Hi there.
I tried to find bits of relevant information to piece together my own answer, but the responses are so fragmented when it comes to relevant information that I decided to just post about it and hopefully get more targeted information.
I have a i7-6700 (non-k) processor on a z170 gigabyte mobo, gtx 970 gpu, 16gb ram, all pumped into a htpc case. The case looks like a receiver, so the fan intake is via 2 120mm side intake fans at the front half of the case, and an exhaust 120mm fan on one side in the back half of the case (all fan are mounted on the sides of the inside of the case, with of course the final rear side area with the PSu doing its own thing,
The idea of this build was to have a htpc that would sit in the lounge and would mostly be used to watch video files, stream video of the net, listen to music (I am thinking to run Koji on it eventually). Therefore I am not thinking to overclock or anything. These specs are for sure overkill for what I just described, but there is a reason for this, in that I wanted to build it to have balls at the ready should the need arise. The most common example if this would be if I decide to play some and that was more demanding of the system, or if I wanted to do some video or graphics editing from the couch. this would most likely be only about 15% of the time, but when I did happen it would continue for a solid amount of time in one sitting.
With this in mind, I wanted also to make it as whisper quiet as possible, particularly when it is running the simple tasks it will be doing 85% of the time.
At the moment the biggest noise maker is the stock cpu fan (low brrr noise that fluctuates frequency as it adjusts). My thinking is if I can find an effective yet quiet cooling solution, this should do the trick to make it quiet enough for my needs.
I have read some articles suggesting that if using a lower tdp cpu, simply a heat sink with no fan attached would provide adequate cooling as long as there is some airflow provided via case fans.
Could I get away with this? My guess would be that 90% of the time would be yes, but what if I get the urge to fire up a game that demands more of my system? Or start getting into a long photoshop session?
If the answer is no and I do indeed need a CPU fan, is there any fan that case simply replace the one I have (ie. keep the current heat sink)? Or is this making things more complicated than they need to be..
I have already read comments in other threads what some quiet cooling solutions are, but perhaps if someone has had a brilliant idea that would be perfect to my setup and needs, I'm all ears.
Oh, I forgot to mention, my CPU sit at about 38-41 degrees currently when idling, with the case fans running on the lowest setting (via fan controller on case). And actually another sneaky question: what is a standard temp the CPU should be at when idling?
Sorry for the long winded post, and thanks in advance for your support
- t
I tried to find bits of relevant information to piece together my own answer, but the responses are so fragmented when it comes to relevant information that I decided to just post about it and hopefully get more targeted information.
I have a i7-6700 (non-k) processor on a z170 gigabyte mobo, gtx 970 gpu, 16gb ram, all pumped into a htpc case. The case looks like a receiver, so the fan intake is via 2 120mm side intake fans at the front half of the case, and an exhaust 120mm fan on one side in the back half of the case (all fan are mounted on the sides of the inside of the case, with of course the final rear side area with the PSu doing its own thing,
The idea of this build was to have a htpc that would sit in the lounge and would mostly be used to watch video files, stream video of the net, listen to music (I am thinking to run Koji on it eventually). Therefore I am not thinking to overclock or anything. These specs are for sure overkill for what I just described, but there is a reason for this, in that I wanted to build it to have balls at the ready should the need arise. The most common example if this would be if I decide to play some and that was more demanding of the system, or if I wanted to do some video or graphics editing from the couch. this would most likely be only about 15% of the time, but when I did happen it would continue for a solid amount of time in one sitting.
With this in mind, I wanted also to make it as whisper quiet as possible, particularly when it is running the simple tasks it will be doing 85% of the time.
At the moment the biggest noise maker is the stock cpu fan (low brrr noise that fluctuates frequency as it adjusts). My thinking is if I can find an effective yet quiet cooling solution, this should do the trick to make it quiet enough for my needs.
I have read some articles suggesting that if using a lower tdp cpu, simply a heat sink with no fan attached would provide adequate cooling as long as there is some airflow provided via case fans.
Could I get away with this? My guess would be that 90% of the time would be yes, but what if I get the urge to fire up a game that demands more of my system? Or start getting into a long photoshop session?
If the answer is no and I do indeed need a CPU fan, is there any fan that case simply replace the one I have (ie. keep the current heat sink)? Or is this making things more complicated than they need to be..
I have already read comments in other threads what some quiet cooling solutions are, but perhaps if someone has had a brilliant idea that would be perfect to my setup and needs, I'm all ears.
Oh, I forgot to mention, my CPU sit at about 38-41 degrees currently when idling, with the case fans running on the lowest setting (via fan controller on case). And actually another sneaky question: what is a standard temp the CPU should be at when idling?
Sorry for the long winded post, and thanks in advance for your support
- t
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