I'd like to convert my existing system to a passively cooled solution.  Does anyone have any experience with related products, or advise on specific products for this?

TIA

Zalman makes 2 totally passively cooled cases: the TNN 300 (microATX) and the TNN 500AF (ATX).  They are rather expensive.  The TNN 300 is about $600 and the TNN 500AF is about $1200. 

What kind of system do you have?

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Gateway GT5032 running Vista Home Premium x64
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Socket 939)
2048MB PC3200 DDR RAM
640GB HD
Gigabyte GeForce 8600GT 256MB Silent
Powercolor Tul Theater 550 Pro Analog TV Tuner
AverMedia AverTV Combo m780 PCIe Tuner

PCs need airflow to keep from causing troubles. You might want to look in to water cooling.

the hfx mcubed range are simply awesome. Ive built a few rigs with these. They are wonderful to look at too, for those with aesthetics in mind.... super quiet and do a decent job cooling with its passive components...

the catch:  not cheap at all

have a looksee :  HFX Mcubed

sure there are other passive cooling components around, but mcubes products are made with MCE in mind, as opposed to gaming.

Im all for watercooling a gaming rig thats churning a high end CPU and GPU...Its actually my main interest as far as building rigs go...

but its a bit impractical if you want a compact living room based unit that wont stick out from the other a-v equipment you've got.  :)

good luck
astro

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MCE Buddy : User Friendly DVMRS to H264/DIVX/XVID/ZUNE/PPC etc. Give it a try !! // Freeware !!

Nice, thanks for that link.

paulenfield:

I'd like to convert my existing system to a passively cooled solution.  Does anyone have any experience with related products, or advise on specific products for this?

TIA

I'm not sure you can build a passively cooled unit that still looks like it fits into a media center type area

I'm not sure you can build a passively cooled unit that still looks like it fits into a media center type area

you must have skim read past my post ! the HFX cases are among the most aesthetically pleasing media-centtric cases you will find. (Only topped by the shuttle M2000 IMO as far as 'prettiness' goes)

I'd love to have my own hfx mini rig, it it werent so pricey!

cheers
astro

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MCE Buddy : User Friendly DVMRS to H264/DIVX/XVID/ZUNE/PPC etc. Give it a try !! // Freeware !!

Another expensive option is A-Tech Fabrication - beatiful cases and very quiet (ability to passively cool CPU + GPU + case).

http://www.atechfabrication.com

man, i'm not sure i'd pay $700 just for the case

wait, that was euros


1100+ canadian dollars just for the case, jeje?

bdo21:

Another expensive option is A-Tech Fabrication - beatiful cases and very quiet (ability to passively cool CPU + GPU + case).

http://www.atechfabrication.com

Im pretty sure the ridiculously overpriced hush media centre pcs are based on those atech chasssis'
http://www.hushtechnologies.com/

astro

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MCE Buddy : User Friendly DVMRS to H264/DIVX/XVID/ZUNE/PPC etc. Give it a try !! // Freeware !!

I use one of Zalman's cases and leave mine running all the time (in a low power mode when not in use). It's not passive, but it does it's job very well. It keeps the system very cool, and teamed up with a zalman processor fan it's very quiet for the amount of air circulation it gets. It comes with a media remote that you can use to turn the system on. Plus, it looks great in a home theater system... if it'll fit, it's not small.
All of the fans hook into a circuit board that's mounted on the case. Then that board plugs into your comp with an internal usb. When you install the software it lets you control all the fans through windows on an LCD touch screen on the front, so you can customize it to your noise/airflow preference. The screen can also be used to navigate windows. All in all, it's a nice setup. The only downside is the $600 average pricetag.

Case:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=232&code=029
Fan:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=202&code=005

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~Conrad

WinXP MCE 2005 - AMD Athlon x2 4800+ - M2N32SLI-Deluxe WiFi MB - Zalman HD160XT - 2GB DDR2 800 - 300G IDE HD - 600G SATA Array - 2 Hauppage WinTV-HVR 1600s - LightScribe DVD

I would recommend going for water cooling. You could do a lot worse that getting a Zalman Reserator 1 or 1+ (used ones on ebay or new for about £140). With, one of these and water blocks or passive heatsinks on the northbridge and graphics card, you will have a virtually silent system. You should not need any fans in the computer. On mine the dvd drive is now the loudest item on the whole system.

Hopefully you have a quiet power supply, if not a new one will be the only option.

Consider 'Underclocking' to keep the heat down as well.

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Windows Media Centre - The UK's most popular spelling mistake