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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.

 

 

 

tuberist
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,402 posts
 

High TDP processors and real time upsampling can generate a lot of heat that no amount of passive cooling will dissipate.

@sonic79 ,

You can set the MIN-MAX TDP to 65 for the new i7-12700 chip. I have been running my passive cooled audio server for a few weeks now, upsampling all FLACs to DSD 512 and I have never seen Core Temp exceed 60C.

sonic79
80 posts
 

I was intending to use the 12700K for my music server build and looked into setting PL1 at 65W. Performance at 65W is on par with a Ryzen 5800x, so good enough for DSD256 using the lighter modulators and filters in HQPlayer. I am going a different route now using a 3rd gen Intel scalable processor with a TDP of 150W.

Do you use HQPlayer? I can upsample to DSD256 in Roon with my 2011 MacBook Pro with only a dual core processor. HQPlayer is a different beast, however.

You can set the MIN-MAX TDP to 65 for the new i7-12700 chip. I have been running my passive cooled audio server for a few weeks now, upsampling all FLACs to DSD 512 and I have never seen Core Temp exceed 60C.

erik_squires
16,128 posts
 

High TDP processors and real time upsampling can generate a lot of heat that no amount of passive cooling will dissipate.

 

That's kind of my point.  The DSP CPU requirements are rather minimal really, so best to use a low wattage x86-64 CPU.  Honestly 65 watts is a lot these days.

Get a modern 20W CPU like a Celeron and it will be fine.

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