Sick of the noise of your system? We take a look at a totally passive system courtesy of QuietPC

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Nice review Tom,, You not gonna try any overcloking on it ???

Would be good to see how far the cpu cooler could go....

Actually I think 86c is pushing it a bit already.....

If it hits mid 70s @ stock, overclocked it will cook the CPU heatsink

Quite a smart looking pc.....................nice review

Yep, but would be intresting to watch

Definatly!

The release of the magic blue smoke isn't the most exciting thing in the world. Plus with the tight financial times and our desire to always get you the freshest content, the ability to not blow up hardware is about the most vital quality of a reviewer.

wow i5 2500K 86C max temps.. that's close to toast bro 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) ?

Damn that case is ugly, I like the concept of a fully passive and silent PC though.

I think jet engines are cool

How much better do you suppose this would work on a I7-2600S or the (yet to be released) 3770S which have a lower TDP then The 2600K or 2500K?

As always nice review, I really like that CPU cooler it looks amazing, I don't really of the aesthetics of the case, but looks a good unit for those users wanting a silent system.

that's a strange looking cooler

I build a Silent Rig a while ago. Used a I7 2600S for lower temps, there is a HD6850 out there that is passivly cooled that i used, got a passiv cooled PSU. It had a SSD and a Western Digital Caviar Green (only part in the rig that made noise). Was amazing to not hear the pc. You can get a nice and silent rig if you want and still be able to play your games. There is a GTS450 out too wich is passiv-cooled. Get two of those and you have enough power for gaming too.

just out of interest what is the highest recommended core temp on a 2500k ? i bloody get twitchy if any of my core's go above 68oc on mine

Pretty nice. Though cant imagine youd need to take it anywhere, so maybe a more open case would have worked nicer?

This computer is very interesting indeed. But I wonder about one thing. Do you guys think that this rig could possibly become a dust magnet without dust filters?

And another question:

2600k + undervoltaging? Might be even cooler. Tom, you did test with stock voltage correct? You didn't try undervoltaging the CPU

With no fans I doubt it will be a "dust magnet" and filters would impede the natural convection of the cooler.

Temps are still high for me, I suppose fanless computing is not really an option even now.

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 !!!

fanless high end gaming is possible, you could get a massive fanless radiator unpractical but it can be done

True, sorry I should have qualified the statement a little bit better but I am thinking that the majority of people would require something on the reasonably small side. You would need a seriously big passive rad to dissipate let's say in the region of 1000w. I would be glad to be proved wrong though

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