VIA EPIA M 9000 cpu fan removal, anyone?

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tasban
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VIA EPIA M 9000 cpu fan removal, anyone?

Post by tasban » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:10 am

Hi.
I'm interested in buying a VIA EPIA m 9000 mobo, but only if it'll work in a system with ZERO fans.

Has anyone removed the cpu fan from one of these yet? If so, did you use a different heatsink? What were the results?

I'm thinking of using this board for occasional DVD playing, MP3 playing, and as a file server.

Any other ideas about using one of these boards without a case fan using an external power supply brick like in this case
http://www.computergate.com/products/it ... HDRCM2677B
, and having a case with lots of air holes instead of fan?

Thanks for any replies.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:21 am

Fanless on a 9000 is not recommended. Go with a 6000 if you want fanless; that one works similarly but w/o a fan.

tasban
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Post by tasban » Fri Dec 27, 2002 11:01 am

MikeC wrote:Fanless on a 9000 is not recommended. Go with a 6000 if you want fanless; that one works similarly but w/o a fan.
Thanks for the quick reply. I realize that they sell the 6000 fanless, but after watching the video called 'Beat the Heat' from VIA (located here:)
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Products/movie.jsp
where they show a C3 800 with no fan OR heatsink running Q3 for 24 hours, I was wondering if anyone had done fanless on the 933 (EPIA M 9000) yet?

Since you brought up the 6000 though, has anyone used that to play DVDs with any success?

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Fri Dec 27, 2002 11:08 am

I was wondering if anyone had done fanless on the 933 (EPIA M 9000) yet?

Since you brought up the 6000 though, has anyone used that to play DVDs with any success?
No & Yes. The 6000 is fine for DVD playback.

Gandalf
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Post by Gandalf » Wed Jan 01, 2003 1:13 pm

I wouldn't do it if I were you. Believe it or not but the bugger gets HOT. It reaches around 60° from time to time *with* that pathetic little heatsink and seriously noisy fan.
What I did is chop a volcano7 into a little 40x40mm piece, removed the stock fan and heatsink and put it on with thermal adhesive. Mind you, my case does have a decent exhaust fan.

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Post by MikeC » Wed Jan 01, 2003 1:38 pm

Gandalf, tasban's point is that as the C3 withstands 24 hrs of gaming without even a HS, perhaps the CPU on the EPIA can tolerate being run w/o a fan. It is a valid point.

I personally still wouldn't go fanless with the stock HS it even though it might be perfectly safe for the CPU. When the temp is allowed to go that high -- let's say into the 70s & 80s Celcius, the stress on all the other components (including stuff like plastics, insulation, etc) is higher. In the long run, surely it is going to mean shorter lifespan & higher fire risk.

I did reduce the fan speed on the M9000 to ~7V & found cooling was still OK and the noise much more tolerable. You could probably do better with a different HS and/or a larger quieter fan, but that is more work.

QuietComputing
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VIA EPIA M 9000 cpu fan removal, anyone?

Post by QuietComputing » Wed Jan 01, 2003 7:47 pm

The HSF setup in VIA EPIA M 9000 - airflow of 7 CFM is very marginal and the HS has too little heat exchange area. Could the HSF be insulating the CPU about as much as it is cooling it ?
A taller heatsink running fanless in a Morex 2677 case, which has twin case fans may not be a bad alternative.
I am under the impression that VIA C3 933s generally run cooler than the older 533s and 600s.
The embedded nature of the CPU may also not fit easily with conventional heatsinks.

p_UK
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Post by p_UK » Thu Jan 02, 2003 5:17 am

can the EPIA be underclocked? i've seen the fanless versions for sale here in the UK but the price i've got is more than i can get the 900mhz version for.

if the cpu can be underclocked in the bios, i'd run it at a slower speed and remove the fan.

tridion
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Post by tridion » Fri Jan 03, 2003 7:32 am

I dont see why the Epia 9000 can not be run fanless.

There is a HS that states it can be used to passively cool up to a via c3 933. Surely the Epia chip does not produce more heat than that.

Couldnt this HS be used with the Epia 9000 ?

SungHyun7
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Post by SungHyun7 » Fri Jan 03, 2003 1:37 pm

just a non-relevant question.... how reliable are via boards (say c3 for fanless sake)? i can see myself getting one in the future to consolidate all the home entertainment and tv web surfing into one silent machine.

i mean i can run xp all year long with my intel chipset. would via board measure upto that?

QuietComputing
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VIA EPIA M 9000 cpu fan removal, anyone?

Post by QuietComputing » Fri Jan 03, 2003 2:16 pm

Many people are running VIA C3 cpu with HS and no fan in regular size ATX cases and on regular ATX or micro-ATX form factor boards.

The VIA EPIA M 9000 raises the following concerns:
It is likely to be used in a tiny case like the Morex mini-itx cases. The heat generating component are crowed together on a small EPIA board. The on-board audio and video components have higher perpformance than the Trident/codec 97 in the integrated Socket 370 boards. Lastly, is there sufficent room to fit a bulky fanless heatsink like the Zalman and others ?

Elevated case temperature may shorten the life of the M/B and HDD. This is a high price to pay for fanless HS.

tridion
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Post by tridion » Fri Jan 03, 2003 3:39 pm

I run a via c3 933 in a morex cubid case fanless. Its up 24/7 and had no problems with it.

But no you cannot fit a bulky HS inside these cases.

Gandalf
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Post by Gandalf » Sat Jan 04, 2003 1:28 pm

The question is how long your CPU is going to live like that. In theory silicium can only take 60-70°C before it starts acting funny. I like my PC's to be silent but I also do like them to live a bit longer than 24 hrs.

Rusty075
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Post by Rusty075 » Sat Jan 04, 2003 4:05 pm

Generally speaking running a CPU at a hot, yet stable temperature does shorten its expected life.

But do you really care if your CPU lasts 3-5 years instead of 10-15? How many of us are running 5 year old CPU's?

And if you take Moore's Law into consideration 3 years from now our current machines will be even more out of date than a 3 year old machine is to us now.

So I say if it'll do everything you want stabily, go for it.

Gandalf
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Post by Gandalf » Sun Jan 05, 2003 2:26 am

I still use a Commodore64, an old 8088 and a 386. I'm one of those people that likes his stuff to last. I sell my (more modern) hardware before it fails on me.
I doubt a C3 at 60° will last even 3 years. I give it a year and a half tops. Epia's are usually used for small things, such as home network servers or divx players and such. I use mine as a divx player and a fileserver. It's in the living room on top of our VCR. I don't want this thing to die after a year. I mean do you buy a new VCR every 2 or 3 years? I know I don't!

tridion
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Post by tridion » Sun Jan 05, 2003 2:59 am

Gandalf wrote:The question is how long your CPU is going to live like that. In theory silicium can only take 60-70°C before it starts acting funny. I like my PC's to be silent but I also do like them to live a bit longer than 24 hrs.
The CPU has never been above 40 degrees. runs most of the time at 30. It is used mainly for playing DVD/Divx without any hardware decoder so the CPU is getting a fair old workout.

So dont assume that I have heat problems without the facts. And I have had the machine running for 2 months not 24 hours as you suggest.

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