My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:17 pm

Back in March 2013 there was an article on Tom's Hardware where they built a 0dB gaming PC. Here's the link if you haven't read it already: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sil ... ,3435.html

The build was really interesting, they selected all the right components and made a truly silent and functional gaming PC.

One of the things they mentioned was how they didn't want to use an mATX motherboard because they wanted as much room as possible for the heat to spread, which obviously makes sense, but I wonder how much of a difference there would really be. Besides, an mATX board opens up new possibilities, such as doing a passively-cooled 7750 Crossfire. That would be pretty awesome, assuming temps don't get too high... :roll:

I also wonder why they didn't dare to try one of the low-power 65W core i5's. Seems to me like one of those would go perfectly with the Silverstone HE02, don't you agree?

I'm actually considering doing this build for myself, with the modifications mentioned, so I would appreciate any comments regarding whether this is actually a viable option or not. Maybe getting a bigger case or adding some of those super silent fans here and there? Hard to tell, but I'd probably need to do either of those things.

What do you think? 8)

Vicotnik
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1831
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 6:53 am
Location: Sweden

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Vicotnik » Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:47 pm

Hello and welcome to SPCR! :)

A fanless computer is pretty cool. But it's often not very practical. In order to focus on all passive components in a gaming system you will have to make compromises and stuff like performance and cost will suffer. You can have a pretty damn quiet system even with a few fans in there, with more power and/or at lower cost. Think about if fanless is worth it.

Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Sun Jan 19, 2014 3:44 pm

Vicotnik wrote:Hello and welcome to SPCR! :)

A fanless computer is pretty cool. But it's often not very practical. In order to focus on all passive components in a gaming system you will have to make compromises and stuff like performance and cost will suffer. You can have a pretty damn quiet system even with a few fans in there, with more power and/or at lower cost. Think about if fanless is worth it.
Yeah, I know. It's probably not worth it in terms of money/performance, but like you said, it's pretty cool. :mrgreen:

Besides, I don't mind playing games on the lowest settings, as long as I get 60+ fps.

thierry.
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:07 am
Location: Vienna - Austria

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by thierry. » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:24 am

Trull wrote:Yeah, I know. It's probably not worth it in terms of money/performance, but like you said, it's pretty cool. :mrgreen:
So, your first goal is to do full passive?

Have a look at the HR-22, tested here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Thermalright_HR-22
And an extract from the conclusion:
The HR-22's design is more promising as a passive cooler. It produced strong results on our fanless cooling test, handily beating out the HR-02 and SilverStone HE02, suggesting that a low TDP chip should be no trouble for HR-22 to handle fanlessly



Honnestly, I don't understand the need of a passive gaming PC.
For HTPC in the living room, or in the bedroom, I totally agree.
For gaming, what is the point, unless the "coolness" and the challenge...
Better make a 100% silent gaming PC, with better performance and a fan at the back (at 300-400rpm, it would be inaudible)

Where do you plan to put your PC? On top of the table?
If it's under the table, the fan will be more silent than silent. :wink:


PS: I had the TJ08-E for the past 12 months and it was great case.
As said in TH config, you must remove the HDD cage because it vibrates with spinning HDD.

Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:43 pm

thierry. wrote:Honnestly, I don't understand the need of a passive gaming PC.
For HTPC in the living room, or in the bedroom, I totally agree.
For gaming, what is the point, unless the "coolness" and the challenge...
Better make a 100% silent gaming PC, with better performance and a fan at the back (at 300-400rpm, it would be inaudible)

Where do you plan to put your PC? On top of the table?
If it's under the table, the fan will be more silent than silent. :wink:


PS: I had the TJ08-E for the past 12 months and it was great case.
As said in TH config, you must remove the HDD cage because it vibrates with spinning HDD.
Thanks for your input.

It's not so much a "need", I mean, when is it really a necessity to own a gaming PC, and more so, a silent one? :mrgreen:

I already own a pretty decent gaming PC, but I found the idea of a 0dB gaming PC interesting and appealing. The way I have my desktop set up, the rear fan of my P280 is pretty much in my face, so a passive cooled PC would take care of that for good.

I can give you my personal reasons for it, though: pretty much the story is that I don't really game that much anymore (getting old :roll: ), and I kinda need some money right now (the economy is rough here in Spain atm), so I'm selling my current PC. This whole 0dB gaming PC project is just something fun that I'd like to do in the near future when I have some money to spend.

Besides, I don't play that many games, currently the ones I feel like playing are not very demanding, and I'm not demanding either when it comes to graphics, so I don't really care if I can't get the best performance... and Idk, a 4570S and 2x 7750's doesn't seem that bad at all to me, I think that configuration will perform pretty beastly in games.

Also, not gonna lie, a bit of e-peen doesn't hurt. :lol:
thierry. wrote: Have a look at the HR-22, tested here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Thermalright_HR-22
And an extract from the conclusion:
The HR-22's design is more promising as a passive cooler. It produced strong results on our fanless cooling test, handily beating out the HR-02 and SilverStone HE02, suggesting that a low TDP chip should be no trouble for HR-22 to handle fanlessly
I don't know, the HR-22 is more expensive and less available here than the HE02. If the HE02 does the job, I don't really see the point in getting anything better, assuming that the HE02 is good enough for a 65W quad-core. But Idk, maybe the HR-22 is worth the extra.

Vicotnik
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1831
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 6:53 am
Location: Sweden

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Vicotnik » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:23 pm

Trull wrote:Besides, I don't play that many games, currently the ones I feel like playing are not very demanding, and I'm not demanding either when it comes to graphics, so I don't really care if I can't get the best performance... and Idk, a 4570S and 2x 7750's doesn't seem that bad at all to me, I think that configuration will perform pretty beastly in games.

Also, not gonna lie, a bit of e-peen doesn't hurt. :lol:
Low end crossfire doesn't do it for me, sorry. :p

And while she might look all shiny and sexy today, consider the not too distant future.. How will you feel in a few years when the latest NUC will cost a fraction of what you payed for your system? While at the same time be faster, smaller and consume much, much less power than your old gal. And look at her... Is that coil whine I hear? And remember last summer, when you had to put that awful table fan next to her or stick to playing solitaire?
I could go on..

My point is that you can build a pretty quiet, more powerful, less complex system for less money. Dual 7750s with no fans at all will be a challenge for sure. I own a Sapphire 7750 with stock passive cooling, and I would not run that card in a case without ventilation.

If you like the idea of a fanless system and already have a gaming system, why not build a small fanless system for everything but gaming? :)

darqsyde
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:00 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by darqsyde » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:59 pm

Depending on the games you play, and if any of the upcoming games you might play support Mantle, you might want to think about a Kaveri APU and a Dual Graphics'd R7-240/250. The Kaveri A8 can be dialed to 45/65WTDP and with Dual graphics you should be able to game 1080p between 30-60fps(without Mantle).
see http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10 ... 725-8.html

and it should be cheaper than an i5.

Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:45 pm

darqsyde wrote:Depending on the games you play, and if any of the upcoming games you might play support Mantle, you might want to think about a Kaveri APU and a Dual Graphics'd R7-240/250. The Kaveri A8 can be dialed to 45/65WTDP and with Dual graphics you should be able to game 1080p between 30-60fps(without Mantle).
see http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10 ... 725-8.html

and it should be cheaper than an i5.
What I've suggested is a lot better than that. Mantle is great for AMD and all, but Intel will benefit as well, and most likely nVidia in the future. Mantle will only really make multi-core processors like the FX-6300 or the FX-8300 a better choice, and at the end of the day it's Battlefield 4 and a few upcoming games vs. all the other games out there.

Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:04 pm

Btw, just to make it clear, when I ask if this is a viable option, all I'm really asking is whether you think the system I mentioned is gonna get too hot, problems that may arise, possible alternatives and improvements, etc., I'm not asking people to suggest a cheaper/better performing alternative with fans and I'm not asking people to lecture me... :roll:

That is all. :wink:

Pappnaas
Posts: 726
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 11:23 am
Location: Germany

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Pappnaas » Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:03 pm

Reviews have shown that a single passiv 7750 will nearly Cook itself without proper case ventilation. Two of them and still no case Fans doesn 't sound very realistic to survive some sustained gaming. But it's your money melting....

tim851
Posts: 543
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
Location: 128.0.0.1

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by tim851 » Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:25 am

Trull wrote:all I'm really asking is whether you think the system I mentioned is gonna get too hot
Yes
problems that may arise
Heat
improvements
Fans

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by xan_user » Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:03 am

a tall, custom case with the slots orientated vertically, and probably with CPU and GPU heat sinks on the outside, would be the only way I would attempt a passive "gaming" PC.

Where do you live that has such a low noise floor that one recommended 120mm fan at ~500 rpm can be heard from over 18 inches away? (-Jealous-)

Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:35 am

Pappnaas wrote:Reviews have shown that a single passiv 7750 will nearly Cook itself without proper case ventilation. Two of them and still no case Fans doesn 't sound very realistic to survive some sustained gaming. But it's your money melting....
Links :?:

Pappnaas
Posts: 726
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 11:23 am
Location: Germany

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Pappnaas » Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:45 am

Trull wrote:
Pappnaas wrote:Reviews have shown that a single passiv 7750 will nearly Cook itself without proper case ventilation. Two of them and still no case Fans doesn 't sound very realistic to survive some sustained gaming. But it's your money melting....
Links :?:
https://www.google.com/search?q=7750+fanless+review

Might do some googling yourself.... i'm not in spoon feeding mode today, sry.

Trull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Trull » Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:52 am

Pappnaas wrote:
Trull wrote:
Pappnaas wrote:Reviews have shown that a single passiv 7750 will nearly Cook itself without proper case ventilation. Two of them and still no case Fans doesn 't sound very realistic to survive some sustained gaming. But it's your money melting....
Links :?:
https://www.google.com/search?q=7750+fanless+review

Might do some googling yourself.... i'm not in spoon feeding mode today, sry.
Wow, only kids post in this forum? This is great.

Vicotnik
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1831
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 6:53 am
Location: Sweden

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by Vicotnik » Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:33 pm

Look, Trull. Sorry for trying to be funny. It failed, as usual..

But you must understand that this is the forum of Silent PC Review. We know stuff like fanless systems. Where it makes sense and where it does not make sense, and why. You come here, pointing to Tom's Hardware and their gimmick fanless system. I'm sorry, but a lecture is what you need, like it or not.

Some of the "kids" on this forum have built some pretty nice fanless systems, some of them light gaming systems. Just check out the General Gallery section. Learn that fanless systems can have any size of motherboard for example. Be inspired. :)

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Re: My version of TH's 0dB gaming PC - viable option?

Post by xan_user » Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:32 pm

you could always try the "submerging the rig in an aquarium" approach, i think there was way more room to improve on that plan than a 0 fan gaming rig.....

Post Reply