Fanless computer?

A

AMD_Man

Gawd
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May 4, 2002
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I'm looking to build a fanless computer, capable of running Windows Vista x64, I have a budget of $500-$600. I'm not looking for performance here, just silent computing. I'm looking at Intel Atom, Via Nano, Athlon 64 2000+ and the like...can any Core 2 Duos run fanless (maybe with an oversized heatsink perhaps?) The application is simple web browsing for the most part (I have an extra license of Vista so I want to use it). I'd like it to run Aero but it won't run games so any modern integrated graphics should be fine. I need it to be YouTube capable + maybe the occasional 720p movie off iTunes or Amazon or something.

Any suggestions?
 
If you werent trying to run vista on it, for those uses I would suggest something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Motherboard+/+CPU+/+VGA+Sets-_-MSI-_-13130105
running linux on a compact flash card.... Silent full featured PC!

sadly though it is not the multimedia powerhouse you need to run vista and 720p movies

In my somewhat limited knowledge of existing hardware there does seem to be a bit of a disconnect between low power hardware and anything that can handle 720p video as this really does require a bit of video horsepower to achieve so you probably need something like an nvidia 9800 (or 9600?) Which now have the capability of running in low-power 2d only mode when not gaming or being used for a high end use. The good news is that these cards can be had relativley cheap ~100 AR if you look in the right places (try slickdeals.net, bensbargains.net...) As far as the processor though i do not have enough knowledge to recommend anything right now....

Let me just say that the simple requirements of browsing the web and watching youtube (something my xbox with 733mhz pIII is capable of...) are a far disconnect in performance from running vista with areo effects and watching 720p movies...
 
I cringe at the thought of a fanless PSU, especially after reading user reviews.

Directron sells this FSP 300W model for 1/3 the price newegg has it for ($34.99 at directron vs $99.99 + $12 shipping at newegg): http://www.directron.com/fsp30060gnfr.html

The rest of the parts are easy to get fanless. The newer 45W Core 2 models like the E5200 or E7200 run very cool. The same goes for the 45W AMD BE- series chips. Add an oversized heatpipe heatsink (CM Z600, etc) and it should be good.

It's possible to volt mod a quiet fan to be nearly silent by any measure. IMO that's better than trying to find a reliable heatsink that will work with zero case airflow.
 
pxc said:
I cringe at the thought of a fanless PSU, especially after reading user reviews.
Click to expand...

If he uses a via nano setup he can use a 'power brick' type psu something small enough even to be run off of a cars 12v system.
 
Nano CPUs have a fan though. There's not really enough space to install over-sized heatsinks on those boards.
 
The_Engineer said:
If you werent trying to run vista on it, for those uses I would suggest something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Motherboard+/+CPU+/+VGA+Sets-_-MSI-_-13130105
running linux on a compact flash card.... Silent full featured PC!

sadly though it is not the multimedia powerhouse you need to run vista and 720p movies

In my somewhat limited knowledge of existing hardware there does seem to be a bit of a disconnect between low power hardware and anything that can handle 720p video as this really does require a bit of video horsepower to achieve so you probably need something like an nvidia 9800 (or 9600?) Which now have the capability of running in low-power 2d only mode when not gaming or being used for a high end use. The good news is that these cards can be had relativley cheap ~100 AR if you look in the right places (try slickdeals.net, bensbargains.net...) As far as the processor though i do not have enough knowledge to recommend anything right now....

Let me just say that the simple requirements of browsing the web and watching youtube (something my xbox with 733mhz pIII is capable of...) are a far disconnect in performance from running vista with areo effects and watching 720p movies...
Click to expand...

That Nano board only supports up to 1GB RAM. I'd rather run at least 2GB for Vista.
 
Suppose I get an E5200 or E7200, what heatsinks would you recommend? I see a few on newegg and other pages, but I'm not sure what's good and what isn't.
 
The CoolerMaster Hyper Z600 I mentioned above is probably overkill, and is somewhat expensive ($50-$60 most places, $70 + $10 shipping @ newegg), but it will work from the reviews I've read. Anything similar will probably also work (read the reviews).

You'll probably also want to get some heatsink(s) for the motherboard mosfets since those won't be cooled by the CPU fan like they normally would be. A very low power CPU might make those unnecessary though.
 
Just letting you know... even a low rpm 120mm fan pushing SOME air across the heatsink fins helps, and can be relatively quiet -- though still not a silent computer. If you want absolute silence, you'll need no moving parts, obviously, but relatively silent (super low speed 120mm fans only) is easier, IMO.

There's a Zalman fanless PSU thats pretty good, from what I've read.
 
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