Yeah, that is what I'm afraid of. The average user will not notice that the CPU runs a few hundred MHz lower. So it will always look like it works fine. I have an i7700K and I ripped all my DVDs, which takes a few hours each. Originally I had a 92mm cooler, and it would jump between 4,000 and 4,200 MHz on all 4 cores. Then i added a 120mm cooler, and it runs at 4,400 MHz on all 4 cores for hours (no OC, this is an H170 board). The thing is, in both cases the PC is usable and if I wasn't a nerd who looks at clock speed, I would not have noticed a difference besides a rip taking a few minutes more or less.
Exactly. Newer hardware run extremely well when thermally throttled, gradually reducing clock speed until temps stabilize. If it happens only occasionally of course, it's not big a deal, but becomes a problem when throttling affects day to day tasks, this, however mostly happens on newer laptops, though (NB. Desktop
> Laptop any day). Stock Intel 4c/8t CPUs are easy on VRMs, it's ok to pair them with cheapo 3+1 boards.
And the capacitors et al will last the one-year warranty... I'd like to hear from an actual user of such case what their clock speeds under load are and what longevity is. I doubt the CPU will ever break, but all the board elements and RAM need cooling.
Doing so 24/7 of course not good long term but should easily last the warranty period. Usually the board craps out first anyway. I have killed several boards doing thermal tests, but never a modern CPU. Make sure, the board on Auto settings doesn't give cpu more voltage than necessary, though (it's a good idea to apply a small undervolt in this case). Heat and voltage don't mix well together.
In my case the HDD is the last remaining loud element.
Even the newer ones are fairly audible, during parking/unparking/seeking operations. 2.5" hdds are much quieter in this regard, you want to try one of those, if you are not ready to exclusively move to solid state storage just yet.
And I'm convinced my fanless PSU makes some noise
It can only make electrical noise, depending on load. Varies sample to sample. Don't worry about it, it's a very quality piece of hardware, especially under lower loads! Saving up electricity is always a good thing.
. the fans,.... inaudible. and for the cost of that passive cooler you can get a 140mm Noctua cooler and have low noise, and a LOT of cooling capacity if you need it. I think the passive PC is more an "accomplishment" thing than an actual need.
Spot on. It's always best to invest in some higher quality
be quiet! /
Noctua cooling instead. I've done passive builds, but they turn out to be a bit expensive
and still very limited in processing power. It is much better to build a quiet computer instead, so you have flexibility in both, processing power and noise.