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I've narrowed down my choices in CPU to:
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 Orleans 2.6GHz 1MB L2 Cache AM2
AMD Athlon 64 X2 BE-2300 Brisbane 1.9GHz 1MB L2 Cache AM2
Both CPUs have a TDP of 45W, which is great for what I am wanting to do. Would these be low power enough to be passively cooled? I'm thinking of getting an Antec P180 for the case which has a nice big opening directly above where the CPU would be situated (the PSU is mounted in the bottom of the case) http://www.silentpcreview.com/article810-page3.html. What I'm aiming to do is make the system as efficient and as quiet as possible, so the only fan that I intend to be in operation would be the one in the PSU. I'll be using 2x500GB Western Digital Green Power drives which are also low power to assist in keeping the system temp down.
Any comments or suggestions? I really don't know what to expect, whether these CPUs are cool enough to be passively cooled anyway, whether they require something as large as a Thermalright IFX-14, whether they would need to be underclocked in addition to this or what.
Also what thermal paste tends to be the best these days?
(Also if anyone can help me choose between the CPUs I'd appreciate it. Not sure which would offer the lowest temps/power consumption, whether FreeNAS even supports multicore or which is more suited to a file serving environment - the AMD subforum is pretty dead so I don't think it's worth starting a thread there.)
Cheers
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 Orleans 2.6GHz 1MB L2 Cache AM2
AMD Athlon 64 X2 BE-2300 Brisbane 1.9GHz 1MB L2 Cache AM2
Both CPUs have a TDP of 45W, which is great for what I am wanting to do. Would these be low power enough to be passively cooled? I'm thinking of getting an Antec P180 for the case which has a nice big opening directly above where the CPU would be situated (the PSU is mounted in the bottom of the case) http://www.silentpcreview.com/article810-page3.html. What I'm aiming to do is make the system as efficient and as quiet as possible, so the only fan that I intend to be in operation would be the one in the PSU. I'll be using 2x500GB Western Digital Green Power drives which are also low power to assist in keeping the system temp down.
Any comments or suggestions? I really don't know what to expect, whether these CPUs are cool enough to be passively cooled anyway, whether they require something as large as a Thermalright IFX-14, whether they would need to be underclocked in addition to this or what.
Also what thermal paste tends to be the best these days?
(Also if anyone can help me choose between the CPUs I'd appreciate it. Not sure which would offer the lowest temps/power consumption, whether FreeNAS even supports multicore or which is more suited to a file serving environment - the AMD subforum is pretty dead so I don't think it's worth starting a thread there.)
Cheers