Hi, and welcome to the Noctua Youtube channel.
In this video we will guide you through the process of building your very own, passively
cooled PC using our NH-P1 CPU cooler, offering suggestions and recommendations on which
cases and hardware to choose, and providing you with a realistic overview of just what sort
of performance you can expect to achieve. For many users, the promise of a cooling
system which is not only completely silent, but also results in less dust build-up, and due
to it having no moving parts, is 100% failproof, is certainly attractive. But when building a
passive PC, much greater care must be taken when choosing your components, than in your typical PC build. Here, we will offer a comprehensive guide
to choosing all necessary components for your passive build, but if you are looking
for information on a specific component, you can find timestamps to that section
of the video in the description below. The first place to start when thinking about
which components to choose for your passive build, is with the CPU.
As a general rule, the NH-P1 cooler should only be used in combination
with CPUs with low to moderate heat loads. To determine which CPU is most
suitable, we highly recommend referring to our CPU compatibility list, a link to
which can be found in the video description. In this list, we indicate how well
you can expect the NH-P1 to work with a particular CPU, both completely fanless,
and in a semi-passive mode combined the NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan. A green tick indicates that
this CPU is suitable for use with the NH-P1, whilst the scale symbol next to the tick
indicates the overclocking or turbo mode headroom that is possible. A blue x on the other
hand, indicates that this CPU is compatible, but with certain restrictions, for example
that the CPU may fall below base clock under certain conditions, and so these
models should be used with caution. And finally, a red x indicates that we do not
recommend this CPU for use with our passive cooler under any conditions, so these models should
be avoided when building a passive system. At present, when designing a completely
passive or semi-passive build, we can highly recommend the Intel Core
i5-11600, or for AMD the Ryzen 4000 and 5000 series APUs, which are classified in
our compatibility list with a green tick. But perhaps one of the most interesting choices
available for use with this cooler is the Intel Core i9-11900K, which is what we will be
using in this demonstration. The 11900K, and the previous generation 10900K, are
particularly interesting because while there are many less powerful processors
that are easier for the NH-P1 to handle, these models are examples of true high-end
CPUs that can be passively cooled, providing that some caution is taken. Classified with a
blue x in our compatibility guide, these models are great options that will give you first rate
performance in a passive system, providing that you don’t mind that they may fall slightly
below base clock under continuous full load. What’s more, these models are also a
great option for semi-passive builds because by adding the NF-A12x25 LS-PWM, you
can significantly expand their turbo headroom, giving you lots of extra processing power. However, as the optimal CPU choice is likely to
change over time, we always recommend checking our CPU compatibility list first, for the
most up-to-date information available. Also, it is important to be aware
that regardless of which choice you go with, high CPU temperatures are inevitable. In order
to passively cool CPUs that put out 80W or more, they have to be allowed to run at or
very near their thermal limits – about 90/95°C for current AMD Ryzen CPUs,
and 100/115°C for current Intel CPUs. As modern CPUs throttle automatically to prevent
overheating, running at these temperatures is fully compliant with the manufacturer’s
specifications and there is no risk of damaging the CPU, or your components. So, if you
aim to make the most out of your passive setup, you shouldn’t mind running your CPU at its
thermal limit under full load conditions.
So, now that you have selected your CPU,
the next step is to choose your motherboard. When going with a passive CPU cooler, it is
important to ensure that there is enough free space around the cooler to allow natural convection
to occur easily. For this reason, when deciding which motherboard to choose, you should avoid
tightly packed ITX or Micro-ATX motherboards, using ATX size boards wherever possible. Another thing to keep in mind is that, if you
would like to use a dedicated GPU, select a motherboard that has as much space as possible
between the CPU and the top PCIe x16 slot, or, preferably, one where the second slot
is connected to the CPU with at least x8 bandwidth so that the second slot can be used. Whilst the asymmetrical design of the NH-P1 does
mean that the top PCIe slot will be cleared on most motherboards, wherever possible, we still
recommend installing the card on the lower slot, again freeing up the space around the cooler
so that it doesn’t block natural convection. For this particular build, we’ve gone
with the GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS Ultra, as it allows us to do just that.
And as well as this, it is important to go with higher-end
motherboards which feature a capable VRM design and good VRM cooling. As there
will be no airflow from the CPU cooler, lower-end motherboards without capable heatsinks
can cause the VRMs to overheat and run into thermal throttling even though the CPU is
still operating at reasonable temperatures. Now that we have the CPU and the
motherboard selected. Next, it’s time to think about which other components
to pair these with. First up, the graphics card. If you’re building a passive PC and don’t
need high GPU performance, using integrated graphics will work best. Whilst it is possible to
combine the NH-P1 with a dedicated graphics cards, do keep in mind that, as mentioned earlier, installing this underneath the cooler
will both reduce natural convection and create an extra source of heat, which
will lead to an increase in CPU temperatures. You should also keep in mind that as the case
temperatures will be much higher with passive builds, actively cooled cards will start their
fans much more often than with regular builds, so even if they are often able to run
fanless in regular configurations, this may not be the case in a passive build.
For this reason, if you do choose to go for a dedicated graphics card, we recommend choosing a
fanless, fully passive model, such as the Palit GeForce GTX 1650, or the GTX 1050Ti Kalmx,
which we will be using in this demonstration. As for memory, the NH-P1 offers 100% RAM
compatibility on Intel LGA1200, LGA115x and AMD AM4 based motherboards, meaning there are no
restrictions on which modules you should choose. On LGA2066 however, the cooler will overhang the
RAM slots on the left-hand side of the socket, so if using this socket, RAM modules
should not exceed 45mm in height. And, when choosing your SSD,
any M.2 drive should be fine, but if your chosen motherboard
does not feature an SSD heatsink, you may want to consider purchasing one
separately as temperatures may suffer without one. Now we come on to one of the most
important factors in building your passive PC – choosing the right the case.
Even when using a high-quality, high-end cooler such as the NH-P1, and adhering to
all of the advice provided so far in this guide, in order to achieve good thermal performance, you
must choose a case with good natural convection. Luckily, we have compiled a list of cases which,
from our tests, are most suitable for use with this cooler, such as the JONSBO UMX4, which
we have chosen to use in this demonstration. All the cases we recommend for passive use
have been tested thoroughly and work well for both fully passive or semi-passive
builds. But, as some general rules, larger cases, with mid to high internal air
volume will generally offer the best results, whilst compact cases are usually less
suitable. These cases should offer an open, unrestricted airflow path from
the bottom to the top of the case, with sufficient space above the cooler so
that hot air can exhaust towards the top. Also, for the best results, air
should be able to both enter from underneath, due to high feet or an offset design, and
be able to exit at the top of the chassis, through ventilation holes or grills. Furthermore, whilst for presentation purposes
we have chosen a case with a glass side panel, in our tests we’ve actually found that
aluminium or steel case side panels are generally more effective at dissipating
heat than tempered glass. And finally, cases which feature noise insulation
panels should be avoided, and you may also want to consider removing any air filters
or top covers to enhance natural convetion. Now, if you do find that temperatures are
too high and natural convection alone is not enough with the configuration that you
are using, you may decide that going for a semi-passive build is a better choice. Unlike a
fully-passive build which features no fans at all, a semi-passive setup introduces fans
that only spin up at higher temperatures, meaning that you still get the benefit of silent
cooling at lower temperatures, but with the added flexibility of extra cooling when necessary. Luckily, we’ve developed our low speed,
NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan for exactly this situation. Based on
our award-winning A12x25 fan design, but offering both PWM control and a reduced
maximum noise level of only 12.1 dB(A), this fan has been specifically designed with
semi-passive cooling in mind, and adding one or two of these near-inaudible fans to the case
is enough to significantly improve performance. Additionally, as mentioned
earlier, the NH-P1 itself can also be fitted with one of these fans
using the fan clips supplied in the package, increasing the coolers maximum dissipation
capacity significantly. And with three mounting hole options, it offers great flexibility to
configure the cooler to best suit your build But, whether you’re intending to go for
a fully passive or semi-passive setup, we would highly recommend checking
our list of recommended cases first, which can be found on the Noctua website,
and in the video description below. Finally, we come to the power supply. When deciding which power supply to go for
in your passive build, be sure to go for high quality fanless units whenever possible, such
as the Seasonic Prime Fanless PX-500 and TX-700. Note that, whilst it is also possible to use
overspecified semi-passive PSUs, for example using 850W when 350 are required, this
is only recommended in cases with dedicated compartments for the power supply, as due to
the higher case temperatures of passive builds, semi-passive PSUs will
start their fans much more frequently. So, whilst it isn’t strictly necessary to go
fully passive with your PSU, for users who want to avoid fan noise, a fully fanless
unit should nonetheless be the default choice. So, there you have it, our completely
silent, fanless PC, 100% passively cooled by our NH-P1 cooler. Now, let’s
take a look at how it performs. As you can see, we’re currently running
the Prime95 stress testing software, and our 11900K processor is running slightly above its base clock speed and close
to its specified Thermal Design Power of 125W. And by adding the NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan
to the cooler for semi-passive operation, and removing the top panel, this allowed us
to boost to around 4.4GHz and about 175W. Of course, it is again important
for us to stress that many factors, such as ambient room temperature,
and the exact setup you are using, can and will influence the sort
of performance you will achieve. Hopefully though, the tips and recommendations
offered in this video should help you to choose the right components to achieve the best
possible performance from your passive setup, and as mentioned previously, links to all of
the guides that we have mentioned in this video, and some extra resources, can be
found in the video description. Thank you for watching, and feel free to
direct any further questions you may have about building your own passively
cooled PC in the comments below.
