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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 9:25 am 
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Cogito wrote:
. Standing next to it, I could not hear any fan noise. I could see the fans running, so opened the transparent side panel and still could not hear any noise. I had to move my head within aboud 10" before I could hear the noise.


Yeah, but what was the computer doing at that point? If the computer was idling, and the fans were running at their minimum speed, the fact that you couldn't hear them doesn't mean much. I've got this heat sink/fan https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UOIK3FU in my main PC (core i7-8700) and can't hear it even at <6" with the case open IF the computer is idle. Start doing something intensive like encoding video, and it becomes just noticeable at the 2' or so it sits from my normal operating position.

Roscoe

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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 9:34 am 
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David McGown wrote:
Shashi,

It is more than the physical noise. Running a fan, particularly with PWM control, introduces electrical noise into the computer and its power supply. Of course there is already noise from the DC to DC converters, but that is unavoidable to address the numerous voltages that on-board component need. A secondary rationale for passive cooling is to, as much as possible, reduce as many of those electrical noise sources as possible. Also using an external LPS for powering the main board and internal components (incl. USB and Ethernet cards) gets the noise from a big fan cooled switching power supply from polluting the computer power bus.

If one can get by with passive cooling, I feel it is better overall. But it will limit how powerful of a CPU you can use due to heat dissipation unless you find an case that can dissipate the heat under load.

David


With or without fans, computer power is dirty which is why we use dedicated LPS with specialized USB cards like SotM.


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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 9:38 am 
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Roscoe Primrose wrote:
Cogito wrote:
. Standing next to it, I could not hear any fan noise. I could see the fans running, so opened the transparent side panel and still could not hear any noise. I had to move my head within aboud 10" before I could hear the noise.


Yeah, but what was the computer doing at that point? If the computer was idling, and the fans were running at their minimum speed, the fact that you couldn't hear them doesn't mean much. I've got this heat sink/fan https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UOIK3FU in my main PC (core i7-8700) and can't hear it even at <6" with the case open IF the computer is idle. Start doing something intensive like encoding video, and it becomes just noticeable at the 2' or so it sits from my normal operating position.

Roscoe


Roscoe,

I dont plan on doing any heavy video encoding work on my audio servers.


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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 9:59 am 
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Cogito wrote:

Roscoe,

I dont plan on doing any heavy video encoding work on my audio servers.


Me either. Point is, that for the low loads we see on our renderers, there's no reason to buy expensive fans (although, you may want to avoid the very cheapest ones) since any decent fan is quiet enough when it runs slowly. NUCs have fans, I've never heard mine from more than 6" away. My NUC has four cores, and no hyperthreading....

DaveM, as far as noise from PWM fan speed control, the loads on renderers are low enough that you could use a non-PWM fan with an LM317 or similar variable voltage supply and keep the CPU happy w/o having a noise issue. In most cases if the voltage is just high enough to guarantee that the fan actually starts, you'll do fine keeping the CPU cool enough under the loads we deal with.

Roscoe

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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 11:34 am 
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Roscoe Primrose wrote:
Cogito wrote:

Roscoe,

I dont plan on doing any heavy video encoding work on my audio servers.


Me either. Point is, that for the low loads we see on our renderers, there's no reason to buy expensive fans (although, you may want to avoid the very cheapest ones) since any decent fan is quiet enough when it runs slowly. NUCs have fans, I've never heard mine from more than 6" away. My NUC has four cores, and no hyperthreading....

Roscoe



If fan noise is not an issue, what is the justification for a NUC?
Same money spent on a desktop form factor gives you the ability to add audio grade USB cards and NICs.


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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 11:59 am 
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Cogito wrote:
Roscoe Primrose wrote:
Cogito wrote:

Roscoe,

I dont plan on doing any heavy video encoding work on my audio servers.


Me either. Point is, that for the low loads we see on our renderers, there's no reason to buy expensive fans (although, you may want to avoid the very cheapest ones) since any decent fan is quiet enough when it runs slowly. NUCs have fans, I've never heard mine from more than 6" away. My NUC has four cores, and no hyperthreading....

Roscoe



If fan noise is not an issue, what is the justification for a NUC?
Same money spent on a desktop form factor gives you the ability to add audio grade USB cards and NICs.


The fancier servers I've seen use a powerful CPU with passive cooling. HDPlex, for instance, sells a high-end case for this purpose.


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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 12:08 pm 
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Cogito wrote:
If fan noise is not an issue, what is the justification for a NUC?
Same money spent on a desktop form factor gives you the ability to add audio grade USB cards and NICs.


I never said the NUC was the be-all end-all solution. Size is important for most people.... Back in '17 when I bought my NUC, many of the options for 'better' network and USB cards were not available. The word "cheap' is in the thread title for this thread. Most of the better network/USB cards you're talking about cost more than a NUC complete with RAM & storage, my NUC was <$200 with RAM & storage (enough for the OS, not the OS & music). While the NUC isn't the ultimate solution for a renderer, it's a great option for someone looking for an inexpensive option to get their feet wet in a multi-PC solution.

Roscoe

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Last edited by Roscoe Primrose on May 7th, 2021, 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
spelling...


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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 3:47 pm 
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Grover,

If you NUC has only 2 cores, you can try setting the CPU affinity for MPD daemon and also a high priority value.

Attachment:
GP_mpd.png
GP_mpd.png [ 142.68 KiB | Viewed 4890 times ]


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PostPosted: May 7th, 2021, 5:13 pm 
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Cogito wrote:
Grover,

If you NUC has only 2 cores, you can try setting the CPU affinity for MPD daemon and also a high priority value.

Attachment:
GP_mpd.png


The RPi3B module has four cores. I was able to set it to Profile 1, thanks.


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PostPosted: May 12th, 2021, 5:09 pm 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncAhs44sp8


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