Hey everyone, I’m looking for recommendations for the best performing fanless system that can serve as a NAS, mini-PC, or homelab server. It must be fully fanless, support SSD or NVMe-only storage (no HDDs), and deliver strong CPU + RAM performance. I’d love something that can handle VMs, and maybe Plex transcoding. If you have experience with any high-end fanless models (or custom builds) that fit this, please share your setup, thermals, and performance impressions!
How powerful should this machine be for your use case?
Almost two years ago I built (yes, before the N100 craze) an all SSD NAS but it has teo 80mm fans that run super quiet so it’s basically silent. But it’s based on an N100 chip so does just fine as an home NAS but can’t be a whole home lab in a box.
It’s kind of hard to give a recommendation without knowing what you want it for, there are many things to consider and more so if you want to go completely fanless… so we can understand what you plan could you answer some of this questions?
- Is there a budget?
- What are you planning to run in the VMs?
- At which quality are you planing to transcode? For how many people/devices at the same time?
- What kind of files are you planning to store? Maybe series or movies given that you use Plex?
- At which quality? 4K HDR? 1080p?
- Is there a reason for only SSD/NVMe like it’s going to get move around a lot or you want to achieve less sound since there are no mechanical parts?
- Will the place you put the machine have good airflow?
Thanks for the input! Budget isn’t really a limit, though I’d prefer something reasonably priced if it performs well. I’m not fully sure yet what I’ll run in the VMs, and maybe I won’t even use them at first. For now I mainly want it for pure SSD or NVMe-only storage, with the option to access and copy files locally from my other devices. I’m not planning on doing any Plex transcoding right now, but being able to stream 1080p media directly later would be a nice bonus. I’m going SSD or NVMe-only because I want it completely silent with no moving parts, and airflow should be fine since it will sit openly on a wall shelf in my living room. Overall, I just want to find the highest-performing fully fanless setup people have managed to build or buy.
If you want to build your own you can go with fanless PSUs. Still have to have the CPU cooler, so the setup is not exactly fanless. If you do have to have case fans you can isolate the fan from the case with very soft grommets or suspend the fans on a set of tensioned strings and perhaps eliminate the vents — that is, have it/them as exhaust and nothing between the fan and the outside world. You can add diodes or resistors to the fans to get really low RPMs. I did that for PCs and hi-fi cabinets back in the day.
Many years ago I needed a completely silent PC. So I made a hole in the wall and had the computer in the next room and just the cables for the monitors, mouse and keyboard coming through the wall.
Nowadays I keep the UPSes and NASes in a utility closet/room. The UPSes are particularly loud because they are the inverter type by APC that are designed for servers and have relatively loud fans to be next to a desk. You can also put them in a closet and make sure that there is air circulation in there, in a pinch leaving the door open some 2” will likely do the trick. The further away from the door they are the less noise escapes.
Then I realized that the ambient noise was louder. And even if I disconnected all the appliances, heating, cooling, air circulation, furnaces, fridges, etc. in the house there was a background noise… I never figured out where the noise came from… maybe it was the electricity in the wires, for all I know. I would only get silence if I turned off the electricity for the house in the main panel… LOL.