Hi
What a great resource this website is. Thanks and congratulations to Mike and all involved.

I hope to build a silent PC for my recording studio, this does not have to be hugely powerful for the recording and mixing that I intend to do, but I would like it to very quiet.

Following many of the guidelines I’ve seen here, I am thinking of getting a SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E micro ATX case, and a Seasonic x 400 fanless PSU, I’ll probably be getting an Intel Core 2 duo CPU on an Asus motherboard as I need old style PCI slots for my RME HDSP 9642 audio card, and IDE support for legacy CD and DVD drives, I’ll only need the built in graphics chip on the motherboard I think.

My question is: can anyone recommend a fanless CPU cooler for this setup given that the case has a large fan and I won’t be using additional graphics card, or if fanless is not advisable, what cost effective and quiet active cooler would work best?

Many Thanks

Bill.

Scythe Ninja 3 or Thermalright HR-02 Macho, whichever is cheaper.
The 180mm fan on the TJ08 is not exactly the most quiet one. The SilverStone Precision PS07 is basically the same case, but with two 120mm fans in the front. I don't know whether or not these fans are better, but they are easily replaceable if not.

Thanks for your reply, I'll have a look at these options.

Cheers

Bill.

I think this is good advice. Especially using two 120mm fans instead of the 180mm Silverstone. I have a 180mm Silverstone. It is a nice fan... but just not in the same league as the top 120mm fans.

I would also like to add that if you find that once you set this up, that you need or want a bit more cooling, just adding a single 500rpm Scythe slipstream fan to the CPU cooler will make a world of difference.