Rev. B Ninja - Excellent for fanless operation

[ZeD]

I have allways tried to make my home computer as silent as possible , by modifying my (standard low cost) case to create a good airflow i was able to run an Athlon XP 2600+ fanless up to now - with the help of a Thermaltake Silent Tower heatsink .

All went well up to the point where i had to upgrade . The new CPU was an Athlon 64 X2 5200+ - "somewhat" more powerfull , energy consuming and thus heat emmiting than the old one .Different socket - the old heatsink was not usable anyway (and to be honest it would not be sufficient for the new CPU).

I chose the Ninja Rev. B without knowing anything about it , after examining it for a few minutes at the computer shop and comparing it with other similar products - i got the feeling it was up to the task .

And up to the task it was ... my CPU is idling around 32 degrees C , and 60% usage brings it to 41-42 degrees C with an ambient room temperature of 27 degrees C .Fanless ofcourse .
The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-M55S-S3 - on one side of the socket the capacitors were coming in contact with the heatpipes , but after slightly bending them i got about 1mm distance which is very satisfactory for operation.

My computer grew way more powerfull , stayed as quiet as it was though - just great .Thumbs up for a great product at an affordable price people .


P.S. Loved the mounting system , i had to take the computer fully apart to mount the old heatsink , Ninja attaches on the plastic base for the stock heatsinks - 1 minute job.

[Shinigami]

Hello,

nice to hear that you like the Ninja. It is built to work fanless and this is why it is performing as the best CPU Cooler when it comes to fanless. If you have good airflow inside the case, then there should be no problems cooling a normal PC, even using a CPU with 2 Cores.

You might want to show pictures of the PC to make people understand the whole setup better. Or you can present your PC in our forum.

Greetings,
Andy

[bluefront]

ZeD......I guess you got real lucky with your installation. That process has proven difficult for many people. Also your reported temperatures are insanely low, for a fanless operation, at your ambient temperature. With massive case airflow they might be possible, but that wouldn't make for a quiet computer.

Normally one fan of low/moderate airflow on a Ninja, makes for a quieter system at low temperatures.......quieter than no fan on the Ninja, and high airflow/noisy case fans. I'd also like to see pictures of your system......how you pulled off the "impossible".

[ZeD]

I am posting some pictures of my computer as requested .
All case fans except the 12cm one on the lower front part of the case are powered with 5V instead of 12V , making them totally silent .The 12cm fan is the Ninja stock fan , i found that one quiet enough so i let it work at 12V .
There are 2 important details that allow the machine to run properly :


1) Notice the 2 rear fans that are used to transfer the hot air outside the case .You will see that i removed the drilled metal cover that was originally covering their holes .VERY IMPORTANT ! Fans that are placed behind such covers have a huge decrease in airflow , and i mean HUGE .Unless you free up their exhaust they are practically useless .
Cutting that metal is not everyone's thing , and it leaves behind a nice sharp finish to cut your fingers (notice the black tape in that region , is for protection against cuts) , but it is essential if you want to create a proper airflow with slowly rotating (thus quiet) fans .
So grab those tools and WATCH YOUR FINGERS !

2) Most of the so called "good airflow cases" available have a major mistake in their design - they all use the lower front part of the case to house the intake fan .Well that is all nice , but hardly or not at all effective for cooling the cpu heatsink .I have left the 2 lower optical drive bays empty and placed a fan at their end in order to create an airflow channel that goes directly through the Ninja to the rear exhaust fans.



Even with the fans operating at 5V the airflow throughout the case is very strong , the lower 12cm fan is used to cool gfx card and chipset and to generally insert some cool air from the front to the lower part of the case .
It goes without saying that for the whole thing to function properly all covers (side and top) must be in place .

[bluefront]

Well your temps become more realistic after seeing the photos. But to call this "Fanless" is questionable. You have at least five fans running in that setup, so even at 5V, this is not a silent or a fanless solution. The fan drawing air in through the front open optical drives will always be audible, no matter how slow it's running.

Of course everyone has a different idea of what is quiet. My Ninja setup has one 120mm fan blowing inward from the back (no fan on the Ninja). The PSU is fanless, and there is one lower fan up front blowing inward. There is a duct for this lower fan with the opening at the rear. So I have no openings in the front of the case, and no exhaust fans at all. The hot air exits the case through vents on the top and through the fanless PSU.

I have three fans only in this setup. The Ninja is fanless, but it does get airflow from the rear fan, and some airflow from an internal 80mm fan, which mostly cools the RAM and other board components. This computer runs quiet and cool (IMHO), using a P4-3.4 Northwood.

Running truly fanless is next to impossible unless your CPU is extremely low-power, your graphic card is low-performance, and your hard drive is a 2.5". Even then, you'll be running rather hot.

Link to Ninja project photos

This album shows the setup in different stages.....right now there is a fanless graphic card, and only the three fans mentioned.

[ZeD]

What i meant with fanless is that the cpu heatsink has no fan .Apart from that i do have 5 fans on various other locations yes .The machine is not absolutely silent but quiet enough.

Concerning your machine , that is a very interesting project and i see you have invested quite some time and work in it , is it possible that you upload some higher resolution pictures ?
What is that drawer like construction on which the machine rests ? I think i saw some kind of box at it's rear side with 2 ducts , but i couldn't figure out what it does - is it a filtered cool air intake perhaps ?

Edit : After reading your post again i think i got it , that lower part is the duct for the lower fan with the opening at the rear you mentioned ? So practically by hiding the fan at the upper end of this construction and by placing it's intake all the way through the box at the rear you have silenced that fan completely , right ? A very interesting concept .

[bluefront]

These computers are never quiet enough......and I go through a bunch of trouble to avoid noise. Running many fans at low voltage is one way to do this, but I do it differently. I try to run with as few fans as possible, with the fans turning as slowly as possible. This method is more difficult, and requires more time and modification.

In that project the rear fan is tightly ducted to the Ninja, the bottom of the fanless PSU (it has vent holes, a 300W Fortron), and the North Bridge heatsink. These are the three items in my computer that require the most airflow. The lower front fan draws air through the bottom box.....the opening is at the rear. This box is constructed like a car muffler......chambered with an intricate airflow path. It is essentially noiseless. This fan is a modified Scythe 120mm (from the Ninja package). The modification is very unique.....I turned it into a slot-type fan. I'll start another thread on this project. (check the "Coolers" forum)

I'm on a dial-up connection, so large photos are impossible for me. If you are interested, most of my silent-type projects are posted at SilentPCReview, under the same name....Bluefront.