Which CPU can go without fans?

[theplanb]

Ah, the question again
Yes, rather than look for 'silent' fan (there isn't any), I've decided to go without them.
I guess.. it's really down to celerons or cyrix chips..
(no, I don't know how to underclock nor do I want to. the reason being.. why would I pay for something that Im gonna cripple it anyway..)

Here are major contenders.

Via C3 733 (FSB133) CPU
Intel Celeron 800MHz CPU

Do you think they can do without active cooling (but with major passive heatsink)?

 

[optimistic]

I read on accelenation.com, Intel Tualatins can run with just the heatsink (no fan) with load temperatures of 107F.

update:
107F = 42C

and yes they are expensive. Ranging from $250-$300 USD for the 1.2GHz version.

 

[theplanb]

umm.. how much is 107F in degree c?
also, tualatins are so expensive..

 

[Budman]

486 DX33 can go without a fan or heatsink.

 

[theplanb]

o..k..

I heard there are 0.13 and 0.15 micron versins of C3 processors. Can somebody tell me which freq cpus will come with 0.13 micron core?

 

[Jhhnn]

Few of us know much of anything about modern cyrix chips, other than they're low-perf oem chips for super-budget boxes.

I would forget AMD, of course, and look for an Intel chip with 20 watts or less of heat dissipation. There's a nifty calculator at this site:

Benchtest.com

A P3-600 fcpga seems to be about right, putting out about 5w less heat than a celeron800 with similar overall performance... Undervolting it if possible will lower heat output further....

I'd try a Zalman flower sink(no fan), free-flowing case like an antec sx630, and a single panaflo L1a (Or similar) 80mm exhaust fan, maybe even at 7v. Replacing the stock psu fan with a panaflo can also further reduce noise....

 

[Def]

Since when is something like a 60mm 16dB ADDA fan offensive? I'd bet you'd be really hard pressed to hear that lil' puppy purring away.

If you do go with just a large heatsink, you will have to have fairly strong airflow in your case. IMO, living with ~16-18dB of total noise is not that bad for the trade off in going with a higher performance chip(i.e. the C3's suck).

 

[Bovinicus]

You should just get a real processor and use a 92mm to 60mm fan converter. They have ultra quiet 92mm fans. If your case is closed, I really doubt you will hear it. Also, the P4 can run without a heatsink/fan. The clockspeed will just be throttled down until it is at a safe operating temparature.

 

[Rand]

Via's C3 can run without any form of active cooling, some of the earlier PPGA Celeron's could do so.
The FCPGA Celeron's of up to about 600MHz could manage to do so.

The P4's could do so.... if you feel like letting them throttle down to about half their rated clockspeed
Still be pretty damn hot though, but they'll run.

You can try it with an 800MHz Celeron if you wish, but frankly I wouldnt bother with it.
For normal use it will likely work fine, but after prolonged use at 100% processor utilization it'll crash with no HSF.

The Tualatin's are even less likely then the 800MHz Celeron to be capable of running without active cooling.



<< I heard there are 0.13 and 0.15 micron versins of C3 processors. Can somebody tell me which freq cpus will come with 0.13 micron core? >>



Manufacturing Process Technology
0.13 Micron (800MHz and above)
0.15 Micron (667MHz - 750MHz)
0.18 Micron (500MHz - 700MHz)




Why not buy a NoiseControl Silverado? when set at 6V their very nearly dead silent, and even at that setting they would be enough to cool up to a T-Bird 1.2GHz or so...

 

[Avalanche007]

Haha I was going to say the samething BUDMAN

 

[theplanb]

The reason for not buying noise control silverado is simple. No one sells it in oz. And even if they did, the cost would be prohibitive for me.
I don't play games. The only thing I will do to push the cpu would be watching/backingup DVDs.

 

[Rand]

<< The reason for not buying noise control silverado is simple. No one sells it in oz. And even if they did, the cost would be prohibitive for me.
I don't play games. The only thing I will do to push the cpu would be watching/backingup DVDs. >>



The Via C3 is far from a high performance option, but it's cheap and runs extremely cool. With any sort of decent video card or hardware DVD decoder it'll do playback DVD's just fine.

 

[6thElement]

I used to run my 1G AXIA T-Bird with just a FOP32 HS, no fan.


I was running it at 1.25V though

 

[Retro2001]

My Duron 750 with the heatsink from a Volcano 2 on it will run just fine at 550 mhz @ 1.25v with no fan at all. Right now my 750 is running at 900 1.8v and the entire case has only 1 fan, a 120mm delta running at 5v. Fan blows in from the side onto the cpu and the case is sealed so the air has to go out over the PS heat sinks. Computers loudist noises come from the hard drives.

Peace Out,
Will