Quiet PC DB1a Fanless Z2

Built around Streamcom’s extremely compact DB1 chassis, the DB1a Fanless Z2 takes advantage of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650GE processor and the chassis built-in fanless CPU cooling to offer a totally silent, very small, yet powerful system for every day use.

Total silence in a small package

Apart from the tiny UltraNUC, the DB1a Fanless is one of the smallest PC we offer. Unlike the UltraNUC, the DB1a Fanless uses a conventional fully-featured motherboard, albeit a Mini-ITX sized one. The machine can accommodates a AMD Ryzen GE processor, a M.2 SSD and a 2.5” drive. And because we offer the power-frugal Ryzen 5 PRO 5650GE processor, it is cooled fanlessly, thanks to the integrated fanless CPU cooler. The heat generated by the CPU is transferred to the large finned panel that naturally dissipates the heat, so no need for fans! The benefits of fanless operation include zero noise, it does not attract dust and has no moving parts, meaning the PC requires very little to no maintenance.

AMD Ryzen GE Processor

As already mentioned, the PC takes advantage of an AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650GE processor. What makes this processor perfect is the fact that it has a Thermal Design Power (TDP) of just 35W. It also features Radeon graphics, allowing you to take full advantage of the motherboards monitor outputs that both support 4K @ 60Hz. So when connected to 4K monitors you can expect resolutions of up to 4096 x 2160, thanks to the included DisplayPort (1.4) and HDMI (2.1) ports.

Fully featured mini-ITX motherboard

The DB1a Fanless features can be built with either a ASRock Z590M-ITX/ac or a Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX motherboard. These ITX motherboards are the smallest of all of the desktop motherboards, but don’t let their size fool you. The vast majority of Mini-ITX motherboards are packed with features you expect to find on larger motherboards. By default the motherboards come with many USB ports, built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a LAN port. Where the motherboards differ is basically the difference is available ports on the back. The below images show the difference. The only other thing to mention is that the Gigabyte features a 2.5Gb LAN, compared to the ASRock motherboard which is 1Gb. The Gigabyte motherboard also have one extra M.2 port.

ASRock rear motherboard ports

Gigabyte rear motherboard ports

Power supply recommendations

Due to the small nature of the DB1, the chassis is only compatible with Streacom’s NanoPSUs. Three different wattages are available, 90W, 120W and 160W. During our testing we found that all of the NanoPSUs were able to power the system without an issue. The test we conducted included a M.2 drive and a SSD, and all PSUs performed flawlessly. Conclusion - it really does not matter which PSU you opt for, therefore the only difference between the PSUs is the external AC adapter block which sits outside of the chassis. The size of this block is 168 x 71 x 38mm for the 120W and 160W, while the 90W version is slightly smaller at 140 x 58 x 32mm.

Storage considerations

When specifying your new PC’s storage options using our system configurator below, you will be offered a choice of drives which vary by price and capacity. There are two primary types of storage. A conventional hard disk drive (HDD) offers huge storage capacity for a low price, but it won’t be especially fast and it will generate a certain amount of running noise since it contains a constantly-rotating spindle. A solid state (SSD) or a M2 drive on the other hand, offer tremendous speed and absolutely silent operation, but they cost more than an HDD for any given capacity.

So if you need a lot of storage space (for videos or large quantities of digital photos for example), then we would recommend an HDD. On the other hand, if you prefer silence and speed (especially boot-up speed), then an SSD or M2 drive would be a better choice. Of course you can have more than one drive, so you could have the best of both worlds by choosing one of each! We recommend that customers chose an SSD or M2 drive as a boot drive that contains the operating system and important programs and a conventional HDD to store other data, but remember that if you intend to have a totally silent PC you might want to forgo the HDDs all together as they will make some noise due to their moving parts.

Clean Build™ Promise

The price of many pre-built PCs these days is often supported by cash kickbacks from software companies who pay hardware manufacturers to pre-install limited or trial versions of their software and then hope that the customer pays to upgrade to the full version. The downside to this approach is that the new PC comes pre-loaded with a lot of “junkware” which bloats the operating system and can cause severe performance degradation.

Here at Quiet PC we believe that customers have every right to expect the best possible performance from a brand new PC, so every system we build comes with our Clean Build™ promise. We install the operating system (if you order one), motherboard drivers, OS updates and Windows Security - that’s it. You won’t be pestered by pop-ups and nag screens and you can get on with using your new PC immediately without having to uninstall lots of junkware first. Your new machine will boot in super-quick time and will stay running quickly for many months and years to come.

Free hardware support and fully inclusive warranty

We offer free hardware technical support for as long as you own the machine. This support covers any hardware query or problem, including advice on maintenance and upgrades. We regret we can’t offer software support or training so we would recommend contacting the software vendor in this instance.

Our hardware warranty runs for at least two years and is “collect and return” meaning that you don’t need to worry about getting the machine back to us - we will instruct our courier to collect it from you on a day of your choosing, then after we have checked and repaired it we will send it back to you by express courier at our expense. In addition, unlike many other PC suppliers, we have an “open-case” policy which means you are free to open the machine and perform your own minor modifications or upgrades without worrying that your warranty might be affected.