Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?) - Austria

[Gordo74]

Re: Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?)

Just a thought. If staying small is of absolute importance.
How about the Antec Silent mATX case? I can barely hear the ATX one. I hear the refridgerator more then the computer.

Any of the small cases are going to be silent these days. It's personal preference.

 

[Solidww]

Re: Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?)

Gordo74, your correct Antec 300 isn't too much louder. Some ears are very sensitive. Hence, why I went with a Antec P180. Now, the Mrs. can sleep while I work late editing during crunch times.

 

[haylun98]

Re: Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?)

Fractal design has just launch a new case for mini itx Node 304. It has minimal design has can accommodate ATX PSU. it can take full size graphic card and CPU cooler upto 165mm in height.

This is my recipe for my silent bedroom hackintosh:
65w CPU
Scythe Ninja 3 fanless mode CPU cooler @160mm tall
Nasteq semi fanless modular PSU
Asus ATI EAH6670 fanless 1GB GPU (custom Kext + AtiConfig=Pethicia)
SSD
External BluRay drive (disconnect when not needed so no sleep problem and no random access no annoying led light when not in use)
Use the optional 120mm Slipstream fan comes with Ninja 3 on case @550rpm

The PSU fan never spin up even when transcoding video. To hear anything from the system I have press a ear against the case. It sitting position it's as if it not there. Sometime I even press power button thinking its off.

Now I can only hear my LCD when I sit too close.

 

[thierry37]

Re: Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?)

Thanks for the suggestions but Antec 300 or P180 look too big for my purpose: a silent macMini-like.
And I'm only going to stick 1 SSD inside. Maybe 1 HDD also.

But you made me look again for what is available around here.
I can see on amazon the Antec ISK serie. Like the 310-150
"only" 150W but I guess it's enough for one SSD without GPU.

It has a fan on the casing, but I would expect "real" silence from Antec design.
It costs 85€ instead of 60€ for the 2 previous small casings.

Another contender. Silverstone SG05B
This one looks higher and comes with 300W PSU
I'll have a closer look tomorrow from a bigger screen. (not easy on iPad ;-)
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B001VII9IU/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

 

[Solidww]

Re: Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?)

I was talking about the P180's little brother. Still a good computer case that is virtually silent.

 

[thierry37]

Re: Buidling a CustoMac Mini (silent? dual monitor?)

Fractal design has just launch a new case for mini itx Node 304.

Really nice looking and bit bigger. (cubic form) But not (yet?) available around here in Austria. http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=94
Funny, their logo looks just like SilverStone that I was talking yesterday.

I think I'll go with the SilverStone SG05 or SG06. (which are available on amazon.at for 100 euros)

Bit higher (18cm) than the Thermaltek Q Element or the JCP (13cm) (which were also bit cheaper, around 60€)

But like this, I hope it will be easier for the CPU fan and allow me for possible upgrades.
I also hope for a better cooling, better silence.

Solidww, still the "mini" P180 is too big for my setting.

SG05 and SG06 look similar. The front fan is directly visible on SG05, whereas the SG06 has a front panel. I guess it's designed to hide the fan and maybe to make it more silent.
At the same time, it must divert the airflow from a direct entry to the side vents.

Do you have experience on your cases? What's your opinion? I see the side air entries on most of tower casings.

By choosing the SilverStone, I'm moving away from my original idea: "silence = fanless"
But my hack-mini would not heat too much with just the PSU, mobo and SSD. I guess these fans would run at the lowest speed (and hopefully would not be audible).


Edit: Funny again !
I'm still reading a lot around TonyMac website, to learn as much as possible.
I was wondering if the SilverStone are good brand, good choice, etc..
Hum hum... I just found that it was the recommendation on the CustoMac Mini 2010 ! Lol.
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.co.at/2010/12/building-customac-customac-mini.html

 

[Solidww]

Glad that mini P180 has been decided on.

A buddy of mine uses those SilverStones all the time. He was able to get a Corsair H50 to mount where the original front fan was. I haven't seen it but know he did it. How silent they will be I don' t know. Actually, when I was going to build a new machine he was the one that suggested the larger case. He said traditionally larger cases are just quieter and stay cooler.

I don't know what else to really suggest. Have you seen that small Mac Tower look a like? It was posted on here about a week ago and seems to be a wonderful tower for your purpose. viewtopic.php?f=277&t=61761

Check that out. That promises to be amazing.
I would get it just to be cool. But, cool isn't always going to get the job done.

 

[HannesH]

I just got the InterTech ITX-901 (from Cyberport), using it with an i3-2125 with stock cooler and an Crucial m4 + 5400rpm HDD.

The case is really cheap and comes with an 300W PSU; I'm really happy with mine so far (admittedly, only a couple of days in).
I'm still thinking about upgrading the case and am eyeing one of the fan less Streacom ones (FC8 in particular); however, they're extremely pricey and I didn't want to spend that money right now.

While I technically can hear the fans on it (not sure whether it's the PSU or CPU), it's really anything but noisy; when I'm watching video, I can't hear the fans over that.

However, since it's a Mini-ITX case, I'm using it with a Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 which is kind of hard to get by now; when I got it from Amazon, they had only 3 or 5 left, although they seem to be back in stock again.

At a price of around 50 euros (including PSU) I'd say you can hardly go wrong there; if you end up not liking it, there's not a lot of money lost.

 

[Going Bald]

You might try one of these if you want to go fanless: http://www.logicsupply.de/cases/fanless-cases/

 

[thierry37]

Haaaa guys... I was getting into my choice of the SG06 and now you make me think again about these nice fanless small boxes...

Have you seen that small Mac Tower look a like?

Yes, I'm following that topic too. It looks really great but it's too big for me. I won't need so many space inside. (Even the construction is really clever, with the separate PSU, etc.)

I just got the InterTech ITX-901 (from Cyberport),
...
I'm still thinking about upgrading the case and am eyeing one of the fan less Streacom ones (FC8 in particular); however, they're extremely pricey and I didn't want to spend that money right now.

Thanks for the tip and for the links to Austrian web shop. I don't have a lot of these and it's good to compare. Cyberport is good?
(Are you in Austria?)

The Streacom are crazy great. All aluminium. I don't want to see the price.
Is it a heatsink for the processor, directly connected to the chassis?

You might try one of these if you want to go fanless: http://www.logicsupply.de/cases/fanless-cases/

Thanks also for the link. (I don't think they deliver to Austria, though. But it's some other options to look at)