The Passive Cooling Paradigm: Atlast Solutions Ultimate Fanless Core i7 7700T

[LuukD]

Please include the BIOS values that caused the high power usage. I couldn't find those anywhere in the article.

You are absolutely right.
But I did not take (enough) notes.

In the AI overclocking menu, I chose most settings auto, but pushed memory frequency to 3067 MHz in the menu. The BIOS then picks values that go with that. Apparently, that is about the limit, (I think it will set DRAM Voltage over 1.5 Volts then. No idea what other variables will be set to in that case.)
But I do agree. It would have been nice if had been more systematic in taking notes.

If you have such, or a similar machine one should be aware that the BIOS does not know of the upper bounds the power supply.
But as soon as you start tinkering with BIOS values you are supposed to be in the know anyway.

[Ardje]

Hmmm, I use PC's mostly for gaming... For all real work uses I only have arm based systems which are low power by default.
Would love to see if this can house a real video card.
I got my zotac sn-970 for about 1100 euro, which has fans but was very quiet (a year ago).
I think I know have to remove the dust. But in the end, it was the best PC experience I ever had: almost no noise... Almost as quiet as an arm platform.

[Ardje]

In the end however I tuned it so the fans would run even in the safe temperature range as I've discovered that I still can't hear the computer anyway. To detect any noise I have to put my ear right next to the case and as it's standing below my desk, that just never happens. What I have discovered though is how much noise a room can contain on its own, even when living in a rather quiet place.

Trust me, the lower the noise in your place, the louder the fans of your system. Sometimes it's better to turn on the radio to just not hear the fans.
I can hear the electronic powermeter of my house from another floor if it is quiet.
My roomba makes squeekie noises when it's power led is flashing indicating it is being charged.
I can hear my scooba hum when being charged.
So all in all, if there is a power failure in the street, the lack of noise feels like an immense pressure... And everything suddenly is loud.

[schmidtbag]

LuukD
So are you going to regularly submit articles now? Could be nice for Michael to catch a break on stuff like this and focus more on small news stories and driver benchmarks.


Other people may be surprised how much performance you get from a fanless PC; that doesn't surprise me - what surprises me is how much you get out of such a small fanless PC. I also question if something like the 7700T was the best choice. I figure a Ryzen 1400 would've made for a better option, but, it lacks the IGP so that may have been the dealbreaker.

[kaseki]

Enjoyed the entertaining writing style.

[Jabberwocky]

bit of shameless self-promotion

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/fanless-ryzen-polaris-project.2138/#post-46447

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/fanless-ryzen-polaris-project.2138/#post-47387

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/fanless-ryzen-polaris-project.2138/page-2#post-50087

Now I have to go clean the dizz in my pants.

[LuukD]

LuukD
So are you going to regularly submit articles now? Could be nice for Michael to catch a break on stuff like this and focus more on small news stories and driver benchmarks.


Other people may be surprised how much performance you get from a fanless PC; that doesn't surprise me - what surprises me is how much you get out of such a small fanless PC. I also question if something like the 7700T was the best choice. I figure a Ryzen 1400 would've made for a better option, but, it lacks the IGP so that may have been the dealbreaker.

Periodically something in-depth, lifting the carpet here and there.
Interesting idea, but it perhaps is not that straight forward. It actually took quite a while before I finished this. I am not even one tenth as productive as Michael is.
The real challenge would be that first word, 'periodically'.

On your second thought. Sure I dreamt up a similar system with. let's say, a 6 core Zen APU with a Vega derived IGP. But Raven Ridge isn't here yet, let alone the system I had in mind. If it were, this article might well have been a bit different.
But I have my doubts on AMD producing a 35 Watt TDP APU with said features. 'Ecology-class' is not really the market they seem to target lately, perhaps they will but let's just say I would be surprised.

[nomadewolf]

bit of shameless self-promotion

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/fanless-ryzen-polaris-project.2138/#post-46447

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/fanless-ryzen-polaris-project.2138/#post-47387

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/fanless-ryzen-polaris-project.2138/page-2#post-50087

Nice!
But do you really hear coild noise? You must have bat ears...

[sdack]

Nice!
But do you really hear coild noise? You must have bat ears...

That's not unusual, sadly. Once you go silent will you never go back, but also when all the noise has died down do the little things such as coil whine become more obvious. You'll even notice the birds outside more often than before. "Wait, what birds?" ... "Yes, exactly!"

Graphics card are almost obnoxious for coil whine, especially when frame rates climb very high do these often start to chirp with every changing scene. Limiting the frame rates in games with VSync usually does the trick, while it also keeps the heat emission and power consumption down.

[Zgembo]

Nice!
But do you really hear coild noise? You must have bat ears...

That's not unusual, sadly. Once you go silent will you never go back, but also when all the noise has died down do the little things such as coil whine become more obvious. You'll even notice the birds outside more often than before. "Wait, what birds?" ... "Yes, exactly!"

Graphics card are almost obnoxious for coil whine, especially when frame rates climb very high do these often start to chirp with every changing scene. Limiting the frame rates in games with VSync usually does the trick, while it also keeps the heat emission and power consumption down.

About average hearing, yet the Sapphire RX 570 mini coils are clearly audible, and when the GPU use is 100% it gets to an outrageous level.