Whats the fastest/cheapest fanless processor?

[oshelef]

Hi all,

I'm looking to put together a computer on a board(no case, just an open air board.) And I was thinking, wouldn't it be nice to make it fanless as well?

I'd like to if possible use this machine as a very basic linux box/web server so any processor, even pentium mmx, would probably be enough.

So the question, whats the fastest/cheapest processor I can use without a fan on it, while being reliable, in an open air computer? I was thinking I might mount it on the wall?

Also, since this is open air and the power supply won't be moving air in or out of the case, and in fact would be open itself, do you think it would be possible to run the power supply(probably a 235 or 250 watt given that I won't have many drives etc..) without a fan?

Also, you don't happen to know of any motherboards to go with the above processor with integrated video(any integrated video at all) and integrated ethernet?, oh audio would be nice too.(I want it all, don't I?)

Any other ideas and suggestions for such a project?

Oh, would a wood based board be a good base for something like this, or should I look into getting some sort of metal undercarriage?

Thanks,

Orie

P.S. If this would be better posted in another forum, please let me know.

 

[fatbaby]

A pentium 4 1.6 or a p3 1.0

Those should suffice as fanless given your room temp doesn't exceed 80 degrees. You have to put on a somewhat massive, passive heatsink though.

I highly reccomend against this.

Running a psu w/o fan = CRAZY and DANGEROUS!

 

[Lizardman]

I think you could run your powersupply with out your fan just so you take the cover off of it so it has more air flowing out of it since hot air will rise. Also the cheapest processor you could get that would not require a fan would be a pentium 2 i think possibly more towards the celeron region because they are even cheaper. I think you could pull off not having a fan on your cpu if you had a p2 since it would be open air and they dont get too hot. JUst get a decent heatsink for it.


for the question about the wood backing or metal I would go in the metal direction and make sure that its touching the metal on your PS so that every thing is grounded properly.


Good luck with your project

 

[oshelef]

oh, wow I can run that fast fanless?

I would be more than happy with something around 500 mhz...is there anything maybe cheaper and slower that would run fanless?

Orie

 

[Lizardman]

Dont listen to fat baby just make sure your powersupply has plenty of breathing room and you should be fine.

Oh yeah any intel motherboard usually has an option for integrated video and should serve the purposes you describe

 

[Torghn]

Tom's review on the C3.

 

[frastini]

I've heard that a p3 933 underclocked to 466 (66 fsb) can be run with a passive heatsink..

and beats out the c3 in most benches.. heres the review i read..

http://www.minervatech.net/reviews/fanless_cpu/

Frost

 

[h2sammo]

wow, i didnt even know that a processor can produce so little heat. as Tom sais, as little as a hard drive in idle mode. the C3 is great for you.
12 W is unbeatable, really. slap a heatsink onthis baby and you never have to worry about high temps, especially how you have your setup on the wall.
just to compare, the lowest power an AMD/INTEL would do is a Celeron 533, and that is 17.5W and the highest is in the 80'sW (at stock speeds)

i would say, post this question on the overclcokers forum. i bet you could use a "hotter" processor than 12W. I bet a ~20W would do fine with just a heatsink on. maybe somebody already did this over there.

Overclockers

 

[boyRacer]

Those slim PCs are running a passive 1.2GHz P3 Tualatin aren't they? Dunno... saw it in MaximumPC... only thing they had was a 60mm close to it by the edge of the slim case... but since you'll be running it open no fan needed i suppose.

 

[McPhreak]

My old Dell PII266 w/MMX used to run fanless. The HS wasn't even that big either (well, it was big for it's time but compared to today's HSF, it's nothing).

 

[oshelef]

I think I may try the p2 route, since I have access to some p2's and motherboards.

Any other thoughts I shoudl be concerned with?

Thanks,

Orie

 

[Zap]

[RANT]Sure, those underclocked P3 Coppermines/Tualatins are nice, and P4 Northwoods run nice and cool, but HELLO?!?! The guy also mentioned "cheapest." Every time someone asks for recommendations, "I need a really cheap CPU & mobo with integrated everything for a word processing/web browsing system" everyone responds saying "don't get integrated video - crap - spend more for AGP, etc. etc."[/RANT]

You can get VIA C3 from Axiontech.com for around $40 or so (700-800MHz range). The VIA C3 chip that runs the coolest is the 800MHz model with the Ezra core (I think the Samuel 2 core overlapped the Ezra core in MHz at that speed, so make sure it's the Ezra). Motherboard-wise... tons of inexpensive socket 370 motherboards out there with integrated everything.

As for the power supply... I've ran power supplies without fans (well, fan was dead) outside the case and the power supply ran really hot. Instead of an all-or-nothing approach, how about doing a 7v mod to the power supply fan?

 

[mcvan]

Probably a VIA C3 on an integrated mobo is best. Two articles on C3 systems here, one potentially fanless:
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http://www.silentpcreview.com/goto.php?t=s&id=18&a=1

</FONT></U>

 

[jonah255]

i wish they'd make cursoe's for desktops.

 

[Gene396]

You asked for the cheapest processor -- you already have a brain, so the cost is zero. Of course it my not be the fastest. LOL

 

[cavemanmoron]

 

[oshelef]

Well as an update I'm working on a p2-266 on an asus motherboard. Still trying to scrounge up a power supply I can try to work without the fan. I was going to use one from a gateway ppro motherboard that only had an external fan, but I had to use it in another computer.

I also looked at a p2-350 I had, but the motherboard only supports 66 mhz bus.

Thanks for the info.

Orie

 

[mcvan]

Check out the new recommended components section at www.silentpcreview.com (including PSUs). Accessible under Topics / <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Recommended </B><!-- BBCode End -->on the main menu on the left. A guide to selecting quiet computing components best suited for your needs, it will be updated continuously as new information comes to light and new products surpass old ones. Please read the <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Introduction</B><!-- BBCode End -->, which covers a lot of ground about the how and why behind our recommendations. This should be helpful to all the new people interested in doing something to quiet down their computers.

Challenges and suggested additions for the recommended lists are welcome in the SPCR forums.

 

[ShinSa]

there was a website where a guy ran his enermax psu with the cover off with and w/o air channeling. W/o air-channeling the temp kept rising and rising until there was smoke. I highly recommend against it unless you find a clever way to use air-channeling technique like he did.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Lizardman
Dont listen to fat baby just make sure your powersupply has plenty of breathing room and you should be fine.

Just don't come crying to us if the power supply kills itself from overheating. There's plenty of fans out there that are so quiet you'd hardly notice them. I use NMB fans that only put out 22dB. Oh yes, and running a power supply open is also a dangerous shock hazard - DC power at high current levels, which a computer power supply generates - can easily be more dangerous than AC power.

In terms of processors without fans, the newer Cyrix processors have been shown (by VIA's videos anyway) to run ok without ANY cooling at all - not even a heatsink. This of course isn't recommended for normal use, but they run pretty cool, and should be fine with a decent sized passive heatsink.

 

[adlep]

Yeah, the C3 + integrated everything socket 370 type of board should do just fine...
Then pickup a good heatsink (like all copper Sk-6, which can be found for $20.00 shipped) and arctic alumina, and you should be all set....

 

[gaidin123]

Get a Via Eden motherboard CPU combo with a Cubid 2677 case with external DC power supply. Voila, no fans for anything and you're not going to run the risk of overheating anything.

Check out www.mini-itx.com or Via's site for info on the boards. They are low performance, the integrated video is crap for any non 2d work but it is a full featured, very small motherboard.

They're also reasonably cheap though scrounging old systems for parts is probably cheaper in this case.

Gaidin