The advent of mini PCs?

[antiatavist]

I was really intrigued by this.

Do you think it is possible to have a quiet PC like that?

That power supply and SSD already eliminates half the noise, only GPU and CPU remain to deal with. Is there a case which would enable this.

[bastiaan]

I don't think that the build described will be very quiet, if nothing else because there are three small fans on the GPU.

Anyway, given how little power the system uses at full burn, it's surprising there's such a big market of supplies over 500W. But perhaps that market is fueled by the notion that bigger is better. Unless the number of people who have more than one GPU in their cases is a lot bigger than I expect, that is...

[edh]

I wouldn't really say the 'advent' as we've had small computers for decades. The Shuttle XPC comes to mind as a very successful range adn I just wish they'd carried on innovating more.

The 600W PSU is rather over the top for what will be a compact system. They've had a 450W unit for some time and there is also a 300W non-modular. I would go for the 300W and it still runs fanless at lower loads.

As for the case, Silverstone have a few really nice Mini-ITX cases like that. They're quite game console like really in size and shape. The RVZ01 was reviewed some months ago by SPCR and came out quite well:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1392-page1.html

Graphics cooling on it is good when arranged vertically but not so good horizontally. CPU cooling is limited. A big issue I see is that for graphics cooling you are limited size wise for trying to fit aftermarket coolers due to width. Standard graphics card coolers I don't like due to their small fast spinning fans but sometimes a fan mod with a 120mm fan or maybe 2 will sort them out for very little money.

I think the NCase M1 is an alternative for making a small, quiet, and powerful system in. You can use the SFX PSU format or ATX with some limitations on drive and graphics card. The volume comes to 12.6 litres as opposed to 14 litres for the Silverstone.

The new Streacom 240W passive PSU is also very interesting in enabling Streacom cases to be fitted with a PSU completely internally. It means you could build a fully passive Streacom system with a reasonably powerful CPU and graphics card at a small size. The FC10 is 435x319x100mm (13.9 litres) and could take a 95W CPU, similar TDP graphics card and a few drives entirely passively while the FC9 is 348x289x100mm (10.06 litres), still takes a 95W CPU, only supports a low profile graphics card (there are some low profile GTX 750Ti cards), 3 SSDs and an optical drive.

[quest_for_silence]

Do you think it is possible to have a quiet PC like that?

It depends of the GPU of choice: anyway, SPCR already reviewed the 600W SFX unit and, broadly speaking, it isn't particularly quiet, and rather noisy when power draw is higher than 150W.
It may worth to mention that in a different lab with a supposed 6dBA noise floor, the full load noise @ 25C ambient was recorded at about 42dBA, with the fan spinning around 2900RPM, while that full load noise @ 40°C ambient increased to around 48dBA, with the fan spinning at around 3600RPM (definitely much noisier levels than the about 35dBA recorded by SPCR at full bore).

[antiatavist]

What is the deal with Silverstone Ft03, does it offer the same level of cooling/silence?

[quest_for_silence]

What is the deal with Silverstone Ft03, does it offer the same level of cooling/silence?

SPCR published two articles on the Ft03:

• http://www.silentpcreview.com/silverstone-ft03
• http://www.silentpcreview.com/silverstone-ft03-redux

which you can easily compare on your own, with the other SPCR article on the Raven Z01 case seen onto that youtube video:

• http://www.silentpcreview.com/SilverStone_Raven_RVZ01

Please take note that the Raven Z01 chassis is (or will be) available in either the Milo-series or the Fortress-series (ML07/ML08 and FTZ01).

[antiatavist]

I looked at some reviews and it seems that Bitfenix Prodigy is much superior in both cooling and silence, than even 2 times more expensive and larger cases. And, you can even put a 230mm on the front and 140mm at the back!

How the hell did I not know about that case already...

As for the Milo ML07, is this info then completely wrong, I can't find it anywhere.

[quest_for_silence]

As for the Milo ML07, is this info then completely wrong, I can't find it anywhere.

It depends of your location.

[edh]

I looked at some reviews and it seems that Bitfenix Prodigy is much superior in both cooling and silence, than even 2 times more expensive and larger cases. And, you can even put a 230mm on the front and 140mm at the back!

How the hell did I not know about that case already...

The Prodigy isn't a small case. It's bigger than a lot of MicroATX cases actually. The mere fact you can put a 230mm fan on it means it is really quiet large!

[antiatavist]

Am I reading this wrong or does the Bitfenix Prodigy outperform Define R4 in cooling and silence, even without the bigger fan?

[quest_for_silence]

Am I reading this wrong or does the Bitfenix Prodigy outperform Define R4 in cooling and silence, even without the bigger fan?

First of all you're comparing what's hardly comparable (different platforms, high noise floor, and so on) but, above all, unfortunately everything Anandtech says on noise is always totally unreliable.

Whether your concern is about cooling prowess, it's possible that the Prodigy may cool better than the R4 (the Prodigy is known to offer good cooling performance), but not at an equal and low sound pressure level.

[antiatavist]

I've noticed that Silverstone Raven Z also got the SPCR recommendation.
However, after looking at the temps I'm not sure if it is worth it to forgo R4 to RVZ01.

Too bad you didn't do a review with more recent GPU, do you think it would get the same results as with these components:
MBO: ASRock Z97E-ITX/AC
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K, overclocked to 4GHz
GPU: Palit GTX 970

I really think we should move on to smaller and smaller cases, from what is basically a primitive waste of space, which encourages inefficiency, but not quite sure which mini case to choose. Or if there is any yet.

[quest_for_silence]

Too bad you didn't do a review with more recent GPU

Semi-passive high end videocards is the nouvelle vague since a few months: since then SPCR based their need upon GPU TDP and the 4870/6850 and 5870/680 gave comparable values for most of contemporary graphics, so no need to update those test systems.

not quite sure which mini case to choose. Or if there is any yet.

No mini case can be as quiet as a large tower like the R4. So it's up to your call: the smallest cannot be the quietest and viceversa (and among those small wonders, SPCR tested a lot of enclosures)

[Olaf van der Spek]

No mini case can be as quiet as a large tower like the R4.

I don't think that's true. Doesn't it mostly depend on airflow, not air volume? The R4 is big, mostly to support (lots of) drives. I think you could make it a lot smaller without compromising on either noise or cooling.

Unfortunately most mATX cases insist on supporting 5.25" drives.