I tend to agree that if there is really a headless operation then there should be little or next to nothing being generated by the GPU.
In regard to fanless cases, Streamcom is reported to have debuted the DB6, which is supposed to support up to 125W CPU and 125W GPU. But there’s not much detail as yet.
I’m interested in the Streacom FC10 Alpha case, rated for 65W TDP CPU, with a max 95W. That might work nicely with an i7-7700 (65W TDP). Admittedly huge overkill for ROCK, but I’m thinking of Roon under Win10 Pro x64.
Correct! 
No Graphic rendering, No GPU heat.
until we start using the GPU to do DSP…
4 Likes
I see!
Hence the i7 heat dissipation discussion!. Anyways I m still going with i7. Hope the fan noise is not too much if i m sitting about 12-14feet away from the speakers. Thoughts ?
This dilemma is one of the reasons we made the Nucleus.
I have one and if the fan is running significantly you will hear it, I don’t as it lives in a separate room.
Danny So its best to stick to i5 ? obviously I may not go heavy on DSP? But the cost difference for me is very less between i5 and i7…
I see and this → 
Oh man i thought I had decided between i5 Vs i7.
hahaha, just get the i7 and put it in a closet or the other room if it’s noisey.
if you use a usb dac, you can still do this and use a network bridge product to network your device.
the in worst case, you can put it up for sale on our sales and trades section of this forum and im sure someone will trade you for an i5
1 Like
Cannot do this from where I live! Anyways I get it!.
I ‘will’ pick up i7 and use DSP sparingly until Roon Bridge comes in.
Given my Learners-License status, in setting up of ROCK, lets see how the Roon Bridge goes.
Sorry for extending this topic on heat stuff!.
+1 this
This! Is actually what I do Though my rig is water cooled 
No need to, Put me first inline if you decide too @Jnan_Devi_Roon!
Ha ha … 
that is not a problem. However, Mr TechWhiskyLab, like i wrote, from where I live, its already close to 9PM. Rum in my glass … Enjoy your Day Folks!.
1 Like
On a serious note, Danny once dust/sweat/marketing/Sales etc settles for Nucleus … Roon should consider seriously to come up with “Nucleus-Jr” Preloaded with ROCK-Jr (what ever name Roon wants to come up with).
Consider me as a waiting customer.
What on earth is ROCK-Jr?
1 Like
Some kind of pebble? 
3 Likes
Roon Unified Bare-Bones Limited Edition - RUBBLE
7 Likes
Come on guys! come up with nice name for ROCK-Jr -> the “RoonBridge”, fully enclosed Raspbery-Pi (or similar) + RoonBridge pre-installed.
Roon Team, once again -> Here is a waiting costumer.
Unless you are exceedingly forgiving of ambient noise, you will not be happy with a stock NUC7i7 in the listening room.
What about the NUC in question here, the NUC7i7BNH? Well, I’d say it’s on par with the Skull Canyon. The 28W Core i7 CPU has been crammed in almost the same enclosure that works wonders with the 15W Core i3 and i5 models. As a result the small fan does spin up more often and you can hear it. I’m pretty allergic to fan noise and really would not like to put one on my desktop where it’s clearly audible.
I have a stock NUC7i5 placed intentionally in another room, and though I cannot hear it outside of that room, I am not pleased with the current state of its fan noise. The fan runs 24/7 – whether ROCK is idle, just playing music, or lifting heavy DSP. And the fan does not spin down to its lowest level, even though I have configured the BIOS to its Quiet fan setting. I am not certain that ROCK is observing the BIOS fan setting. A stock NUC7i7 would be all of the above amplified by several decibels.
AJ
2 Likes
well like it or not I have a Intel NUC7I7BNH ordered and M.2 250GB SSD so ROCK is coming to my setup soon
1 Like
I have the same but currently running W10, soon to replace Windows with Rock.