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I currently have a relatively old (2009) Shuttle XPC with an AMD Phenom X2 550 3.10GHz and 2 SATA HDD drives. I use it as my work computer, usually running a couple of browsers, XAMPP, 2 or 3 different code editors and maybe Flash CS5 or Photoshop at any one time. I have absolutely no problem with the speed or performance of this machine; however, having gotten used to a silent working environment (when working via a Macbook), the sound of the fan in my PC is starting to drive me insane.

I'd like to build/buy a fanless PC, but most of the systems I can find seem to have much slower CPU clockspeeds (averaging 1-2GHz), but obviously utilize more modern processors, invariably running with far lower power usage; but they also often tend to be mobile processors (for example the Intel Celeron 3250u in a Shuttle DS57u).

I recently upgraded my Macbook by switching to an SSD, and I was astonished at the difference in performance, so am I likely to see the same (or possibly even better) performance from a new fanless PC, even with a 'slower' CPU?

indextwo
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  • You could try running a motherboard outside of a computer case with a good fanless cpu heatsink, and see how it goes with indoor air flow cooling it rather than a computer case with a fan.. And yeah an SSD can make even a "slow" cpu system pretty fast. For some reason my laptop with its core 2 duo seems slower than a comp I built once that had a much slower CPU and SSD, I don't know why. But definitely SSD makes a huge difference. The company NoFen or NoFan, produce a heatsink that can cool a 95 degree cpu. It's big. – barlop Apr 12 '15 at 13:08
  • @barlop I had seen the NoFen/NoFan IcePipe - they look amazing, but I definitely want to stay small form factor - I have limited space! It appears unlikely that you'd be able to fit one of those against a Mini-ITX board, or inside a mini-ITX case, let alone a 'true' SFF case (it definitely won't go in my Shuttle. I measured.) – indextwo Apr 12 '15 at 14:11
  • @MrJensenn Thanks - I have used Google. I *do* understand the difference between RAM and CPU; I thought it was worth mentioning as the number of concurrent programs makes a difference with regards to available cycles, particularly depending on the task they may be doing at any one time. Also worth pointing out that in Shuttle XPCs the graphics are on-board and don't have a separate GPU. – indextwo Apr 12 '15 at 14:21
  • @MrJensenn Not looking for opinion-based recommendations or 'what should I build?' - perhaps re-read the question. Also note: `"I'd like to build/buy a *fanless* PC"` – indextwo Apr 12 '15 at 17:20
  • This 'Desktop' is quiet. But it does not have the performance you are used to. Maybe they will come out with an i5 or i7 model. This series is brand new so there is hope. ==> http://www.computershopper.com/desktops/reviews/hp-pavilion-mini – whs Apr 12 '15 at 17:23
  • I guess that even with a fanless case you might have s size restriction. I guess your question could be more one of, what's the fastest processor that a small fanless heatsink can cool.. I don't know though. Perhaps you could state the size limitations of the heatsink.. – barlop Apr 12 '15 at 19:41
  • @MrJensenn You have very little experience with StackExchange (I see by your comments) - here let me help you: http://superuser.com/help/how-to-answer ("Read the question *carefully*...") – indextwo Apr 13 '15 at 00:02
  • To answer the question "am I likely to see the same (or possibly even better) performance from a new fanless PC, even with a 'slower' CPU?": Yes. You are likely to get better performance than what you have today. – IndentationFaulter Apr 13 '15 at 13:04
  • @MrJensenn maybe, but do you not think it might depend how slow the new cpu is? – barlop Apr 14 '15 at 18:19

2 Answers2

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The performance lag of the SSD and CPU will be minimal, as the CPU will in all likelihood have Intel SpeedStep (or TurboBoost*), which will enable the CPU to effectively overclock itself to a higher rating (For example, my NetBooks Core i5 runs natively at 1.5GHz but will boost to 2.3GHz if need be.)

As long as the CPU is at least a dual core (hopefully with Intel HyperThreading) and the CPU can keep up with the amount of data you need to process, you will have no noticeable impact on performance, even when running three code editors, Flash CS5, a couple of browsers and XAMPP.

That said, you will have to pick a CPU that can keep up with the requirements of the apps you want to run.

Verdict: No Noticeable Lag

*I can't remember what Intel calls their CPU boosting tech

td512
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Your bottlenecks could be on internal bus - link between north and south bridge. North bridge connects CPU and RAM, while south bridge works with peripherals like SATA storage.

Although nowadays you will probably limited by SATA interface itself, which will be around 500MB/s. Alternative interfaces like PCI could run up to 2GB/s. I doubt you will want to invest into PCI SSD, but that depends what do you do with your computer.

The overall performance improvement comes from actually more in/out operations per second rather than the better transfer speed itself.

If you focus solely on MB/s, then try benchmarking your RAM speeds and then compare to your storage device speed. I don't storage can ever exceed RAM speeds.

Edit: The other option would be measure the speed of your front side bus to CPU link. There are few quite good estimations here.

dzh
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