Looking for advice on passive cpu cooling

johnspack · Nov 7, 2012

I have a friend who's slowly putting together an htpc, and he wants silent. So I'm looking for a cpu cooler that will cool an E8400 at stock that won't be used for any gaming ect. He eventually wants to go 1155 and a better case, so I'll probably add a fan to it then. He was looking at the Silverstone HE-02, but from what I've seen it's about equal to a stock cooler when passive, and with fans it underperforms compared to many other coolers, including the HE-01! I'm thinking he should just get what I have, the NH-D14, and remove the fans for now. My choices are limited to what ncix.com (Canadian side) has. Any thoughts?

SaltyFish · Nov 7, 2012

http://www.nofancomputer.com/eng/

Try something from there? That's about as silent as you can get.

EDIT: I don't see it on NCIX, but you might be able to find it on another site. Noctua does make some pretty good quiet fans. The only other choice I can think of is one of Thermalright's massively giant "totally not compensating for anything" passive cooling blocks.

sneekypeet · Nov 7, 2012

not like you can hear the Noctua fans over a PSU or video card anyways, why bother removing them, just resist them down to 7.5V and let em go with their inline adapters

SaltyFish · Nov 7, 2012

http://www.quietpc.ca/

That ships to Canada and has some of the Nofan stuff I mentioned before. It's got other options too.

johnspack · Nov 7, 2012

sneekypeet said:
not like you can hear the Noctua fans over a PSU or video card anyways, why bother removing them, just resist them down to 7.5V and let em go with their inline adapters

Heh, I forgot it came with those! He wants it passive for now, because I had to slap together a system for him on the quick, and couldn't find the side panels. Currently, the only fan running is the psu one, and he hated that so bad he got me to get him a Silverstone Evo Gold 750, which is total overkill for his current system, but of course will be great for an 1155 ect system. Think I'll push him to get the D14, I'm certainly happy with mine on an oced 1st gen i7!

johnspack · Nov 7, 2012

Oh, and on a similar topic... kinda... he needs a passive cooled vid card, something that can do bluray. Need it to be cheap. He does not game at all. I don't know amd cards at all, and they look like the best bet for performance/price.

SaltyFish · Nov 7, 2012

johnspack said:
Oh, and on a similar topic... kinda... he needs a passive cooled vid card, something that can do bluray. Need it to be cheap. He does not game at all. I don't know amd cards at all, and they look like the best bet for performance/price.

Pick an innately silent Radeon HD7750:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161417
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131475

Or just pick whatever video card you want...
http://www.quietpcusa.com/Prolimatech-MK-26-Quiet-VGA-Cooler-P961C23.aspx

UbErN00b · Nov 7, 2012

You can find many CPU and GPU coolers that are passive, the thing is you still need a case with fans to provide airflow to remove the hot air from these components, so unfortunately you won't be able to go truly passive, that said if he is not overclocking and not gaming then you can go passive on the CPU and GPU and run low RPM case fans to achieve a somewhat silent rig.

Jetster · Nov 7, 2012

As long as you fans are 120 or bigger and you run them at 700rpm or less you wont hear a thing. The key is to slow your fans down with a controller. But you need quality fans

johnspack · Nov 7, 2012

The video card is really unimportant to him.. to a fault. He doesn't want to spent even 100 bucks on one. I will talk him into a better one eventually, but for now all he has is a rage3d pci card, I just need to replace it. I'm looking at either an hd5450 or a gt610. The 610 has a fan though, so I don't know. If he hears it, he'll be peed. But at say 30% speed, will it make any noise?

johnspack · Nov 7, 2012

Oops, I should mention he is adding a 200mm fan to the box for airflow, and actually wants a 2nd one as well.

Jetster · Nov 7, 2012

There are fanless models of the 610. But even the fan models don't make noise. At least the ones Ive heard

GIGABYTE GV-N610SL-1GI GeForce GT 610 1GB 64-bit D...

ZOTAC ZONE Edition ZT-60603-20L GeForce GT 610 1GB...

ASUS GT610-2GD3-CSM GeForce GT 610 2GB 64-bit DDR3...

Look at my HTPC. With the CPU fan it had in the pic I could hear it. I replaced it with the silverstone SILVERSTONE NT07-1156 90mm CPU Cooler and I cant hear anything now. I have to look and the light on front to see if its running. So its the quality of fan that in important

Norton · Nov 7, 2012

Here's a passive 6670 for under $100 (6670's are pretty decent performers- installed one in a friends pc (a model with a fan) and it's running fine... very snappy for a budget card)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102950&Tpk=100326UL

johnspack · Nov 7, 2012

Yep, your right Jetster, found the fanless 610s.... think I'll try to get him to get one. I'm just much more used to dealing with nvidia cards. For 50can, I'm sure it'll play videos. He doesn't even have a bluray yet, he just does youtube and audio, so it should be more than enough.

Jetster · Nov 8, 2012

The 420, 520, 610 are all very similar. Any of them would work. Same with the 5450, 6450. Will play everything without issues. The 210 would e even work but the210 wont bit stream HD audio like the others. He could underclock the E8400 a bunch and not loose any snappiness. I think I paid $60 for my 6770 on sale. It also is a nice card and will play games like Minecraft

cdawall · Nov 8, 2012

Run the D14 without fans if he doesn't like the temps put one fan on it with the inline resistor or run it on PWM with the mobo.

As for the video card

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161409

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161408

Take your pick.

TRWOV · Nov 8, 2012

I used a Cooler Master Gemini II with no fan to cool my E5800 (same TDP as the 8400) in my old HTPC setup.

Had it for about two years running with no issues.

johnspack · Nov 8, 2012

He commited to the D14 thank god. I think it will rock... now I have to get him to buy a video card, which he's hesitant about. He doesn't understand a gt610 will rock a rage3d card. He has a 42" widescreen lcd tv. Arg...

cdawall · Nov 8, 2012

To bad you can't get him to just run an APU. Would be so much simpler.

johnspack · Nov 8, 2012

Yeah, I've tried to talk to him about that. Might still be able to go for it. Current system is just a temp. He kind of wants an i5 2500 or there abouts. He is a work in progress.....

System Name	System2 Blacknet , System1 Blacknet2
Processor	System2 Threadripper 1920x, System1 2699 v3
Motherboard	System2 Asrock Fatality x399 Professional Gaming, System1 Asus X99-A
Cooling	System2 Noctua NH-U14 TR4-SP3 Dual 140mm fans, System1 AIO
Memory	System2 64GBS DDR4 3000, System1 32gbs DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	System2 GTX 980Ti System1 GTX 970
Storage	System2 4x SSDs + NVme= 2.250TB 2xStorage Drives=8TB System1 3x SSDs=2TB
Display(s)	2x 24" 1080 displays
Case	System2 Some Nzxt case with soundproofing...
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar U7 MKII
Power Supply	System2 EVGA 750 Watt, System1 XFX XTR 750 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Manjaro, Windows 10, Kubuntu 23.10
Benchmark Scores	It's linux baby!

Processor	Intel Core 2 QX6850
Motherboard	ABIT AB9 Pro
Cooling	Zalman CNPS-9900 MAX-R
Memory	Patriot PDC24G6400LLK (4x 2 GB)
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Light Turbo
Storage	Not Enough!
Display(s)	Samsung T240HD
Case	NZXT Zero
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Power Supply	Thortech Thunderbolt Plus TTBPK00G 1000W
Mouse	Elecom M-DUX70BK
Keyboard	CM Storm Trigger (Cherry MX Brown)
Software	NOT Windows 10

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

Processor	Intel Core 2 QX6850
Motherboard	ABIT AB9 Pro
Cooling	Zalman CNPS-9900 MAX-R
Memory	Patriot PDC24G6400LLK (4x 2 GB)
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Light Turbo
Storage	Not Enough!
Display(s)	Samsung T240HD
Case	NZXT Zero
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Power Supply	Thortech Thunderbolt Plus TTBPK00G 1000W
Mouse	Elecom M-DUX70BK
Keyboard	CM Storm Trigger (Cherry MX Brown)
Software	NOT Windows 10

System Name	System2 Blacknet , System1 Blacknet2
Processor	System2 Threadripper 1920x, System1 2699 v3
Motherboard	System2 Asrock Fatality x399 Professional Gaming, System1 Asus X99-A
Cooling	System2 Noctua NH-U14 TR4-SP3 Dual 140mm fans, System1 AIO
Memory	System2 64GBS DDR4 3000, System1 32gbs DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	System2 GTX 980Ti System1 GTX 970
Storage	System2 4x SSDs + NVme= 2.250TB 2xStorage Drives=8TB System1 3x SSDs=2TB
Display(s)	2x 24" 1080 displays
Case	System2 Some Nzxt case with soundproofing...
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar U7 MKII
Power Supply	System2 EVGA 750 Watt, System1 XFX XTR 750 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Manjaro, Windows 10, Kubuntu 23.10
Benchmark Scores	It's linux baby!

Looking for advice on passive cpu cooling

johnspack

Here For Good!

SaltyFish

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

SaltyFish

johnspack

Here For Good!

johnspack

Here For Good!

SaltyFish

UbErN00b

New Member

Jetster

johnspack

Here For Good!

johnspack

Here For Good!

Jetster

Norton

Moderator - Returning from the Darkness

johnspack

Here For Good!

Jetster

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

TRWOV

johnspack

Here For Good!

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

johnspack

Here For Good!

System Name	le me gaming and porn rig!!
Processor	2500k
Motherboard	GA-Z68X-UD3-b3
Cooling	Air baby!
Memory	8GB 2000mhz dual channel
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Vapor X HD 7950 3GB
Storage	Corsair Force 3 240GB & 2TB HDD
Display(s)	Catleap 1440p ;)
Case	CM Storm Sniper
Audio Device(s)	HUD-MX1 headphone amp/DAC
Power Supply	Corsair TX750

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Main PC- Gamer- Main Cruncher/Folder and too many crunching/folding rigs
Processor	Ryzen 5900X- Ryzen 5950X- Ryzen 3950X and etc...
Motherboard	Asrock X570 Extreme4- MSI X570S Tomahawk MAX WiFi- MSI B450M Bazooka Max and etc...
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S (dual fan)- EK 360 AIO with push/pull fans- Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT and etc...
Memory	2x16GB GSkill FlareX 3200/c14- 4x8GB Corsair Vengeance 3600/c16- 2x16GB Team 3600/c18 and etc..
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming RX 6800- Asus RTX 3070 TUF OC- MSI Ventus GTX 1660Ti and etc...
Storage	Main PC (1TB WD SN850- 2TB PNY CS 3040- 2TB Seagate Firecuda) and etc...
Display(s)	Main PC (2x24" Dell UltraSharp U2414H)
Case	Phanteks P600s- Seasonic Q704- Fractal Meshify C and etc...
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z625 THX 2.1 speakers
Power Supply	EVGA 750 G3- SeaSonic DGC 750- EVGA P2 850 and etc...
Mouse	G300s
Keyboard	Corsair K65
VR HMD	N/A
Software	Windows 10 Pro or Ubuntu
Benchmark Scores	Why sit on the Bench when you can get in the game and Crunch!!!

System Name	All the cores
Processor	2990WX
Motherboard	Asrock X399M
Cooling	CPU-XSPC RayStorm Neo, 2x240mm+360mm, D5PWM+140mL, GPU-2x360mm, 2xbyski, D4+D5+100mL
Memory	4x16GB G.Skill 3600
Video Card(s)	(2) EVGA SC BLACK 1080Ti's
Storage	2x Samsung SM951 512GB, Samsung PM961 512GB
Display(s)	Dell UP2414Q 3840X2160@60hz
Case	Caselabs Mercury S5+pedestal
Audio Device(s)	Fischer HA-02->Fischer FA-002W High edition/FA-003/Jubilate/FA-011 depending on my mood
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime 1200w
Mouse	Thermaltake Theron, Steam controller
Keyboard	Keychron K8
Software	W10P

System Name	Dell-y Driver
Processor	Core i5-10400
Motherboard	Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling	Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory	2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	UHD 630
Storage	1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Dell 220w
Software	Windows 10 64bit