Akasa Maxwell Pro - Building a Fully Silent Fanless PC

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This custom computer included the following components:

Akasa Maxwell Pro Case
AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 4750G CPU
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX Motherboard
2 x 16 GB TeamGroup T-Force Vulcan Z 3200 MHz DDR4 RAM
1 TB Western Digital Blue SN550 NVMe SSD
Mini-Box 120 W PicoPSU Kit

After a half hour stress test with a 78 watt CPU load, the maximum CPU temperature was 87 C, with an 18 C ambient temperature.

The music is by Move D and Pete Namlook from their album "III: The Retro Rocket."

Akasa has produced a long list of fanless PC cases going back to 2012. Most of these cases have been designed for Thin Mini-ITX motherboards or Intel NUCs with CPU TDPs of 35 watts or less. This finally changes with the Maxwell Pro, Akasa’s first fanless case designed for desktop-grade 65-watt TDP CPUs. Both Intel and AMD CPUs are supported, although there is no space for a graphics card so make sure that the CPU includes integrated graphics. The Maxwell Pro case is made from black anodized aluminum with silver trim that they call a diamond-edge finish. The fanless design is accomplished with four copper heatpipes that transfer heat from a thermal CPU block to the 4-inch cooling fins that make up the two sides of the case. It is powered by an internal DC to DC ATX power supply and an external AC to DC power brick. The case measures 11.1 inches wide, 8.3 inches deep, and 4.4 inches tall. It weighs about 6.7 pounds empty.

I do have a few complaints and recommendations for this case. The first is regarding the internal power supply fit. Akasa does offer a power supply that I assume would fit nicely in this case, but it is not included with the case. The PicoPSU that I used just barely fit up against the front USB 3 cables, and I had to remove the front I/O PCB before I could get it to fit. If Akasa moved all of the front I/O to the left side of the case this would not be an issue. Second, the Phillips screws that are used to hold the heatpipe modules to the walls of the case are sized for a #2 Phillips screwdriver, but most Phillips #2 screwdrivers would not fit between the cooling fins. Screws made for a Phillips #1 driver or a hex key would make installation easier. Third, the aluminum CPU block is surely limiting heat transfer from the CPU to the heatpipes. While a copper CPU block would be more expensive, it would increase cooling performance and allow the case to be safely used with somewhat higher-powered CPUs.

That said, the case passed my thermal stress test with the Ryzen 7 4750G. I ran Prime95’s small FFTs torture test for half an hour and used HWINFO to track temperature and power use. After half an hour the CPU’s maximum temperature was 87 degrees Celsius after using a constant 78 watts. This was in a cool 18 degrees Celsius room though. If I were in a 25-degree room the CPU could have easily hit its maximum temperature of 95 degrees. 78 watts is significantly higher than 65 watts though. I would recommend setting power limits to 75 watts or less when possible.

Overall, the Akasa Maxwell Pro’s cooling performance is in-line with the performance of its direct competition, but its price is a bit lower, so it is a good option for the budget-conscious. Although there can be a couple tricky aspects of its installation, the heatpipes were very easy to install and the case is compatible with almost all Mini-ITX motherboards. Its appearance is a bit clunky in my opinion, but the brushed finish and silver trim do add some nice detail to the front of the case.

Available for sale are fully built silent computers, built with no moving parts. The computers utilize passive heatsinks to dissipate the heat into the air. A variety of models are available with a variety of latest generation processors and SSD storage options. These PCs are great for general use or as home theater PCs. They have zero fans, zero spinning disks, and therefore zero noise! They are available at the link above.

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