AM3 Fanless CPU cooling option?

[s1175290]

Are there any decent AM3 fanless CPU cooler options out there? I am in the process of building a WHS, and I'm looking for something quiet/silent and energy efficient. I am using this case and CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112265

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103908

I've found a few that look interesting:

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Akasa-CC032-Low-Profile-,-Passive-heatsink_24777.html

http://www.quietpc.com/es-en-eur/products/amdcooling/asus-triton-75

I realize you are meant to attach a fan to the second cooler, but I was wondering if I could get by without one?

If there aren't any decent solutions, I was thinking of something along these lines:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/93...tl=g48c369s881

Does anybody have any experience with fanless solutions? Do you think I would be ok with one of the first two options, or would someone recommend something else?

Thank you for the advice.

 

[disports]

I just had the case and it was great. Anyways, I'm sure either of the options will work fine since it's just a WHS. It's not like the processor is one of the quad cores or six core CPUs. Are you still going to be using the fans in the front and top? If so, I'm sure you're good to go.

 

[fffblackmage]

The Scythe Mugen 2 might work well as a passive heatsink, though it's probably overkill for an Athlon II 210e (and maybe it doesn't fit in the case anyways?).

Or that second heatsink you listed might work too (the ASUS Triton). The first one might be insufficient, depending on how much airflow that case can provide.

 

[lsv]

Don't get the Akasa.

Get a nice beefy heatsink with a fan and run it without a fan on high use for a 5-6 hours while monitoring temps.

If you get too close to the CPU limit then run the fan at the lowest setting.

blackmage mentioned it being overkill but to be honest when you go passive it's only good with a little bit of air movement. Or else you're just releasing heat into the case.

 

[faxon]

you know if you REALLY want quiet that badly, why not just get a 1150rpm gentile typhoon and stick it on there? you're not gonna hear it over your PSU with a side panel on the case, and if you still dont like it they have a 500rpm variant as well, though its out of stock at newegg right now

 

[s1175290]

Get a nice beefy heatsink with a fan and run it without a fan on high use for a 5-6 hours while monitoring temps.

If you get too close to the CPU limit then run the fan at the lowest setting.

I'll go this route, most likely. It's partly the noise, but I'm also trying to make this as energy efficient as possible and I figured one less fan running would save something. Probably not enough to worry about, but it can't hurt

 

[jaydee]

AMD's 18W TDP Zacate is shipping in weeks, retail availability probably in January. Performance should be similar to the Athlon II X2 210e 2.6Ghz at 1/3 of the power/heat.

http://blogs.amd.com/fusion/2010/11...e-at-amd%e2%80%99s-financial-analyst-day/

 

[Concillian]

Yeah, I'm waiting on Zacate for this.

Underclocking the x2 can end up at low power usage too, but you want a fan somewhere, if not on the heatsink, somewhere near it to get some airflow. At the very least get a quiet fan and run it at 5 or 7 volts instead of 12v. power draw on these fans at 12v is around 1 watt froa 120mm fan and less as the size decreases. Running 5 or 7v instead will lower consumption even more, but if you skimp too much on ariflow, you'll negate any cost savings when something has problems due to the heat.

It's possible passive can work though if you underclock & undervolt, you can get into the 20-30W range at load, and this is doable passive. Just be sure you test with something that stresses and monitor temps, keep in mind that this kind of machine typically sits in a corner (or in my case behind a file cabinet) collecting dust for years between times you even look at it. Leave plenty of margin for the layers of dust that will collect inside the machine over time.