I am interested in putting an i7 NUC into a fanless case. Even better, buying it already done. I’ve located suppliers in the Europe, including the UK, but none in the US. Can anyone recommend a US supplier?
Would you trust a local PC repair shop to do the assembly?
Thanks!
I would do it myself. It can’t be that hard.
Akasa seems to be the flavour of the year for Nuc fanless cases, mine is an Akasa Plato.
However I bought mine already done and dusted used from eBay, but there are many users in these forums have done this and it surely cannot be that complicated.
Sure somebody will chime in soon…
Isn’t this just a Nucleus+? Or do you already have the parts?
It would be essentially a Nucleus+ at about half the price.
Nucleus(+) appears to do some things better (such as power/temperature management) than a random fanless NUC assembly with ROCK. In my experience, both Akasa-based and ZOTAC fanless servers are usable but borderline with respect to power/temperature if you push them. They are fine for me as I don’t use much DSP and I want to manage my own Linux server configurations, but if I wanted fanless ROCK, I might well go for the extra Nucleus+ cost.
Good thermal management would be an important factor. Even though I’m not using Roon’s DSP now (having DSP available both in my preamp and my streamer), one never knows. And I am interested in ROCK’s promise of function without fuss.
I am surprised it’s an issue, though – the review I saw of the Akasa case reported better thermal performance than the stock NUC. Of course, that wouldn’t rule out further improvement by Roon Labs.
I’ve only ever heard good things about the Akasa case re: running temperature. I haven’t seen any evidence of the temperature approaching critical levels. I’ve got an off the shelf fanless PC running Windows 10 that I use as a Roon Core and desktop. Average CPU temperature rarely goes above 35C, and that’s with DSP.
I have never actually measured the temperature of my Akasa cased nuc but I do occasionally place my hand on it out of curiosity.
I run everything at dsd512 and it feels cool to the touch at all times
Yes.
Cool to the touch is not necessarily a good thing under high load, as it could be the sign that there’s bad connectivity between your CPU and the cooling system. If your system hasn’t fried yet, you’re probably fine though.
Maybe my definition of cool to the touch and others may differ, I am used to working with machinery at 400 plus degrees all day long…lol
It is nowhere near as warm as my tube headphone amp for example.
Its been running this way for quite some time…
you may also consider a m90n nuc from lenovo. There are two types fanless and with integrated fan. I had the opportunity to by a i3 8th gen with fan version and it is silent enough to be not audible in the living room.
The rock installation went without problems. There is a how-to in the forum
That’s not saying much 
Mostly good but I’ve seen some worrisome spikes when copying in TBs of data to the internal SSD.
If it feels cool, it does not mean the processor is cool. If you don’t measure that you cannot know what the temperature is.
True but I think after 18 months of continuous on running I am relatively safe.
A very good point. A cool case could mean that heat from the processor or drive is not getting transferred to the case properly. (Or it could mean everything is running cool.)
I am going for door #2 in my case (sic).
If I’m not too late, these might build it for you
SilentPC.com
Alternatively, there are many passively cooled case manufacturers if you want to do it yourself.
Also, if your NUC will only run Roon then it will very seldom if ever get hot. Choose your processor wisely and the cooling fan will never spin.
Thanks, Kevin! I just remembered them a few days ago. A good resource as I don’t want to do it myself – neither my eyesight nor my patience is up to it now.
Mike
Why would you even bother with fanless NUC? I can understand it if you connect DAC directly to NUC, but if not just place the NUC in a different room connected to same network via ethernet. It is in fact irrelevant if the NUC generates noise from its cooling.