New PC Build - Shhh, it's quiet!

Decided my old trusty i7 920 pc has had it's day, so, time for something new. Very new. Very... radical. A totally silent PC!

That's right. Silent. 0db. No moving parts at all (save my 5Tb removable back-up drive).

Here's the bits:

Nofan CS-80 Fanless Computer Case
Nofan P-500A Silent 500W Fanless 80+ GOLD PSU
ASUS PRIME H370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Intel 8th Gen Core i7 8700 3.2GHz 65W UHD 630 12MB 6 Cores 12 Threads CPU
Nofan CR-95C Black Pearl IcePipe 95W Fanless CPU Cooler
Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) Memory Kit
Palit GeForce GTX 1050 Ti KalmX Fanless 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
Samsung 970 EVO 1TB Phoenix M.2 NVMe SSD (3400/2500)
Samsung 850 EVO 500Gb (for documents backup)

Here's what the inside looks like:

For those who may be sceptical about how a fanless PC can run cool, here's the current temps:

 

 

Boot time is around 7 seconds, shutdown time >1 second.

Handy features of the case include a removable 'EZ-Swap' drive bay system with a removable side door so you can just plug/unplug drives at will. This is what I'm doing with my backup drives - just plug them in as I need them (HDs are noisy!)

Very pleased with it so far

178,324 views 25 replies
Reply #1 Top

Fuzzy....none of your pics is showing...;)

Reply #2 Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 1

Fuzzy....none of your pics is showing...;)

Reply #3 Top

Yeah, it's like we're denied permission or something.

Reply #4 Top

Even the bits in the pics are quiet.  I can't even see them they're so quiet.

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Reply #5 Top

Is that better? I've even removed the corrupt smilies. Forgot how shite this site is...

Reply #6 Top

Snazzy machine, now that we can see it!:-"  

Reply #7 Top

Holy mackerel is the video card encased in a giant heatsink? Pretty nice setup indeed.

Reply #8 Top

My old thing is near enough to silent.  The only time you hear fans is at boot...then everything just goes back to idle.  One of the advantages of having a bigger PSU than you'll ever tax. [not to mention a serious case that is its own heatsink] ...;)

Reply #9 Top

Very cool (no pun intended).

I very much like quiet PCs.

I'll take a slight hit to max perf to get a quieter PC any day.

Reply #10 Top

I would take the extra performance myself.

Reply #11 Top

A very nice machine indeed, Fuzzy.  Looks real nice.  However, I'm not too worried about fan noise, etc.... gotta have some sound to remind me that I'm alive. ;P  

Seriously, my Coolermaster Cosmos II and Thermaltake Level 10 cases are very quiet, despite each having several fans and HDDs.  In the Cosmos II the OS runs on a M.2 SSD and the HDDs are generally idle unless I need to use one.  In the Level 10 the OS runs on a M.2 SSD mounted on a PCIE card... mobo doesn't have a slot.  Again, the HDDs are idle and silent unless I need to use one.

Anyhow, congrats on a nice build. :thumbsup:  

 

Reply #12 Top

There's a difference between quiet and silent. Despite how quiet HDs are, I can still hear them ;) 

Thanks to the case's removable drive caddies and EZ-Swap system I only need to connect an HD when I need to do backups. Adds extra security too - if my pc does get hit by some nasty my extensive security misses, my backup drive is disconnected and therefore safe.

Oh, and it plays games really well. Doom 2016 is fabulous looking and so smooth.

Reply #13 Top

Quoting Fuzzy, reply 12

There's a difference between quiet and silent. Despite how quiet HDs are, I can still hear them

Your hearing must be better than mine.  I generally hear little to nothing from either of my main PCs.  Mind you, both are very well insulated, especially my Cosmos II, which has heavy duty casing and dual layer doors to muffle most sound. 

Okay, maybe neither machine is totally silent, but they're both well within being tolerable as far as noise goes.  Put it this way, I rarely if ever hear them.  Mind you, I'm having to rebuild the Cosmos II case because I had to replace the previous mobo due to a fault that wouldn't allow the BIOS to post.

The replacement board, an ASUS ROG Crosshair Extreme VI, has a different design to the Crosshair Hero VI I had before, and the BIOS posts okay.  I'm going to load Windows on that machine when I'm done here at WC.  However, I doubt that the change of mobo will affect the level of noise ... or should I say the lack of it.

Reply #14 Top

When I wake up in the morning I have to check the LEDs are on to know the computer's still running....as it does 24/7/365.

I believe the CPU fan's at around 500rpm but it's inaudible.

If I stick my ear against the 6 HD rack I can just hear the inlet/outlet fans for the stack...and the HDs are spun-down so they're silent....and the OS itself is on a M.2.

It really helps when your case is made from aluminium plate and not aluminium or steel sheet...;)

Reply #15 Top

Quoting Judith951, reply 15

For making your own New PC, you have to include a Processor, Motherboard, RAM, Power supply, Storage and Case.


What about the HDD, SSD or M.2 SSD?  Gotta have one of those to load the OS on, right?

Reply #16 Top

Assuming your asking a question You could get the motherboard, processor, and memory in a combo, or all three seperate. Just as important you will need at least two fans, and a heatsink to cool this off. You will probably want a dvd player. Lets not forget about the monitor, mouse, and keyboard. Your best cooling is radiator, but for beginners they recommend fans. Beside this they recommend instead of using the heatsink that comes with the processor. Buy one, and install it yourself. I would think the storage is at least a HDD. 

Reply #18 Top

The 1080 i think ti rocks

Reply #19 Top

The 1050ti plays Doom 2016 as smooth as anything with everything turned up to max. I haven't found anything yet it can't play - but then I'm not much of a gamer.

What it is, is silent. Which is my priority ;) 

Reply #20 Top

The stats seem fine. It looks like a good computer.

Reply #21 Top

Just out of curiosity why is silence so imoortant if you are not much of a gamer. 

As long as it's cool that is fine.

Reply #22 Top

I find noise distracting.

Reply #23 Top

Quoting Fuzzy, reply 22

I find noise distracting.

Hehe!   I thought my No 1 rig was relatively quit until.... until I cleaned the wax out of my ears with some cotton tips and a spade.  Now when starting up it sounds like a Harrier jet taking off... and like one of those garden blowers when idling.

:-" ;P  :rofl:  

Nah, it's not that bad.  Well not quite, but since this thread went up I have noticed it more.  Also when the room is quiet I notice it, but if I have a fan or the air-con on I don't usually hear it at all.  It's mostly the top case fans I can hear, but being the case is way too big to fit in the desk pigeon hole, it is exposed and therefore they're going to sound louder.

Oh well, so long as the beastie works. :thumbsup:  

Reply #24 Top

does it get more or less dust compared to fan boxes? and is that going to work for gpu of the X070 tier?

Reply #25 Top

No dust - no moving parts!