Going to Build Intel NUC Server Fan or Not?
I will have the server in my listening space although it will be about 14 feet away from my listening spot and situated on a side wall bookcase. I will ethernet connect the NUC server direct to my router and from the router I will fiber optic cable connect to my Weiss 501, my sole source of playback. Do any of you find the fan noise to be an issue? I will most likely go with a 10th generation I7 NUC.
If you can properly control temperatures passively then fanless is ideal. Audible noise will not be a concern, but fans do produce vibrations and EMI. There is something to be said about keeping components cool, and active cooling can counteract the drawbacks of spinning fans. High TDP processors and real time upsampling can generate a lot of heat that no amount of passive cooling will dissipate. A NUC serving native files will have no problem being passively cooled. |
@tuberist How are you connecting fibre optic to Weiss? |
@tuberist Understood. I'm using a sonicTransporter i5 w/ 1TB from smallgreencomputer.com. Probably a little more expensive than the NUC though not by much. It might be worth a look. Good luck! |
Well, i think an i7 would be serious overkill in terms of compute power. I have a 15 year old AMD A10 running Roon with DSP just fine. If you don't need CPU power, that means you can get really small with your Roon server, both the power supply and lack of fan or large heat sink go away. Lots of micro PCs out there that should fit the bill. |
