Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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AKM76
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Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by AKM76 » Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:51 am

Hello,

I'm thinking about getting the Streacom FC8 Alpha case with their 160W Nano Psu. I want it to be 100% passive/silent. Anyone have any experience, does it works, what is the real world usage, temperatures? Can it realistically be used not as a HTPC but as a main working PC? I'm not planning to do 3D rendering 24/7 but still expect it to do some work from time to time, although mainly it will do very little to nothing during a day (pro-audio, studio environment).

CA_Steve
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:30 am

For easy reference, your other build thread is here.

Streacom's ok. HDPlex is another. You have to make sure your components are compatible with the chassis.

AKM76
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by AKM76 » Fri Mar 16, 2018 3:49 pm

Thank you.

Unfortunately I was not able to find any good charts showing the CPU/Chipset temperatures for the FC8 under CPU "torture" tests. Because although in reality a PC is nearly 95% of the time is idle, I still don't want to fry it during the rest of 5% cases.

I would like to go for mITX format because the size, features and the cost are ideal for me.

The questions:

a) Is there a point to go for a bigger Streacom case, such as FC9, if I still plan to use mITX board?
b) Can we compare the effectiveness of FC8/FC9 vs. Noctua D15 heatsink, passive mode, no fans, open frame case?

ADDED: just checked HDPLEX H3 V2 Fanless PC - looks great. Support 80W TDP CPU - works for me.
ADDED2: got an e-mail from Larry from HDPLEX regarding full load CPU tests, H3: CPU will reach 80C in 40 minutes base on our test. Room temp is 25C.

CA_Steve
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:01 pm

I don't think the size of the case matters, once you are in the FC8 Alpha range. It's how well the cpu cooler/heatpipe system/case interface is engineered. The older FC8 EVO, for example, had a hard time stress testing a 65W CPU. The newer Alpha, looks to do a better job.

There are a couple of HDPlex user builds in these forums....I lean toward HDPlex over Streacom.

Noctua vs these cases: down in the 300rpm fan range, Noctua will probably still provide cooler CPU temps as well as ancillary cooling to vrm circuitry. Downside is bigger form factor for case, etc., and if you have an insanely quiet room, the potential to hear the fan. More likely than not - you won't.

That said, I'm a proponent of people building in these passive cases - especially for live mic builds. It just removes the possibility of any PC fan noise from the equation...and there's the plus of (relative) portability.

AKM76
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by AKM76 » Sat Mar 17, 2018 5:38 am

Yes, thank you.

Yes, I seem to like the HDPlex H3 more than the Streacom FC8. The reasons are:

1) Construction. The cooling ribs on 2 sides vs. 1 side for FC8, heatpipes go to both sides, looks more effective to me.
2) HDPlex do a worldwide delivery, with Streacom it is more complicated to get it to my place.
3) The email support was immediate from HDPles - not a major factor, but still very cool.

"and if you have an insanely quiet room, the potential to hear the fan. More likely than not - you won't." - when you got the taste of it, there is not way back ;D

Regarding the tests. The SPCR test look very realistic to me, the info from HDPlex about 40 min. - 80C looks very impressive, the ocinside website tests looks a bit suspicious to me.
I would like to see different processors, as i3 65W is not the same as i5 65W, and the exact time period of measurements, i.e. after 2 hours, etc.

CA_Steve
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:42 am

AKM76 wrote:Regarding the tests. The SPCR test look very realistic to me, the info from HDPlex about 40 min. - 80C looks very impressive, the ocinside website tests looks a bit suspicious to me.
I would like to see different processors, as i3 65W is not the same as i5 65W, and the exact time period of measurements, i.e. after 2 hours, etc.
Unfortunately, few sites do "heat soak" testing...and the ones that do haven't analyzed these cases ;)

I think if you threw an i5 non-K CPU in there, you'll be fine.

AKM76
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by AKM76 » Sat Mar 17, 2018 8:12 am

Thank you very much for replying.

Yes, I was also thinking about i5 65W. I have a bit of concerns about that I 'may' be video streaming from this PC (non gaming of course). Anyways, there is always an option to put some fan(s) ontop of this passive case, I think, just as a backup plan.

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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Mar 17, 2018 10:45 am

If you are talking about watching movies, etc at 1080p, it doesn't take that much CPU horsepower due to the hardware acceleration built into the integrated graphics processor. For example, my Broadwell Pentium HTPC uses 6-10W at the wall....and my Roku uses ~5W. 4k video kicks it up a bit, but really shouldn't be stressful for your system.

If you are talking about hosting video streaming, I don't have on-hand data for you...other than to note a lot of gamers can host video via twitch while playing a demanding game on an i5.

thesmileyone
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by thesmileyone » Thu Apr 26, 2018 1:06 pm

I don't get these cases.

I am running 100% passive currently with exception of semi passive PSU but the fan never runs, I just left it there for failsafe as IMO the psu is the most important part of a build, if you want low/non existant coil whine.

I am doing so in a corsair carbide 400r. It has holes all over it so it gets passive airflow...on an archaic 95w tdp 2500k. You cant remove the drivebays so i put the SSD's on the floor. If you wanted less restriction then take a dremel to them.

If you want a smaller case then a corsair 250d would be perfect and I am considering transplanting my system into one.



Runs prime 95 with no problem but I never actually use that kind of load.

And of course is totally silent. Using IGP...add a 1050 ti kalmx or even a morpheous II and you have 1080p 60fps all day long again with no noise.

Vicotnik
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by Vicotnik » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:48 pm

thesmileyone wrote:I don't get these cases.
They are small and efficient. The HD Plex H1 is less than 8 cm tall. What's not to like? 400r and 250d are different products. One is a normal ATX tower, the other a cube. Apples and oranges.

grant2
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Re: Streacom FC8 Alpha Passive, anyone?

Post by grant2 » Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:03 am

yes, here is my passive build in the gallery: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=69476

If you do not use any external GPU and you pick a processor with integrated graphics, total TDP of 65w or less, you could do the same without modification. Depending on ambient temperature / airflow, your performance may be throttled when running at full power.

Mine gets throttled, but I don't care, that's the tradeoff I chose when I made this case.

If I were to build the same system today, I'd probably go with the HDPlex H3 for the 2nd heatsink. but that matters less if you are using only a GPU.

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