My fanless passive cooled pc. 24/7 since Dec 2004

[Tjokken]

English is not my native language so I hope what I write will be understandable.
I finally managed to get rid of all the fans in my living room pc. I use this pc for movies, music and internet and it runs 24/7. It is important that this box is quiet and looks good enough for the living room.
The pc has a cpu temperature of 38C – 40C when idle and < 55C during movies, less when playing music. Chipset is always < 35C. Playing games makes it to hot but I use another pc for that anyway.

All the parts are stock except the cabinet hood that I made myself out of aluminum “fence” that I got from a car accessory shop, see pictures. This hood lets all the hot air through but I'm not quite happy with the design. I am planning on modding the original hood with went holes but I’m still looking for a suitable solution, any tips for how to make stylish went holes will be moust appreciated! I also drilled several holes in the floor of the case under the cpu and the psu to get cold air in from underneath. To move the psu away from the cpu I placed it in the front of the cabinet and had to remove the original hd bays to make room, see pictures. I still have space for my hd and dvd in the remaining bays.

Anyway, my rig is now wery silent (exept the hd but thats next) and works perfect for what it was intended to.

Main components:
Cabinet Silverstone SST-LC01
PSU Silverstone ST30NF 300W
CPU P4 2.6 ghz!! NOT 2.8GHz as originally stated, see further down the thread for info.
CPU cooler: Thermalright XP-120
Gfx: 9600 pro
Gfx cooler: Zalman Heatpipe VGA Cooler ZM80C-HP

[POLIST8]

What HDD is in that? I think the top looks pretty cool, though a better picture of it would be nice.

I definitely want something like that for my living room. I think I'll use a Mobile AMD CPU though.

[cansan]

Very nice work!

Although I have to agree that mesh for the whole top isn't the best looking thing.
My parents have this (or a similar) Maranz receiver which has ventilation holes at the top:



I think it looks pretty good for a mesh top, although I can see a problem with your front mounted psu. To describe, it is not like the usual old mesh, but quite a sturdy plate (I think >1 mm) with lots of circular holes. And actually this photograph was taken in a really well lighted place, I think. In our living room, because its black and the inside is dark, you can't tell its a mesh unless you go right next to it. From most angles it looks just like a flat black plate. Your case is silver so this may be more of a problem using a lighter color, I don't know. Unfortunately I have no idea where you could buy that stuff. You could probably have the original top plate but cut off a portion and cover it with a mesh of your choice. So when you look at the case from the front, it doesn't spoil the look too much.

Also, I'm curious the holes for the psu you mentioned, are they directly underneath? I'm thinking holes just to the sides of the psu that will allow air to flow up next to the sides should be the best? Just my suggestion.

Good luck with your quiet computer, and please post pics when you get it finished!

[Tjokken]

@POLIST8, the HDD is a Western Digital Caviar 120GB IDE ATA/100 8MB cache 7200RPM. I have recently noticed that it is rather noisy in the form of a metallic whine and I am considering (based on recommendations on another bb) changing it with a 2.5” HDD if I manage to find info on which manufacturer that makes the most silent ones.
I’ll try to post some pictures of the top when I’m done modifying the original one. Mobile hardware are probably perfect for a silent pc and I think you could make a really quiet one with the CPU you are referring to.

@cansan, that’s one sweet cabinet! That top would have been perfect!
After combing the net for solutions I found this LINK and I will try to find tools to make holes like those in my cabinet top, luckily I already have plenty of mesh and maybe I can duct tape it underneath the holes.
Under the PSU I made a big rectangular hole just a fraction smaller than the area of the bottom of the unit. If you look close on one of the pictures you can see that it was a bit more than a fraction as the hole are bigger than the PSU.
Holes along the sides of the PSU is of course the intelligent thing to do, I’ll drill them the next time I tear this rig apart again.

[cansan]

You said you have the mesh but I just remembered http://www.mcmaster.com. They have all kinds of mesh if you wanna take a look. (I have no idea about the price though.) At the very bottom right, look under:
-Raw Materials and Springs
---Perforated Materials
They have some that looks just like the one on the Marantz receiver.

[Beyonder]

Are you undervolting/underclocking the CPU, or just letting the P4 throttle itself down when it overheats? I doubt you could passively cool a P4 without something like that happening, even with a great heatsink like the XP-120...

[Tjokken]

@cansan, thanks that store seems to have everything and then some, I'll bookmark it as it might come in handy when I start to make the top. I have btw ordered a 2.5" Fujitsu drive that is supposed to be very quiet so my next project is to rig it in the cabinet.

@Beyonder, I am not underclocking the cpu now. As long as I only watch movies, listen to music and browse the internet there are no probleme with the temperature. The alarm is set to 70C and it has never been triggered during regular use but do go off if I run performence tests like Aquamark3.

[Prahella]

Just wondering, is that PSU fanless by default?

[Tjokken]

Just wondering, is that PSU fanless by default?

Yes

[davidstone28]

Very impressive Tjokken!

I amazed the XP120 can cool a 2.8ghz P4!

Deserves to go in the gallery section

[Tjokken]

Thanks davidstone28, I thought my post was deleted but finally found it in here ...

I have made some modifications to the pc since those first pictures was taken. First I got rid of that insanely noisy WD HDD and replaced it with a Fujitsu 2.5” 5400rpm 40 gig HDD. I mounted it as seen elsewhere on this bb, sorry I do not remember the thread but the basic procedure is to stick the drive between two pads of sound insulating foam, like this:




Then I manhandled the top lid into this:




Anyway the pc seems to work well with the new roof , I’ll come back with more data after running it a few days.

[vbmech]

Anyway the pc seems to work well with the new roof , I’ll come back with more data after running it a few days.

Beautiful system! Luckily I can hide my A/V system under a kitchen cabinet and not worry what it sounds or looks like. However, I did prefer your box with the original top. I thought it was a work of art!

[Tjokken]

I already had the mobo and CPU for a while when I started to build this rig and my memory told me that the CPU was 2.8GHz, but looking through my order log at my web shop I did to my horror see that the CPU is a P4 Northwood 2.6 GHz! I am so sorry about this misinformation, it was in no way intended! I work with computers and have several computers at home and soon forget the exact specs about each and everyone of them. Please forgive me!

@vbmech, lol, I think the picture is very “friendly” towards the original top, the new one looks better in my living room, believe you me.

[Tjokken]

Still sorry about the bad info on the CPU …

On the positive side I have forgot to mention that the PC now is completely silent! Utterly, completely, 100% inaudible! The only way to determine if it is running is to check the power led. I am amazed by the absence of noise from the little Fujitsu drive, fantastic!

[Tjokken]

This silent rig have now been running 24/7 for 10 months. It is still completely silent and stabile. I have done no alterations to it and it has only been rebooted a few times due to software requirements. It is hooked up to a plasma display and I use it for watching movies, playing music and surfing the internet.
It has become wery useful to me since I can access it from work and other locations if I need any files that is stored on it.

The irony is that my plasma display has a friggin fan in it and it is far from quiet! It doesn't bother me while watching tv or movies but it is irritating while I surf the internet like now.

[Tjokken]

I'm so tired of this annoying silence, it gets on my nerves. I'll never build another totaly silent pc again.

[nici]

Oh you too I once had a silent pc but found it boring and went back to aircooling so i could start over again.. An now im back to watercooling again Not comletely silent mind you, though im getting there.. Well maybe not 100% inaudible from 10" but close.

Btw you could start making whooshing sounds with your mouth so the room isnt totally silent

And yes silence can actually be disturbing if there´s no other noticeable source of noise, you start to hear the cogs turn in your head and eventually you go nuts and sit at the puter at 4AM typing on SPCR

[Tjokken]

Shutting down this PC for a few days since I'm moving to a new location. How long is one supposed to run a completely silent rig to claim it stabile?

[MikeC]

Shutting down this PC for a few days since I'm moving to a new location. How long is one supposed to run a completely silent rig to claim it stabile?

I think you can make that claim.

[andyb]

Awsome

I hope it survives the move, and gives you a few more year.


Andy