Fanless, Exposed Case

[nageov3t]

ok, so I'm thinking about building a (mostly) fanless case. only fans I want to have are the CPU (AMD 2500 Barton, but possibly upgrading to an AMD64 in a few months), PSU, and graphics card fans (Radeon 9600).

anyone think this would be possible, assuming I had an exposed motherboard (ie: no solid case around it... just mounting it to a piece of wood, for example). hard drives and 5.25" drives would be equally exposed. ambient room temp would be about 65-75 degrees.

anyone have any experience with this? my big concerns are humidity, dust, and the other random hazards assosiated with having your motherboard exposed to the elements.

 

[Corporate Thug]

it would be very possible, you can even use a case and just leave the side panel off. i have a 1800+ @ 2.5 ghz and the only fan in that system is the stock AMD HSF

 

[Coquito]

Dust is sometimes a problem(shut down & use some canned air every other week or so), as are any people that may pass by(those that need to touch everything:|), but as long as the boards are secure & out of reach, you shouldn't have a problem.

Temperatures would be a little higher then a case with good airflow, simply because it would be stagnant. Humidity wouldn't be a problem, unless your living in a tropical climate(a case wouldn't even help much there).

Also, if the hds are of decent speed(7200+), you might have to put them in a cage & bolt that down.

All in all, you rig would look much like one of our crunchers over in the dc forums.


*edit* - Bah, link is down.

 

[0roo0roo]

i don't think its possible. they have this monster tower like passive heat pipe cooler.. probably reviewed at silentpc or whatever. and even that can't do all that much....it screws up when comps like a 2.8ghz p4 run at full load, even with case side off....

only truely fanless is the zalman giant heatsink case.

http://www.voodoopc.com/systems/f50.aspx

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
i don't think its possible. they have this monster tower like passive heat pipe cooler.. probably reviewed at silentpc or whatever. and even that can't do all that much....it screws up when comps like a 2.8ghz p4 run at full load, even with case side off....

only truely fanless is the zalman giant heatsink case.

http://www.voodoopc.com/systems/f50.aspx

we run a few fanless servers here at the office, but the server farm rooms are also kept at a constand 60 degrees :/

not trying to run a total fanless case, though. my mobo freaks out when there's no CPU fan plugged into the slot, so that fan is necessary, whether I like it or not.

 

[nageov3t]

***double post***

 

[RalfHutter]

It will work just fine. I run test systems like this all the time. There's a pic of one on this page. The CPU fan and PSU fan are the only fans in this system. Occasionally I blow the dust off of it.

 

[Fern]

Yeah, it's possible. In fact, you can buy 'em. It's called the "Lubic" See link

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: Fern
Yeah, it's possible. In fact, you can buy 'em. It's called the "Lubic" See link

hehe. thanks, Fern. you posted that same link in another thread, and that was what originally inspired me

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Undervolt the Barton, buy a fanless 9600, and you just cut your noise down a lot. Get a case that uses 120mm fans and a Silverstone PSU, and you're set.

- M4H

 

[GnomeCop]

have any of you had first hand experience with the silverstone psus? are they any good?