Please nitpick a potential quiet/silent system for me...
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:35 pm
Hi folks.
Silent/quiet computers has recently become a fascination of mine. The Lenovo they've given me at work has a video card with what must be a 60mm fan that runs (very roughly) at about 12,000 RPM... it sounds something like a Dremel tool.
About a year or so ago, I got a new system for Windows... P182, moderate AMD dual-core CPU, TRUE cpu heatsink and Sycthe 120mm fan for it, an Asus PCIE passively cooled video card and the SeaSonic S12II 380W PS. The HDD's and optical drives are all pre-silence fascination, so are sorta noisy. If all these parts look familar, it stands to reason... they were all chosen from the "Reference/Recommended" lists... and I couldn't be happier with it.
Now my server is starting to falter... I've just gotten married and moved, and cash is a little thin on the ground... so being economical is pretty important. So it's got to be fairly low-cost. That's the bad news.
The good news: The "server" can be just about anything I can get my hands on... the OS is FreeBSD, which I ran on my Pentium 120 quite happily for years. I'm not running Xwindows on it, basically it's used to host my personal webpages (using Apache), control the DSL connection, perform Network Address Translation for other PCs on the network, email (Pine - yeah, I'm old old old school).
Now you know the rationale and requirements, my proposed system:
Based around the Zotac Ion ITX (A, B or C), with a 32GB SSD, optical drive disconnected once the BSD install is done, no monitor or other peripherals.
I'm leaning towards the Zotac "C" board: PS included, no unnecessary WiFi (it will be wired in with Cat5), only a single core but again, dual-core isn't really necessary for the load this will be running. So far, a system entirely free of moving parts, as I fully intend to run the Zotac MB without the optional CPU/chipset fan.
This basically leaves choice of case, really. Looking for a case that has more than ample circulation, to keep the MB/CPU cool while running 24/7, and the cooler it runs, the longer it lives... and the less I'll have spend in the long run replacing it. With the mini-ITX form factor, I'm at a loss... Initially I was thinking of the Antec mini-P180, undervolting the 200mm fan and just letting it run. I don't need an HTPC case, but if there's a recommended one that's cheaper than the mini P180 and has exceptional airflow, I'd certainly entertain the notion.
Can anybody recommend something that would compete in terms of price-point, silence, cooling and performance? The Ion ITX board kills 4 birds with one stone: MB, CPU, CPU cooler and PSU... and I can get the C at my local shop for about $200 Cdn.
Thanks for any thoughts you might have!
-Scot
Silent/quiet computers has recently become a fascination of mine. The Lenovo they've given me at work has a video card with what must be a 60mm fan that runs (very roughly) at about 12,000 RPM... it sounds something like a Dremel tool.
About a year or so ago, I got a new system for Windows... P182, moderate AMD dual-core CPU, TRUE cpu heatsink and Sycthe 120mm fan for it, an Asus PCIE passively cooled video card and the SeaSonic S12II 380W PS. The HDD's and optical drives are all pre-silence fascination, so are sorta noisy. If all these parts look familar, it stands to reason... they were all chosen from the "Reference/Recommended" lists... and I couldn't be happier with it.
Now my server is starting to falter... I've just gotten married and moved, and cash is a little thin on the ground... so being economical is pretty important. So it's got to be fairly low-cost. That's the bad news.
The good news: The "server" can be just about anything I can get my hands on... the OS is FreeBSD, which I ran on my Pentium 120 quite happily for years. I'm not running Xwindows on it, basically it's used to host my personal webpages (using Apache), control the DSL connection, perform Network Address Translation for other PCs on the network, email (Pine - yeah, I'm old old old school).
Now you know the rationale and requirements, my proposed system:
Based around the Zotac Ion ITX (A, B or C), with a 32GB SSD, optical drive disconnected once the BSD install is done, no monitor or other peripherals.
I'm leaning towards the Zotac "C" board: PS included, no unnecessary WiFi (it will be wired in with Cat5), only a single core but again, dual-core isn't really necessary for the load this will be running. So far, a system entirely free of moving parts, as I fully intend to run the Zotac MB without the optional CPU/chipset fan.
This basically leaves choice of case, really. Looking for a case that has more than ample circulation, to keep the MB/CPU cool while running 24/7, and the cooler it runs, the longer it lives... and the less I'll have spend in the long run replacing it. With the mini-ITX form factor, I'm at a loss... Initially I was thinking of the Antec mini-P180, undervolting the 200mm fan and just letting it run. I don't need an HTPC case, but if there's a recommended one that's cheaper than the mini P180 and has exceptional airflow, I'd certainly entertain the notion.
Can anybody recommend something that would compete in terms of price-point, silence, cooling and performance? The Ion ITX board kills 4 birds with one stone: MB, CPU, CPU cooler and PSU... and I can get the C at my local shop for about $200 Cdn.
Thanks for any thoughts you might have!
-Scot