3 ms·

There are some nice self-build options too - eg I have https://www.asrock.com/Nettop/Intel/DeskMini%20310%20Series/index.asp https://www.asrock.com/Nettop/Intel

There are some nice self-build options too - eg I have https://www.asrock.com/Nettop/Intel/DeskMini%20310%20Series/index.asp https://www.asrock.com/Nettop/Intel/DeskMini%20310%20Series/... with a i7 9700 in (8c8t), plus 1x NVMe and 2x 2TB SATA SSDs for VM disk. Works really really well, and it's pretty much silent. NUCs are just that little bit too compromised, I think - but things like the hp prodesk or the asrock deskmini are a really nice sweet spot.

pizza234 5y ago
The power draw of an i7-9700 is around 100W on full load (107W, CPU only, according to Tom's hardware¹). There are relatively quiet solutions, but they're in the ballpark of 30/35 dB, and they may not even cover the 100+W requirement. 22W of full load can be cooled with a passive cooler (large, but still can). [¹] https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i7-9700k-9th-gen-cpu,5876-2.html https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i7-9700k-9th...
- minimaul 5y ago
  I am using a https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9i https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9i as the cooler for it and it keeps it in a sensible range. I don't really max out all of the cores frequently, and certainly not with the most power-hungry workloads - eg AVX2. Noctua only recommend this with the following caveats: Recommended with good case ventilation only. If power limits are disabled in BIOS, CPU might not be able to keep maximum turbo clock under prolonged AVX loads, suggested maximum power limit: 140W For case ventilation - the fan draws air straight from outside of the case onto the heatsink in the DeskMini chassis, so that's covered. My workload is mostly VMs & containers - although it also runs a Gitlab CI build instance. Practically, I've not had any issues. Typical CPU temps are in the 30s or 40s according to coretemp. Obviously, YMMV! edit: for me, this replaced a nuc8i5beh that was very loud under typical workloads. Changed from a laptop-style very whiny fan to the inaudible noise of the noctua, and I got a lot more performance out of it as well.

pizza234 5y ago

The power draw of an i7-9700 is around 100W on full load (107W, CPU only, according to Tom's hardware¹). There are relatively quiet solutions, but they're in the ballpark of 30/35 dB, and they may not even cover the 100+W requirement. 22W of full load can be cooled with a passive cooler (large, but still can). [¹] https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i7-9700k-9th-gen-cpu,5876-2.html https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i7-9700k-9th...

minimaul 5y ago
I am using a https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9i https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9i as the cooler for it and it keeps it in a sensible range. I don't really max out all of the cores frequently, and certainly not with the most power-hungry workloads - eg AVX2. Noctua only recommend this with the following caveats: Recommended with good case ventilation only. If power limits are disabled in BIOS, CPU might not be able to keep maximum turbo clock under prolonged AVX loads, suggested maximum power limit: 140W For case ventilation - the fan draws air straight from outside of the case onto the heatsink in the DeskMini chassis, so that's covered. My workload is mostly VMs & containers - although it also runs a Gitlab CI build instance. Practically, I've not had any issues. Typical CPU temps are in the 30s or 40s according to coretemp. Obviously, YMMV! edit: for me, this replaced a nuc8i5beh that was very loud under typical workloads. Changed from a laptop-style very whiny fan to the inaudible noise of the noctua, and I got a lot more performance out of it as well.