QuietPC Nofan Icepipe A40-Z68 Silent PC Review
Conclusion
Published: 17th April 2012 | Source: QuietPC | Price: £1200 |
Conclusion
Performance is obviously a secondary concern to the silence of the system. However if you have realistic expectations then you wont be disappointed. Even though the QuietPC rig makes no noise at all you still have plenty of power available to you for media streaming, net browsing, and even sensible gaming.
But the silence is the thing. It's unnerving. We're so used to fans spinning and hard-drives vibrating away, that to press the power button and find nothing at all changes really takes some getting used to. Even with the Windows desktop on your monitor you find yourself checking it is on, and that you aren't plugged in to some other tower somewhere. It's fantastic.
For anyone who obsesses about the noise in their system you can stop your endless quest for ever quieter fans, even better vibration damping etc etc. The word here is quieter though because they will never ever be truely silent. One would expect they'd need to sacrifice everything on the altar of silence, but not so with the QuietPC. All of our personal systems at OC3D come under the banner quiet or very quiet but late at night youll always be able to hear them but with the NoFan PC you cant and this is the difference between a very quiet rig and a truely silent system. Buy this and you get a well built system with a wise selection of parts, that no quibble two year warranty. Understandably there are faster systems out there, and certainly if you build your own you can save money, but if you absolutely must have silence then we heartily recommend the QuietPC Nofan Icepipe A40-Z68 Silent PC.
Thanks to QuietPC for supplying the Nofan system for review. Discuss in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
Would be good to see how far the cpu cooler could go....
Actually I think 86c is pushing it a bit already.....
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Originally Posted by FTLN
Nice review Tom,, You not gonna try any overcloking on it ??? Would be good to see how far the cpu cooler could go.... |
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Originally Posted by Firat
If it hits mid 70s @ stock, overclocked it will cook the CPU heatsink |
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Originally Posted by FTLN
Yep, but would be intresting to watch |
but almost zero noise level, except the sound from HDD (non SSD of course), optical drive i wonder how max temp this rig if it use a non "K" series intel CPU (sandy & Ivy) ?
And another question:
2600k + undervoltaging? Might be even cooler. Tom, you did test with stock voltage correct? You didn't try undervoltaging the CPU
Temps are still high for me, I suppose fanless computing is not really an option even now.
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Originally Posted by Neuromancer
Temps are still high for me, I suppose fanless computing is not really an option even now. |
I think that the point of this piece of tech / review is being missed. The review proves that fanless computing is an option and with what is a pretty high performance CPU. As always with stressing, you are never going to see those high temps with normal usage (When I run prime I see temps of 65o+, when running heavy audio computations my temps never go above 50o). This piece of kit (as the reviewer said) is for those who want a silent PC (not gamers I suspect). I use my rig for a lot of music production - 2600k O/C and WC with low rpm fans and it is very quiet but not silent so loved the review and the way that this tech is moving.
Great review Tom !!!
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Originally Posted by Carl A
No - Fanless 'High End Gaming' is not really an option now but this is a real step in the right direction. I think that the point of this piece of tech / review is being missed. The review proves that fanless computing is an option and with what is a pretty high performance CPU. As always with stressing, you are never going to see those high temps with normal usage (When I run prime I see temps of 65o+, when running heavy audio computations my temps never go above 50o). This piece of kit (as the reviewer said) is for those who want a silent PC (not gamers I suspect). I use my rig for a lot of music production - 2600k O/C and WC with low rpm fans and it is very quiet but not silent so loved the review and the way that this tech is moving. Great review Tom !!! |
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Originally Posted by Lys0l
fanless high end gaming is possible, you could get a massive fanless radiator unpractical but it can be done |
My experience is based on trying to cool an OC 2600k with a D5 and a BIG household rad (1m x 1.5m). It was ok (ish) when the ambient temps were low but once that liquid heated up the temps were not what I would call good. It was superb in the winter tho when it was mounted outside
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