Fanless Via C3 System

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KellyM
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 4:52 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Fanless Via C3 System

Post by KellyM » Sat Aug 31, 2002 5:40 pm

Sorry If this runs a bit long, but if MikeC or anyone else has some insight, I'd like to hear it.

I'm interested in building a fanless (except for the power supply) system using a micro atx case and a "all in one" 370 motherboard using a C3 processor. I guess my first question is which family of processor is able to be run fanless. I notice some adveritsed combos come with a Samuel Processor- is the Ezra simply better suited? Also how little ventelation would be required? Since I want to run the system with no fans, could it run passively as long as the case had sufficient openings.

In a related matter is the hard drive, a Seagate barracuda. They do seem to run on the hot side (or maybe this is the case with 7200 rpm drives in general). Mounted in the the drive bay, it remains "not too hot", but of course it makes much more noise there than on the bottom of the case set on a piece of foam. There in my mid tower case with with a heat sink and 5.5 mounting rails attached to aid cooling, the temp approaches nearly 50C. Regardless of the long term health of the drive, I'm not sure how this would affect the processor is a smaller inclosure. Is the aluminum sandwich method the only reliable passive cooling option? Does anyone have experience with the Seagate 5200 rpm drives? I would hope they would be as quiet and run cooler than the barracuda drives. I know Samsung has a reputation as being quite and cool, but I don't know if they compare closely with Seagate.

SmallPliskin
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Post by SmallPliskin » Sun Sep 01, 2002 12:59 am

I have a C3-700 which is running fanless. It's an ezra core. I think I've read people going to 900 fanless. I have it in a MicroATX, a tight fit case and temps ran cool. I don't think you'll have any problems there. Just get a nice big heatsink (siliconacoustics carries one). In addition, you could go the extra mile and put some Artic Silver but I just used regular "plain jane" thermal compound.

The cuda Iv's are by nature hot. I have one in another MATX running 24/7 and it's ok, but it is warmer than what I'm used to. If you concerned, you could get a Panny 1A or Papst fan to cool it a little. I've read (probably on usenet) but can't personally attest to its veracity, that a Maxtor @ 5400 is just as quiet. Don't know 'bout that as anything else out there without a fluid bearing motor sounds like a whining house wife to me. :lol:

Hopefully someone else can chime in and share some insight.

Anyway, I hope this helps you a little.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sun Sep 01, 2002 9:46 am

Any C3 can be run fanless, even with a relatively modest HS. They can withstand very high temps without damage -- an excellent combo of qualities for quiet operation. If you do go for a more powerful HS, naturally, you will get lower temps.

I don't think the cuda runs that much hotter than many others -- like IBM, for example. But in a low airflow calse, positioning is very important. Your experience with the drive at the bottom front suggests that your case probably has multiple air intake paths. That bottom front position is about the coolest in the case. If you block all other inflow paths except that directly in front of the HDD, you *should* see lower temps. If there is some airflow, suspension *might* be better that foam simply because more of the drive's surface is exposed (conjecture...).

I have succeeded in combining sandwiching & side heatsinks -- the two are mated rigidly with a thin layer of high density foam in between sandwich plates and drive for noise absorbtion -- along with decouple mounting. This is probably the best HDD passive cooling and silencing, but you need 2 free slots in a 5" bay to do this.

If you already have a fan in the PSU (even a quiet fan), a decouple-mounted Panaflo or similar at 5V (or simply as low as it will go and start reliably) in front of the bottom mounted HDD will be inaudible, yet provide enough airflow to drop the HDD temp (typically) by at least 5C.

KellyM
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 4:52 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Post by KellyM » Sun Sep 01, 2002 6:05 pm

Thanks SmallPliskin and Mike for your replies. Normally in my midtower case (Athlon 1.2) I have a low running exhaust and intake fan. The intake fan does keep the barracuda drive cool drive. I tried an experiment without the fan last night, covering the drive with three cpu heatsinks I had laying around. While not very elegant looking it kept the drive from going over 40C, which would certainly idicate that the aluminum plates would make a good heat reducer. Nice to hear that it's not critical about which of the C3's to choose.

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