[Hi-Jack]

Yes the cooler makes some noise... To get started we tried several settings and measured the DB noise of the cooler so you know when it is most audible... Following are the results:

- Low: 55dB
- Medium: 56dB
- High: 58dB

(measured with Decibel meter from 10cm distance)

Then we opened up the player and reversed the fan and found it makes even more noise when blowing air into the unit than the standard way, blowing hot air out of the unit. So that was a bummer...

Now the fan:
Type 25X25X10mm 12 Volt (Model Young Lin DFS251012H)
12Volt, 1.5 WATT 13.000RPM 33.15dB(A)

We done a little research and found the PAPST fans to be of interest.
http://www.ikbenstil.nl/Fans/Papst/P...:27_55_84.html

This store however charges €20 shipment for a mini fan which is plain crazy to neighbouring countries so we are looking for other sources to acquire some silent fans and test these... If you have any good sources, fans to check out, just drop us a message and we'll go after it... It is usefull for the future anyway and to recommend to brands if a fan is needed, which ones they should use...

[needmorstuff]

any chance you could perform a more realistsic test for me? say fomr 3 or 4m away?

[murda]

Don't forget the m³/h is an important factor to keep the chipset cool.
I've 8 papst fan at home, these are one off the most silent coolers you can find but offcourse it will suffer some cooling performance.

As I looked up the cooling performance of the standard Xtreamer fan = 1.52 CFM~2.85CFM (7000~13000)

This gives for the standard fan : 2.58-4.84m³/h
Papst fan: 3.2m³/h

That is not enough for cooling your Xtreamer when watching HD rips!
I don't think you can cool this device with a 25mm fan that makes lesser noise then the standard fan.

I don't own a Xtreamer device so I don't know if a 40mm fan can be fitted into the device without modding the unit.

The only option I see is modding the player.
I think Xtreamer went for the bargain design to keep the price low.

I think many people will pay an extra 10€ for a player with a 40mm fan or a silent 25mm fan with an aluminium housing too dissapate the heat.

Maybe that's something to think about if they wanna make a rev2.0

[Monkeyface]

Bad news....


Marginal tested the fan "GM1202PFV2-8" and this one is not compatible with the low-middle-high settings of the Xtreamer.

He says that the fan is always at maximum speed:
http://forum.xtreamer.net/viewtopic....t=696&start=80


Maybe the Xtreamer devs can give him a special Xtreamer firmware with different fan speed controlling techniques?

[Hi-Jack]

Don't forget the m³/h is an important factor to keep the chipset cool. I've 8 papst fan at home, these are one off the most silent coolers you can find but offcourse it will suffer some cooling performance. As I looked up the cooling performance of the standard Xtreamer fan = 1.52 CFM~2.85CFM (7000~13000) This gives for the standard fan : 2.58-4.84m³/h Papst fan: 3.2m³/h

I was thinking of mounting the PAPST fan to draw cool air into the unit. Reversing the current fan makes only more noise...

Even with tose details, having the fan run on low / medium or highest roation speeds should reduce the 4.84m³/h max number. The 3.2m³/h then comes close to the "medium" setting of the fan or am I interpreting this wrong?

It is recommended to have medium rotation speed running for HD playback and with the current fan low means 7000 RPM, medium 10.000RPM and high 13.000RPM (i imagine these numbers only). Isn't this reference also intended for blowing air inside the unit instead of getting hot air out...? I believe I can manage to run with the cooler...
from PAPST and if i blow up my unit, well... xtreamer will have to send me a new one...
What do you think?

[murda]

Originally Posted by Hi-Jack Don't forget the m³/h is an important factor to keep the chipset cool. I've 8 papst fan at home, these are one off the most silent coolers you can find but offcourse it will suffer some cooling performance. As I looked up the cooling performance of the standard Xtreamer fan = 1.52 CFM~2.85CFM (7000~13000) This gives for the standard fan : 2.58-4.84m³/h Papst fan: 3.2m³/h I was thinking of mounting the PAPST fan to draw cool air into the unit. Reversing the current fan makes only more noise... Even with tose details, having the fan run on low / medium or highest roation speeds should reduce the 4.84m³/h max number. The 3.2m³/h then comes close to the "medium" setting of the fan or am I interpreting this wrong? It is recommended to have medium rotation speed running for HD playback and with the current fan low means 7000 RPM, medium 10.000RPM and high 13.000RPM (i imagine these numbers only). Isn't this reference also intended for blowing air inside the unit instead of getting hot air out...? I believe I can manage to run with the cooler... from PAPST and if i blow up my unit, well... xtreamer will have to send me a new one... What do you think?

I've just checked the Xtreamer cooling design on the following images.
http://pbx.mine.nu/xtreamer/
http://www.mavvy.net/reviews/xtreamer/unboxing

It is even worse then I thought.

First of all, if you want a nice cooling performance you need to have good airflow.

Some basic things for good cooling.

- Get cold air into the case. As you know cold air is heavier then warm air so place the cooler at the lowest point of the device and let it blow cold air inside the unit.
- Get the HOT AIR out. Hot air will rise, so foresee a whole or a cooler at the top of your unit. Blowing the hot air out.
The best way of getting hot air out is at the top of your unit and not in the sideway at the top of your device!
- Place your heatsink or part in such way that it can be cooled properly. Don't obstruct the whole airflow or misplacing the fan.


If I compare these points with the Xtreamer unit then the only outcome I can say is ... design flaw or they wanted the smallest HD device that makes the most noise

The fan is just placed for fresh air. There will be no airflow since the ventilation holes are placed sideways on the top of the unit. Blocking good airflow.
The most important thing they forgot is the airflow for cooling the heatsink. There is no airflow and I bet that this plastic case at the heatsink side will get pretty hot.

I would try some minor modifications first.

- Replace the fan with a silent fan. (this doesn't improve cooling, but it does save your precious ears )
- Remove the top from the xtreamer or mod the top so that the airflow can be optimized.
- Get some thermal paste and put it between the heatsink and cpu.

Then I would compare the temps inside the case & at the heatsink when playing mkv's for an hour.

If this isn't sufficient then mount the hardware in another case
One other option I can see is that when you don't use a HDD, place a 60mm papst fan at the HDD place. You can drill holes into the side of your unit so the fan will be screwed against the sideplate. (let the fan blow the hot air out of your unit).

The 60mm fan will create such an underpressure into the unit, resulting into an airflow that will cool whole your device. Hot air doesn't have a change to rise as it will be sucked outside.

But thats my view

[Hi-Jack]

According to Xtreamer they did actually test bottom and top cooler and both had the same results... A new cooler is placed onto the second batch to become less noisy (10.000RPM instead of 13.000). We willl also go ahead and test the PAPST fan. In my opinion with 9000RPM and 15dBa it should be a good option to blow air into the unit...

[tamasp]

Originally Posted by Hi-Jack According to Xtreamer they did actually test bottom and top cooler and both had the same results... A new cooler is placed onto the second batch to become less noisy (10.000RPM instead of 13.000). We willl also go ahead and test the PAPST fan. In my opinion with 9000RPM and 15dBa it should be a good option to blow air into the unit...

Hello, today i received my xtreamer except lan isues it works perfect. Can you tell me must i turn the fan now to blow the air in because its manufactured to blow the air out.

[murda]

Originally Posted by Hi-Jack According to Xtreamer they did actually test bottom and top cooler and both had the same results... A new cooler is placed onto the second batch to become less noisy (10.000RPM instead of 13.000). We willl also go ahead and test the PAPST fan. In my opinion with 9000RPM and 15dBa it should be a good option to blow air into the unit...

Same results, could be as the unit is so small. The difference should be larger in big cases.

But the theory remains the same. Cold air in from below, hot air out from above.

But the heatsink has no airflow at all. Put some artic silver between the chipset and put some airflow on it.

This is some test case for silentreview.com

[Hi-Jack]

Originally Posted by tamasp Originally Posted by Hi-Jack According to Xtreamer they did actually test bottom and top cooler and both had the same results... A new cooler is placed onto the second batch to become less noisy (10.000RPM instead of 13.000). We willl also go ahead and test the PAPST fan. In my opinion with 9000RPM and 15dBa it should be a good option to blow air into the unit... Hello, today i received my xtreamer except lan isues it works perfect. Can you tell me must i turn the fan now to blow the air in because its manufactured to blow the air out.

Player is designed to blow air out of the unit... Nothing inidcates so far the other way around has any benefit... (and it makes more noise too)