New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for photo

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klaminero
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New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for photo

Post by klaminero » Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:55 pm

Hello all,

I am new here.
I have been banging my head for about 9 months now trying to refresh my 5 years old computer. At the time I bought a barebone shuttle xpc.
I run ubuntu 13.04 on it.

Since then, I have picked up photography (I use darktable, gimp ... on rather large files). I also started running a file server (local to my home wireless, using samba) and I also use the computer as a music client so that other devices in the house can use the 5.1 sound system physically connected to my computer to play their music.

So as you can see I have many qualitative requirements:
- Powerful for photography
- Low idle power so it can stay on for long periods of time (I'm hoping <30W idle but I dont know if that can be done)
- Small form factor so it can be transported easily. (in a carry on on an airplane)
- Low noise level (this kind of goes along with #2 i guess. my current shuttle xpc has become increasingly noisy, despite my fan dust removal efforts)

I have decided a while back to transfer all my "permanent" files to external storage. So I bought a Seagate Expansion 3Tb 3.0 and I also have a WD Elements 2Tb for automatic backups of the 1st one.
I will thus only require a rather small (120Gb or so) SSD inside the computer. I will use that SSD for OS and programs (might put a dual boot Win7/Ubuntu although I will primarily use Ubuntu), the swap, and the photographic files I am currently editing.

Here are my quantitative requirement:
- Quad core Haswell processor
I think I want 8 threads and at least 6Mb of L3 cache for my photographic needs but I am not sure if i am correct to want that.
- 16Gb of ram
- ~120 Gb ssd.
I dont think my needs make a stand alone GPU necessary and/or a good idea

My problem: All the computers I have built have had no regards for power of noise. I always chose a 350W PSU etc.... I dont have the slightest clue on where to start.

I have been looking for a pre-made solution satisfying my requirements. Here is what I've considered so far and the reason for not getting it.
- Giada D2308 http://www.giadatech.com/index.php?act=pShow&id=22
This looks like a great option although they havent specified which processor will be included.
Cons:
  • Not available yet
    Retailers are hard to find in the US dont necessarily let you configure all that is advertised by giada.
    Expensive (it costs 170$ to upgrade the d2305 (previous model) from 4Gb to 16Gb.....)
- Intense PC http://fit-pc.com/web/products/intense-pc/
Cons:
  • Great TDP but no haswell version yet.
    Also, the sound is digital. I am not sure what is involved in converting SPDIF to analog output of regular logitech 5.1 sound systems
- Alienware X51 r2 http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Dissecti ... Gaming-PC/
Const
  • Not many customization options
    too big and high TDP
- I have also looked at the
Puget system echo II (http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/echo/II ... tomize.php great but sound is not 5.1 and it is rather expensive)
and the ASRock


So In light of all this, I have looked into building my own but as mentioned earlier I dont know squat about low power systems. The case has a 150W power supply. I went with Antec because I've heard good things about their noise level, however, I dont know how big a fan can this case accommodate.
This case has a 90W external power supply. Is that good? better? worse? Not a good idea? http://www.amazon.com/ANTEC-OEM-ISK110- ... =Antec+ISK


Thanks a lot for the help and sorry for the long message

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by CA_Steve » Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:35 pm

Welcome to SPCR.

Here's a useful thread on an ISK 310 build. Be prepared to replace the fans.

My generic Haswell comment: In general, you might want to wait until ~September for your Haswell build. The currently released chipset has a bug in the USB3 controller, where devices sometimes aren't recognized when the PC returns from Sleep. The user fix is to dismount/remount the device for it to be recognized. Intel released the fixed chipset to mobo mfgrs in end July...so it might be September when the new versions are available/old inventory is flushed. Some european etailers are showing the C2 Asus mobo's in stock now...haven't seen others anywhere, yet. If, that "feature" doesn't bother you, then no worries.

CPU: Either you need the horsepower of the i7 or you don't. If you do, don't screw around with the severely underclocked T parts. If you think you might be thermally constrained, buy a mobo that allows you to undervolt/underclock the CPU. That's all the T part is.

How much CPU: I can't speak to Gimp. However, there's not much of a performance bump going from an i5 to an i7 with Photoshop for most use cases.

Audio: if you care about audio...why not use mobo HDMI out to your audio receiver? Let the receiver do the D/A instead of the noisy PC.

RAM: If you work with monstrous images or have tons of files open at the same time, then 16GB is worthwhile. O/W, 8GB is good enough.

SSD: is fine. 120GB is the sweet spot for price/performance.

CPU cooler: ...

klaminero
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:10 pm

Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:11 pm

CA_Steve wrote:Welcome to SPCR.

Here's a useful thread on an ISK 310 build. Be prepared to replace the fans.

My generic Haswell comment: In general, you might want to wait until ~September for your Haswell build. The currently released chipset has a bug in the USB3 controller, where devices sometimes aren't recognized when the PC returns from Sleep. The user fix is to dismount/remount the device for it to be recognized. Intel released the fixed chipset to mobo mfgrs in end July...so it might be September when the new versions are available/old inventory is flushed. Some european etailers are showing the C2 Asus mobo's in stock now...haven't seen others anywhere, yet. If, that "feature" doesn't bother you, then no worries.

CPU: Either you need the horsepower of the i7 or you don't. If you do, don't screw around with the severely underclocked T parts. If you think you might be thermally constrained, buy a mobo that allows you to undervolt/underclock the CPU. That's all the T part is.

How much CPU: I can't speak to Gimp. However, there's not much of a performance bump going from an i5 to an i7 with Photoshop for most use cases.

Audio: if you care about audio...why not use mobo HDMI out to your audio receiver? Let the receiver do the D/A instead of the noisy PC.

RAM: If you work with monstrous images or have tons of files open at the same time, then 16GB is worthwhile. O/W, 8GB is good enough.

SSD: is fine. 120GB is the sweet spot for price/performance.

CPU cooler: ...
Thank you for your time CA_Steve!
However, I am now even more confused. :P

As I mentioned, I usually keep my computers for a long time (~5 years) so I dont mind spending the extra money for the i7 (I think its 100$ difference? although the 4670S is not available on amazon.) if its worthwile. I guess I thought the 6Mb versus 8Mb of cache and the 8 threads were a decent step up. Is that not the case? Also, I thought the 4770 had better GPU, which I thought would help for photo editing? Is the GPU really only important for gaming and 3d style graphics?

Looking at puget system, I guess I was looking at this MOBO
ASUS Haswell Mini ITX H871 plus
But I am not sure if its better or worse.
I think this MOBO has 5.1 after all, the puget website was misleading.

As for the bug/feature, I do have my usb ext hdd that is usb 3.0 and I do use sleep mode so I guess waiting is the better option. How do I know if the MOBO and processor have the C2 stepping (I am not sure what that is but according to my google results that is the solution to the bug?)?

Audio, I have analog logitech 5.1 speakers. Are you talking about using something like this?Digital to Analog Audio decoder?
Would that offer much better sound quality? Is there a specific brand/model you would recommend?

As far as RAM, yes I do have large files. I use layers in GIMP and working file size can reach several hundred MB. I also have sometimes several files open at once.
I was looking at these
Kingston Hyper X Low voltage 16Gb
Is that good?

I looked at the link you sent re. case cooling. I thought Antec was known for quiet cases??
If I understand correctly, the intent of the OP's mods were to make the PSU external? I thought 90W was the maximum recommended for external power bricks....
Is this what he is talking about?

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:07 am

However, I am now even more confused. :P
Awesome! My job is complete :)

Digging deeper...

CPUs compared.
- Hey, if you want to go for the i7, then go ahead. I just don't know if you'd see a performance bump for your apps. Maybe sometime down the road it'll be beneficial.
- Specifically, Gimp is moving to OpenCL for more operations. This means the graphics processor will become more important than whether you have 4 or 8 CPU threads. All of the i5 and i7's listed have the same iGPU. Where the sweet spot is for Gimp - I don't know. If it's comparible to Photoshop, then take a look at Puget's brief on gpu acceleration. You can see the decreasing benefit of spending more $'s on a discrete gfx card as the performance flattens out pretty quick. Of note - the Intel HD 4000 benchmarked at 37sec. The HD 4600 in Haswell is roughly 20% faster than the HD 4000 in OpenCL benchmarks. So, that 37 sec becomes 31 sec. A $100 discrete gfx card like the HD 7750 drops it to 20 sec. <shrug>
- CPU speed vs power use: All of these parts use the same idle power. They all use similar power at low CPU utilization (web browsing, watching a movie). Where they differ is when you max out cpu utilization. The S and T parts do it by limiting the base clock freq as well as the core voltage. Again, either you need the horsepower or you don't. If you do, then the regular parts will complete the task faster.
- cache size: might be helpful in a minimal way...like less than 10% of the total performance.
How do I know if the MOBO and processor have the C2 stepping
That's the magic question. We know the Asus C2 boards' part numbers end with a "5" instead of a "0". Don't know about the other mfgrs, yet. That hard part is to see whether or not your e-tailer actually shows the complete mfgr part number or if they just show their Amazon/Newegg etc SKU.
Audio, I have analog logitech 5.1 speakers. Are you talking about using something like this?Digital to Analog Audio decoder?
Would that offer much better sound quality? Is there a specific brand/model you would recommend?

My assumption was that you were sending the audio out from the PC to an A/V receiver and not to powered speakers. What specific model do you have? It might be the mobo analog out is "good enough".

RAM: That'll work. Here'sfaster CAS9 for similar price.

Case: Antec does make some good cases. I don't follow the ITX stuff very closely and can't comment on whether this is the best of the lot. Hopefully another member will pipe up and provide more info.

klaminero
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:10 pm

Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:31 am

CA_Steve wrote:
However, I am now even more confused. :P
Awesome! My job is complete :)

Digging deeper...

CPUs compared.
- Hey, if you want to go for the i7, then go ahead. I just don't know if you'd see a performance bump for your apps. Maybe sometime down the road it'll be beneficial.
- Specifically, Gimp is moving to OpenCL for more operations. This means the graphics processor will become more important than whether you have 4 or 8 CPU threads. All of the i5 and i7's listed have the same iGPU. Where the sweet spot is for Gimp - I don't know. If it's comparible to Photoshop, then take a look at Puget's brief on gpu acceleration. You can see the decreasing benefit of spending more $'s on a discrete gfx card as the performance flattens out pretty quick. Of note - the Intel HD 4000 benchmarked at 37sec. The HD 4600 in Haswell is roughly 20% faster than the HD 4000 in OpenCL benchmarks. So, that 37 sec becomes 31 sec. A $100 discrete gfx card like the HD 7750 drops it to 20 sec. <shrug>
- CPU speed vs power use: All of these parts use the same idle power. They all use similar power at low CPU utilization (web browsing, watching a movie). Where they differ is when you max out cpu utilization. The S and T parts do it by limiting the base clock freq as well as the core voltage. Again, either you need the horsepower or you don't. If you do, then the regular parts will complete the task faster.
- cache size: might be helpful in a minimal way...like less than 10% of the total performance.
How do I know if the MOBO and processor have the C2 stepping
That's the magic question. We know the Asus C2 boards' part numbers end with a "5" instead of a "0". Don't know about the other mfgrs, yet. That hard part is to see whether or not your e-tailer actually shows the complete mfgr part number or if they just show their Amazon/Newegg etc SKU.
Audio, I have analog logitech 5.1 speakers. Are you talking about using something like this?Digital to Analog Audio decoder?
Would that offer much better sound quality? Is there a specific brand/model you would recommend?

My assumption was that you were sending the audio out from the PC to an A/V receiver and not to powered speakers. What specific model do you have? It might be the mobo analog out is "good enough".

RAM: That'll work. Here'sfaster CAS9 for similar price.

Case: Antec does make some good cases. I don't follow the ITX stuff very closely and can't comment on whether this is the best of the lot. Hopefully another member will pipe up and provide more info.
Thanks CA_Steve, You've given me a few things to think about concerning i5 vs i7.

Re. audio, I have something on the lower end of logitech's spectrum similar to this
Logitech X530
I do listen to a lot of music and consider myself an audiophile has I also play music, however, I dont see myself ever spending more than a few hundred dollars on a sound system as I dont think I would hear the difference. So for my use for now, I think the MOBO realtek audio should do, but I will look into a converter at a later time.

For the RAM, I guess I will go with the faster option :) Thank you for the suggestion.

For the case and its cooling, as well as the pico external PSU, is there anybody here that would be able to advise me? The forum's activity seems rather low, despite having a ton of helpful resources that I was able to browse :D
As I mentioned, external brick PSU was always my preferred route because it is my impression that the PSU fan on my shuttle xpc is what generates the most noise. But I was advised against it on another forum for reasons that were not clearly stated. If something like that PICO ext PSU is a valid noiseless replacement while still offering the same type of surge protections then I am all of it. I'll just have to figure out how to install it.
So then I wont have anything to cool down other than the processor. Would one case fan be enough then? It seems the antec case has two.
Also, I am not fixating on the antec case. I just chose that one because I had heard good things about it and thats what Puget systems uses. If there is something better at the same price point, and volume, I am all for it.

Thanks for the links! I feel better about my choice to stick with HD4600 :)

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:30 am

I was suprised by the good reviews when I looked up the speakers - I wasn't expecting that from Logitech :) That said, try the mobo analog sound first and see if it meets your needs. There's a couple of upgrade paths:
- install a PCIe sound card (Asus Xonar - range from cheap and good to expensive and good).
- get an external DAC. Ultimately the better sounding route - once you find a decent one.

Case: here's an alternative from HDPLEX - go fanless. The 75W TDP case is reviewed here.

klaminero
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Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:10 pm

Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:08 am

CA_Steve wrote:I was suprised by the good reviews when I looked up the speakers - I wasn't expecting that from Logitech :) That said, try the mobo analog sound first and see if it meets your needs. There's a couple of upgrade paths:
- install a PCIe sound card (Asus Xonar - range from cheap and good to expensive and good).
- get an external DAC. Ultimately the better sounding route - once you find a decent one.

Case: here's an alternative from HDPLEX - go fanless. The 75W TDP case is reviewed here.
Hi again!
I looked into the HDPLEX, I think they are a bit too big for me (not transportable). But thank you for the link.

I also had a question concerning the motherboard.
This was the original one I was looking at:
ASUS Haswell Mini ITX H871 plus
But looking around for alternatives, I saw this one
Z87I Deluxe

First thing I saw was the addition of the bluetooth and wifi module. This is something I was planning on adding on as external adapters. So it seems like a good idea to have it embedded in the motherboard. Is that the case?
Also, I saw the "Displayport". I did not really know what that was so I looked into it. It seems much better than DVI and offers significantly greater resolution @60Hz. Am I missing something? I saw the standard was introduced in 2006. Is this taking off? I saw high end IPS panels have a DisplayPort but I'd like to know if its slowly becoming a standard or if it will always be a side item.
And then there is the rest of the motherboard, like that DIGI+ Power control and all that that I dont quite understand the purpose.

I understand this goes beyond silencing the PC (although the DIGI+ power control seems to deal with fans and the Z87i MOBO seems to accommodate for larger processor fan which from what I understand helps with silencing as well) but I'd appreciate any help/info/suggestion.

Thank you!

Edit: PS: They are about 70$ apart on Newegg's website.

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:09 pm

If you were planning on getting BT and wifi for your system, then it might be worthwhile to have it on the mobo. The good news is Asus included 802.11ac rather than some version of 802.11n single stream. You might wait for some reviews to come out, though, to see if their implementation of wifi and the mobo over all is good/bad.

Displayport has been a standard for a while and it's common on motherboards. It's not going away soon.

Digi power...I could spend pages talking about mobo voltage regulation management...here's the short version:
- lower priced mobos have simpler VRM schemes with fewer components and is meant to get the job done for non-OC systems.
- higher priced mobos use complex VRM schemes as a marketing tool....ok, partly to meet the load requirements for overclocking...but really...a lot of it is marketing.
- the net effect is lower cost boards with simpler VRM circuitry and fewer extras (1 LAN instead of 2, no BT, no Wireless, don't support SLI or Quad SLI, etc) will use less idle power. However, they might be less efficient at load and use a bit more power there. Sites like Hardware.infoare great for comparing a lot of different mobo's and their idle/load (system) power.

SevenFour
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by SevenFour » Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:17 am

klaminero wrote:I looked into the HDPLEX, I think they are a bit too big for me (not transportable).
The HDPLEX H1 is coming soon.

Image

klaminero
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:16 pm

Hello again CA_Steve,

Thank you for your answer. Since your comments, I have educated myself with displayport and it really seems to be the way to go for photo editing over HDMI due to the higher fps.
I looked at hardware.info and am concerned about the numbers I see there.

They do not have the Z87i-deluxe tested so I looked at 2 motherboards:
- Z87i-pro
- Z87-deluxe

In the link you sent, Z87-deluxe (non ITX) shows up at 36W idle
In this test, the Z87i pro shows up as 78W (idle) / 141W (load)
That last test is with the 4770K CPU which is 85W I believe, so 20W more TDP than the 4770S that I am looking at.
However, I sincerely hope all these numbers include the MOBO and ram.
Because otherwise, it seems that a 150W PSU is not going to be anywhere near enough.

What do you think? Is the PICO 144W PSU enough for the system I described? Assuming the Z87i-deluxe, the 4770S CPU at 65W TDP, the low power ram you suggested, the CPU fan and an SSD drive?

klaminero
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:17 pm

SevenFour wrote:
klaminero wrote:I looked into the HDPLEX, I think they are a bit too big for me (not transportable).
The HDPLEX H1 is coming soon.
Thank you SevenFour. Unfortunately, this might be too late for me. I think I need the new system this month. Mine has become fairly unstable. I cannot even run chrome and gimp at the same time anymore. Aligning layers in GIMP is requiring too much memory, I constantly run out of memory.

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by CA_Steve » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:51 pm

Always look at the test setup before the results. bit-tech is overclocking and overvolting the CPU as well as having a really big graphics card in there.

klaminero
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:55 am

CA_Steve wrote:Always look at the test setup before the results. bit-tech is overclocking and overvolting the CPU as well as having a really big graphics card in there.
Sorry about that. I looked for it and couldnt quite find/understand what was explained. I thought the overvolting or overclocking numbers were the second numbers in that test.

On another note, I was getting ready to order this set-up today when I realized it may have a big flaw.

Here is a picture of the Z87i-deluxe MOBO

And here is a picture of the inside of the case

So it looks like that voltage control module will be in the way of the tricool fan(s). It would block at least half of the rearmost fan and all of the hypothetical second fan. I assume that as a result the fan will run twice as fast or more and become much louder and the temperature control will become terrible.
I looked for other cases (available today) but could not find any available in this form factor....

The only solution I can think of is order the PICO PSU for sure (I was on the fence), and put the case fan in place of the PSU. There doesnt seem to be any other potential position for these fans.

What do you think?

Pappnaas
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by Pappnaas » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:19 pm

I think you picked the wrong mainboard. Try and look for the other Asus mITX without that Voltage modul. Or you picked the wrong case, if you insist on keeping the mobo.

klaminero
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:11 am

Pappnaas wrote:I think you picked the wrong mainboard. Try and look for the other Asus mITX without that Voltage modul. Or you picked the wrong case, if you insist on keeping the mobo.
I agree.
I was originally looking at the H87i-plus (Asus) which does not have the voltage module. But it also does not have WIFI, BT or Displayport. The latter is a pre-requisite for me.

I looked for other cases but cant quite find what I need.
I found a couple of potential:
  • Fractal Node 304 This case seems to be more oriented towards server use. I dont need the front loading optical drive but it is more expensive as it doesnt include the PSU. However the noise levels seem very very good.
    APEX MI-008 There seems to have an issue in this case with the PSU sitting on top of the CPU cooler
    SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE the sg08 is also a possibility.
There might be other choices. My requirements in order of importance: low noise level, small footprint, decent aesthetics

What do you think?
Thank you for your time

klaminero
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by klaminero » Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:44 am

Thank you to everybody for your help, especially CA_Steve.

I decided to go with a fractal node 304 case and the Asus Z87i-deluxe MOBO. I ordered a Seasonic 360W 80PLUS Gold PSU. its supposed to be pretty quiet
CA_Steve, I did order the low power ram you suggested.
I also took a low profile zalman quiet cpu cooler.

Overall, the case is bigger and power is higher than what I had anticipated. It has more fans as well. 2 intakes for the case, 1 for the PSU. And 3 other fans, 1 case, 1 psu and 1 CPU....
However, they are all large diameter and will hopefully be ok.

Thank you for the help

Abula
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by Abula » Mon Sep 09, 2013 11:54 am

klaminero wrote:I decided to go with a fractal node 304 case and the Asus Z87i-deluxe MOBO. I ordered a Seasonic 360W 80PLUS Gold PSU. its supposed to be pretty quiet
CA_Steve, I did order the low power ram you suggested.
I also took a low profile zalman quiet cpu cooler.
The FD Node 304 + asus Z87i combo allows to fit tower coolers, among the biggest i believe, probably even twin towers (hr02 macho fits but you have to remove the back fan or if the orientation is backwards, you need to remove the hdd cages), normal tower i believe you can chose almost anything, like Scythe Mugen 4 imo would been ideal pick for this setup (no yet in stock in the US though).

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC Build. Need silent, low idle power computer for p

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:16 pm

Yeah, Zalman's been a little iffy on good thermal performance at inaudible levels..yours might work well..I just don't know.

Have fun with your build!

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