seeking hardware advice

[Robert Huff]

Hello:
I am putting together the specs for a new system; intended mostly as a
workstation, but with side hustles as a local server (web, name, time,
even some database). I want it to run FreeBSD 15, and the next few
major releases.
I've got the CPU, motherboard, graphics, and memory figured out; now I
need advice on two other aspects.
The easy one: SSDs. I want to prioritize "reliable" over "big" or
"fast". What brands (/models) currently have a good reputation?
The hard one: non-fan CPU cooling methods. I know zero about this - is
there a primer somewhere I have failed to find?


Respectfully,


Robert Huff

[Doron Beit-Halahmi]

For SSDs, AFAIC Samsung is the way to go. get like a 500GB EVO and
you'll be good for a boot drive. If you're planning on putting a storage
drive in the machine, use spinning rust - SSDs don't do well with cold
storage.

As far as the non-fan CPU cooling methods, AIOs will do the trick. No
maintenance, it's a closed loop system.

[David Christensen]

What make and model CPU? Motherboard? Graphics? Memory?


You said "SSDs". How many? Sizes? Form factors? Interfaces?
Performance? Use-case for each?


"Fanless" personal computers are typically small form factor, ultra
small form factor, micro form factor, single-board computer, etc., and
are engineered and sold as "barebones" products (add your CPU, memory,
storage, etc.) or as complete products. Typically, the case is a heat
sink for the processor and/or other internal components. Such a case
may or may not be available for your chosen motherboard, CPU, etc.. It
is uncommon for such products to have a PCIe expansion slot, GPU power
cable, etc., for a graphics card.


David

[Dag-Erling Smørgrav]

Robert Huff <rober...@rcn.com> writes:
> The easy one: SSDs. I want to prioritize "reliable" over "big" or
> "fast". What brands (/models) currently have a good reputation?

Samsung. Not going to give you a model name as it depends on the format
(2.5" SATA, M.2 SATA, M.2 NVMe). But you probably won't regret buying
Kingston or WD instead if the price is more to your liking. Note that
if you go for M.2 and want more than one SSD, most motherboards only
come with one screw and one heatsink even if they have multiple M.2
slots. The last time I encountered this issue, I was able to get a
second heatsink and screw for free by contacting customer service (and
then I got a third because they processed my ticket twice by mistake).
Otherwise, you can buy an SSD with a heatsink pre-installed, and beg or
buy a spare screw from your local computer repair shop.

> The hard one: non-fan CPU cooling methods. I know zero about
> this - is there a primer somewhere I have failed to find?

You can't really do without a fan, the question is how big it is (for
the same flow rate, a large slow fan is quieter than a small fast one,
and two slow fans are quieter than one fast one) and how you get the
heat from the CPU to the fan (solid metal, heat pipe, or circulating
liquid). Provided your case has radiator mounting holes and vents, a
240 mm AIO system (circulating liquid cooling with a 240 mm radiator
equipped with dual 120 mm fans) should fit most cases, is easy to
install, and requires no maintenance. If your budget doesn't stretch
that far, get the largest dual-fan on-die heatsink you can afford (they
start at $25) and make sure you install it in the right direction (the
air should flow from the front of the case to the back). As a last
resort, the stock cooler that comes with the CPU (if you bought a retail
SKU) will do a decent job, but it may struggle under sustained high load
and will be significantly louder than a third-party cooling solution.

DES
--
Dag-Erling Smørgrav - d...@FreeBSD.org

[Andrea Venturoli]

On 10/30/25 15:41, Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote:

>> The hard one: non-fan CPU cooling methods. I know zero about
>> this - is there a primer somewhere I have failed to find?
>
> You can't really do without a fan,

This is plain wrong.

I've been using this (1) for the last five years and I've never been
happier.
Notice it's almost impossible to put a discrete GPU card in there, but
I'm using an integrated one.

(1) https://streacom.com/products/fc10-fanless-atx-case/



Also my laptop is fanless, but that's another story.

bye
av.

[Alexander Burke]

Hi Robert,

Re SSD, ideally something intended for datacenter use (for example, the Samsung PM9A3). Otherwise, just ensure you avoid QLC flash, ideally avoiding TLC as well; both the performance and the resilience/life will take a huge hit with QLC. Change the sector size to 4K and update the firmware to the latest before putting them into service.

Cheers,
Alex