Hardware
CPU Intel i3-6300 (51W)
MB Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI (15W)
RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2133MHz 16GB (2W)
SSD Samsung 950 EVO 250Gb (4W)

Test build
GPU ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5 (120W) - test built
PSU Silverstone SX500-LG 500W Gold SFX-L (for tuning only)

Final build
GPU ASUS GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5(150W) - final build
Streacom ST-ZF240 ZeroFlex 240W Passive PSU(final build)

RIP
PSU HDPLEX 160W AC-DC w/PFC + HDPLEX 160W DC-ATX (did not start and i returned it to amazon!)


the complete build it takes around 1h and you will obtain an silent computer in an case with with amazing cooling capability
i have tested it in both prime95 and Furmark (burn) and case is able to handle 90W GPU and 35W CPU without any problem

Nice. I'm very interested in seeing heat soak temperature results for idle and normal usage.

GTX960 Bios moding

3dMark results before and after GTX960 optimisation

150W before optimisation
90W after optimisation

completed system with optimized GTX960

Interesting, didnt know there was a way to mod the bios after nbitor, specially for maxwell. Btw i see the fan control says experimental, did you mess with it it at some point?

i removed the fan and card is cooled passively

Thanks, i was just hopping you mess with it before doing the passive thing =(

Spec Before Mod

Power Output: 240W Combined, 3.3V @ 10A, 5V @ 10A, 5VSB @ 2A, 12V @14A, -12V @ 0.3A
Input Power: 100-240V AC 50/60Hz

Output Connectors: 1 x 20+4 ATX, 1 x 4PIN CPU, 2 x SATA, 2 x MOLEX, 1 x FDD

Spec After Mod

Power Output: 240W Combined, 3.3V @ 10A, 5V @ 10A, 5VSB @ 2A, 12V @14A, -12V @ 0.3A

Input Power: 100-240V AC 50/60Hz Output

Connectors: 1 x 20 ATX, 1 x 4 PIN CPU, 1 x 8 PIN GPU, 2 x SATA

1. There is no 8 pix connector for Graphic Card (Nvidia GTX 970 has a 150W GPU) and if an adapter is used both connectors will end up using same 12V wire which is unable to provide enough current.

The solution is to remove 4 pin connector from 20 + 4 pin connector and use 12V line from it to carry power to GPU together with existing 12V wire from MOLEX (we sacrifice also 2 unused MOLEX connectors)

power usage with the new PSU

idle in Steam Big Picture and Assassin's Creed IV

new pictures with new PSU temporary attached for tuning and there is no cable management yet

PLEASE NOTE:the PSU radiator is attached to the CPU radiator otherwise the PSU will get HOT during gaming

hdplex_motherboard_gpu_temp_mount1 reflects the final mount position

finally gtx970 is in place

PSU is in final position with thermal pads and cables are reworked

GTX970 bios tables

i have replicated GTX970M frequencies and lowered TDP to 105W

3dMark test using the new power and freq table

temperature does not exceed 70C after 4hours of 3D demo loop

Good work sir, and thanks for the documentation effort, very appreciated!

I want this exact setup, all hardware included. I wish there was a reseller that offered it. I emailed [email protected] about the blog because they do have a fanless gtx 960 setup but the 970 would have enough power for high settings in most modern games. Nice work!

First I want to applaud your efforts in this build. Good work!

I'm currently working on a build with the Streacom FC5 alpha case. Fitting it with an Intel i5 4440 (84w tdp with integrated gpu) and a GTX 1060 (120w tdp) and a single SSD. I'm going to run the i5 passive with the internal gpu disabled to lower power usage and I'm first going to run the 1060 with active cooling until I have figured out how much heat it generates and if I can underclock it a bit to help with temps. Then I'm going to look into passive cooling for the GPU. I know the FC5 is a smaller case and probably will struggle with cooling the 1060 but it's a fun experiment.

What I'm most impressed with reading about your build is the streacom ZF240 psu. I'm surprised it can handle the load of your system. Do you think it could handle a build like mine? I was under the impression that I would have to wait for something along the lines of a 300-350w passive psu to show up before I could go completely fanless. Does the ZF240 add a lot of heat for the case to handle?

Im currently running the system with a Shuttle PSU rated at 500w that fits inside the case (53mm high).

Not really intending on highjacking this thread but here are some pics of my project.





This is where I'm currently at, trying to mod the PSU to run passively by moving all the mosfets to the chassis heatsink. If that doesnt work I'll add a low rpm 50mm fan... if the thing blows up I'll get a pico psu :p