CPU temperature

[Jonax]

I haven't done any thermodynamic calculations on the problem but I really have used a few passively cooled computers for years now. I have roughly the same indoor temperature as you, though cooler in winter time, because heating is expensive. No AC in the summer so can indeed be pretty warm some days.


So far I haven't experienced any overheating problems but I'm not taxing the systems so much. I don't write code fast enough to make the PC burn.


In my case the systems are low end low power (and low electricity bill) processors. The last one a J 5005 Pentium system on a chip and before that J 1900 Celeron. Integrated graphics. Those systems are not producing sooo much waste heat, which simplifies the passive cooling. The Celeron system is a backbone from shuttle.eu with some heat-pipe / heatsink combination. That one still runs but is annoyingly slow nowadays. The newer Pentium was bought as a NUC and unfortunately I damaged it a bit while removing the case. Anyway.. most of it still works and I bought a case from AKASA constructed for passive cooling but lacking heat-pipes, it seemes. So now the whole case does the job as a heatsink. The system is running well. The case do tend to get warm as it's supposed to, but not dramatically. I don't think it's hot enough to fry eggs on it.


All in all I think you could realistically get a fanless computer for home use if you one day decide to get a new one. That is if you can make do with low end computer. There are no doubt fanless high end computers too but I haven't explored that market much. A Pentium is sufficient for me. Most of the time.

[SilverWarior]

In my case the systems are low end low power (and low electricity bill) processors. The last one a J 5005 Pentium system on a chip and before that J 1900 Celeron. Integrated graphics. Those systems are not producing sooo much waste heat, which simplifies the passive cooling. The Celeron system is a backbone from shuttle.eu with some heat-pipe / heatsink combination. That one still runs but is annoyingly slow nowadays.

Well you really don't need much for cooling this kind of computers. I mean we are talking here about 10 W TDP. I'm wondering if using heat-pipes in such applications is even viable. Heat-pipes do need to reach certain temperature before they are effective at transferring heat. You could probably get away by using solid copper pipe or simply transferring heat to a decent sized aluminium casing using thermal pads.

Any way since you are interested in such computer types I strongly recommend you check AMD Ryzen Embeded solutions https://www.amd.com/en/products/embe...nipc-solutions
With last two Ryzen generations AMD managed to greatly increase performance per watt. Not to mention that embedded graphics solution that AMD provides are more than capable of 4K video output. This gave AMD ability to beat Inter in mini PC market. But it is still behind ARM based solutions. And Apple M1 and M2 processors also stirred the market quite a bit.

All in all I think you could realistically get a fanless computer for home use if you one day decide to get a new one. That is if you can make do with low end computer. There are no doubt fanless high end computers too but I haven't explored that market much. A Pentium is sufficient for me. Most of the time.

Unfortunately my computing demands are quite larger than yours therefore making passive cooling much less viable solution.
So instead lately I'm thinking about making myself a custom PC case that would rely on using air ducts for routing cold air to where it is needed most. Unfortunately existing case solutions don't provide enough room for the needed duct system. Therefore I'm actually considering of making a custom PC case from wood. Why from wood you ask? Wood is much easier to work with than metals and it is also good for sound dampening.

[Jonax]

AMD certainly has done great stuff recently. Their integrated graphics seems to be really good. Maybe my next computer will be an AMD, or an ARM. But for now I can't buy yet a new computer. Got to make do with what I have until pressing need for a new one. Typically those pressing needs occur every four years or so. For various reasons.


I also hear that ARM or perhaps RISC is the future. From my point of view it doesn't matter much as long as they can be built fan-less and team Lazarus supports that architecture. Of course losing access to a lot of old software and probable problems with peripherals is a hassle. I still have an ancient Win 7 laptop only for occsionally using an ancient but fully operational scanner. It also has Minesweeper.


Your wooden case/ air duct system sounds interesting. Please keep us updated and let us know if/when you pursue that path.


There are no doubt a plethora of possible solutions to the fan-noise problem out there.


Any other forum member having some clever solution to share?