Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 OK, so I was going to buy the new Mac Mini, because they are small, powerful (enough - up to i7 with 16gb) and VERY quiet. I wanted those three things. But there are a few letdowns in the design that are pushing me back towards a PC. I have decided that a shuttle pc may be where I am headed. I'm looking towards a (new revision) Haswell system, 16/32 gig ram, SSD and seeing as Intel HD5000 isn't all that great - then MAYBE a dedicated graphics card. What will it be used for? * Obviously day-to-day usage (word, excl, photoshop, etc) * Video editing (min 1080p) * Hopefully some light gaming Now my requirements are as before, small and quiet. I understand that the shuttles are shoebox size, that's still small enough for me. I am looking at this one: http://global.shuttle.com/products/productsDetail?productId=1855 My only issue could be noise, they are obviously noisier than a Mac Mini (What isn't?) but am already seeing 2 fans in the base system (processor cooling and power supply). Anyone offer any other advice here? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kami- Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Why CPU fan in a Shuttle PC? Integrated Cooling Engine 2 (ICE 2) Heat pipe technology Shuttle XPC features stable, cool, and silent operation with Shuttle?s ICE 2 heat pipe technology. It uses convection cooling to dissipate heat away from the CPU. The ICE2 copper tubes, coated in nickel for enhanced tube hardness and rust-proof protection, are filled with distilled water to effectively channel heat and provide highly efficient processor and chassis cooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoffel Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Have a look at Intel NUC they are very small and silent link6155, +Warwagon and xendrome 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted October 23, 2014 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2014 Have a look at Intel NUC they are very small and silent They do give a little buzz, but it's not really noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Why CPU fan in a Shuttle PC? What? A CPU needs cooling! Have a look at Intel NUC they are very small and silent No, too underpowered, no ability to use graphics except for the on-board terrible ones. Am thinking a bit more usable than a NUC, but thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Have a look at Intel NUC they are very small and silent What I was going to suggest. We have about 20 at my work. No internal fans, and all are quiet. At least the models we have. Dick Montage and Stoffel 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 What? A CPU needs cooling! No, too underpowered, no ability to use graphics except for the on-board terrible ones. Am thinking a bit more usable than a NUC, but thanks Graphics aside, They make i5 and i3 model NUCs. Also, depending on what games and what vids you are editing, the Intel 5000 may be fine. I would do a little more research on it tho. Stoffel 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Yes, but I am writing off the NUC for the reasons said. Thanks. Video editing and gaming, kinds suggest the need for better graphics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Shuttle's are quite nice, I have owned about 6 if them stretching back to Athlon XP's (Still using a SN21G5 as a SteamBox). The system fans are made by Sunon usually - they are reliable but by no means quiet. The PSU fan will likely be louder than the system fan if they are still using 1U Server PSU's. I have water cooled one in the past (hard method, with separate pump & including a GPU water block) but I'm sure if required you could fit say a H80i inside one as they are mini-ITX specification now. Open Minded 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Thank you. I'm not a fan of watercooling, a bit too much upkeep for my liking. The system fan can be easily swapped out for a quieter one, so that's great. But you and I are on the same page here with the PSU fan - small, fast, noisy. Some systems (such as the NUC) have external power supplies. Shame shuttle don't do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Thank you. I'm not a fan of watercooling, a bit too much upkeep for my liking. The system fan can be easily swapped out for a quieter one, so that's great. But you and I are on the same page here with the PSU fan - small, fast, noisy. Some systems (such as the NUC) have external power supplies. Shame shuttle don't do this. They have done external PSU's on their 1U or 2U height offerings in the past but not for anything ITX / Mini-ITX based. These tended to be low wattage Celeron or Atom based systems though. I don't think I've ever kept the Sunon in but if you want their PWM stuff to work efficiently, they require the 4 pin BTX style fan connector versions for the CPU/SYSTEM fan. I have a Corsair 92mm 3-pin in mine currently but the SmartAuto setting doesn't work (I have mine set on a Quiet profile in the bios instead). Dick Montage 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Yes, but I am writing off the NUC for the reasons said. Thanks. Video editing and gaming, kinds suggest the need for better graphics. Really depends on how intensive the gaming/vid editing is. Integrated graphics a few years ago, I would agree with you. But they have come a long way. Dick Montage 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 How loud would you say the PSU fan actually is. If the shuttle itself were sat about 1m away under a desk, for example - how noticable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I've built quite a few Shuttles. Have almost always had to replace the PS because the ones they ship with the systems aren't good. Dick Montage 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Ooooh Episode - dude, replace the whole PS? For quieter models? Please tell me a little more? I assumed they were integrated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc2k Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Why don't you build yourself one with off-the-shelf parts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.i.b.b.s Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 May I suggest you take a look at Gigabytes SFF PC's. They have Core i3,5,7 options and supports dedicated discreet graphics cards up to Nvidia GTX 760 iirc. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5217#ov TAZMINATOR, Aergan and Dick Montage 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 May I suggest you take a look at Gigabytes SFF PC's. They have Core i3,5,7 options and supports dedicated discreet graphics cards up to Nvidia GTX 760 iirc. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5217#ov Oh we may have a winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Ooooh Episode - dude, replace the whole PS? For quieter models? Please tell me a little more? I assumed they were integrated? No, they aren't integrated. They are actually just 1U PSUs, but they use cheap ones. If its something thats going to be running all the time, it WILL burn out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 No, they aren't integrated. They are actually just 1U PSUs, but they use cheap ones. If its something thats going to be running all the time, it WILL burn out. The lower end ones will (I've had to replace many of the OEM orignal 180-220w models) but the 250w+ Shuttle "SilentX" 1U ones are quite good. Mine's been running for 4 years (3 years was constant as my domain controller & file server). When they burn out, they smoke & spark then refuse to turn on. Not lost a motherboard or anything when it has occured though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kpo6969 Subscriber¹ Posted October 23, 2014 Subscriber¹ Share Posted October 23, 2014 Good info here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xendrome Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 May I suggest you take a look at Gigabytes SFF PC's. They have Core i3,5,7 options and supports dedicated discreet graphics cards up to Nvidia GTX 760 iirc. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5217#ov Wow, $769 on Amazon, that's too much fo rme, I'd just go with a standard size unit and premium fans/power supply and hardware, you'd hear almost zero noise like that anyway. The one review on amazon first con "Fans run quite loud", second con, heat issues cause it to throttle down... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Ouch yeah, that's pretty darned loud. I am keen on Iris Pro 5200 as it is "acceptable" as a gfx solution. As someone said here, why not build myself.... Hmmmm maybe :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted October 23, 2014 Veteran Share Posted October 23, 2014 you want quiet, you want to make sure any fans in the system do not spin up to high speed. This is where I would say that some sort of water cooling may be best, doesn't take much fan speed to cool down liquid in a radiator. But you want small...\ take a look at this (it is fanless, so very quiet): http://www.amazon.com/CompuLab-Intense-PC-Pro-Win7/dp/B00C1LO0BQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1414101941&sr=1-1 the downside to any mini computer will be getting a dedicated graphics card in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S. Veteran Posted October 23, 2014 Veteran Share Posted October 23, 2014 Oh we may have a winner! It's a great performer but far from silent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts