Now this is a bit different....

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I need to build a PC where silence and perhaps smallish size are key. I am just starting the process of defining my requirement and examining products. I was hoping a few quick answers from people in this forum might open my mind to new ideas.

Outline spec:
CPU: Pentium 150 runs my application OK so I guess any modern CPU would do. Passive cooling required. Underclock?

Mobo: Onboard Video for standard VGA modes suficient. No audio beyond POST beeps. No USB. No Firewire. No onboard networking. PS2 style keyboard. Mouse not necessary. Parallel/Serial not necessary. 2 Minimum PCI slots (3 better). No need for AGP. PCI-Express etc. IDE preferred. No sata ideally.

Memory. Application currently running with about 100K RAM.

Graphics: Onboard std VGA sufficient.

Sound: None except post beeps.

Floppy.

CD Reader.

N/W Two, possibly three PCI cards I already have.

HDD Potentially a major source of noise. App currently running on very old drive about a Gigabyte or two (if that). I am particularly looking for ideas here for drives that are quiet, run cool and don't have to be at all fast. IDE preferably. Cool is important since I may not have much air flow through case.

Power supply: obviously very low powered power supply will do - but I wil spec a good one. Fanless?. Silent?

Case. Ideally no fans for a totally passive solution. Failing that one BIG fan running at 5 or 7 volts just to move a little air through. Small case. Is there such a thing as a case where cooling and air flow is driven by convection?

I've put this post in the cooling section because I think noise on my system will be related mostly to the air cooling. I don't want to mess with water or exotic cooling solutions. No cooling or passive is the way I want to go.

Screen: None in normal use. Access is by web browser.

Thanks in advance to anyone who throws interesting ideas my way.
 
Have a look at the VIA EPIA range of mini ITX boards

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/

It's a range of small 170mm x 170mm boards with low power CPUs some are fanless or have small fans. There are a selection of cases available for these. Some have slots for a slim 'laptop' cdrom, others don't.

Onboard graphics, sound, lan etc
1 PCI but you can use a riser to get 2x PCI horizontally
There is a range bit a basic 533Mhz fanless version can be had for £40-50

Only downside is that they don't usually have a FDD controller. USB FDD is an option or it will boot fine from a memory stick.

For power you'll want a PICO Power ATX converter. Basically a DC-DC converter that uses a laptop style power brick. Totally silent an the converter is only a little bigger than the 20Pin ATX plug


For a HDD you have 2 options

1) get a laptop HDD 2.5", these are almost silent
2) get an adaptor .... IDE to compact flash for ~£6 then buy a 2/4GB compact flash card. Works great, bootable and totally silent. The card is seen as a HDD since compact flash is ATA compatable

Wouldn't need a cooling fan for this lot.....

Regards

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Decto

What an absolutely fantastic reply! Thank you for taking the time to do this. I am most grateful.

I only just skim read it and took onboard the te main ideas. I will analyse your reply in detail tomorrow when my brain has started working again.

:)
 
i like your sig effbee lol :P

this post strikes up a question to me. is cf faster than usb flash drives?

if there is not much difference id go for a usb passport drive for a hdd. they can be picked up for £60 on a 120 gig version.

i may also go for one of the tiny psu's from aopen http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=33&proid=150

this way it is all self contained :)

im considering building one to be a dvdplayer/local web dev server/backup serverbut need to read more into it.

Russ.
 
Regarding the chip - undervolting will have a greater effect on temps than underclocking. Undervolt as much as you can then underclock to reduce volts further.

Heat is clearly an issue in a quiet small PC.
 
Yep undervolting shaves quite a bit more off the temp than a raw mhz decrease. Have an Opteron 144 that does 2.4Ghz on a meager 1.15v in a sff pc, at stock speed and volts its about 15C hotter on load :) Its a wonder chip anyhow, does 3Ghz on 1.4125v :D so it handles the undervolt + overclock with ease :)
 
infernal said:
i like your sig effbee lol :P

this post strikes up a question to me. is cf faster than usb flash drives?

if there is not much difference id go for a usb passport drive for a hdd. they can be picked up for £60 on a 120 gig version.

i may also go for one of the tiny psu's from aopen http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=33&proid=150

this way it is all self contained :)

im considering building one to be a dvdplayer/local web dev server/backup serverbut need to read more into it.

Russ.

The limiting factor is often the memory speed.

By using a compact flash with an adaptor the system thinks it's a HDD so if you're running software that doesn't support USB then it's a good solution. Also I'd speculate that using USB generally requires more CPU cycles than ATA which may count in a low power system.

The liming speed factor is often the speed of the flash ram itself but with older or lower specified boards that don't support USB2 CFlash via IDE is definately faster.

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