Quiet PC DB4i Silent Cube

We are delighted to finally offer Streacom’s magnificent ST-DB4 fanless chassis as a complete system, configurable to your exact requirements!

Streacom’s ST-DB4 Fanless Chassis is unlike any other chassis around, it offers fanless CPU cooling all enclosed in what can only be described as a work of art! The whole chassis is bisymmetrical, so it looks the same no matter what angle you look at it. The extruded aluminium 13mm thick side panels have been CNC’d to blend perfectly together with the end result being one of pure beauty!

The image below gives a top down view of the DB4i Silent Cube with the black perspex top panel removed, showing how the PC will look once components have been installed. The PC in the image consists of the ZF240 PSU, a M.2 SSD with standard CPU heatpipe cooling. Due to the orientation of the motherboard the ports are on the bottom of the chassis. The only downside to this is that it is not the most practical if you need to insert any USB devices on a regular basis, we therefore recommend an external USB hub to make attaching/removing USB devices a breeze.

Intel’s latest Generation Processors

This PC takes advantage of a Intel 8th or 9th Generation CPU, which have broken the mold as they now feature more cores and threads compared to previous generations. The Core i3 now features four cores and the i5 and i7 versions are now 6 core CPUs, which is an increase of two cores for each processor. As well as an increase in core count, the amount of threads for each CPU has also gone up, meaning more multi-tasking can be achieved. These additional cores and threads really make these CPUs a great performer. For example, the Core i3 8300 CPU is now equivalent in terms of performance to the 7th Gen Core i5 7600 but costs significantly less - giving you more performance for less money.

You’d think there would be a downside to all this extra performance but to be honest we cannot think of any. The CPUs have a maximum Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 95W (K-suffix), 65W and 35W for the low powered “T-suffix” processors. This means they can take advantage of the fanless cooling the DB4 has to offer. For customers looking to purchase the high performing K-suffix CPU, then the ST-LH6 Additional CPU Cooling Kit must also be purchased, see below for more info.

We also have available Intel’s cost effective Pentium GOLD 8th Gen CPUs. These CPUs are perfect for cost conscious customers looking for great performance on a budget. They are ideal for a general purpose/office PC as they have two cores and four threads, allowing for reasonable multi-tasking performance.

Additional options

Extra CPU cooling, for K-suffix CPUs

There are two options in the configurator below available for the DB4i Silent Cube. The first is the ST-LH6 Additional CPU Cooling Kit, which is only required when a K-suffix CPU is to be used. Out of the box the ST-DB4 chassis is able to cool a CPU with a TDP of up to 65W, but with the ST-LH6 kit this is increased to 110W because it utilises two of the side panels on the DB4, so if you opt for the Core i3 8350K, Core i5 8600K or the Core i7 8700K the ST-LH6 must also be selected.

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Fanless GPU Cooler

Streacom have now made available a GPU cooling kit especially design for the DB4 chassis. Just like the CPU cooler, this GPU cooler uses heatpipes that are attached to the graphics card and then transfer the heat to one of the side panels. If you would like us to install this GPU cooler onto a Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti then please select “Nvidia GTX1050 Ti 4GB RAM with fanless GPU cooler” under the section PCI Express slot in the configurator below.

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Add an optical drive

If an optical drive for playing/reading CDs, DVDs or even Blu-Rays is required then the second option has you covered. The ST-DB4ODD ODD Kit is supplied with a special bracket that attaches to the back of the motherboard panel allowing for a slot-loading drive to be installed (available in the configurator). It also includes a new top panel that has a cutout making it easy to eject and insert optical disks. Please note that there is no eject button option with this kit, therefore to eject a disk from the drive you will need to do so via Windows Explorer (right click the optical drive then click eject).

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Two motherboards, HDMI 2.0 option

This PC has two motherboards to choose from. The main reason for this is due to the fact we have had many customers ask if it is possible to run a 4K @ 60Hz TV/Monitor via a HDMI port. For this to happen there has to be a HDMI 2.0 port, but it is very rare for a motherboard to have HDMI 2.0 built in. That is until Gigabyte released their Z390I-AORUS Wi-Fi motherboard which features a HDMI 2.0 port as standard. This means it is now possible to run anything at 4K @ 60Hz without the need for a graphics card. This not only reduces the overall power consumption of the system, as no graphics card is required, but also reduces the cost of the system. Of course HDMI 2.0 may not be required for all customers and therefore we suggest opting for the less expensive ASUS ROG STRIX B360-I ITX motherboard if that is the case.

Power supply

The DB4i Silent Cube is configurable with either a 160W NanoPSU or with the ZF240 240W PSU. Both options are totally fanless and therefore do not generate any noise. To help you choose the correct one for your system just follow these guidelines. Opt for the ZF240 240W PSU if the PC is being configured with a K-suffix CPU. For stability reason we do not recommend the 160W NanoPSU with 95W CPUs. The combination of a 95W CPU and the other components installed in the system encroaches towards the limit of the 160W PSU.

If you are opting for a 65W CPU or lower and are looking to add a maximum of two storage drives (either M.2/SSD or HDD) then the 160W NanoPSU would be ideal. Please also note that the NanoPSU is supplied with an external AC adaptor block that will sit outside of the PC. The ZF240 is a single unit that does not require a AC adaptor block, making for a cleaner installation.

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 choose an SSD or M2 drive as a boot drive that contains the operating system and important programs. A conventional HDD would store other data but remember that if you intend to have a totally silent PC, you might want to forgo the HDDs altogether 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 Microsoft Security Essentials / Windows Defender - 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 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.