Question Need help building fanless PC for my wife

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eric-bam

Feb 15, 2025
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I'm looking to build a fanless PC for my wife, but I'm pretty new to building anything other than mid to full-sized tower PCs. I've definitely never built anything without fans.

I would really appreciate if someone took a look at the parts list I have so far and help me determine the feasibility of the build.

Additionally, I'd like to be able to have the PSU go through a 12V brick that goes into a 250W picoPSU, but for the life of me, I can't find a selection of these. I've only been able to find one thing on Newegg.

Please read the new sections below explaining why fanless. We're open to alternatives that still meet the requirements that fanless would achieve for us.


EDIT:

Approximate Purchase Date: Within two weeks or less.

Budget Range: 1600 After Rebates; After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: General use, internet browsing, watching movies, no gaming, would like it to be robust enough to still be decent in 6 to 10 years

Are you buying a monitor: No, we have two - HDMI or DP

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 11 Pro

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com or amazon.com

Location: Loranger, LA, USA

Parts Preferences: N/A

Overclocking: No

Multiple GPUs: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments / Why:
The fanless requirement is due to extreme mold sensitivity, and dust is one of mold's favorite foods. Without fans pulling air into the enclosure, it should be much easier to clean the outside of it.

We had found a video talking about a case with a HEPA filter on it called 'Silverstone Mammoth MM01', but it seems like it's not sold anymore, and we can't locate anything else with that level of air filtering, or I'd be building her a better PC. If anyone knows of any cases like that, I'd be much obliged, and we would go down the route of a more normal build.
 
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Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I'm looking to build a fanless PC for my wife, but I'm pretty new to building anything other than mid to full-sized tower PCs. I've definitely never built anything without fans.
First off, I wouldn't use a measly PICO PSU to power that build, not after Intel's processors can go well beyond their specs. If you look here;
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-33m-cache-up-to-5-40-ghz/specifications.html
the max turbo power draw can go as high as 219W. I would advise on going with AMD's AM5 platform though out of curiosity, why does it need to be fanless? Why not have quiet fans or a custom fan curve to move air across but not be loud?

Youi're advised to stylize your thread with info asked of in this thread;

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
and the community can chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

If you're adamant at the fanless build, PSU wise, you can look at this;
https://hdplex.com/hdplex-500w-hi-fi-dc-atx-power-supply-12v-48v-wide-range-voltage-input.html

As a word of advice you can put your parts into this site;

System Builder

pcpartpicker.com pcpartpicker.com
and it'll show you if you have any compatibility issues.

The sweet spot for any platform with DDR5 ram(at the time of writing), is DDR5-6000MHz, tight latencies. If going with AMD, look for ram that has AMD's E.X.P.O advertised on it's packaging.

IMHO, as a novice builder, you should be looking into a mini-itx system and perhaps after you've gotten your feet wet, so to speak, you can look into a fanless build. Spoiler, going fanless is moot since you'll still hear the coil whine from the power delivery componentry on the motherboard, GPU and PSU.
 
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I tried this around 10 years ago; in those days I used an ASUS H87i motherboard with some Streacom parts. But I gave up since there were too many compromises I had to make. So I realize this is a sensitive question when I ask why fanless? My current philosophy is to use as many fans as possible (8 or 9) so that they can run a low speed (e.g. 25 percent 400 rpm) and be as quiet as possible. As Lutfij points out the power requirements for todays cpus really limit the PICO power supply solution. Since Seasonic does produce higher powered fanless PSUs you might consider one of those in a more conventional setup that would provide to power your cpu needs:

https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-prime-fanless-px-500-500w/p/N82E16817151234?Item=N82E16817151234

https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-prime-fanless-tx-700-700w/p/N82E16817151235?Item=N82E16817151235

Here are some sites to explore:

Silent PC | Fanless PCs and Quiet Servers

Silent PC features Fanless PCs (Noiseless), Quiet Servers and Workstations. We sell the quietest PCs imaginable, all with the most powerful options available.
silentpc.com silentpc.com

Streacom – Premium Computer Hardware Design & Manufacture

streacom.com streacom.com

https://streacom.com/where-to-buy/?_wtb_type=americas

https://www.fullysilentpcs.com/?v=0b3b97fa6688

Quiet PC USA | Quiet and Silent Computer Hardware

Quiet PC USA offers a range of quiet and silent computer hardware including PC fans, CPU coolers, cases, power supplies, server racks, soundproofing, and anti-vibration materials.
www.quietpcusa.com www.quietpcusa.com

https://www.aaawave.com/brands/Streacom.html

https://www.platinummicro.com/brands/Streacom.html

https://www.coolerguys.com/collections/power-supplies/products/streacom-power?variant=256605257737
 
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Thanks for the replies! I've updated the OP with additional details and styling as requested, and I've added this blurb to it as well so anyone reading it won't need to scroll down to see the explanation:

The fanless requirement is due to extreme mold sensitivity, and dust is one of mold's favorite foods. Without fans pulling air into the enclosure, it should be much easier to clean the outside of it.

We had found a video talking about a case with a HEPA filter on it called 'Silverstone Mammoth MM01', but it seems like it's not sold anymore, and we can't locate anything else with that level of air filtering, or I'd be building her a better PC. If anyone knows of any cases like that or ways to achieve it, we'd be much obliged, and we would go down the route of a more normal build.
 
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eric-bam said:
Thanks for the replies! I've updated the OP with additional details and styling as requested, and I've added this blurb to it as well so anyone reading it won't need to scroll down to see the explanation:

The fanless requirement is due to extreme mold sensitivity, and dust is one of mold's favorite foods. Without fans pulling air into the enclosure, it should be much easier to clean the outside of it.

We had found a video talking about a case with a HEPA filter on it called 'Silverstone Mammoth MM01', but it seems like it's not sold anymore, and we can't locate anything else with that level of air filtering, or I'd be building her a better PC. If anyone knows of any cases like that or ways to achieve it, we'd be much obliged, and we would go down the route of a more normal build.
Click to expand...

important points are temperature/ even if its fanless if the pc gets to cold or warm or moisture in air it will settle and warmth air on a cold surface creates mold faster. dust will settle in a pc unless its literally a metal heatsink lol.

something like a
FC8 V3
FC9 V2

by mold sensitivity explain.?.

also a negative set up via fans would be better. it does hamper cooling a bit but over time its much less dusty.

heres a example from linus tech tips.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLX54ounENY
 
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beyondlogic said:
important points are temperature/ even if its fanless if the pc gets to cold or warm or moisture in air it will settle and warmth air on a cold surface creates mold faster. dust will settle in a pc unless its literally a metal heatsink lol.

something like a
FC8 V3
FC9 V2

by mold sensitivity explain.?.

also a negative set up via fans would be better. it does hamper cooling a bit but over time its much less dusty.

heres a example from linus tech tips.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLX54ounENY
Click to expand...
Yup, we fastidiously maintain the humidity in our home because of the moisture issue in general. My wife has CIRS. I understand everyone has their opinions, but our situation is that we want to avoid dust as much as possible, and that's just the requirement for the build.

Are the FC8 V3 and FC9 V2 cases better for passive cooling than the Akasa case in our parts list?

That video didn't inspire much trust in a conventional setup for dust accumulation, unless either a stock or custom HEPA solution is available for us to buy or look into how to build ourselves.
 
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Shouldn't someone post some tasteless quip about "needing fans because your wife is so hot" or "post some pictures of your wife so we can determine if fans are needed"? I would have. I'm just that sophomoric but couldn't come up with the wording 😕
 
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As mentioned, choosing a 219w CPU for a fanless build is pointless as it would throttle all of the time so would only be as fast as an old computer (a 14700k would be even worse as that's a 253w processor).

Even in the heyday of fanless builds, only the largest heatsinks such as CR-100A could dissipate 100w if you had some case airflow. The more common CR-95c or Heligon HE02 were only rated 95w. There's no getting around it--fanless means big if you want performance. I once calculated that it would require a 20' tall chimney to get the same airflow as a typical 80mm case fan and even then the airflow and thus dust is the same--it's just silent.

There was a time when TDP meant the maximum possible heat dissipation target a heatsink manufacturer should aim for, but after the 14nm+++++ debacle they switched to lies to not look so bad and "65w" TDP now only means power consumption at base clock. You have to dig into the datasheets to find PL1 and PL2 thermal limits under Turbo now.
 
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eric-bam said:
We're not into Mac :)
Click to expand...
I understand... but it's 2025, expand your horizons!

for about $700 you could have the performance you're seeking x100 right out of the box in the new M4 Mac Mini. Just plug it in, no need to spend all this time asking others what parts to buy that will work together, and then build it and install the OS, etc...

If that's definitely not the route you want to take, then you must include an AIO to cool any new gen processor you plan on using - forget about heatsinks and fans, why would you want to hear fan noise!>?!?
 
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