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  • HollyDOL - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    Nice chasis... now I'd only need those Skylake i3 T CPUs to become available...
  • jospoortvliet - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    Ok, it can perhaps keep CPU and GPU cool but I can't believe it won't cry every other component inside... Memory not the least, but also ssd's and capacitors on the boards...
  • mobutu - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    no, that won't be a problem:

    "Dual eight heatpipe heatsink system for CPU and GTX750Ti.
    One hour playing latest MW, load at 99%, Temp never tops 70C, using GPU-Z for measurement.
    GTX750Ti idle temp between 30-35C.
    Room temp: 27C"

    http://www.hd-plex.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2464

    Amazing!
  • Valantar - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    That's simply not true. Sure, chipsets and various controllers can get slightly hot, as well as power delivery components (especially in overclocked builds). Memory, on the other hand, does not need heatsinks at all - they are purely aesthetic (heck, the DDR2 in my old Core2Quad build runs at 2.1V(!), and still doesn't even feel slightly warm under load). And given that this only supports CPUs up to 90W, OCing isn't an option, meaning the power delivery will stay cool as well. Given a decent motherboard with some OK heatsinks on it, you won't have any problems.
  • mobutu - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    nice, this is going exactly where I want it/need it, total passivity with a decently powerful rig, cpu+gpu+internalPSU(see streacom passive 250W internalPSU)

    so far we're limited at 750Ti but next year Maxwell will bring huge steps in passive powerful GPUs :)
  • Gigaplex - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    The 750 Ti is already Maxwell.
  • mobutu - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    sorry, I obviously meant Pascal ... or whatever the name is ;) (16-20nm, hbm etc)
  • mobutu - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    GTX960+ATX :)
    http://www.hd-plex.com/images/overview/24.jpg
    http://www.hd-plex.com/images/overview/25.jpg
  • guidryp - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    An awful lot of Fans for a "passive" system.
  • Acarney - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link

    I think that is more to show the flexibility of the case; going with a passive/semi-passive option doesn't keep you from upgrading in the future if you don't mind some fans... etc.

    I actually was the one that requested he test a 960 and see if it would work in the case (size, power requirements, etc) With how effective Maxwell is, there's a good chance the fan could be turned totally off during any desktop usage or DVR recording. Then when playing a game it'll spin up BUT Maxwell is fairly low noise to begin with AND in all likelihood this case would be 5+ feet away and under a big screen TV. Most people game with their sound on, even a little bit. Between the well built case, the distance, and TV sounds the fan noise probably won't even be a factor. Again, good chance a high quality PSU wouldn't need to spin it's fans during desktop usage.

    Also, I believe the PSU's HDPlex make are fanless, they just might not have enough juice to handle the 960 but I think he did test the 750Ti using his custom built PSUs.

    I've been dreaming of a Xbox1/PS4 equivalent box that could double as a silent DVR/HTPC system and with support for a 960 this next gen case gets DANG close (or is) that equivalent in roughly the same kind of footprint.
  • mobutu - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link

    Acarney, thanks for requesting the GTX960 testing, much appreciated!

    A lot of folks don't understand the concept of passive/silent/quiet PC's, even anandtech tests here for noise are totally out of scale and laughable, the room they test in has a base noise level of 30db! Thats astounding high and noisy! Why would you bother with noise anymore in this highly noisy environment :)

    Take SPCR (silentpcreview.com) for example, their base room noise level is 10-11db and any PC/configuration that's above 20db in full-load is rightfully considered too loud!

    I'm so happy that this case will be available, one could finallly have a decent medium-gaming-powered PC totally fanless thus inaudible!

    And yes, that fanless 250W from HDplex (or streacom) will keep a decent system with 960GTX in full load no problem, approx 200W total. No overclocking thou but thats not needed by most clients in this market niche.

    You can look for the STRIX series from Asus, GTX960, the fans are in full-stop when doing normal PC usage, thus inaudible, only in gaming or other intensive gpu scenarios they start to ramp up.
    https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics_Cards/STRIXGTX960...
  • Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    I think they're asking for trouble by using that 8 inch PCIe ribbon cable.
  • jpmore - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    Those 8 heatpipes look sweet, 90W is pretty impressive, but why does the CPU cooler have fins on it? Wouldn't that dump some of the heat inside the case instead of outside? From my personal experience building passive systems, they do a good job of cooling the CPU, but internal heat does take its toll on motherboard and drive temperatures.
  • mobutu - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    Both Heatsinks (CPU+GPU) have fins in order for cooling through natural convection also. he heat will go up and excape thru the holes in the top of the case.
  • Flunk - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    This looks like it would be good for industrial or sound production purposes or as a media computer (although you don't really need an entire PC for that anymore).
  • ruthan - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    Well total passive build is so expensive that im always thinking about next room / closet PC and long cables and wall penetrating..

    But it needs also some problems to solve, which are probably fixable:
    - long monitors cable - i need lots of them - im using all 8 outputs on my monitors (yeah im gamer) - so there are VGA, Component and Composite, DVI, HDMi and Displayport cables able to deliver signal without degradation at 8, 10 meters distance?
    - powered USB3 hub - for DVD / Blue-ray, keyboards, mouse, flash drives etc, maybe monitor one cable used
    - how to reset computer remotely, i know that there is something like keyboard power up, but i dont know how much it is reliable and i dont know to reset through keyboard - yeah i could - turn off and turn on - but is a bit lame. Fix could be something like wireless switcht and remote, but im not fan of soldering, so i would like to buy something for that.
    And this - remote start up part need to solved also for console, which are far more noisy than my rig.

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