> I would absolutely hate having to work next to a jet-engine or having a fridge-sized rig to fit some absurd cooler. Even SFF cases can fit 240mm or 280mm AIO

> I would absolutely hate having to work next to a jet-engine or having a fridge-sized rig to fit some absurd cooler. Even SFF cases can fit 240mm or 280mm AIOs these days. Old standby heat sinks like the Noctua NH-D15 can cool 200-300W CPUs quietly, and they fit in common cases. They have a 120mm tall version for slightly smaller cases that doesn’t give up much in benchmarks. I think the cooling challenges have been overblown, honestly. It’s kind of trivial to quietly cool powerful CPUs these days. > My 135W-rated Xeon does get audibly loud despite the big-ass Noctua, Unless there’s something wrong with airflow or your mounting, your fan curves are almost certainly too aggressive. A lot of motherboards, especially workstation and server boards, will ramp fans to 100% by default. You probably don’t need that. Adjust the curves until it’s quiet, don’t worry about getting the absolute lowest possible temperatures. This is what OEMs do. If you build your own, you’re expected to do it yourself.