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Fan-less silent PC

Here's a pre-built fanless PC with some real muscle I came across.

Looks nice, but not "fanless", i.e. not completely silent. It has dual CPU (and chipset?) cooling fan in it;

Correction: That mini PC is fanless, indeed. Please refer to my post #246 below.

Sorry for any confusion, if you may have.
 
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I found it quite difficult to buy components for my new build that didn't light up!
Yea that's the DIY computer market today.
Not too many are into it any more except hard-core gamers looking to
build a lightning fast computer on a budget. They mostly like the lights, bells, and whistles
inside the box.
 
Looks nice, but not "fanless", i.e. not completely silent. It has dual CPU (and chipset?) cooling fan in it;
That's a different model
 
That's a different model
So sorry for my mistake.

Yes, you are right; in
https://www.anandtech.com/show/18852/topgros-499-fanless-pc-packs-core-i71255u-alder-lake-cpu
I found the description "As discovered by FanlessTech, Topgro's K3 is the latest addition to the company's lineup, offering a passively cooled mini-PC system based around Intel's mobile 12thGeneration Core 'Alder Lake' processors with Iris Xe integrated GPU with 96 EUs.
and also;
"As noted earlier, arguably the most notable aspect of this PC is Topgro's aggressive pricing, especially given that it's a fanless machine."

I will correct my post #242 soon.

OK, I too am very much interested in this small silent powerful PC with advanced I/O ports, dual 2.5G LAN, and even Thunderbold 4!
 
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Just came accross this...

Zotac Unveils the World's First Mini PC With Solid-State Cooling​

Looks interesting...Here's a Link

(Apologies if this has been covered already!)
 

Just came accross this...

Zotac Unveils the World's First Mini PC With Solid-State Cooling​

Looks interesting...Here's a Link

(Apologies if this has been covered already!)

Interesting product. I wonder if they filter the air that those vibrating membranes suck in. You don't want dust to clog those vibrating membranes.
 
Interesting product. I wonder if they filter the air that those vibrating membranes suck in. You don't want dust to clog those vibrating membranes.
Indeed. And not entirely sure having internal vibrations of any kind is particularly desirable either. Somewhat doubtful that it would actually affect sound quality but just another little known component that might fail me thinks...
Fully passive still seems optimal to me...
 
Here is Linus detailing the tech. This could be massive for mini-PCs, laptops, even cellphones etc.

 
I just heard about the new In Win Mod Free case. It is based on a modular skeleton platform, with modules you can swap in and out to create the PC you want. For years I have dreamed of a powerful PC in my living room capable of doing more than play music files, like play games ... but I need it to be silent, and I don't like the gamer aesthetic of most PC cases. It looks like this one can be modded to be as discreet as you like. I am thinking of building it into some furniture so it will really be invisible. Hmmm.
 
This is the case I built mine around:

Used an AMD 4750G APU - and it runs as hard as we want it to without breaking a sweat.
It is used for light gaming, as well as being the primary video and audio source.

There are some GPU constraints - you have to choose one for which the appropriate mounting system is available... and you want to constrain TDP to less than 90W (for both the GPU and the CPU/APU)

But it is completely silent - if I was rebuilding it now, I would look for a more up to date APU, but wouldn't change anything else.

The one thing to watch for, is being a heatsink case - there needs to be sufficient and appropriate space around it to allow for airflow to cool the fins passively... obvious stuff - but not necessarily so obvious if you are used to enclosing the PC in a cabinet.
 
Today I tested MELE QUIETER HD3Q mini pc and NOCTUA NF-A20 200mm PWM fan, both components are completely silent. To complete my DIY network streamer I chose a 12V (120W) linear low noise audio grade power supply, one large 12.6" touch screen display, the SMSL DO300 DAC to be integrated inside the case, 2TB SSD storage unit .
 
Today I tested MELE QUIETER HD3Q mini pc and NOCTUA NF-A20 200mm PWM fan, both components are completely silent. To complete my DIY network streamer I chose a 12V (120W) linear low noise audio grade power supply, one large 12.6" touch screen display, the SMSL DO300 DAC to be integrated inside the case, 2TB SSD storage unit .

Thank you for the nice info.

I would highly appreciate if I could see photo of your setup with MELE QUIETER HD3Q mini pc + NOCTUA NF-A20 200mm PWM fan + a 12V (120W) linear low noise audio grade power supply; especially how you install the quiet fan onto mini PC (or in your box/case?).

I believe you directly connect the quiet fan to the power supply, right?
What is the case you use to install all of these?
 
Dear Friend, I assure you that the same doubts have been haunting me for a few months, ever since I had the first crazy idea to make my first DIY streamer.


I have always considered this first project a laboratory, in fact inside there are only a pile of scraps that had the purpose of demonstrating that such a tool could have any possibility of playing hi-end. In this project the case is just a container that hides the extreme disorder with which I brutally connected everything, using a PSU ATX PC, a Raspberry PI 4B, a 7” touch display and an infinity of extender cables because all the ports of the rasberries are duplicated on the rear panel, including an SD card reader, in order to switch from Volumio to MoOde, to Picoreplayer in the time of a reboot by replacing the SD card only.


The second project, even crazier, provides zero noise (in the first there is a noisy fan otherwise the old PSU would catch fire) and above all the integration of a quality DAC like SMSL DO300 on which the final choice fell.

In the attached photos you can find what the new case should contain approximately…

The design of the second case is still very WIP and is based on the concept of being decomposable into two parts both integrated into the design and both with a HIFI form factor. I can't stand boxes lying around as the houses of the majority of all DACs available today. In addition, the case integration eliminates 2 exposed cables (DAC power cable and DAC USB cable). The Fan will also contribute to a slight ventilation of the DAC case. I'm lucky enough to have access to 3D Printing and CNC milling technologies, so I can make a good project of any object at no cost.
 

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Thank you for your DIY planning info in detail for which I understand well.

BTW, in one of your photos, I found signal connector strap (for line level or SP high level?) as I marked in red here;
WS00005685.JPG


Are the screws and the metal plates non-magnetizable material (I hope so)?

As I shared here and here, we need to carefully eliminate magnetizable metals (like steel) in handling of line-level and SP-high-level signals in our audio setup/gears. The cause of the initial major sound distortion problem associated with the Buckeye 3 Channel Purifi amplifier was finally found to be the wrong-use of steel plate at the SP binding posts, and it was well fixed (by the replacement with non-magnetizable blass plates) as reviewed again here after the product renovation/improvement.
 
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