CPU fans, GPU fans, case fans, spinning hard drives…What do they have in common? Noise and heat. Whining, clicking, vibrating, whirring–all of these sounds have become commonplace in our lives, just like the heat and power costs they bring with them. Fortunately, recent improvements have given us a better way. Intel’s recent release of the ultra-efficient Ivy Bridge family of processors coupled with solid state disks, fanless power supplies and passively cooled graphics cards have made the silent, cool and powerful PC a reality that can be had for less than $1000. Considering the cost of running a standard PC for a year (power and cooling) can range anywhere from $50 (light users who utilize power saving features on efficient PCs and turn them off when not in use) to over $600 (people with less efficient computers that leave them on), this type of setup provides more than just the benefits of silence.
So just how quiet is a setup like the one described a few sentences above? Well, if you did buy (all of )the components listed, the first sound you will hear upon booting up your new computer will be the sound of the Windows log on greeting. No moving parts means a truly silent PC. As I’ve listed previously the highly noticeable speed improvements garnered by the installation of an SSD, I’ll simply leave at this: the results will be–like your new PC–very cool.
