I’ve been running ROCK on an Intel NUC10i7FNH (Core i7-10710U) that I put together six (!) years ago. Usually, the device is completely silent. But over the past year, the fan has been kicking on.
I tried some configuration tricks, like no crossfade, throttling audio analysis speed, scheduling background audio analysis, restarting the server, resetting the database, turning compressed air on the vents, restarting the network, reconfiguring DHCP and/or static assignments, and anything else I could think of. The tweaks would sometimes work, only for the problem to eventually return.
The summer temperatures made the intermittent fan noise intolerable — especially for a five-figure stereo system. So yesterday I built up my courage and tore into it, disassembling the box down to the CPU. Blew out the fan (dusty!), removed the original thermal paste, cleaned it up, and added new (YouTube is your friend). Got it reassembled, the whole effort taking less than an hour.
Voilà.
It’s been a day, but it seems to be running like new again.
OS version 2.1 (build 271), server version 2.70 (build 1671).
If this fails, there may be a Nucleus in my future.
PCs were a magical mystery to me - until a friend of mine told me he’d built his own in the early noughties
Flabbergasted, but inspired, (and the innernet was still ■■■■■ back then) I did the same - mildly concerned I might electrocute myself - then surprised it was all 3-5-12v DC inside
It’s like Lego* I thought - but was utterly delighted when it actually came to life at about 4am
Anyway, save your money when your current one gives up, now you know there is no mystery- just get another NUC or similar
I’ve got mine in a Turing. It’s been working great for probably five years now. Pro tip, don’t use the thermal pad supplied with the case. Get new stuff from Arctic. Much better quality.
I just now checked the thermal paste I applied: Arctic. Yay.
With @denydog’s reply, I’ve been exploring the fanless cases. Akasa’s heatsinks look formidable.
Hopefully the server will survive for a while as is; It’s been up two days now, and it’s still running great. But just in case, I’m going to see what hardware the Nucleuses are running inside (have yet to visit the community there). Or like @Andrew_Stoneman says, just roll my own; buy the latest greatest NUC.
Whilst I did not reply to this particular thread, I have repeatedly advocated a deep clean and thermal paste replacement for devices appearing to slow down (or get noisy) when they are over 5 years old.
As regards the case, I transplanted my NUC11TNHi7 into an Akasa Plato case a couple of years back and it has had no thermal issues since.
As a bonus, because there is no significant airflow between the outside and inside of the case, the internals stay dust free (spotless in fact) and the outside is easy to keep clear of dust (which will still degrade the ability of the heatsink to get rid of heat but not to the same degree) using a soft brush once in a while.
As a retired avionics tech, who worked both bench and airframe, I can only´say Bravo! I once solved a sluggish autopilot holding altitude on a Citation Jet by localizing the issue to a mud-dauber wasp that plugged up the 1/4 inch aluminum tubing ( Static line) between the autopilot altitude pressure sensor and the outside world. Real world meets Trons.
