Performance: Noise

Another very important parameter for a SFF PC is the noise the system like that generates at work. Since the cube systems are first of all positioned as home solutions, the noise level does really matter a lot. I doubt you will enjoy sleeping next to a PC roaring like a wounded buffalo.

To test the noise level we used a special device:

We measured how much noise different SFF systems produced by placing the device 50cm away from the working “cube”. You should also keep in mind but as the workload on different system components increases, their temperature goes up and the cooling fans start rotating faster. This is valid for the CPU as well as for the PSU. Therefore, the noise level depends a lot on the processor and PSU workload. So we measured the noise level in idle mode and when the processor was fully loaded. Just like in the previous case we ran the tests for the systems using the integrated graphics core as well as for the systems working with an external graphics accelerator (ATI RADEON 9700 PRO).

The first measurements were taken without the graphics card:

The results obtained are quite logical. Those systems, which are equipped with more coolers, produce more noise. The Shuttle SB51G system with only two coolers onboard is the quietest “cube”, FIC IC-VG61 is a bit noisier with its three coolers, while Soltek EQ2000M with 4 coolers is the noisiest solution. However, we should stress that even Shuttle SB51G with the lowest noise level among the systems tested cannot be called a quiet solution. It was almost as noisy as the regular desktop system. That is why it would be incorrect to claim that “cubes” are quiet systems.

Now let’s see how the situation changes if an external graphics card with an active cooler is used:

When we added an external graphics card, all three SFF systems got almost equally noisy. The matter is that the major noise-makers are not the big fans creating the air flow inside the case, but the small fans installed in the power supply units. As the PSU workload increases, they heat up much more and the fans cooling them down start rotating faster and faster. As a result, the noise produced by these not very big but very unpleasantly sounding fans eats up all other system noises, so that you can hardly hear them. This should be a signal to the small power supply unit makers: they really need better quality fans. As a result, we see very clearly that small form-factor systems in fact produce as much noise as regular desktops and sometimes even outpace them here.