My setup now is
- i3/530 cpu w stock cooler
- Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 mATX mboard
- Coolermaster Elite 100 case w 150W PSU (very SFF, bedroom size!)
- 2x2GB mem + 2.5"Scorpio + Cinergy DVB-C stick
The Elite 100 case is very small (7x32x26cm), while fitting a mATX board (with PCI slots covered by the PSU, I dont mind). I love it.
The 150W PSU cooler was noisy, so I removed its fan. With Prime95 running for 5 minutes it gets hot, but not too hot (I can put my hand on it).
Cpu temp under this load is 69C (acc to Realtemp) and powerusage of the box is 89W. Idle is 25C and 37W. Great cpu!
Is any harm expected w the PSU fan removed? It is very quit now!
Picture
Fanless PSU for i3
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You don't mention any fans for ventilating the case, right?
You should also ask yourself some questions, like: how long does the PC usually work (1 hr, 3 hrs, 10 hrs?), what is the typical load and temps?
Also, you could try running the PSU fan at lower speed. Don't need variable RPM there - just run it at, say, 7V. I assume it's a 50-60 mm fan, so it won't really push a lot of air, but what counts is that will generate at least some airflow. You could also get a better quality fan.
I assume the PSU is probably FSP, decent quality and all, but it probably is not well suited to running fanless. Well, unless you really keep the PC in idle all the time.
Another thing - you could try undervolting the CPU a little. I know, it's already v cool and power efficient, but since GB boards allow undervolting why not try it? This will most likely bring the load power down, and have v little influence on ilde power. But it's the load power that will matter most anyway (for a fanless PSU).
You should also ask yourself some questions, like: how long does the PC usually work (1 hr, 3 hrs, 10 hrs?), what is the typical load and temps?
Also, you could try running the PSU fan at lower speed. Don't need variable RPM there - just run it at, say, 7V. I assume it's a 50-60 mm fan, so it won't really push a lot of air, but what counts is that will generate at least some airflow. You could also get a better quality fan.
I assume the PSU is probably FSP, decent quality and all, but it probably is not well suited to running fanless. Well, unless you really keep the PC in idle all the time.
Another thing - you could try undervolting the CPU a little. I know, it's already v cool and power efficient, but since GB boards allow undervolting why not try it? This will most likely bring the load power down, and have v little influence on ilde power. But it's the load power that will matter most anyway (for a fanless PSU).
Thanks. I let it run w both Prime95 (cpu) and Furtest (gpu) for an hour now, and the PSU is still hand-hot, w cpu temp 67C and 95W max. I guess I will only tape some TV shows and incidentally run some HD movies, which should be less than 30% cpu (will test tonight).
The PSU has a noisy 4cmx1.5cm fan (which I removed). FSP has a fan-PSU (flexATX) with 150W and a same fanless PSU w 120W. I noticed some additional holes in the fanless box, so I removed the lower metal part of my PSU to give it more air. I covered some tricky parts with carton with sleeves (see picture) and left the bottom fully open.
I ordered a Scythe 4x1cm fan and wil see if I can use that.
By the way, the Intel cpu fan is near silent when cold/slow (1150 tpm) and ditto when hot/fast (2000 tpm), but makes bad noise in between. I can control it using Gigabytes ET app, and set it such that it is or slow or fast (above 50C Realtemp=40C Gbyte temp). C't tested other fans in H55/1156/i3 combi's, but most of them turns out to be uncontrollable.
I will consider undervolting when necesarily, but I dont OC normally.
The PSU has a noisy 4cmx1.5cm fan (which I removed). FSP has a fan-PSU (flexATX) with 150W and a same fanless PSU w 120W. I noticed some additional holes in the fanless box, so I removed the lower metal part of my PSU to give it more air. I covered some tricky parts with carton with sleeves (see picture) and left the bottom fully open.
I ordered a Scythe 4x1cm fan and wil see if I can use that.
By the way, the Intel cpu fan is near silent when cold/slow (1150 tpm) and ditto when hot/fast (2000 tpm), but makes bad noise in between. I can control it using Gigabytes ET app, and set it such that it is or slow or fast (above 50C Realtemp=40C Gbyte temp). C't tested other fans in H55/1156/i3 combi's, but most of them turns out to be uncontrollable.
I will consider undervolting when necesarily, but I dont OC normally.