something which apple tried with there trashcan but bigger with better airflow :)
     
  12. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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    anyone have a clue why I don't see my first post listed here ? hm looks liek firefox is hiding it whyever

    [edit]
    ublock blocks my own posts lol
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2019
  13. boogiewoogie

    boogiewoogie Platinum Record

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    Large coolers often have fans that are virtually silent. I use this massive thing
    https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15

    and I cannot hear it at all.

    My GPU has a zero DB function so it won't spin unless under heavy load (=playing heavy 3D games)
    https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1080-GAMING-X-8G

    And my PSU also has a fan that does not spin unless very heavy load (it has never even started spinning in my system, guess it is not heavy enough, even whgebn playing games, lol)
    https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...upply-Units/rmi-series-config/p/CP-9020082-NA
     
  14. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    I'd say loudest component of PC nowadays is the mouse/keyboard though :crazy:
    and let's not forget you can put PC in the corner, get 10m USB 3.0 powered hub and video cables
     
  15. pizzafresser

    pizzafresser Producer

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    Get this case, problem solved:
     
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  16. Moonlight

    Moonlight Audiosexual

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    seams to be just a case study no ? I dont see it on their homepage:
    https://streacom.com
     
  17. midi-man

    midi-man Audiosexual

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    Best thing I did was water cool my CPU. I do have a few fans but to me the nosiest was the CPU fan.
    The internal fans are running slow speed also so the noise is much lower than of high.
     
  18. Blue

    Blue Audiosexual

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    10m usb cables are bad for usb audio interfaces and synths.They are supplied with 1.50m cables,there is probably a reason.

    It's not overrated,it's annoying,especially in music production.

    And yes,HDDs are noisy too and you can't avoid this,unless all SSD.But if you can minimize the noise of all the other components,I think it's a good thing.
     
  19. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    from my very own experience of building studios, powered usb 3.0 hub can handle 10m without any problems, even wired Apple keyboards which are particularly delicate about usb delivery :chilling:
     
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  20. kims

    kims Kapellmeister

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    I solved this by moving my "music-pc" out in the hallway on a shelf for years ago, well actually it was because i would get more space in my livingroom
    Then i have a patchbay and the hardware reverbs under my monitors
    The cables are well hidden
     
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  21. RealBananas

    RealBananas Kapellmeister

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