Hello,
I would like to build a "totally silent" PC in my home that will run non stop. I am trieing to assemble a micro-atx PC with an AMD Sempron LE-1250 processor with a Thermalright HR-01 Plus heatsink. Do I need a cooler for the heatsink? On the motherboard everything is onboard. I will not play games on it, I will use this PC for web/ftp server and sharing.
If I will cut the wires from the cooler in the power supply will it work in time? What are the dangers I am facing?
Best regards,
my first silent pc
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Also I'm trying to assemble my first quiet HTPC. If you are interested, I can give you the link 
I haven't tried yet any picoPSUs (no fans, no noise) + AC/DC Adapter (also called "brick"), but lots of users here and over Internet forums are quite satisfied with them. Furthermore, the pc isn't for gaming, and it is going to be working 24/7, so a picoPSU ~ 120-150W with a brick of 120W as the top wattage, or a PSU < 150W will be more than enough. I don't know about your motherboard consumption & CPU, but I guess your whole system wouldn't consume far less than 60-70W.
So, about CPU cooling, I think you can try reading this thread about cooling an HTPC with a Thermalright XP90 to try figuring it out a little bit. In the worst case, you can always add a fan to the heatsink, couldn't you? Try stressing with Prime95 and other programs with no fan, and take a look over temperatures with Everest for example.
About working 24/7 I'll take a look to Western Digital Caviar Green Series in order to achieve low power consumption and very low noise. If you are not concerned so much about power consumption, instead you are looking for the lower data loss and performance with years, I'll take a look to Caviar Black ones
Also, undervolting/underclocking the CPU will draw less power as far as I have read, so less heat to be evacuated from the CPU. I don't know really how to undervolt, but I hope many people will help you on this quest
I hope to have been usefull
Javier
I haven't tried yet any picoPSUs (no fans, no noise) + AC/DC Adapter (also called "brick"), but lots of users here and over Internet forums are quite satisfied with them. Furthermore, the pc isn't for gaming, and it is going to be working 24/7, so a picoPSU ~ 120-150W with a brick of 120W as the top wattage, or a PSU < 150W will be more than enough. I don't know about your motherboard consumption & CPU, but I guess your whole system wouldn't consume far less than 60-70W.
So, about CPU cooling, I think you can try reading this thread about cooling an HTPC with a Thermalright XP90 to try figuring it out a little bit. In the worst case, you can always add a fan to the heatsink, couldn't you? Try stressing with Prime95 and other programs with no fan, and take a look over temperatures with Everest for example.
About working 24/7 I'll take a look to Western Digital Caviar Green Series in order to achieve low power consumption and very low noise. If you are not concerned so much about power consumption, instead you are looking for the lower data loss and performance with years, I'll take a look to Caviar Black ones
Also, undervolting/underclocking the CPU will draw less power as far as I have read, so less heat to be evacuated from the CPU. I don't know really how to undervolt, but I hope many people will help you on this quest
I hope to have been usefull
Javier
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NeilBlanchard
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bonestonne
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Having a Sempron LE-1250 on an 'all-integrated' board should be fine with a single low power fan, maybe set for 7 volt operation as exhaust only.
For the power supply, running fanless is fine, but I would even suggest looking into PICO, as stated by javitxi. a 150W PICO unit should be able to provide plenty of power for that setup.
I have a 90W PICO powering a VIA C7-D with a 40W power brick and it gives me no problems at all. Your system would probably require closer to 70W, but still be able to run effectively with a 90W PICO. To edge on a saver side, maybe the 120W PICO would work better, and give more headroom, but I would not expect it to be needed.
running the single fan for exhaust would be a little better though. The system wont generate a lot of heat, but it would be much better to give it constant airflow, even if just a little. You might also be able to set the fan to only start at certain temperatures, and stop at others, for silent operation, and temperature controlled active cooling when needed.
For the power supply, running fanless is fine, but I would even suggest looking into PICO, as stated by javitxi. a 150W PICO unit should be able to provide plenty of power for that setup.
I have a 90W PICO powering a VIA C7-D with a 40W power brick and it gives me no problems at all. Your system would probably require closer to 70W, but still be able to run effectively with a 90W PICO. To edge on a saver side, maybe the 120W PICO would work better, and give more headroom, but I would not expect it to be needed.
running the single fan for exhaust would be a little better though. The system wont generate a lot of heat, but it would be much better to give it constant airflow, even if just a little. You might also be able to set the fan to only start at certain temperatures, and stop at others, for silent operation, and temperature controlled active cooling when needed.
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xan_user
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Re: my first silent pc
"totally silent" = SSD ($olid$tate)
"totally silent" = challenging to cool near other hot home theater equipment, especially if in a cabinet.
"totally silent" = challenging to cool near other hot home theater equipment, especially if in a cabinet.
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zsolty_szasz
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I continued my research and I came to the conclusion that changing the Amd LE processor to Intel Celeron 430 is better option for me regarding the power consumption. It looks like the Intel processor power consumption is less then 10 watt.
As for the hard drive I think I will choose a model with 5400 rpm for silent operation and power consumption, maybe a 2.5' model.
The motherboard will be also a microatx but I don't know yet which type, I am thinking of undervolting the cpu and I need a motherboard with great bios.
Regarding the power supply I have one in stock for a couple of years. It is a chinese-noname 500w power supply which I think it is still working. I used it in my desktop with no problem at all.
All in all I would like to assemble a cheap PC.
Thanks for you're replies.
javitxi send me the link!
Best regards,
As for the hard drive I think I will choose a model with 5400 rpm for silent operation and power consumption, maybe a 2.5' model.
The motherboard will be also a microatx but I don't know yet which type, I am thinking of undervolting the cpu and I need a motherboard with great bios.
Regarding the power supply I have one in stock for a couple of years. It is a chinese-noname 500w power supply which I think it is still working. I used it in my desktop with no problem at all.
All in all I would like to assemble a cheap PC.
Thanks for you're replies.
javitxi send me the link!
Best regards,
Here is the link
If you are planning to assemble as cheap as possible micro ATX HTPC I probably take a look to:
Case: SILVERSTONE SUGO SG02-BF at 70$ on newegg. I'll search the model of the case which came with a PSU
PSU if needed, Seasonic S12II-330GG. Yes, picoPSU is a better option but picoPSUs are more expensive than a common ATX PSU, and on that Sugo, an ATX PSU will fit quite well, and this Seasonic is quite well balanced through money/quality/noise
mATX board: I'll go probably to an AMD with integrated graphics card. Sorry, but I haven't much idea about AMD
CPU: an AMD, but I can't suggest you anyone
RAM: probably a stick of 2GB would be more than enough. The frequency, depending on the CPU you'll put (try at all to go syncrhonous with CPU FSB or MT/s). Also, try not to buy overclocked DDR2 RAM, because it only works at the FSB it is said with more than 1,8V. ¿DDR3 or DDR2? DDR3 is the next generation, and because they are forcing us to move to DDR3, the DDR2 is far expensive as it was few months ago (like in august)
HDD: as I've said, I'll go for a Caviar Green. The 1,5TB one is the best price/space one. It is a 3,5" one instead of 2,5", but a 1TB 2,5" is more expensive as 1,5TB. Yes, SSD are better, more energy efficient and so on, but a 1TB SSD is about 3000 €
Then, depending on the noise generated, you can try to reduce fans case rpms and stock cooler of the CPU, or substitute all of them for Noctua/Nexus/Scyhte fans and an aftermarket CPU Heatsink and also reduce the rpms
I hope I'm not missing anything to say and had been helpfull
Javier
If you are planning to assemble as cheap as possible micro ATX HTPC I probably take a look to:
Case: SILVERSTONE SUGO SG02-BF at 70$ on newegg. I'll search the model of the case which came with a PSU
PSU if needed, Seasonic S12II-330GG. Yes, picoPSU is a better option but picoPSUs are more expensive than a common ATX PSU, and on that Sugo, an ATX PSU will fit quite well, and this Seasonic is quite well balanced through money/quality/noise
mATX board: I'll go probably to an AMD with integrated graphics card. Sorry, but I haven't much idea about AMD
CPU: an AMD, but I can't suggest you anyone
RAM: probably a stick of 2GB would be more than enough. The frequency, depending on the CPU you'll put (try at all to go syncrhonous with CPU FSB or MT/s). Also, try not to buy overclocked DDR2 RAM, because it only works at the FSB it is said with more than 1,8V. ¿DDR3 or DDR2? DDR3 is the next generation, and because they are forcing us to move to DDR3, the DDR2 is far expensive as it was few months ago (like in august)
HDD: as I've said, I'll go for a Caviar Green. The 1,5TB one is the best price/space one. It is a 3,5" one instead of 2,5", but a 1TB 2,5" is more expensive as 1,5TB. Yes, SSD are better, more energy efficient and so on, but a 1TB SSD is about 3000 €
Then, depending on the noise generated, you can try to reduce fans case rpms and stock cooler of the CPU, or substitute all of them for Noctua/Nexus/Scyhte fans and an aftermarket CPU Heatsink and also reduce the rpms
I hope I'm not missing anything to say and had been helpfull
Javier
A good fan at low rpm (~600) will probably be quieter than any hard drive so it`s not necessary to spend the effort in getting rid of those fans. While such a low power cpu should have no problem running fanless at low loads the chipset and psu could use a little airflow.
Cheap with zero moving parts is not very easy to do at the moment, at least not with stock components.
A 2,5 inch drive, even @7200 could be a good choice for your application. You could cover it with sound absorbing material and it will still stay cool. The best way to silence a drive is probably an enclosure like the quiet drive but I got good results by attaching a mass barrier to the top side using double sided tape. Could be a heatsink or another non functioning drive.
Cheap with zero moving parts is not very easy to do at the moment, at least not with stock components.
A 2,5 inch drive, even @7200 could be a good choice for your application. You could cover it with sound absorbing material and it will still stay cool. The best way to silence a drive is probably an enclosure like the quiet drive but I got good results by attaching a mass barrier to the top side using double sided tape. Could be a heatsink or another non functioning drive.