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You know it's a serious project when they chose to deploy 2 Patricks to the job

Not a particularly constructive comment, but I like the unusual looks of that huge heatsink hanging out the back of the case. Gives it a kind of hot rod vibe.

Love "It'll be a pain but.. we'll get over it", that's the fucking spirit Patrick

GN: buys the dream machine for testing fans Also GN: immediately builds a fanless system

This is definitely worthy of the main channel.

Actually, this is like a REALLY famous power supply, or whatever.

I love how much more comfortable Patrick is in front of the camera now, compared to the first time I saw him (years ago). I really appreciate all the hard work the GN team does. You guys go above and beyond, I can't think of anyone that compares. You really deserve all the support and recognition.

Actually, Mistel is fairly well known for their quirky split/ergo keyboards (like the Barocco). I honestly had no idea they'd gone into PSUs as well!

Almost first. Notice me senpai

Would recommend running a Silverstone nightjar 450w SFX SFX-L PSU with a SFX to ATX bracket. It is a fully enclosed PSU with the heatsinks built into the housing. It will run quieter and cooler.

I love the green logo it looks great!

GN pushing the boundaries of physics. This is the stuff I'm here for. First test for your noise chamber is to measure the sound of silence.

Patrick just likes to stand in brightly lit rooms...no need to question it. See what happened was Steve told him to stand over there like a month ago and dude just hasn't moved. Dedicated to the max

I love this! I have a friend who gets incredibly sensitive to noise levels, and we are trying to build her a "quiet" pc. It's such a fun project because the focus is not performance or aesthetics.

I see Patrick is catching up to Steve's hair. It would be quite a thing if Stone does too

As I have gotten older I have learned to appreciate silent performance so much more. Thanks for all your brain power so I don't have to.

In regards to noise from power supplies and VRMs. There is a few things to consider. Firstly is that most PSUs and VRMs operate in the 60-300 kHz frequency range when it comes to switching, this won't produce much noise, even though a lot of coil whine actually is there. However, a lot of switchmode controllers do have a low power mode where they start skipping cycles. Ie only sending over power intermittently and relying on output capacitance to keep the output voltage within spec. This usually reduces the switching frequency by a lot, and this can send it into the audible range, but at very low loads where PWM modulation isn't sufficient. (typically less than 5% load.) The thing that however can make noise is load variations. Like that of an application running in a more cyclic fashion. One of the common examples of this is graphics rendering and frame delivery, since during rendering, texture mapping, shading and potential image scaling, we don't expect all of these to consume the same exact amount of power, and since the graphics processing workload is more or less stepping through the above one at a time then the VRM load variations will vary over the course of each rendered frame. This more or less gives us a few tones in the frequency spectrum that is some multiple of our frame rate. But a lot of other applications can cause a cyclic load, or just bursts of activity. The later tends to cause a more sporadic ticking sound. But there is solutions to "coil whine", thermal pads pressing against the inductors will help dampen the vibrations and therefor the noise. Gluing components down to the board can also reduce noise. Though, some coil whine from larger transformers comes from leaked magnetic flux pulling and pushing on the surrounding metal case. Here one can either add a stiff rubber/foam pillar to dampen this vibration. Or one can wrap a mu-metal shield around the transformer to contain the magnetic flux, this however tends to require unsoldering the transformer.

More content like this please!!! This will definitely gain more viewers, Please continue! Love my GN Wire Frame Mouse Mat!

Patrick Lathan is hilarious in his own way but Patrick Stone is my favorite person on the team, he got the energy and good vibes, his presence makes vid 69 times better.

I only know Mistel for their mechanical keyboards, never knew they made PSUs

I miss passive GPUs, I want to stick a 3090ti cooler on a 3060 to have a passive GPU again. Now if only I could buy either of them

Great topic, thanks for bringing us along. I really like the more informal (but still very professionally made) approach that you get with GN Extras.

A few minor points of wisdom that I've garnered from a few passive/wall-mount systems... 1. Low power is good. You probably don't NEED as much power as you think. Cooling becomes much harder with every watt you add. 2. Use the 'chimney effect'. Seriously. Even a fan-less heat-sink requires SOME airflow. It needs somewhere to dump the heat. Mounting it inside an enclosure that is only open near the floor and ceiling creates a passive channel to get cool air in (floor) and hot air out (ceiling).

I've heard of Mistel but they're more well known for their mechanical keyboards. Definitely wasn't expecting to see a PSU from them.

As a fiend for silent computing myself, this build makes me happy. I have two computers I switch between, one running Linux on a humble G4600 which can be passively cooled just fine with a basic large tower cooler with the fan removed (some bequiet! darkrock in my case) and a DC-DC picoPSU adapter instead of a traditional power supply. The fun part is that the AC-DC adapter I'm using is from an old eeePC and is only rated for around 30W which has been fine and stable for years now in this configuration so long as I don't load it with large transients like hotplugging a 3.5" HDD. Idles at under 20W otherwise. The other computer's for modest VR gaming but I still spent way too much on custom CPU+GPU water cooling to complement a 1070 that's power limited to 75W just to make sure the rad fans never have to spin over 800RPM. And even so, I wouldn't mind piping the water to an enormous passive radiator if it wouldn't be several hundred extra dollars in raw metal, likely. Not terribly looking forward to upgrading the GPU since power draw (and thus thermal load) has been ballooning so much.

It is really cool that you're finding a use for the Things you've reviewed in the past instead of them just taking up on your shelf.

Related to the coil whine of the PSU - during measurement (fan testing) you can use a low pass filter (cutoff starting at 8kHz?) during data acquisition, or better, a notch filter at the switching frequency of the PSU to eliminate that noise.

Reminds me of the good old days when I used to build ridiculously silent PCs, such as my undervolted Northwood C in an Antec Sonata case. Passive CPU cooler, nearly silent GPU, and a single exhaust fan in the power supply to move air in and out. LOL It sounds like a horrible thing to do to a PC (especially if you know the Antec Sonata case) but as long as you bought the right parts and undervolted them, there really wasn't much heat to build up. The PSU moved just enough air that you could game on it without runaway thermals, and regular workloads, no worries.

Noice! I get a notification somewhat on time! Just started, can't wait to see the thermals

20:02 I enjoy watching specific, purpose-filled builds like this too, thanks steve!

Surprisingly, this is the first passively cooled desktop pc I've see. Very cool! I'm so used to hearing the sound of fans ramp up whenever I turn a computer on.

Wee, I'm stoked about focusing on noise and quiet builds. It's be a meager field since Silentpcreview went silent (get it?) and was bought. I'm really looking forward to good sound testing of pc components

I didn't even realize this was the extras channel until you said something. I'm a simple man, I see Steve, I watch the video.

Love this Patrick kinda cute ngl xD (you're nice too Patrick Stone..)

Super cool to see one of these built for an actual reason

I know Mistel as a maker of split mechanical keyboards, was very surprised to see a power supply under the same brand (and I've checked, they really do make both keyboards and PSUs!)

Hi Steve I think you were limping a bit, I hope everything is ok with your health! Thanks for all the work you guys do.

One interesting thing I've heard of Mistel before but I actually know them for their keyboards, they aren't exactly a super big player in the keyboard hobby though.

I'm wondering if that acrylic panel isn't just for looks, but also there as a safety feature. Potentially the cooler could get pretty hot, and you don't want someone accidentally bumping into hot metal, especially in an industrial environment where sudden unexpected pain might cause someone to mishandle a power-tool.

Two things . . 1) people seem to be very concerned about the passive coolers, cooling fin, orientation. 2) I think my legs are actually whiter than Mr. Stones'. I'm liking these 'GN Extras' videos. Thanks

Ive been using a seasonic passive power supply in one of my servers for 10 years now. still works great, every couple years i tear it down and blow out any dust.

It'd be interesting to see a comparison between the NH-P1 and the ENCTEC passive heatsinks

Man.. these new GN Extras videos are venomous!

Yessssssssssssss GN extras content you guys should do a blooper reel sometime :) does Steve really get those pieces to camera right the first time without misspeaking? but they would be so long to re-record, and they rarely (but sometimes) have cuts in the audio when B-roll is being shown, and even more rarely is there a cut in the video when Steve is talking to the camera. (but that's an extremely high-quality trait of the production style that really does make it come off like a Real News Production at a huge news outlet.)

After the Gigabyte fiasco, I would be terrified to hold that power supply up to my face like Patrick did. Especially with a brand they have never heard of

I love this type of stuff! Excited to see all the stuff that ends up on this channel.

For the v 2.0 passive build you can throw in a graphics card as well. Palit sells a fully passive SKU for lower end GPUs (called KalmX), if I remember correctly the best current offering is a GTX 1650. I personally have a KalmX 750 ti on a secondary low end build, still works wonderfully for its purpose.

Gotta say that "Master of silence" sounds badass for a title, like a legendary assassin, thief or spy XD

I know it may seem insignificant, but do you think cooler orientation matters in this circumstance considering it’s passive? I wonder if having the big side on the top or having the fin gaps parallel to the direction of natural heat rising would yield cooler temperatures

There's definitely a hobbyist community getting Z170/Z270 boards running up to 9th gen CPUs. Currently typing this using a Maximus VIII Hero Z170 board with a 9900KS. Works great!

Cool stuff. When I build computers I give it the expectation of full speed capabilities, capability of handling full load multithreaded multitasking scenarios without crashing and zero chance of thermal throttle. Overclocking headroom is kind of something I reserve for a main workstation and it only applies to my servers on a case by case basis. This silent build looks completely outrageous and while it's something I'm probably never going to do, it's great to see someone out there has at least tried to make it happen. Outside of industrial use and recording, it would be exceptional for testing PCI-E devices with high chance of coil whine. My PowerColor RX 580 comes to mind.

I'd be interested in seeing a video explaining all of the settings in BIOS, as well as how to configure many of them. or even just going through how you guys go about configuring them on systems you build.

I've run into these PSUs working as stage tech. We use computer PSUs when we need to drive various scenery lights or low current motors. Fan less are best as they aren't going to suck up any smoke effects, or explode if a curtain or scenery blocks it off when pulled up into the grid. Never heard anyone complain about them and it's pretty easy for gear to get put on most mech's shitlist - if a show gets ruined it's on us - so...

I realize building custom PCs is not your usual content here, but I offer a challenge (That could even go out to you, Jay, Linus, others): Build the most powerful noiseless and fan-less PC possible (and no semi-test bench style cheating- in an actual case with panels even if just a grate- call it cat proof). But that will require getting something like an ARCTIC Accelero S3 Passive Graphics Card Cooler and a compatible sub 140 watt(?) GPU unless you stick with stock passive cooled products (which are all weak old GPUs now). I still remember how loud the office was in the 90s when I first started an office job: hard drives sounding like broken shredders, loud high pitched cooling fans, CRT monitor buzz, and the deafening printers. OMG the printers. Life is so much better now. Though I do miss the much more mechanical feeling "basic" keyboards from back then even though they were loud and dummy thicc. The mice did suck though. Back to the topic at hand- the power of lower end hardware is quite good now, and this motherboard and cooler really make a fan-less desktop PC a possibility. Honestly, this is something that the prebuild workstation sellers (Dell, HP, etc) should totally be doing now. No/Low maintenance and quiet fan-less prebuilt desktops should already be a thing. Imagine Dell trying to make one of those Alienware plastic pods fan-less. Lol.

Would be cool to see this with a gpu with a Noctua NH-P1 put onto a GPU in the front of the case!

For those that people that aren't using a silent PC for noise testing it might be worth considering something like a Corsair RM850 that doesn't spin up the fan until you hit 340W. I just built a media PC using the parts that I had on hand and a 4790(non-k) with a GTX 1070 (Strix) untweaked running Furmark and prime95 came in under the PSU fan spin-up power threshold. The NH-D15 only spun up under artificial loads and the 1070 with some tweaking didn't spin up in non-gaming/non-furmark loads. So not actually silent, but it'll be silent as a media PC. Speedfan / Argus Monitor is useful for fan control.

Enctec has been out of stock of everything for at least a year it seems, I hope intel didn't shut them down cause I want one of these boards

I remember the first run of them coasters and how unexpectedly fast they sold . I got a pack and love them .

Keen to see how this system shapes up over time

I had silent pc until i had the great idea of buying a case with glass panel and rgb fans, i want my brick back, you hear everything, the hdd vibrations, the noise of your psu.

bought my coasters! happy to support such a great channel!

"This is a dumb idea, why would you make a video out of it?" 5 mins in, watching Patrick actually describe where noises are coming from in the power supply in different loads .... You guys have a way of making things interesting that I don't know how to describe. In hindsight, it is actually a really interesting build. Priorities completely shifted away from what one would consider "normal" - high power, high performance. It was interesting to see how it shifted the ideas about what you even WANT to have build in the first place. No XMP, no overclock, no super high end CPU or GPU because the priority is completely different.

If the software you are using works with macOS, why not try the MacBook Air? Since you don’t need performance but a silent but good machine. The M1 MacBook Air could be powerful enough depends on what you need.

Definitely cool. Most of the reasons you said. It's different, it's unique and you still set it up, as if it WERE going to be a full throttle PC. Thank you guys, and please KEEP up the great work. I'm enjoying the videos here on GN Extras

We've had the passive build. Now for the agressive build. Also this is weird, your commented channel icon is green and the channel icon on the video is blue for me right now.

6:20 My thought was more Chief O'Brien standing all day in the transporter room, rather than TES NPCs, but that works too.

Anybody can buy a CompuLab air top PC and call it a day. Now this takes true ingenuity! I've always wanted to see the reverse socket motherboard have a use.

I love the new logo, I'd like to be able to buy merchandise in this color, even if it's just limited edition, love your work, keep it up!

I always love watching the tall smart and chill bro Patrick! ❤️🤟😜

Silverstone do some passive PSUs as well if you wanted other options. Most notably they do an SFX unit for small builds, but also an ATX one.

Also gotta love the cpu hoardin stock, so cool, GN turned into a self sufficient PC center lol

I have a 1200W PSU and in 5 years I have never seen the fan spin except for a brief moment when the system comes on. Since the PSU never gets hot enough to run the fan at any time that I can load it down, I think it would qualify as "passive" as a fan never actually keeps it cool. Design and components plays a real key role!

About that cooler, I am wondering if it were't more effective to have the fins arranged vertically, so that you get more work out of convection currents carrying the hot air away.

I would love for you to test for coil whine in your standard tests of components (gpus, motherboards, power supplies etc), as I'm interested in silent computers. I generally buy semi-passive components so that they are silent under low and idle load. (I find it less annoying if it makes a little noise for a short burst of code compiling or such. And when gaming, the game is usually louder than my noctua fans anyway.)

Man, I love any video with the Paricks! Another great video!

Your videos are getting so much better. Thanks for keeping us informed.

I obviously don't do anything resembling the rigorous testing you guys do, but anecdotally, I have been very happily running a Seasonic passive power supply in my living room server for some time now, it's so quiet I'm tempted to get one for my main rig. Looking forward to GNs testing and impressions of one.

Looking at the horizontal fins on that giant cooler, I suspect it will perform better on it's side so that the vins are vertical. Just throw the whole case on it's side and re-test.

"Master of Silence"

I couldn't have clicked on this faster after your KZfaq post!

The concept that Patrick was an Elder Scrolls style NPC endlessly standing in one place until you interact with him was fantastic.

I really do like my coasters. They are a serious upgrade to my folded wash cloth coaster. Something that can't be understated is the way they stay in place on the table. This is vital for intense gaming sessions!!

Whenever I see Patrick-in-Chief and Patrick-the-Power-Mage, they look like they're having a good time.

But Steve, did you get that thunderbolt card to work? I really want to add thunderbolt to more systems and if I can get around that pesky header requirement that would be killer!

15:38 - bet you wouldn’t put your head that close if it was made by Gigabyte 😅

I loved this piece a lot. Silent but strong PC. Love to see more.

I hope this reverse motherboards gets some interest from the market. This leaves potentially a lot of space for an ideal GPU passive cooler (or something more real with fans turned off up to 80% load)

I have a seasonic passive 80+ platinum 520W PSU, very very high quality, thoroughly recommend

How interesting about that Mistel power supply. They make one of the more budget split keyboards I use and love.

The build montage music was a nice surprise :)

For your measurement rig you would want a low noise PSU nut only acoustically low noise but low of electrical noise EMC/EMI as well. The analog high gain capacitor microphones (and ADCs) are somewhat susceptible to electrical noise.

Heheh, GN is doing montaj while building the computer. Jayz must be proud.

that is one funky cool MB. Mounts backwards, nice!

This was built for "Passover" I really love the different builds!

Thank your for showing us this!

Amazon reviews coming in clutch once again with the bizarre tech support hacks!

NH-P1 works great in the Torrent for a semi-passive build. Torrent Compact can also fit it but I had to make some small but unnoticeable mods to make it go. The 180mm fans in the Fractals work really well with the NH-P1, GPU fans become the long pole in the tent.

Gamers Nexus, Aris Mpitziopoulos, Jonny Guru all star champs for helping people get a decent PSU at lower and higher prices.

I like the new workspace, so much room!