green wrote:
keitho@strucktower.com wrote at 2012-02-12 08:28 -0600:But I'm curious about the original query- what's the need for such an ultra-quiet machine?Reason 1: no cleaning. A system with a fan requires cleaning. Frequency of cleaning depends on the environment. The desktop that this will replace is in a somewhat dusty environment.
To expand on the OP's reply: If the unit is fan-less, it may also be a sealed unit. Consider the case of humid &/or corrosive atmosphere.Back in the 70's DEC had an enclosure for the LSI-11 irreverently dubbed the "Hitachi". Five sides were cast aluminum with large fins o get rid of ~100 watts of heat. The sixth side was a heavily gasketed piece of cast aluminum. Internally it was not fanless, but it was definitely sealed against external nastiness ;/ IIRC it was intended for industrial environments including electro-plating.
Reason 2: I have seen (slightly) more fans fail than hard disks. So this second reason suggests that a fanless system is slightly lower maintenance in the long term. Reason 3: yeah, noise. Really this is not a big deal, but quietness is nice.