Yes, totally agree. Even the feet. The Streacom design is more elegant, though. This looks interesting. Like a giant heat sink with a side wrapping. If both CPU and GPU are passively cooled it's a major step that Streacom didn't manage.
(edit!) Not to mention when I did a cost of building such a system, the DB4 case was the single most expensive component of the build (more than the MB, or CPU, or RAM, or GPU or 512GB SSD)
There are a few people working on perfecting this kind of setup with the indie NFC S4 mini case. HDPlex is rumored to be close to releasing a new ~200W PSU to make this happen. I'd still want to have at least one fan (spinning slowly) to force airflow past the heatsink(s).
Summer: that's only about 10°C warmer than the 21°C it should definitely work at. If they achieve ~80°C CPU / GPU temperature at 21°C, they'd still be fine during summer in most environments. IF temperatures rise, CPU and GPU can gracefully limit their turbo states and run more energy efficiently, dropping power consumtpion and heat generation.
Passive cooling is nice and all that, but I'm not sure how much value is truly added to a computing experience by eliminating all of the cooling fans when most fans aren't really very noisy to begin with.
For me fans create noise, suck in dust (even on supposedly filtered cases), and are a point of failure.
I have replaced three failing case fans, and the CPU fan in my system and even though it draws air through two filtered fans, my CPU heatsink had packed in dust.
My GPU fan started failing but I manged to cram some oil in that one to keep it going.
Noise/Dust/Failures.
I would love an essentially closed passive system like the DB4. No noise, no dust and no fans to fail. But I probably have to wait for a good IGP solution.
Maybe the ZEN IGPs will be good enough for my needs.
You guys are right, it is reminiscent to the DB4. Now if only Streacom would upgrade their DB4 to live up to the DB4 name...Who wants to see Bond Edition? And wouldn't it be nice if the cooling for the CPU and CPU could accommodate the most powerful processors with TDP's over 150W? So, has anyone seen what Calyos is doing for silent cooling? I'm placing all bets on the Calyos cube, and though it looks nice, I agree that the DB4 is smarter looking.
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21 Comments
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casperes1996 - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
This is quite reminiscent of the Apple G4 Cubecasperes1996 - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
As in cooling philosophy, not design or specs of course*edit button
mobutu - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
no, this is reminiscent ofhttp://www.streacom.com/products/db4-fanless-chass...
Gadgety - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
Yes, totally agree. Even the feet. The Streacom design is more elegant, though. This looks interesting. Like a giant heat sink with a side wrapping. If both CPU and GPU are passively cooled it's a major step that Streacom didn't manage.guidryp - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
Kind of reminds me of the Streacom DB4 case:https://techreport.com/news/30224/streacom-db4-is-...
But this looks more like it is going for wide open mesh instead of heatpipes.
So eventually it will accumulate dust. I like the DB4 better.
eldakka - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
I like the DB4 as well, however everything I've been able to find on it indicates that the heatpipes are for the CPU, not for the GPU.It'd be much better if they had a GPU heatpipe setup as well.
eldakka - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
(edit!)Not to mention when I did a cost of building such a system, the DB4 case was the single most expensive component of the build (more than the MB, or CPU, or RAM, or GPU or 512GB SSD)
Gadgety - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
If it managed both GPU and CPU it would be worth it. The case looks very stylish and will be on display for a long time.guidryp - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
Odd. All 4 sides are >2LB aluminum heatsinks each of the 4 rated at 65Watts of heat dissipation.It comes standard with a connector to one side, for 65W CPUs, and there is a kit for using 2 sides on the CPU for up to 105 Watts.
It seems like you could use 1 panel for CPU (65W) and 2 Panels for ~100W GPU if routing could be figured out.
eldakka - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
The documentation (sales literature on their website) says up to 120W, based on that I assumed that only 2 sides were heat sinks.However that might just be the the standard unit, maybe the other sides can be replaced by heat sink sides (at additional expense!) ?
guidryp - Friday, December 23, 2016 - link
I watched a video review. All 4 sides are identical.I just don't think there is any way to route heat-pipes to the other two.
Gadgety - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
Yes it will accumulate dust. I prefer the looks of the DB4, but if the Calyos can handle both CPU and GPU passively it's still interesting.DanNeely - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
They could combine a picoPSU (or equivalent) and an external brick to keep the PSU outside the case while still using a conventional mobo.jtd871 - Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - link
There are a few people working on perfecting this kind of setup with the indie NFC S4 mini case. HDPlex is rumored to be close to releasing a new ~200W PSU to make this happen. I'd still want to have at least one fan (spinning slowly) to force airflow past the heatsink(s).fanlessguy - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
more like a copy of the Streacom DB4 one http://www.streacom.com/products/db4-fanless-chass...Meteor2 - Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - link
I'll be amazed if either of these can dump 200W in a 21 Celsius room. And you can forget about summertime...MrSpadge - Thursday, December 22, 2016 - link
Summer: that's only about 10°C warmer than the 21°C it should definitely work at. If they achieve ~80°C CPU / GPU temperature at 21°C, they'd still be fine during summer in most environments. IF temperatures rise, CPU and GPU can gracefully limit their turbo states and run more energy efficiently, dropping power consumtpion and heat generation.BrokenCrayons - Thursday, December 22, 2016 - link
Passive cooling is nice and all that, but I'm not sure how much value is truly added to a computing experience by eliminating all of the cooling fans when most fans aren't really very noisy to begin with.zodiacfml - Friday, December 23, 2016 - link
Thinking the same thing. Why waste money and get more weight if a large, slow moving fan will work multiple times better?guidryp - Friday, December 23, 2016 - link
For me fans create noise, suck in dust (even on supposedly filtered cases), and are a point of failure.I have replaced three failing case fans, and the CPU fan in my system and even though it draws air through two filtered fans, my CPU heatsink had packed in dust.
My GPU fan started failing but I manged to cram some oil in that one to keep it going.
Noise/Dust/Failures.
I would love an essentially closed passive system like the DB4. No noise, no dust and no fans to fail. But I probably have to wait for a good IGP solution.
Maybe the ZEN IGPs will be good enough for my needs.
NickBURAK - Tuesday, March 14, 2017 - link
You guys are right, it is reminiscent to the DB4. Now if only Streacom would upgrade their DB4 to live up to the DB4 name...Who wants to see Bond Edition? And wouldn't it be nice if the cooling for the CPU and CPU could accommodate the most powerful processors with TDP's over 150W? So, has anyone seen what Calyos is doing for silent cooling? I'm placing all bets on the Calyos cube, and though it looks nice, I agree that the DB4 is smarter looking.