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I have one of those, it uses ATX-power so it is basically like a PC motherboard, I had to find one ATX power supply from an old PC in my garage, the power suppl

I have one of those, it uses ATX-power so it is basically like a PC motherboard, I had to find one ATX power supply from an old PC in my garage, the power supply is a bit chunky and looks ugly by the side. The worst part is that its small fan is screaming after power is on, which really hurts my ears. You either have to buy a solid(sound-proof) case, or put it far away from your desk(better in a different room that no one lives there), it's hard for me to do either, so this little board is collecting dust for the last few months. At least I wish they use a larger but quieter fan, there is no way I can use it unless it's at least 30 feet away.

rjsw 5y ago
It looks a really small heatsink too, a bigger one could allow a quieter fan to be used.
neilv 5y ago
I'd bet you could rig up virtually silent cooling for it. Personally, I'd do something with a Noctua fan. But any larger fans are often quieter than smaller, and slower speeds are often quieter than faster. And I'm not certain the fan has to be mounted on the CPU cooler itself, if you've got strong airflow across the heatsink from a case fan, so you could try that and test it with whatever CPU temperature sensor is on the board. (But if it's really unusable, don't throw it away; I happen to operate an environmentally-friendly HiFive Unmatched recycling service, and will even pay shipping and a few bucks for your trouble. :)
ch_123 5y ago
FWIW, I've seen people modify their boards with Noctua 40mm fans, and 3D-printed adapters. They should have used a larger heatsink with the ability to mount a standard (and quieter) fan
snvzz 5y ago
Having ATX power is nice rather than else. Look into picopsu if it's so much of an issue.
brucehoult 5y ago
As seen here, I put a very quiet Noctua fan on mine. It's bigger than the heatsink, is not centred, and is held on by only one screw, but the cooling is fine -- and so are my ears. https://twitter.com/BruceHoult/status/1464713464090271744 https://twitter.com/BruceHoult/status/1464713464090271744

rjsw 5y ago

It looks a really small heatsink too, a bigger one could allow a quieter fan to be used.

neilv 5y ago

I'd bet you could rig up virtually silent cooling for it. Personally, I'd do something with a Noctua fan. But any larger fans are often quieter than smaller, and slower speeds are often quieter than faster. And I'm not certain the fan has to be mounted on the CPU cooler itself, if you've got strong airflow across the heatsink from a case fan, so you could try that and test it with whatever CPU temperature sensor is on the board. (But if it's really unusable, don't throw it away; I happen to operate an environmentally-friendly HiFive Unmatched recycling service, and will even pay shipping and a few bucks for your trouble. :)

ch_123 5y ago

FWIW, I've seen people modify their boards with Noctua 40mm fans, and 3D-printed adapters. They should have used a larger heatsink with the ability to mount a standard (and quieter) fan

snvzz 5y ago

Having ATX power is nice rather than else. Look into picopsu if it's so much of an issue.

brucehoult 5y ago

As seen here, I put a very quiet Noctua fan on mine. It's bigger than the heatsink, is not centred, and is held on by only one screw, but the cooling is fine -- and so are my ears. https://twitter.com/BruceHoult/status/1464713464090271744 https://twitter.com/BruceHoult/status/1464713464090271744