How to build a fanless PC (tutorial)

[FanlessTech]

Stumble upon this fanless build video https://youtu.be/xTpaB1FAU5s

Who said fanless computing was hard to achieve?

Love the simplicity. I wouldn't use a 54W CPU in the Euler though (only 35W chips are recommended by Akasa).

 

[MongGrel]

It really never seemed that far fetched to me.

But I like to OC things myself using quiet fans.

With lower TDP's on CPU's these days it does make it easier.

 

[nsafreak]

Sure, it's really not hard to build a fanless system nowadays. It really depends on the intended use case though. For example, you aren't going to easily build a system intended for high end gaming with a high level of graphic detail without spending some major bucks.

 

[FanlessTech]

You're absolutely right. A fanless gaming rig is pretty much impossible (although some options are being worked out right now). Apparently the Euler can't even cope with the latest 35W Skylake i7 either. It's still an amazing -and unique - idea, wish Akasa had some competition!

 

[MrTeal]

I'd be surprised if you couldn't build a fanless gaming rig, it just wouldn't be particularly visually appealing. Caseless, with PCIe extenders and large tower coolers mounted on the GPU(s). You just need enough heatpipes and metal to dissipate a couple hundred watts of heat while keeping the die under 100C.

 

[Blain]

Who said fanless computing was hard to achieve?

Fanless PC's have been around for a long time. As long as someone doesn't expect Cray supercomputer capabilities, fanless have been an option.

 

[Yuriman]

Silent computing has always been interesting to me, but the necessary size and surface area required to cool components goes up dramatically as airflow approaches zero (or convection-only, anyway). A very slow spinning fan can greatly reduce the size and cost of a system while remaining below the threshold of perceptibility, so that's generally the route I take.

Effectively silent is still effectively silent.

 

[FanlessTech]

Passively-cooled PCs are not just about silence though. Solid state computing is mostly about extreme reliability. Moving parts are prone to failure, eliminating them improve failure rate, and ease maintenance tenfold.

Fanless PCs are also the future, fans' days are numbered in mainstream PCs (not talking about gaming rigs and workstations).

 

[aigomorla]

Fanless PC's have been around for a long time. As long as someone doesn't expect Cray supercomputer capabilities, fanless have been an option.

crays have been fanless for a long time as well too.
They used watercooling and incorporated a internal bong cooler off a waterfall design.

 

[Aikouka]

wish Akasa had some competition!

Akasa may not have much competition in the silent NUC aftermarket case area (Silverstone mostly makes fan-based units), but they most certainly have competition in the Mini-ITX area. HDPLEX have a few fanless options. I've been using a Streacom FC8 for about 2-3 years, and they also have other options.

 

[FanlessTech]

I do like HDPLEX and Streacom, but these are heatpipes-based cases. We are talking about the Euler and its simplicity here.

There's only one fanless / unibody desktop case where the CPU is directly mounted on the aluminum fins (a la fanless NUC case) and it's the Euler

 

[cbn]

That is a nice case.

Would be great if we could get a thin mini-itx Carrizo board (configurable to 35W) that works with it. Using dual channel DDR3 2133 it should game reasonably well thanks to the bandwidth efficiency improvement of the GCN 1.2 architecture.

And for games that are too difficult to play natively there is always streaming (between the decoder and the four CPU cores it should get the job pretty well in that regard).

P.S. The reason I mention the CPU cores for game streaming is because I have noticed that software decode works better for some Steam games than hardware decode. However, the strength of the CPU cores matters a lot.

 

[Blain]

There's only one fanless / unibody desktop case where the CPU is directly mounted on the aluminum fins (a la fanless NUC case) and it's the Euler

Back in the day there was the original full ATX Zalman TNN-500 line, the Hush ATX PC and for those with deep pockets, the End Noise fanless cases.

 

[FanlessTech]

Would be great if we could get a thin mini-itx Carrizo board (configurable to 35W)

I'm appalled by AMD's non-existent response to the NUC and the recent stream of fanless mini PCs. It's just sad.

Back in the day there was the original full ATX Zalman TNN-500 line, the Hush ATX PC

The TNN-500 was incredible and started my fanless obsession. But clearly, a 22kg case is not very practical and not flexible too. There must be a way to optimise cooling (see HDPLEX H5 and possibly the upcoming Airtop).

 

[tweakboy]

Well done.

 

[cbn]

Stumble upon this fanless build video https://youtu.be/xTpaB1FAU5s

Who said fanless computing was hard to achieve?

Love the simplicity. I wouldn't use a 54W CPU in the Euler though (only 35W chips are recommended by Akasa).

Found the following review of Akasa Euler working fine with 55W Pentium G2120:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1321-page5.html

The cooling capability of the Euler is good enough for a Pentium G2120's 55W TDP, so anything in that range or lower would be perfectly good.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1321-page4.html

The 55W TDP of the Pentium G2120 turned out to be a false alarm. Since the AC power draw never exceeds 55W, there's no way it could possibly pull 55W by itself, at least not with our torture test apps.

So maybe "average bin" 50W+ Pentium and especially Celerons are OK to use?

 

[gradoman]

Not sure if you saw the LTT vide on this yet-to-be-launched cooling setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PJOrfpiVwE

 

[cbn]

For AMD fans this board became available:

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...oryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=186&LanID=0

It has the Intel LGA 115x mounting holes so I am hoping it will work in the Euler. (Crossing fingers CPU height is the same as the Intel too)

Credit goes to Trovaricon's post here.