Help with cooling a NUC within an enclosed media unit

[SuperShires]

I will be moving into a new house and for the living room setup I will be using a NUC that will be enclosed in a media unit where the only ventilation will be the hole at the back for all the cables to pass through.

 

I have a couple of questions; would it be wise to add a small fan (probably a 80mm Noctua) at the back to help with air circulation? If so how could I power it as the NUC has no fan headers? I initially thought to use a USB to 4 pin fan header then use a low noise adapter to a 5v 80mm Noctua fan but my understanding is you cannot use a low noise adapter with 5v fans and I don't really want to spend £20+ on this solution only to have the Noctua fan 100% all the time.

 

Any info would be helpful, thanks.

[jaslion]

Usb is already 5v so the fan will run slowly and queit already.

 

you need active air refreshing or that cabinet will become a hotbox is no time.

 

So basically usb to 4 pin adapter and call it a day. Don't get a 5v 80mm fan just get a 12v one. They operate from 3-12v and 5v makes them run at mid speed.

[SuperShires]

9 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Usb is already 5v so the fan will run slowly and queit already.

 

you need active air refreshing or that cabinet will become a hotbox is no time.

 

So basically usb to 4 pin adapter and call it a day. Don't get a 5v 80mm fan just get a 12v one. They operate from 3-12v and 5v makes them run at mid speed.

Ahh really? so a 12v Noctua NF-A8 would run pretty slow from the 5v USB? Would it not cause issues like not having enough power to spin the fan?

Thanks for the reply 

[jaslion]

6 minutes ago, SuperShires said:

Ahh really? so a 12v Noctua NF-A8 would run pretty slow from the 5v USB? Would it not cause issues like not having enough power to spin the fan?

Thanks for the reply 

No problem with that. The whole way a pc controls a fan is by lowering or dropping the voltage.

[PDifolco]

You could just buy an USB fan, something like this

https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-MULTIFAN-Receiver-Playstation/dp/B00G05A2MU/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1BBSAE6LBBB0B&keywords=usb+pc+fan&qid=1661431730&sprefix=usb+pc+fan%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-3

[manikyath]

if it's one of the potato-power-level "actual" NUCs.. anything that'll move air will move far more air than the nuc itself will circulate, and keep temperatures in check.

[SuperShires]

30 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

You could just buy an USB fan, something like this

https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-MULTIFAN-Receiver-Playstation/dp/B00G05A2MU/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1BBSAE6LBBB0B&keywords=usb+pc+fan&qid=1661431730&sprefix=usb+pc+fan%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-3

I was looking at those but I don't want to be turning them on every time even though its a very silly problem to have, I just like the idea that when I turn the PC on the fan turns on.

 

11 minutes ago, manikyath said:

if it's one of the potato-power-level "actual" NUCs.. anything that'll move air will move far more air than the nuc itself will circulate, and keep temperatures in check.

Its just a i3 Tiger Canyon NUC 11 so it isn't pumping out a tonne of heat, I just want a quiet Noctua fan to circulate air.

[SuperShires]

2 hours ago, jaslion said:

No problem with that. The whole way a pc controls a fan is by lowering or dropping the voltage.

What about if I turn the NUC off? Would it still provide power to the fan therefore keeping it on or will the fan stop when I shut down or put the NUC to sleep?

[PDifolco]

14 minutes ago, SuperShires said:

I was looking at those but I don't want to be turning them on every time even though its a very silly problem to have, I just like the idea that when I turn the PC on the fan turns on.

That's manageable under Windows Device Manager you can turn off USB power when PC is turned off