Fanless PCs: The Ultimate Home Theatre PC Setup
Tags: Technology, Manufacturing, Htpc, PC, Home Theater

Akasa’s flagship model for Mini-ITX motherboards, the Maxwell Pro

If you are looking to upgrade your home theatre system or even set it up from scratch, you would want to make use of the best technology to ensure a thrilling experience. However, getting your home theatre system together is a little different than setting up a regular PC — it needs to be optimised for entertainment. A great start would be opting for a fanless cooling system.

What is Fanless Cooling?

Similar to normal CPU coolers, fanless PCs are cooled via a heatsink. It takes care of PC cooling without producing the noise associated with fans. The difference however, comes in the size.

In PCs, heat sinks are generally placed on heat generating components such as CPUs. For maximum heat transfer from the PC components to the heatsinks, they are typically made from aluminium alloys. A heat sink then uses its surrounding medium — typically air — to cool itself down through its surface area. In order to optimise the cooling process, heatsinks are made up of a large number of fins through which more air can pass, thus increasing surface area and heat dissipation.

The extruded fins that come with Akasa’s fanless cases help cool down the CPU without the need for fans.

In standard PC setups, heatsinks need to be small enough to fit into a case and employ the use of fans to ensure there is enough air flow within the enclosed case to cool down the components. In order to eliminate the need for fans, fanless PCs don’t enclose their heatsinks in a case but rather have it become the case. This maximises the surface area and exposes the heat sink to airflow naturally while still maintaining excellent cooling performance.

The Best Choice for a Home Theatre PC

A home theatre system is all about the blend of functionality and comfortable entertainment. Fanless cooling is the best option for a Home Theatre PC (HTPC). Here is why:

Zero Noise Production

Fanless PCs run silent. This is great for a home theatre system, as you can enjoy an immersive entertainment experience without the interruption of fan noise. Instead of fans, the heat will rely on natural air flow, allowing silent heat dissipation from the heat-generating components.

This is great for any noise-sensitive environment not just HTPCs but also libraries, theatre rooms, music studios, voice-acting booths and so on.

Low Power Consumption

Fanless PCs are highly energy efficient. With significantly lower power consumption and even lower heat generation, fanless PCs generate optimal performance. The lack of moving fans also reduces the chance of dust accumulation. Thus, there is a lower chance of sudden damage. You can save on maintenance and repair costs, as well as any possible downtime.

PC Cooling will not interrupt your home theatre if you use a fanless PC. You can optimise the thermal energy pulled from the components that generate heat. This makes for a highly efficient HTPC system — no noise and no dust. It’s perfect for anyone looking for an impressive entertainment dock with minimal maintenance necessary.

Which is the best build for you?

Akasa’s wide selection of fanless cases has every occasion and taste covered. Our Turing cases are made for those who like to flaunt their Intel or Ryzen NUC HTPC, balancing contemporary design with functional fanless cooling. If you rather prefer to keep the NUC and case discreet behind the TV, the Newton range is the perfect pick for you with its you small footprint and volume. And if you need a case that can cater to larger and more powerful Mini-ITX boards we recommend one of our newest additions: the Maxwell Pro. With our selection of fanless Raspberry Pi 4 cases even your Raspberry Pi boards can provide excellent HTPC experiences, whether it uses the discreet Pi-4 Pro or the stylish Gem and Maze Pro.

Some of Akasa’s newest fanless additions: The Turing A50 MKII, the Newton TN and Maxwell Pro.

All of our cases are equipped with extruded fins to maximise their cooling capabilities and are made of the most heat conductive metals — aluminium for the body and thermal module, and in some cases (no pun intended) copper for heat pipes — to transfer the heat away from your CPU and other important PC components. To eliminate as much of the air between the components and the heat sink as possible, and thus increase heat transfer, Akasa uses its specialised Pro-grade+ 5026 thermal paste for excellent thermal performance, even at low pressures. Paired with the extra care that goes into the design of each of our cases, there is a fanless option for everyone.

Team Akasa — marketing@akasa.co.uk