Quiet 0 db enclosure for Sandy Bridge mini-ITX computer?

[fjodor2000]

Hi,

I intend to build a new computer in early 2011. It should consist of the following:

* Intel Sandy Bridge CPU Core i5-2500 (95 W TPD) or i5-2500S (65 W TPD)
* Mini-ITX motherboard for socket 1155 (i.e. Sandy Bridge)
* 8 GB RAM
* 2.5" Intel X25-M G3 160 GB SSD
* 5.25" Blu-ray burner (quiet!)
* PicoPSU & Power Brick @ 120 or 160 W

All that's missing is a nice quite enclosure/case. The enclosure should have heat pipes transporting heat from the CPU to the heat-sink/cooling fins on the chassis. It should also be as small as possible.

So now I wonder if any such computer case exists? Is it possible to cool the system as described, or is a fan needed as well?

Please provide any tips & input you have. Many thanks in advance!

[JamieG]

SPCR's review of the Coolermaster Fanless TC-100 mini-ITX case, which has a 35W system TDP rating, would suggest that your heatpipe-based cooling plan is a little unrealistic for your proposed sytem. This also seems to be an issue for HFX cases.

As an alternative, have a look at the Lian Li Q07 or Q11. Add a big tower heatsink and quiet undervolted to your proposed system (which should help in cooling the CPU quietly) and I think you will be able to reach your goal of a very quiet computer. My Q07 system (see signature) has an undervolted E5200 (65W TDP at stock voltage IIRC) and is very quiet indeed. The only moving part is a Slipstream 800rpm fan at 5V (I guess around 400rpm) mounted on a Thermalright HR-01+ and I cannot hear it from about 60cm away inside my case.

Hope that helps!

[hud]

Check out this review of Impactics C3LH case. i3-530 on full load maxed out at 68°C. Seems like the case would handle i5-2500S easily and look sweet wile doing it.

[fjodor2000]

Thanks!

The i3-530 has 73W TDP, and the i5-2500S has 65W TDP. So if the Impactics C3LH can handle the i3-530 I guess it should be able to handle the i5-2500S (even though the C3LH is rated at max 35W TDP on the Impactics website).

My ideal case would look like the Mac Mini, but with a card reader & USB slots on the front. The shape and size of the Impactics C3LH comes very close to this.

[fjodor2000]

BTW: Is there any case with similar size & shape as the C3LH, but with a card reader & USB in the front? Also, if it can fit the PSU PowerBrick as well that would be nice. I like to keep everything inside the computer case if possible. But perhaps that would generate too much heat inside the case? If so, maybe a fan is needed as well? Ideally I'd like the computer to be 0 db, but if there is a very nice case that only requires one very silent fan, I might be ready to accept it not being absolutely 0 db. Any suggestions?

[Captain Spaulding]

Are either of these cases available for sale in the USA?

[HFat]

The slow Clarkdales apparently consume less than their rating might lead you to believe. They're all rated at 73W and their idle power consumption is very low. Don't assume that a 65W Sandy Bridge could be cooled by something that already lets a slow Clarkdale get pretty hot. It might also consume a good bit less than its TDP but, so far as I know, we don't know for sure.

I think there's a nice-looking chip rated at 45W which is supposed to be released next week. It would seem to be a safer choice..

[hdplex]

Not to push my products, but http://www.missingremote.com/review/hdp ... ss-chassis.

SPCR should have a review soon for the H10 and H5.S chassis with Sandy bridge system.

[Captain Spaulding]

Thanks for the information. These look like very sweet cases. Too bad Sandy Bridge is inadequate for a HTPC.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the- ... 0-tested/7

Let's hope AMD can deliver more than promises.

[tim851]

What do you mean "inadequate"? Anand calls it near perfect.

[Captain Spaulding]

I guess you just read the headline:

"How about 23.976 fps playback? Sorry guys, even raking in $11 billion a quarter doesn’t make you perfect.

Here’s the sitch, most movie content is stored at 23.976 fps but incorrectly referred to as 24p or 24 fps. That sub-30 fps frame rate is what makes movies look like, well, movies and not soap operas (this is also why interpolated 120Hz modes on TVs make movies look cheesey since they smooth out the 24 fps film effect). A smaller portion of content is actually mastered at 24.000 fps and is also referred to as 24p.

In order to smoothly playback either of these formats you need a player and a display device capable of supporting the frame rate. Many high-end TVs and projectors support this just fine, however on the playback side Intel only supports the less popular of the two: 24.000Hz.

This isn’t intentional, but rather a propagation of an oversight that started back with Clarkdale. Despite having great power consumption and feature characteristics, Clarkdale had one glaring issue that home theater enthusiasts discovered: despite having a 23Hz setting in the driver, Intel’s GPU would never output anything other than 24Hz to a display.

The limitation is entirely in hardware, particularly in what’s supported by the 5-series PCH (remember that display output is routed from the processor’s GPU to the video outputs via the PCH). One side effect of trying to maintain Intel’s aggressive tick-tock release cadence is there’s a lot of design reuse. While Sandy Bridge was a significant architectural redesign, the risk was mitigated by reusing much of the 5-series PCH design. As a result, the hardware limitation that prevented a 23.976Hz refresh rate made its way into the 6-series PCH before Intel discovered the root cause.

Intel had enough time to go in and fix the problem in the 6-series chipsets, however doing so would put the chipset schedule at risk given that fixing the problem requires a non-trivial amount of work to correct. Not wanting to introduce more risk into an already risky project (brand new out of order architecture, first on-die GPU, new GPU architecture, first integrated PLL), Intel chose to not address it this round, which is why we still have the problem today.


Note the frame rate

What happens when you try to play 23.976 fps content on a display that refreshes itself 24.000 times per second? You get a repeated frame approximately every 40 seconds to synchronize the source frame rate with the display frame rate. That repeated frame appears to your eyes as judder in motion, particularly evident in scenes involving a panning camera.

How big of an issue this is depends on the user. Some can just ignore the judder, others will attempt to smooth it out by setting their display to 60Hz, while others will be driven absolutely insane by it.

If you fall into the latter category, your only option for resolution is to buy a discrete graphics card. Currently AMD’s Radeon HD 5000 and 6000 series GPUs correctly output a 23.976Hz refresh rate if requested."

[themaster1]

Currently AMD’s Radeon HD 5000 and 6000 series GPUs correctly output a 23.976Hz refresh rate if requested."

Nvidia GT's also work