Options for new office pc

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Pierre
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Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:04 pm

After many years of forum absence greetings to the community. I have been away for some time and I believe some departure/distance from the previously highly discussed issues has been common as technologies and markets have changed the past years.

First of all a synopsis of my journey away from silentpcreview

1) Switch to External, High Capacity HDDs
The source of most of my frustration with computer noise were due to having many HDDs in my system (6-8)...due to pricing/offers, I happened to move to External - USB 3.0 HDDs...
...this was made possible by the new, high transmission speeds, which made ext.drives a viable option
...high capacity HDDs became quite accessible financially, so the number of HDDs was reduced
...it also did away with my frustration in seeking niche Case solutions
...keeping hdd in a well designed case also reduced noise/vibrations

2) Switch to Laptop
I landed a great deal on a Thinkpad T520 laptop, which is the quietest and most customizable computer I have ever used (effectively 3 drive ports: msata, sata1, sata2-opticaldrive-bay)
...I effectively stopped using my tower pc, and since I had already moved to Ext.HDDs, I had no issue using a laptop

3) Further Switch to a Fanless NUC from China
In 2016 I bought a (crappy, quality-wise) Hystou i5 5250U passively cooled NUC/mini-pc from China...Finally completely noiseless, high (adequate) performance computing, with many ports (4 X USB3.0, 2 X USB 2.0 + 2 x msata + 1 x SATA 2.5")..
...as long as it lasted it "changed my life" with regards to my continuous involvement with PC/hardware and search for silence...all of my previous concerns (PSU/CPu cooler/case fan noise) were cast away and I was finally focused on USING my PC to do what interested me the most, instead of having to deal constantly with PC frustrations.
...unfortunately, the journey did not last long, since the 2nd hand CPU that they had used and the poor soldering lead to the mini-pc's untimely death just after 6 months...I had it reballed and this breathed another 6 months life into-it (thus far), but signs of a count-down have begun and I am not willing to pay more to sustain this crappy implementation.


Where I am now / Options and thoughts for next computer:

1) I love the idea of a fanless or very low-noise NUC...my best option would be the new Bean Canyon i5 8259U NUC, BOXNUC8I5BEH2, whose price ranges between 330-380 + shipping

However
- Not clear yet how the higher TDP (28W) will be handled by the new system fan...Intel i5 NUCs were already not the quietest solutions around, and many people have complained about fan-noise...but in this case there isn't much you can do about it...
- it is very expensive, considering I would have to pay for 16GB DDR4-2400 (around 160euros) + M.2 NVme drive (around 85euros), with the total cost rising above 600 Euros
- It is not customizable / upgradeable which means that after its prime "life-span" its value will drop and I will have to get rid of it as is
- I have read about non-consumer friendly support policies of those NUCs (in Greece at least), plus I have the bad experience from the previous NUC

2) I am back at considering building a new PC-tower based on Ryzen CPU, 2200g most likely: it is upgradeable, it is less power-hungry than previous processors and offers great overall value...

However:
- I am back at researching CPU heatsinks, fans, PSUs; it's been a while and whereas I previously found it informative and educating about technology, now I am more frustrated by it and even if I do my best, the result is not really guaranteed, although objective concerns are now better (no hdds to worry about)

Concerning this latest Option, here is the build I am considering
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G = 102.9 Euros
- Motherboard: Asrock B450-Pro 4 = 95 euros
- RAM: 2 X 8 DDR4 3200Mhz = 160-170 Euros
- PSU : Corsair RM550x = 90-100 Euros
(already have SSD, will use integrated Graphics, my CAse is an old trusted Chieftec Full tower)
- HEatsink-Fan: I NEED your help here....


I want to keep the fan noise not above 15-16db even if I have to put up with slightly higher temps..

...not sure whether I should invest in a 70euros + HT/Fan or use a lower spec 30 Euros solution and maybe swap their fan with a ultra-low-rpm Papst 120mm fan I have...of course this would mean higher temps, which would affect system temps,
BUT perhaps because the setup is not really demanding, an ultra-high performance HEatsink may not be needed.

I have got a headache navigating the various reviews and I would like your help and input on this...here is a list (screenshot) of available CPU coolers in Greece...which one would you recommend for my purposes?
https://postimg.cc/image/3xiro27g1/

Image


Your recommendations, comments etc is highly appreciated. Long live silentpcreview!
Last edited by Pierre on Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

CA_Steve
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:49 pm

Welcome back. Let me add to the confusion :)

If you really wanted to stay fanless, you could:
1) stick with a 15W NUC and put it in an Akasa case.
2) pay a bit more, get a 65W TDP class CPU and mITX mobo and put it in an HDPlex case.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:00 pm

CA_Steve wrote:Welcome back. Let me add to the confusion :)

If you really wanted to stay fanless, you could:
1) stick with a 15W NUC and put it in an Akasa case.
2) pay a bit more, get a 65W TDP class CPU and mITX mobo and put it in an HDPlex case.
Thank you for your reply Steve.

I had been looking at these Akasa fanless cases for some time, but truth is they only accentuate the reservations I already had about the high price of a respectable performance NUC, i.e. they add to it, so unless I were to come across a really good deal, I wouldn't go through with it.

Regarding the HDPlex solutions...wow...great quality but they may match the price of my pc build, before adding any hardware....if I was a professional (with a really good budget), I would probably give these a try...but now, I'm almost cringing at the cost.

If a were a skilled modder, perhaps I would buy a 8th gen intel NUC and modify the port openings of my existing Hystou aluminum case (which is great in itself)
https://www.topminipc.com/index.php?rou ... duct_id=99


Taking into account budget limitations, the only options are
1) taking a chance with the new NUCs (because of the recent intel security issues, I wouldnt go with a previous generation cpu)
2) building a tower-pc
( 3) using my T520 laptop for as long as I can, perhaps adding 8GB RAM to account for my super-big browser sessions)

- For 1) I might need to wait for some reviews, before I make up my mind
- in the meantime, I wanna finalize what my plan would be for solution 2

To facilitate Heatsink choice, I am trying to determine what would be max height that my case would allow...measuring from the mb-tray "spacers" (not sure how they're called), I have a maximum of 18cm clearance...
....of course motherboard thickness and starting point for the CPU on it would have to be taken into account....I am skeptical about a 160-165mm fitting this space....

Here is a pic to visualize better
Image

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:30 pm

Ok, I have decided to go with the Scythe Kotetsu Mark II (upgrade to the original Kotetsu), if I decide to go for the Pc tower...

Great performance and starting price is around 38 EUR in Greece, which is great.

CA_Steve
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Sep 03, 2018 6:41 pm

The Kotetsu is a good choice.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:47 am

CA_Steve wrote:The Kotetsu is a good choice.
What's different with the new version is that they are equipping the cooler with the commercially available version of the fan; if I remember correctly in the Kotetsu review it was mentioned the fan used was not widely available.

SU1225FD12M-RHP
http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fa ... 0-pwm.html

...runs at lower rpm > lower max noise...which is good, I suppose.

CA_Steve
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Sep 04, 2018 6:38 am

Also switched to offset design for better access to RAM slots.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:40 pm

With regards to the PSU, which one would you choose, between
- Seasonic Focus+ 550W Gold
- Corsair RM550x

In the jonnyguru review, the Seasonic scored excellent in voltage regulation/ripple suppression etc but not much info about noise volume and character once the fan kicked in (around 300W, which should normally exceed my power requirements),
The Corsair according to Tomshardware, runs practically in fanless mode similarly up to 300W load, but we have info about the noise ranges and general behaviour; on the other hand, regulation etc is not exemplary, as in the Seasonic.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... 3&reid=529
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/co ... 484-4.html

Price-wise I can find the Seasonic for about 88-92 Euros, while the Corsair ranges between 97-106 Euros (lowest price might not be had due to merchandise availability)

Quiet operation is my foremost concern, and I don't want to pay more than I need to, but once I come close to the 100 Euros mark, I think about opting for a 750W version for a 20 Euros more nad securing a great buffer for future power requirements PLUS fanless operation at higher loads.
..of course the trend is for power requirements to decrease, not increase...but I don't know.

What'ya say?

CA_Steve
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by CA_Steve » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:08 pm

You can’t get the fans to turn on for either of these 550w supplies unless you put in a high end gfx card...

Both are well built. The short length of the Seasonic intrigued me. In fact, I just ordered one. I won’t get the fan to turn on, either :D

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:15 pm

CA_Steve wrote:You can’t get the fans to turn on for either of these 550w supplies unless you put in a high end gfx card...

Both are well built. The short length of the Seasonic intrigued me. In fact, I just ordered one. I won’t get the fan to turn on, either :D
Awesome, so I get to order the cheaper, better regulated one.

resistante
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by resistante » Sun Sep 23, 2018 3:34 am

Go for Akasa Euler (cheaper than HDPlex) fanless case and a full power (not T) recent i3. You'll have more performance than with a NUC for a smaller price - a price similar to the one of a normal, loud tower pc - plus fanless and tiny. Seriously, I've done it.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Tue Sep 25, 2018 1:59 am

resistante wrote:Go for Akasa Euler (cheaper than HDPlex) fanless case and a full power (not T) recent i3. You'll have more performance than with a NUC for a smaller price - a price similar to the one of a normal, loud tower pc - plus fanless and tiny. Seriously, I've done it.
These fanles miniITX cases only support up to 6th generation Intel CPUs, so not really an option.

resistante
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by resistante » Tue Sep 25, 2018 2:26 am

It supports any Thin Mini ITX motherboard including those that support 7th and 8th generation Intel CPUs and anything that will be released in the future.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Tue Sep 25, 2018 8:42 am

resistante wrote:It supports any Thin Mini ITX motherboard including those that support 7th and 8th generation Intel CPUs and anything that will be released in the future.
In the specifications it only references 6th generation Intel CPUs (and older), along with a list of compatible motherboards.

Have you tested it? If so, what is your hardware configuration?

resistante
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by resistante » Fri Sep 28, 2018 5:45 am

I'm guessing they just didn't update this data/tested these specific newer units.

This case is basically just a piece of metal in such a shape that you can put in there a thin mini itx motherboard and the heatsink extension will be exactly above the CPU. So what you want to do is go to the specs page of the mobo you want to buy and compare its picture with that of one that you're sure is supported, fe. mine: B75TN.

Fe. this https://static.gigabyte.com/Product/2/6 ... 12_src.png vs this https://static.gigabyte.com/Product/2/4457/7674_src.jpg

Do you think the CPU slots are in the exactly same position? Because I do.

But if you want to be extra sure, just ask the manufacturer whether the CPU slot (the four holes for the cooling unit to be specific) is in the exact same place. Fe. if you want to get this Gigabyte H310TN, ask them if it's in the same place as on B75TN. That's it.

Also, do you have laws allowing you to return bought parts if you're not happy with them? If so, then even if for some inexplicable magical reason they still don't much, you can return it.

To be honest even my mobo B75TN isn't listed on Akasa's page nor my CPU is (i3 3245) and I had similar doubts, but I'm using this PC for years and the only things that broke are the used HP power brick I had (just replaced it with a new one) and a USB port burned due to lighting strike that hit my house and burned several devices. The PC otherwise still works great which is really surprising given that the USB sound card that was attached to it (no external power supply on it) got burned and I'm planning on switching to Coffee Lake/whatever is the next gen).

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:34 am

Ok I have just built my new office pc...it's been a few years, last one was back in 2010-2011.

Ryzen 2200G
Asrock B450 Fatality
2*8GB Corsair LPX Vengeance DDR4-3200Mhz
Corsair RM550x (the 090 version, I believe it's a bit longer or has a slightly smaller fan than the 120 newer version)
120GB OCZ 100 SSD (OS Drive)
500GB Sandisk 3D SSD
(I have exchanged all my internal HDDs for External ones)

Now I am torn between these two coolers
- Scythe Kotetsu Mark II = 33.8 Euros
http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cp ... rk-ii.html
- Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH = 53 Euros. (a Mugen 5 rev.b with 2*120 max-rpm=800 fans)

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cp ... ition.html

I had others in mind, but went unavailable when I was awaiting delivery of the hardware...but after ordering the Kotetsu, I was also informed it would take 3 weeks to get here...so I order the Mugen PCGH (thinking I would sell the Kotetsu, or cancel it), whose delivery was also pushed back after new-years.

So my dilemma is:
- Is the Mugen PCGH worth the extra 20 Euros over the Kotetsu Mark II, given it comes with 2 fans and should be slightly better overall?

I was going to use the second fan as a chassis fan at the back of the case, since my current Papst one, after many-many years of service, is getting a little noisier (motor noise)…
...so since the Kaze Flex 120 rpm-max=800 is worth around 10 Euros in the local market, I thought it would practically cost the same as me ordering the Kotetsu along with a second fan...

But I am having concerns over the increased weight of the cooler...having a tall 1KG cooler is making me kinda nervous...

...on the upside, I would make sure that whatever my future CPU upgrade, the Mugen PCGH would have me covered...

- What do you think? Should I just go for the -more than enough- Mark II + a new fan, OR should I keep the Mugen PCGH and use its second fan for the case?

Abula
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Abula » Tue Dec 25, 2018 7:36 am

The 2200G should be relatively easy to cool, i would probably tested the included heatsink to see if you needed an upgrade, now the mugen would be more than capable even with 1 fan, the kotetsu should be also an overkill for this cpu, either will work fine, i like more mugen5 design but up if the cost is worth it, either cooler will allow you an updrade path towrad anything Ryzen7 offers, including the 2700x.

CA_Steve
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:02 am

Abula wrote:The 2200G should be relatively easy to cool, i would probably tested the included heatsink to see if you needed an upgrade, now the mugen would be more than capable even with 1 fan, the kotetsu should be also an overkill for this cpu, either will work fine, i like more mugen5 design but up if the cost is worth it, either cooler will allow you an updrade path towrad anything Ryzen7 offers, including the 2700x.
+1.

Note, Anandtech found the 2200G to use only ~54W at full load.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:11 am

Abula wrote:The 2200G should be relatively easy to cool, i would probably tested the included heatsink to see if you needed an upgrade, now the mugen would be more than capable even with 1 fan, the kotetsu should be also an overkill for this cpu, either will work fine, i like more mugen5 design but up if the cost is worth it, either cooler will allow you an updrade path towrad anything Ryzen7 offers, including the 2700x.
Yes both coolers are well up to the task.

and the final cost would be around 10 EUR difference
1) Kotetsu Mark II + Kazeflex 120mm fan = 45 EUR
2) Mugen 5 PCGH - 1 fan transferred to chassis = 53 EUR

The included stock cooler does a good enough job at idle and light tasks, around 25-32C with minimal noise (honestly I am surprised it produces such little noise at this low demand level; it's almost quiet during the day; at night it's more discerning but never annoying..and I am very sensitive to noise...I also have a 1mm SECC case, with added noise dampening which is way quieter than the DEfine R* series of cases in practice)

BUT when it starts spinning over 1100-1200rpm, the stock HS' fan gets very annoying...

Now I haven't installed my full software set yet and I am not really using the pc as my main rig...I normally do really heavy browsing/reading, with huge sessions and CPU load ends up around 80-90% and RAM gets easily eaten up also + parallel tasks.

...in those circumstances/under those conditions the stock fan would not be bearable....I want a cooler/fan combo that keeps both Temps & Noise to a minimum...that's why I don't mind spending on an aftermarket good cooler

Do you have any concerns about the weight of 1KG for the Mugen 5 PCGH? Or are modern mboards able to handle that pretty easily?

...I won't be moving the PC...the case by itself, a full, ultra high ATX case is really heavy and big as it is.

To be honest I am leaning towards the Kotetsu more...but with 10 EUR final price difference I am thinking the Mugen might be a better purchase value.

Abula
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Abula » Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:43 am

I would first try to tweak your bios fan control (or software), you can easily restrict the cooler not to reach the rpms where you find it annoying, the 2200g according to AMD can operate to 95C, most of us here sacrifice temperature for noise, we are likely to run hot a cpu in exchange or quieter operation. But for certain a CPU cooler, specially an overkill cooler like mugen5/kotestu for it will give you a lot of room to operate quieter, but still setting up the fan curves imo is more important.

I don't own a 2200G to say for certain, but by specs seems very easy to cool, considering i have build on 2700X and tested the Mugen5 (not the pch). I consider myself as you, as a heavy reader, i use my PC mostly to browse (i find myself gaming less each day, but i still enjoy it), and i usually have 80+ chrome tabs + playing 4k movie + doing emails + coding + hearing music + some light editing, among other things, and my 8086k has spikes but always returns to idle fairly fast, what i try to do is to find a RPM where i cant hear it, that cushings all these load/temp spikes, for example i now run my TY147 @ 600rpms on idle (until 50C), i could drop them to 300rpms but at 600rpms while remaining inaudible (in my ambient) it chushing any 90% spike a core might take doing a opening a program or decode of a video, etc. But either cpu cooler you are considering should be able to considering 2200G is a much lower tdp cpu, you probably will be fine with 400rpms idle, but will depend on other things like your ambient temperature, your case ariflow, etc.

More important than which CPU cooler you chose, imo both are very similar, is that you put some time into tweaking your graphs of your fan curves, and for all setups is different, but usually higher rpms on cpu cooler nets lower temps than case fans, so my curves are more aggressive (sort of speak, they are still very mild) on the cpu cooler than on my case fans, usually i spend around 1 hour doing all this setting up, but i do tweak it over a weeks testing, and even on summer i usually do final tweaks.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:18 am

Abula wrote:I would first try to tweak your bios fan control (or software), you can easily restrict the cooler not to reach the rpms where you find it annoying, the 2200g according to AMD can operate to 95C, most of us here sacrifice temperature for noise, we are likely to run hot a cpu in exchange or quieter operation. But for certain a CPU cooler, specially an overkill cooler like mugen5/kotestu for it will give you a lot of room to operate quieter, but still setting up the fan curves imo is more important.

I don't own a 2200G to say for certain, but by specs seems very easy to cool, considering i have build on 2700X and tested the Mugen5 (not the pch). I consider myself as you, as a heavy reader, i use my PC mostly to browse (i find myself gaming less each day, but i still enjoy it), and i usually have 80+ chrome tabs + playing 4k movie + doing emails + coding + hearing music + some light editing, among other things, and my 8086k has spikes but always returns to idle fairly fast, what i try to do is to find a RPM where i cant hear it, that cushings all these load/temp spikes, for example i now run my TY147 @ 600rpms on idle (until 50C), i could drop them to 300rpms but at 600rpms while remaining inaudible (in my ambient) it chushing any 90% spike a core might take doing a opening a program or decode of a video, etc. But either cpu cooler you are considering should be able to considering 2200G is a much lower tdp cpu, you probably will be fine with 400rpms idle, but will depend on other things like your ambient temperature, your case ariflow, etc.

More important than which CPU cooler you chose, imo both are very similar, is that you put some time into tweaking your graphs of your fan curves, and for all setups is different, but usually higher rpms on cpu cooler nets lower temps than case fans, so my curves are more aggressive (sort of speak, they are still very mild) on the cpu cooler than on my case fans, usually i spend around 1 hour doing all this setting up, but i do tweak it over a weeks testing, and even on summer i usually do final tweaks.
First of all, you are correct: testing the PWM range for identification of the optimal setting is something that needs to be done in any case.

However, settling for the stock cooler is not an option for a PC that stays on 24/7 with 70-90% load most of the time, located in Southern Europe, i.e. where temperatures for a significant part of the year can be high.
...right now, with the 'dry cold' we have going on, the CPU temp ranges from 24C in idle (no applications running) to 76C with a video encoding running, and without any limit set for the fan....
...that is highly ineffective cooling and a very limited heat-dissipating capacity, I would say.

So I simply cannot keep the stock cooler; although I agree with your point that many people would be quite happy with experimenting with the PWM Fan for different scenarios....

...I would actually quite happily move to a more powerful CPU, but
a) there aren't any CPUs with embedded graphics worth the upgrade (more than 50EUR difference for the Ryzen 2400G)
b) I wouldn't want to deal with the extra noise coming from a dedicated GPU (or maybe I haven't looked into it much for passively cooled VGAs)

Also, a CPU Cooler is a longer-term investment than the actual CPU it is cooling or even the motherboard it is fastened to.

Taking that into account, I had two choices available from the local market.
- Scythe Kotetsu Mark II
- Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH

These two are separated by a 20 EUR gap...so I would never really be in a serious purchasing dilemma, UNLESS I needed an extra fan for the case...so the two end up with 10EUR difference, which can actually be smaller cause I would still need to pay shipping for the separate Fan purchase.

...this would normally simplify things in favor of the Mugen 5 PCGH, but still I am wary about the 1KG weight of a TALL cooler, continuously putting pressure on the the MB's pcb.

I have actually come to miss the "old" top-down fan-heatsink combo, which keeps the height limited and also cools VRMs, M.2 drives etc..
...e.g. if this 2-fan cooler was sold at around 50EUR, I would happily buy it with no regrets
https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/572

lodestar
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by lodestar » Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:13 am

The only issue with the Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH seems to be that with some overclocked CPUs the maximum fan speed of 800 rpm can be an issue. For this reason the Kotetsu Mark II, equipped with the same 1200 rpm fan as the regular single fan Mugen 5, could be enough. But what 'enough' is probably depends on what ambient temperatures your system is operating in or is going to be operating in.

The Kotetsu Mark II is only supplied with one set of fan clips. The regular Mugen 5 is supplied with two so that at least gives the option of adding a second fan. However my experience has been that two PWM fans on a cooler are not as good as having one fan on the cooler and the second fan deployed as an exhaust fan. In this configuration the PWM exhaust fan is run at the same setting as the CPU cooler fan using either the motherboard BIOS controls or fan control software. The two fans will reach a balancing point depending on what the ambient temperature is. This might be 500 rpm or 700 rpm or 900 rpm. That's why I lean towards the 1200 rpm Scythe fan, because with the slower speed fans on the Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH as soon as more than 800 rpm is needed the CPU can start to overheat.

Pierre
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:38 am

The whole "PC Games Hardware" line (in Coolers, Cases etc across manufacturers) targets silent operation.

The reasoning behind the Mugen 5 PCGH is that 2 fans, even if operating at lower RPM, are better than 1 fan either pushing or pulling air across the HT Fins.

Also, the Mugen 5, having more heatpipes, has on paper better heat-dissipating capacity than the Kotetsu Mark II.

This is where the Mugen 5 PCGH fits my goals
- If it has better heat-dissipation capacity
- and if at given RPM it can cool better,
- then you get better or same cooling at lower RPM, lower noise.

...which fits my goals perfectly of operating at the lowest noise-producing mode possible, with the best cooling possible (Despite still being an overkill for this current CPU, admittedly...this is just a VFM thing if price difference drops at or below 10 EUR),...
...at the same time it provides me with the 2 needed fans from the beginning.

Also, if I were to be really mindful of noise, I wouldn't want the fans to operate higher than 800rpm (both with Kotetsu Mark and Mugen 5), which is just above what would be considered "quiet"....and if the cooling capacity is better, theoretically I shouldn't need higher rpm...especially with my current CPU

REading my post it seems as though I am trying to justify keeping the Mugen 5 PCGH, but honestly I'd rather not, for reasons of HT weight and "overkill" purchasing...it's just that the price difference becomes too small.
...unless I decide to put up with the slight motor noise of the Papst ultra low rpm 120mm fan (now in operation for over 10 years, if not mistaken)

Abula
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Abula » Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:11 am

Just wondering one thing, what does the iGPU on the 2200G offers to you than intel HD630 cant give you? for me the intel igpu can do everything but gaming, even has quicksync that if you have a use for it its very nice (adobe, blue iris, encoding).

lodestar
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Re: Options for new office pc

Post by lodestar » Mon Dec 31, 2018 1:34 pm

Pierre wrote:...the Mugen 5, having more heatpipes, has on paper better heat-dissipating capacity than the Kotetsu Mark II.
If the reviews on the web are to be believed the Mugen 5 is indeed a better performer than the Kotetsu Mark II. So taking everything into account it seems to me that the Mugen 5 PCGH would be the best choice for you.

Pierre
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Location: Greece

Re: Options for new office pc

Post by Pierre » Wed Jan 16, 2019 2:50 am

Abula wrote:Just wondering one thing, what does the iGPU on the 2200G offers to you than intel HD630 cant give you? for me the intel igpu can do everything but gaming, even has quicksync that if you have a use for it its very nice (adobe, blue iris, encoding).
It was a matter of cost, at the end of the day + the option of light gaming...I believe 2200G also supports hardware assisted encoding

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