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My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

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Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#61

Post by Koshkin »

bullen wrote: post #48
ehnto wrote: post #9

I have my PC setup to be fanless for the majority of tasks, except for gaming pretty much. With a massive CPU heatsink I can tune fan profiles to only turn on when nearing a maximum temperature. I run the equipment fairly hot, in other words. My fan curve is just one giant step, with hysteresis so they don't cycle on and off near that step temp. I am likely trading some component lifetime for silence, but it's a trad…

I put downvolted fans that are inaudible on my passive setups. That way I get both silence and longevity. The added benefit that if the fan dies the hardware lives. My thumb rule for temperatures is if you can hold your finger on it indefinitely it's cool enough.

Nice. This is one of the cases where “the rule of thumb” can be understood (almost) literally.

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#62

Post by Macha »

BrotherBisquick wrote: post #55
frou_dh wrote: post #18

Something I've learned from discussing computer hardware informally online over the years is that people have vastly different standards for what it means for fans to be "silent" in use. So much so that it's hardly worth discussing, because someone will insist that such and such fan or actively-cooled device is silent, and then you buy it and it sounds like crap. I suspect it's "Cloth Ears" in many cases.

This happens with eyeballs as well as ears. Witness people who don't notice screen tearing in X11, or people who don't mind (or even prefer!) Windows font rendering.

The people who prefer Apple's or Window's font rendering are able to observe it so that's much more subjective preference compared to people who are literally unable to hear e.g. an x570 chipset fan and claim their system is silent

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#63

Post by eMSF »

frou_dh wrote: post #18

Something I've learned from discussing computer hardware informally online over the years is that people have vastly different standards for what it means for fans to be "silent" in use. So much so that it's hardly worth discussing, because someone will insist that such and such fan or actively-cooled device is silent, and then you buy it and it sounds like crap. I suspect it's "Cloth Ears" in many cases.

PCs usually aren't completely silent under load anyway (at least none that I've owned). No fan is silent at nominal voltage (and unmodulated) but when slowed down to a low enough RPM they can easily be less audible than GPU coils, many monitors, powered on speakers, room lighting, ... (and "more silent" than a powerful PC's static parts under load).

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#64

Post by jgillich »

BrotherBisquick wrote: post #55
frou_dh wrote: post #18

Something I've learned from discussing computer hardware informally online over the years is that people have vastly different standards for what it means for fans to be "silent" in use. So much so that it's hardly worth discussing, because someone will insist that such and such fan or actively-cooled device is silent, and then you buy it and it sounds like crap. I suspect it's "Cloth Ears" in many cases.

This happens with eyeballs as well as ears. Witness people who don't notice screen tearing in X11, or people who don't mind (or even prefer!) Windows font rendering.

True, I have never in my life noticed screen tearing, X11 or otherwise.

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#65

Post by joshspankit »

BrotherBisquick wrote: post #55
frou_dh wrote: post #18

Something I've learned from discussing computer hardware informally online over the years is that people have vastly different standards for what it means for fans to be "silent" in use. So much so that it's hardly worth discussing, because someone will insist that such and such fan or actively-cooled device is silent, and then you buy it and it sounds like crap. I suspect it's "Cloth Ears" in many cases.

This happens with eyeballs as well as ears. Witness people who don't notice screen tearing in X11, or people who don't mind (or even prefer!) Windows font rendering.

Or people who argued that “the eye can’t see more than 60fps”

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#66

Post by Havoc »

I don't super care about my desktop, but spent significant premiums to keep my home server stuff fan-less since that is 24/7.

Needs to be silent when I'm sleeping. When using the desktop I've got music and headphones going anyway

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#67

Post by eMSF »

haunter wrote: post #11

Nice! My brother made a fanless gaming PC and it’s pretty nice. Sadly GTX 1650 was the last GPU available with a passive cooler [0]. So sooner or later it will be EOL. Afaik no RTX card was ever released with a passive cooler 0, https://www.palit.com/palit/vgapro.php?id=3494

You'd gave to be quite lucky to buy a high-power GPU like that which, under load, wouldn't have coil whine significantly louder than quiet case fans. (GPU fans usually aren't that quiet even at lowest operating speeds but these days 0rpm modes on low loads are pretty much a standard feature.)

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#68

Post by favadi »

joshspankit wrote: post #65
BrotherBisquick wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happens with eyeballs as well as ears. Witness people who don't notice screen tearing in X11, or people who don't mind (or even prefer!) Windows font rendering.

Or people who argued that “the eye can’t see more than 60fps”

Or people who argued that "4k is pointless, you can't see the different with 2k anw".

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#69

Post by xorcist »

chx wrote: post #50

One small note: HDPlex has a 250W GaN PSU which is also fanless and shockingly compact. https://hdplex.com/hdplex-fanless-250w-gan-aio-atx-psu.html it is also moduler and supports chaining. Altogether a very very interesting brand new product.

Are they still in business? Their last blog update was two and a half years ago, and most if not all of their products are out of stock?

I have the first generation of their cases still in use and it's absolutely rock solid quality. But seeing the activity on their forum and web shop go down I'm not sure I can recommend them anymore.

Re: My Fanless OpenBSD Desktop (2021)

#70

Post by Gigachad »

formerly_proven wrote: post #23
frou_dh wrote: post #18

Something I've learned from discussing computer hardware informally online over the years is that people have vastly different standards for what it means for fans to be "silent" in use. So much so that it's hardly worth discussing, because someone will insist that such and such fan or actively-cooled device is silent, and then you buy it and it sounds like crap. I suspect it's "Cloth Ears" in many cases.

I think it's not just different standards (quiet = "I can't hear it when blasting Call of Duty at an unhealthy volume") but likely the prevalence of hearing damage. A 30 dB noise is way less noticeable if your threshold of hearing is in the 10-30 dB range instead of the -10 to 10 dB range. Likewise the ability of people to perceive separate noises simultaneously differs. (Likewise many people say they can't hear the…

Half the time it’s because their AirPods are gummed up with earwax and it actually is too quiet.
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