Lazy-proof PC

[Salted Spinach]

I visited a family member recently, she uses a dated Intel NUC. Its clogged with dust and the internal fan is not doing too well.

 

It needs replacement soon. She is too lazy to clean out the dust. Due to her work she needs to use Windows.

 

Looking for a modern mini PC that is extremely easy to maintain:

• At least as powerful as current/previous 15-30W class of mobile CPU
• Mechanical parts completely protected from dust
• Easy to clean out the spots where dust accumulates

Looking for options under $800 when kitted out

 

Zotac's ZBOX C series does not look suitable as the perforated case is a dust trap. cirrus7 is out of the budget unless configured with a miserable CPU

 

[tkitch]

https://www.adorama.com/msiprdp5m223.html

 

easy to service, 5700g should fit the bill.

[ki8aras]

there are plenty of fanless pc's available (meaning no cleaning required)

here's an example with an amd 5600g apu:
https://inside-tech.co.uk/product/fanless-maxwell-pro-amd-ryzen-apu-mini-itx-pc/
 

[Salted Spinach]

8 minutes ago, tkitch said:

https://www.adorama.com/msiprdp5m223.html

 

easy to service, 5700g should fit the bill.

How is that any more protected from dust than a typical NUC? Its got a sizeable fan inside moving air which means dust collecting inside

[Salted Spinach]

20 minutes ago, ki8aras said:

there are plenty of fanless pc's available (meaning no cleaning required)

here's an example with an amd 5600g apu:
https://inside-tech.co.uk/product/fanless-maxwell-pro-amd-ryzen-apu-mini-itx-pc/
 

Interesting. Looks like a valid option although I don't see any news or reviews about the product

[aisle9]

There are some pretty ok N95 and N100 mini PCs out there, lots of them fanless and under $200. $800 is massively overkill, and I don't think you're even going to find a fanless mini PC in that price range. I have a fanless N95-based system that I use as a bedroom HTPC specifically because it's fanless and silent. I'd be ok with it as a basic home computer, but nothing extreme.

 

I doubt you'll find many fanless 15-30W options. Those processors generate enough heat that you're going to have a fan running over the CPU.

[Salted Spinach]

7 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

There are some pretty ok N95 and N100 mini PCs out there, lots of them fanless and under $200. $800 is massively overkill, and I don't think you're even going to find a fanless mini PC in that price range. I have a fanless N95-based system that I use as a bedroom HTPC specifically because it's fanless and silent. I'd be ok with it as a basic home computer, but nothing extreme.

 

I doubt you'll find many fanless 15-30W options. Those processors generate enough heat that you're going to have a fan running over the CPU.

I did find the Zotac ZBOX C and cirrus7 as mentioned earlier. They have CPUs that meet the perf requirement, however look too difficult to service and cost too much respectively.

 

The inside-tech system proposed by ki8aras also have good enough CPU, although I have my reservation about the heatsink ability judging by the fin density.

 

I am not strictly going for a fanless or silent system. What is needed is the dust to be isolated from moving components and internal circuitry, and easy to remove the dust after.

 

For example the components sealed in a heatsink unibody that has fin array up top, and an external fan blowing onto the fins. CPU would transfer heat to the unibody by vapor chamber/heat pipes. This way the dust only collects on the outside and can be brushed off without any disassembly

[ki8aras]

1 hour ago, Salted Spinach said:

Interesting. Looks like a valid option although I don't see any news or reviews about the product

it contains retail motherboards and chips, so theres not much to review

[Salted Spinach]

8 hours ago, ki8aras said:

it contains retail motherboards and chips, so theres not much to review

It should be reviewed for the special feature that attracts customers - performance of the passive cooling solution

[Salted Spinach]

Nevermind, she decided to get a 7735HS (54-65W) based mini PC for $520. Its leagues more powerful than what she had, will do her good for many years to come.

 

I will mod the chassis so that the main intake is a magnetic fine nylon mesh filter that requires almost no effort to take off for cleaning.

 

Better this and saving lots of $ with long lasting performance, than an expensive yet underpowered PC.

 

Thanks all for the help!