Passively Cooled CPU in a tight Mini-itx case?

okeygrak · Post by **okeygrak** » Thu May 07, 2009 7:10 am

I'm looking to throw either a E5200 45nm C2D wolfdale, or a Celeron E1200 into a tight Jetway Mini-itx case (JC-202B)

I'll be running off a Zotac 9300 mini-itx motherboard. There will be no optical drive, nothing in the pci slot, and only a small low heat SSD in the case.

I was curious if I could throw a solid heatsink on the CPU, such as the Arctic Freezer 7 LP, or a Swiftech MCX775-V, and then just use a case fan from the side vent to blow air over the CPU+IGP heatsinks.

Does the Celeron E1200 run cool enough with solid heatsink on top and decent case ventillation? how about the E5200.

the primary application for this system is XBMC + Linux + VDPAU. I don't need a superfast CPU, as the GFX will be decoding the video. I want a near silent system without spending a ton on heatpipes/heatsink cases.

Post by **MikeC** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:33 am

Those are 65w tdp processors, and there's no way you'll keep either one cool under load quietly with any heatsink that fits in the case. The case is not tall enough to fit the type of heatsink you need to keep things cool enough quietly. It only just barely fits the two 60mm fans. The only way 60mm fans can be quiet is to spin so slowly that the airflow is almost useless.

Not a good case choice for what you intend. Try an Apex MI008 instead. It can be made to run pretty quietly. See what was done in our review -- http://www.silentpcreview.com/apex-mi008 You'll still need a decent heatsink tho. If you stay with the stock PSU, then a 1U style copper HS with a big 120mm fan spinning quietly on the side should do it. A picoPSU will give you better options for cooling.

The Silverstone Sugo SG05 is bigger w/a built in 120mm fan, and has more vertical space so you might be able to do more with it. Don't know how quiet the PSU is, as we haven't examined one in the lab yet.

okeygrak · Post by **okeygrak** » Thu May 07, 2009 11:41 am

thanks for the advice.

I think I was a bit ambitious in thinking I could go fanless in such a tight case.

I'm going to use the same case, but go with an Arctic Freezer 7 Low profile which I've read is near silent. I'll cut a hole in the top of the case and use a grill or screen for ventilation over the cpu. I'll put a 60m fan near the IGP for ventillation.

Hopefully this will still yield a near silent computer.

fri2219 · Post by **fri2219** » Thu May 14, 2009 12:11 pm

I've used an E1200 in a cramped/low airflow case, except with a GigaByte mATX board- even with a Ninja or ZeroTherm 90 it will run too hot unless you undervolt to around 0.9 V it or SpeedStep it down to 800MHz.

Until Zotac changes its BIOS to allow something like that, or some software comes along that allows it, I wouldn't recommend that setup.

Also, I'd suggest reading the AC-7LP review on FrostyTech before buying one- it might not be quiet enough or extract enough heat in that application.

yefi · Post by **yefi** » Thu May 21, 2009 4:14 am

okeygrak wrote:I think I was a bit ambitious in thinking I could go fanless in such a tight case.

I'm going to use the same case, but go with an Arctic Freezer 7 Low profile which I've read is near silent. I'll cut a hole in the top of the case and use a grill or screen for ventilation over the cpu. I'll put a 60m fan near the IGP for ventillation.

Hopefully this will still yield a near silent computer.

Sounds plausible. I read elsewhere someone used a low profile Intel HS on an E8400, sawed the fan off and replaced it with a quiet 140mm one. This got the Zotac into a HFX Micro.