mITX HTPC. Have E8400 with active cooling...want passive

[ice91785]

Short n sweet....is there any passive HS that i would be able to put on a E8400 and still watch BDs without a hitch? Onboard graphics so a lot of rendering is done by the CPU (usually at around ~60-70% load with HD playback..). I have a limit of 2.5" worth of space for a 3rd party cooler. The stock HSF is about 2.5' so i am at my max right now size-wise

Alternatively (if such a thing is not possible with the E8400) what would be a LGA775 CPU I would be able to purchase that would be fine with passive cooling and still have the horsepower to render HD media?

 

[ArchAngel777]

Truly passive? As in, no case fans at all? That is an extremely difficult thing to do with the size, space and power requirements. I think it can be done, but you will need to underclock and undervolt.

My first suggestion is to clock is down to the 1.6Ghz range, then undervolt as low as possible, disable CEIST, and SPEEDSTEP. Do a trial run, watching the temps closely. Ultimately, if you are seeking a truly passive setup, the heatsink will not make to much of a difference in this scenario, as you have space and size issues. If you could have a real large heatsink with fins reaching far out, that is another story. But since we are dealing with a confined space with basically no air flow the options are limited to us reducing the wattage output of the CPU. Best way to do that is undervolt as far as possible and underclock as far as possible to the point where it will still be to perform the functions. Be interested to see if you succeed.

 

[ice91785]

noted...I will have to look into software over/underclocking solutions (I normally use the BIOS but the board is locked). I have never really used 3rd party software solutions for overclocking other than ATItool back in the day.....

Second, do you have an suggestions for a super-quiet HSF to replace the stock? Again one that is less than 2.5" tall?

I know I am asking quite a bit but I have researched a bit and having no luck at all....so I thought that maybe some experts would help me think outside the box perhaps

 

[Scottae]

http://www.frozencpu.com/produ...7LP.html?tl=g40c14s578

2.08 inches tall.. so should work

or

http://www.frozencpu.com/produ...754.html?tl=g40c14s578
2.51 inches tall i have this on my E8400

 

[ice91785]

The AC cool with fan = 92 mm which is about an inch more than 2.5"

the other is promising though...i might bite

 

[Scottae]

umm look at specs 53 mm which is 2.08 inches,

 

[Scottae]

that is with fan not plus fan....look closer

 

[ice91785]

Yes I see it now...so its kind of a conundrum at this point.

I would prefer the Scythe but it seems a titch tall (3 MM taller than my current cooling solution which is already touching the PSU).

I don't mind the look of the AC cooler -- I think it may be the route i'd end up taking; however I would still like to undervolt the crap outta the CPU; what is a good software solution for overclocking/underclocking?

 

[Scottae]

good question on the locked mobo anyway to trade down Processors? I have the same one in my HTPC and in my entertainment center it gets hot... oh here is one more i found
http://www.frostytech.com/arti...iew.cfm?articleID=2275

well Good Luck


looks like performance on it is a bit worse than intel stock...with 150 load test

 

[ice91785]

Thanks for the suggestions bud....now hopefully someone can reply with software overclocking solutions

 

[Denithor]

What motherboard do you have?

Gigabyte offers EasyTune and Abit has uGuru. Asus I think has something similar.

Something like this might work also.

 

[ice91785]

Its an intel board....with a 32-bit version of Windows Home Server

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: ice91785
Thanks for the suggestions bud....now hopefully someone can reply with software overclocking solutions

CrystalCPUID will most likely help on your underclocking - and if you get lucky, overclocking (not sure how it may work with Windows Home Server, however)

Would something like an HD2400pro that off-loads H.264/VC-1 decoding from the cpu help ??

 

[ice91785]

It most certainly would, but all I have is an x1 expansion slot on the mITX mobo....

I will have a look at CrystalCPUID on my next day off and see if it works out for me -- I appreciate it heyhey. In the meantime, others are welcome to suggest more!! haha

 

[Binky]

My HTPC is running an E8400 that is almost passive with a mini Ninja ("minja") cooler in a semi-enclosed space. I'm sure it could run passvie, but I leave an 80mm fan blowing on it at about 5-6v. I never see temps above maybe 55C but I'm using a 2600XT to decode the blu-ray. Good luck on finding pure passive with 2.5 inches of space. That's a very tight space!

RMclock is pretty good for changing the multipliers on the fly based on CPU usage. It can also be used to lock the multiplier down at the lower end to underclock.

 

[nerp]

Just get insanely awesome passive coolers and get one silent 120mm fan to cycle the air slowly out of a nicely designed case. Use a fan controller to ramp the fan down to silent levels.