[003]

I want to build a TOTALLY silent (other than hard drive, of course) and compact PC to act as a digital transport ONLY. My main PC sounds like a blow dryer and even with headphone on and playing music, I can hear it's fans.

So I need a silent one for storing and outputting a digital signal ONLY. I will put the Juli@ in my main PC into the silent one and buy an X-fi (or auzentech) for my main PC, and use it for games.

Now I just noticed something amazing on newegg. MINI ITX. A TINY motherboard (6.7" x 6.7"), with integrated CPU and graphics. AND it's fanless.

Well, only problem is I need a case for it. Newegg only has THREE mini ITX cases, and the are not really small or geared to quiet operation.

I need a mini itx case that will fit:

(1) Optical drive. Full size or one of the compact ones, as long as it fits and works. Does not need to be a burner. Must read CDs and preferably DVDs as well.

(1) 3.5" hard drive

(1) 512mb ram stick

And it must fit my ESI Juli@ PCI sound card.

Also, I want a fanless power supply. Can either come with the case or be a seperate buy.

Can anybody help me find a case that will meet these requirements?

Oh, it goes without saying it must fit the motherboard as well.

 

[Nospam]

What about just putting it in the closet? Use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so you only need the video cable to come from the closet. Then, use an Airport Express to stream wirelessly to a DAC.

 

[justin2net]

check xtremesystems, somebody just did one with a e4300 i think.

definitely slot load cd/dvd, but good reliable readers dont come in compact nor slim.

3.5 inch only goes to 200 gigs, not enough. raid two t7k500 drives.
NEVER USE CRAPPY POWER SUPPLIES! warning! nor antec (recent article points to antec). corsair i think has a fanless, so does zalman and thermaltake.

 

[werdwerdus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin2net /img/forum/go_quote.gif 3.5 inch only goes to 200 gigs,

fail. 3.5 inches goes to at least 750 GB. Actually I think they just came out with 1 TB on a 3.5 inch drive.

I second the idea for putting in the closet or another room. You could even use remote desktop or VNC to have no wires running it if you have wireless network.

 

[kvant]

You might look at some fanless mini-ITX cases made by Serener (and sold by logicsupply.com, for instance). Some of those would certainly fit your requirements, but they are quite pricey, at least for my measures.

 

[Trippytiger]

Odds are that you're going to need at least one fan, even if you're using these so-called fanless components. The reality is that, while they don't require active cooling, the heat dissipated from them needs to go somewhere. If you don't have a case fan, it's just going to build up in the case and eventually overheat your whole system.

The upside is that you don't really need a lot of airflow for that sort of thing. A nice slow 120mm fan will do the job nicely and silently. I have an old slimline P!!! Compaq system that I'm running with a single (albeit noisy) 80mm fan, and the temperatures are all kept nicely in check.

EDIT: I'll mention that, as far as hard drives go, Samsung recently released some new ones that they claim are super-quiet and designed especially with low-noise requirements of media computers in mind. Worth a look.

 

[jtizzle]

Rather than try to build an esoteric system using a gucci mobo and case, why not concentrate your efforts on building a comp out of normal parts using really quiet fans? If you are not going to be doing anything besides pushing a harddrive and an audio card, cooling is going to be a piece of cake using low revolution silent fans.

I just built a smokin' Athlon 64 gaming/media center pc complete with 2 gigs of ram and a hot rod video card in a media center case and it is both cool and dead silent. I mean *dead* silent. All you have to do is replace all the stock case/chip/card fans with silent aftermarket fans and choose a power supply that makes no noise. You will be surprised at how cheap the aftermarket fans are, how readily available they are, and how quiet the thing is when you turn it on.

There are a lot of resources out there to help you with choosing your parts.

This is but one example among many: http://www.endpcnoise.com/

If you want me to be more specific with the particular fans I used, just let me know...

 

[cyberspyder]

1. Check out SPCR.
2. Don't go on XS for silent computing advice---they don't care about noise.
3. Pick out a regular system---it's MUCH easier to silence a standard case, than a mini-ITX.

Here's my suggestion:

-Antec SOLO (with Acoustipack treatment)
-2X Samsung T-series HDs
-Intel C2D e6600
-Scythe Ninja (passive)
-120mm Yate Loon (undervolted to 7V for exhaust)
-92mm Nexus (undervolted to 7V for front)
-Your soundcard
-Your DVD burner
-2GB Crucial DDR2-800 ram
-Asus P5B-PLUS
-Gigabyte 8600GT (passive)
-Corsair HX520W PSU
*All found at the egg

Brendan

 

[Ubel]

I myself would go with one of those Mini-ATX boards and just build a case, out of some nice Oak, Maple or something.

Get a nice soundcard or whatever, just make sure you have room. You won't need hardly any CPU power for audio, heck you could prolly make that system stream video too.
As suggested just use a nice quality 120mm fan. Very quiet.

Joseph

 

[werdwerdus]

heh I found this Totally Noiseless Mini-ATX case
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/...u=tnn_300.html

$629 though

 

[Wodgy]

Keep in mind that the currently available 500gb and up 3.5 inch hard drives are all moderately loud (on the order of a small fan when idle). This may or may not bother you.

If you want the total capacity in a more silent package, go with two Samsung Spinpoints or two Seagate 7200.9 series. Alternatively, consider putting a small drive in your main machine and a higher capacity NAS in the closet. Simple NAS-capable enclosures go for under $90 these days.

 

[003]

Thanks guys I will check out these suggestions after I get home today.

cyberspyder:
That is WAAAAY overkill for what I am doing.

 

[sgprater]

Funny, I was just researching this myself yesterday. Have you checked out the MiniITX site directly? They have cases for sale, as well as prebuilt fanless components that do exactly what you want.

http://www.mini-itx.com/

They're pricey, though. I think I'm just going to recycle an old laptop I have gathering dust in a corner.

 

[Lord Chaos]

Zalman's TNN-300 case is cooled by passive convection and heatpipes to the hot components. No fans at all. I have its big brother and like it a lot. Zalman makes things well. I'd buy a TNN-300 based computer but I'm going the other way: a Mac Mini with an offboard hard disk. The Mini uses a Conroe chip and is no louder than a hard disk by itself, and it has digital output so no sound card is needed. I haven't bought it yet because I'm waiting to see what Apple does in the next six months with upgrades.

 

[justin2net]

ahh yes sorry. i thought you were talking about laptop drives.