ZOTAC Releases World’s First Mini PC with Solid-State Active Cooling System

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ZOTAC has announced that the ZBOX pico PI430AJ with AirJet is now available for purchase in select regions in both Windows and Barebone configurations. Described by the manufacturer as being the world's first solid-state active cooled mini PC, this is an ultra-compact system that features Frore's unique AirJet Mini Modules for removing heat silently through rapid airflow, enabling an extremely quiet system that is only audible "when put against one's ear." An Intel Core i3-N300 processor, 8 GB of LPDDR5 memory, M.2 NVMe storage slot, and more can be found in the system, which measures only as big as a deck of cards.

See full article...
 
You can't have "rapid" airflow without noise, since it is the airflow that creates the noise in the first place.

And no, 27dB is not silent, in fact it is quite noisy especially for a device that already compromises on performance. I'd rather have a passive heatsink that maybe doubles the size but is actually silent.
 
MadMummy76 said:
You can't have "rapid" airflow without noise, since it is the airflow that creates the noise in the first place.

And no, 27dB is not silent, in fact it is quite noisy especially for a device that already compromises on performance. I'd rather have a passive heatsink that maybe doubles the size but is actually silent.
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27 db is the equivalent of a ticking watch placed directly against the ear.

Far from "noisy"
 
Riccochet said:
27 db is the equivalent of a ticking watch placed directly against the ear.

Far from "noisy"
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A supposedly 27 dBa fan is about twice as loud than what I find acceptable. And an idle computer shouldn't make more noise than 20dBA. It's a logarithmic scale, so 27 is about 4x as loud as 20.

A ticking watch in my ear would certainly drive me up a wall.
 
Peltier coolers are making a comeback?

Hardly world first.
 
I think you are missing the point that 27 db is barely audible, and inaudible from less than a foot away. So unless you are wearing your PC around your head you aren't going to hear it.
 
Riccochet said:
I think you are missing the point that 27 db is barely audible, and inaudible from less than a foot away. So unless you are wearing your PC around your head you aren't going to hear it.
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I can hear a ticking clock from 2 rooms away. 27db is not inaudible, 19db isn't inaudible either. Or perhaps they are lying about their fans? I don't have a dB meter, so I can only rely on what's written on the packaging, and based on that 27dB is loud AF to me.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Or perhaps they are lying about their fans?
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They're 'lying' in that the fan noise is measured in 'free air', i.e. with nothing in front of or behind the fan, just standing there on it's own.

Most fans are silent until you try to use them to push air through something like a case, heatsink, or radiator.
 
Riccochet said:
I think you are missing the point that 27 db is barely audible, and inaudible from less than a foot away. So unless you are wearing your PC around your head you aren't going to hear it.
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As an example, I don't think I could get any room in my house consistently down to 27dB. I'd have to set up a dedicated 'quiet room' to down out external noise, and I don't think I'd be able to make the A/C quiet regardless of what I did!
 
LazyGamer said:
They're 'lying' in that the fan noise is measured in 'free air', i.e. with nothing in front of or behind the fan, just standing there on it's own.

Most fans are silent until you try to use them to push air through something like a case, heatsink, or radiator.
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I'm way past that point. I usually remove / cut the grill of cases for this exact reason.

As an example CM jetflo fans come with RPM adaptors, one for 1600rpm (suppodedly 28dB) and an 1200rpm (supposedly 19dB) "silent" adaptor.
Without the regulator on full power the fan is like a hair dryer completely unbearable for me. With the 1600rpm one it is still louder than what I can tolerate. The 19dB adaptor is good enough for a workstation where noise isn't as critical. But for it to be truly silent by my standards, I'd daisy chain the 28dB adaptor with the 19dB one, which reduces the RPM to about 900. That's when I can actually call it silent.
 
MadMummy76 said:
I can hear a ticking clock from 2 rooms away. 27db is not inaudible, 19db isn't inaudible either. Or perhaps they are lying about their fans? I don't have a dB meter, so I can only rely on what's written on the packaging, and based on that 27dB is loud AF to me.
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You can hear a wrist watch from 2 rooms away? I call bullshit on that. lmao

Unless you are in a literal quiet HOUSE (not room, but house) who's noise level is below 20 dB you're not hearing a wrist watch from 2 rooms away. All the other noise will drown it out LONG before that occurs.

2 rooms away. lmao
 
If you wanted quiet fans, you wouldn't be buying them from CM...

The gold standard for a standard-sized fan is Noctua's NF-A12x25 PWM for 120mm fans that are the standard 25mm thick. They're based on the old Nidec Gentle Typhoon design with improvements to reduce potential annoying NVH at higher RPMs as well as to increase longevity.

They're still quite audible when running at their max 2000RPM, of course, but provide an excellent tradeoff at lower speeds. Also, you should be setting fan speed against a temperature target, rather than inserting a resister to reduce voltage. I use 120mm x 30mm GT-like fans from Phanteks, that can spin to 3000RPM, and have them set against water temperature in my loop. At idle they'll be under 800RPM, and if the temperature ever shot up to alarming levels, they'd ramp up accordingly.
 
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
You can hear a wrist watch from 2 rooms away? I call bullshit on that. lmao

Unless you are in a literal quiet HOUSE (not room, but house) who's noise level is below 20 dB you're not hearing a wrist watch from 2 rooms away. All the other noise will drown it out LONG before that occurs.

2 rooms away. lmao
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I said ticking clock, a watch is not 27dBA. And with the doors open, obviously, not through the walls.

LazyGamer said:
If you wanted quiet fans, you wouldn't be buying them from CM...

The gold standard for a standard-sized fan is Noctua's NF-A12x25 PWM for 120mm fans that are the standard 25mm thick. They're based on the old Nidec Gentle Typhoon design with improvements to reduce potential annoying NVH at higher RPMs as well as to increase longevity.
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That's just shifting the goalpost, I used those fans as examples because it has factory declared noise levels for multiple speeds.
In my experience at 800rpm any fan will be silent, you don't need any special fan for that.
 
MadMummy76 said:
That's just shifting the goalpost, I used those fans as examples because it has factory declared noise levels for multiple speeds.
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In free air - that's the point, and the goalpost is the one that folks assume about fans based on marketing. That's the point relative to the Zotac with solid-state cooling: you can't compare what fan manufacturers claim.
 
MadMummy76 said:
In my experience at 800rpm any fan will be silent, you don't need any special fan for that.
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I have to agree with this.
I´ve been through most types of fans trying for as silent as poss, at the moment I settled on be quiet silent wings for the case, and a dark rock cooler, they are running at about 1000rpm. this is about the limit for me as a trade off between airflow and noise.
In the old days when there were no posh fans about, I just used the 12v to 7v mod.
 
MadMummy76 said:
I said ticking clock, a watch is not 27dBA. And with the doors open, obviously, not through the walls.


That's just shifting the goalpost, I used those fans as examples because it has factory declared noise levels for multiple speeds.
In my experience at 800rpm any fan will be silent, you don't need any special fan for that.
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The original discussion was a watch placed directly against your ear being roughly 27 db.

So again, you're not hearing a watch across two rooms.

and why you changed the narrative to say "clock" when the discussion was revolving around a watch just shows you have no idea what you are even talking about. Just typing words on a keyboard just to do it.

So again, you're not hearing something that's 27 db two rooms away unless you're in a perfectly quiet room that's below 15db. and for the record, 20 db is the equivalent of hearing someone whispering from 5 feet away and 10 db is the sound of normal breathing. Even then, I don't think its possible for the majority of people unless you have acute hearing.

Also where did 27 db come from anyway? Looking at the product in the OP it claims that "airjet" thing produces 21 db of sound.

Big difference between 27 db and 21 db.
 
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LeRoy_Blanchard said:
View attachment 2747

The original discussion was a watch placed directly against your ear being roughly 27 db.

So again, you're not hearing a watch across two rooms.

and why you changed the narrative to say "clock" when the discussion was revolving around a watch just shows you have no idea what you are even talking about. Just typing words on a keyboard just to do it.
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LOL, are you having a bad day or something?
Those are two different comments, with two different subjects. And both are true statements, a mechanical / analogue watch in my ear would drive me nuts, and I can hear a ticking clock from two rooms away. There was no narrative, outside of 27dB not being silent judging by how much noise a claimed 19dB fan makes.
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
So again, you're not hearing something that's 27 db two rooms away unless you're in a perfectly quiet room that's below 15db. and for the record, 20 db is the equivalent of hearing someone whispering from 5 feet away and 10 db is the sound of normal breathing. Even then, I don't think its possible for the majority of people unless you have acute hearing.
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I don't have calibrated noise measuring equipment, so all I can go by is the claims of the manufacturer. The 28dB fan might be 45dB when measured accurately, who knows?
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
Also where did 27 db come from anyway? Looking at the product in the OP it claims that "airjet" thing produces 21 db of sound.

Big difference between 27 db and 21 db.
Click to expand...
From the white paper of the used cooling solution, which is linked in the article that says at 21dB it is only capable of 4.75W heat dissipation. And it goes up to 27dB for 20W.

But even when we go by the lower 21dB value compared to my experience with claimed 19dB fans, that's not only audible when you put your ear against it.
 
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