Fanless Windows PC Configuration

E

emerich

n3wb
Sep 13, 2016
2
0
Hello,

as I saw that thre is lot of nowledge about Blue Iris around, I would lke to ask if someone can tell me if here are fanless (silent) PC configurations for Blue Iris with about 12 cameras (half of thm HD)?
Can you give me any recommendation (should not be the most expensive one).

Thanks
Christian
 
this is typically something you build your self, the cpu is going to need active cooling so your not getting away with a fanless setup.. but silent is doable, there are some nice all-in-one water cooling units that are affordable and come with very quiet fans.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146041

when building silent w/any decent power typically you put it in a fairly nice sized enclosure so any fans you do require can be large and slow, and thus silent.. HDD's and PSU's also make a bit of noise, so you want a chassis that supports vibration dampeners for drives and quality PSU that runs quiet.

silent is not cheap, be prepared to spend more than a system that's allowed to make a tiny bit of noise.. considerably more since you require high performance.
 
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yeah most modern desktop towers now days are low power enough to be quiet enough for most bedrooms, the smaller form factors tend to have higher speed fans that can really crank up under load (think gaming consoles) but overall they are consuming a fraction of the energy they once were and thus wasting much less energy as waste heat.. they also have better temp monitoring and fan controlling than they ever have.

the only reason to go silent anymore is for like recording studios or people whom are just very hypersensitive to the stuff.. Ive got a full rack cabinet packed full of networking, A/V equipment and several servers and the loudest gear are the datacenter quality PoE midspans.. and because high frequency noise is so poor a penetrating modern building materials none of it is audible outside the room when the solid core door is closed.. and were talking ~1000W of gear at average that has arrays of fans running constantly.. but all oversized and intelligently controlled so its almost always spinning things at low speed.. only when everything starts back up at once can anything be heard in the house.. then its usually dead silent due to an outage.

I guess my point is, its often cheaper just to put cheap off the shelf gear in an appropriate location where true silence is not a requirement.. then dont worry about it.. Silence is rarely nessicary, its often a gimmick sold like Monster Cables.. quiet is good enough.. I shoved an obnoxious PS3 and PS4 combo in my living room into a wooden cabinet (in same spot) with large temp controlled fans and now its more than quiet enough as the simple wooden cabinet doors do more than I'd expected.. they have superior airflow than before and the external fans are silent, so they rarely kick to high speed and when they do its basically inaudible.
 
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fenderman said:
Modern PCs are inaudible when you are two feet away.. fan less is silly...
Click to expand...

My OptiPlex 7040 i7-6700 Skylake unit is undetectable...I can't hear it running.
 
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Yeah I agree with the guys above. I just built an i7 system with a Fractal Design R5 case, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler, Seasonic fanless PSU. Can't hear the thing unless my ear is right next to it. Love the R5 case so much I just bought a second for a NAS build. Best case I've ever used.
 
nayr said:
often a gimmick sold like Monster Cables
Click to expand...

Agree there. I used to buy expensive AV cables but now make my own if I can or just buy good quality, but cheap.

I still laugh at $1000 "audiophile" USB cables.....
 
I'm with Q. My optiplex 5040 i7-6700 is so quiet I have to bend down next to it just to tell if it's running.
 
All modern intel pcs are quiet and efficient ..buy a unit with space for a full size drive and a desktop processor...
 
fenderman said:
All modern intel pcs are quiet and efficient ..buy a unit with space for a full size drive and a desktop processor...
Click to expand...
Thnaks for the quick response fenderman

I didn't look to accomodate a full size drive as I'm only intended to record on motion and not 24/7
I understand that these fanless small bricks are lower spec compared to desktops. However I was prepared to pay a bit more for the lower carbon footprint alone these offer.
 
gtj said:
Thnaks for the quick response fenderman

I didn't look to accomodate a full size drive as I'm only intended to record on motion and not 24/7
I understand that these fanless small bricks are lower spec compared to desktops. However I was prepared to pay a bit more for the lower carbon footprint alone these offer.
Click to expand...
you still want a full size drive...
they offer no tangible carbon footprint difference...you are comparing max tdp not actual consumption under load....setting aside that you have to be insane to spend hundreds more to save a few watts that will not affect the environment one iota....stop drinking the koolaid...the decision should be financial only.
 
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fenderman said:
you still want a full size drive...
they offer no tangible carbon footprint difference...you are comparing max tdp not actual consumption under load....setting aside that you have to be insane to spend hundreds more to save a few watts that will not affect the environment one iota....stop drinking the koolaid...the decision should be financial only.
Click to expand...


I see.
Currently I run 3 cameras through a Voyo Vmac N4200 with 8GB RAM and a 2.5inch SSD to write only on motion. I have modified it by removing the fan and adding an industrial heatsink up top. It's good if I restrict the framerates to 5 and the stream quality to around 35-50%. However, adding an extra camera (4th) causes overload problems.
This mini PC barely consumes over 6W after extensive measurements I carried out.

Of course, if I decide to upgrade I would want better framerates and stream quality with the exact setup.

So, should I look into building an Optilex like many here do?
 
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