Quiet PC DB4i Fanless Cube i10

We are delighted to finally offer Streacom’s magnificent ST-DB4 fanless chassis as a complete system, configurable to your exact requirements!

Available in three different colours, Streacom’s ST-DB4 Fanless Chassis is unlike any other chassis around, it offers fanless CPU cooling all enclosed in what can only be described as a work of art! The whole chassis is bisymmetrical, so it looks the same no matter what angle you look at it. The extruded aluminium 13mm thick side panels have been CNC’d to blend perfectly together with the end result being one of pure beauty!

The image below gives a top down view of the DB4i Silent Cube with the black perspex top panel removed, showing how the PC will look once components have been installed. The PC in the image consists of the ZF240 PSU, a M.2 SSD with standard CPU heatpipe cooling. Due to the orientation of the motherboard the ports are on the bottom of the chassis. The only downside to this is that it is not the most practical if you need to insert any USB devices on a regular basis, we therefore recommend an external USB hub to make attaching/removing USB devices a breeze.

Intel 10th Gen and 11th Gen differences

The 500 series motherboard available with this system is compatible with both the 10th gen and 11th gen Intel processors, which is good as it gives flexibility and choice. The down-side to this is that the motherboard limits its features if a 10th gen processor is installed. We have therefore produced the table below to give you an idea of the what those differences are. This will hopefully allow you to gauge the best suitable processor for your needs. Do you go for the feature rich 11th gen, or opt for a 10th gen with limitations, but more attractive from a price point of view.

PCIe Version - As you can see from the table above the PCIe port, which is generally used for a graphics card, changes from PCIe 4.0 to 3.0 if a 10th Gen CPU is installed. In regards to performance of the graphics card and PCIe 3.0, you will not notice any major difference in frame rates running at PCIe 3.0 speeds.

M.2 PCIe 4.0 port - A M.2 drive offers extremely fast transfer rates and this is bolstered by PCIe 4.0, which gives speeds up to 64Gb/s (8000MB/s), compared PCIe 3.0 which is 32Gb/s (4000MB/s). This means using an 11th Gen processor along with a Samsung 980 Pro will allow you to achieve the maximum transfer speeds the drive can achieve. Please also note that the PCIe 4.0 M.2 port will be disabled if a 10th Gen CPU is installed. If you do opt for a 10th Gen CPU you will still be able to populate the other M.2 ports on the motherboard but the transfer speed is 32Gp/s, so the Samsung 970 EVO Plus or a slower drive is recommended.

HDMI Version - This is self explanatory, an 11th Gen CPU supports HDMI 2.0 which provides resolutions up to 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz. A 10th Gen processor supports HDMI 1.4 which provides resolutions up to 4096 x 2304 @ 30Hz. The DisplayPort resolution is not affect by the CPU. Therefore if you 100% need a 60Hz 4K resolution from the motherboard then the best choice would be an 11th Gen CPU.

Additional options

Extra CPU cooling

There are two options in the configurator below available for the DB4i Fanless Cube i10. The first is the ST-LH6 Additional CPU Cooling Kit, which is only required when additional CPU cooling is required. Out of the box the ST-DB4 chassis is able to cool a CPU with a TDP of up to 65W, but with the ST-LH6 kit this is increased to 110W because it utilises two of the side panels on the DB4. As all of the Intel CPUs features Turbo Boost, which allows the processor to exceed 65W power consumption, then we recommend opting for the additional cooling if you plan to take advantage of Intel’s Turbo Boost and the extra performance it offers.

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Fanless GPU Cooler

Streacom have now made available a GPU cooling kit especially design for the DB4 chassis. Just like the CPU cooler, this GPU cooler uses heatpipes that are attached to the graphics card and then transfer the heat to one of the side panels. If you would like us to install this GPU cooler onto a Nvidia GTX 1650 then please select “Nvidia GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card with DB4 GPU Cooler” under the section PCI Express slot in the configurator below.

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Add an optical drive

If an optical drive for playing/reading CDs, DVDs or even Blu-Rays is required then the second option has you covered. The ST-DB4ODD ODD Kit is supplied with a special bracket that attaches to the back of the motherboard panel allowing for a slot-loading drive to be installed (available in the configurator). It also includes a new top panel that has a cutout making it easy to eject and insert optical disks. Please note that there is no eject button option with this kit, therefore to eject a disk from the drive you will need to do so via Windows Explorer (right click the optical drive then click eject).

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Power supply

The DB4i Silent Cube is configurable with either a NanoPSU or the ZF240 240W PSU. All options are totally fanless and therefore do not generate any noise. To help you choose the correct one for your system just follow these guidelines. Opt for the ZF240 240W PSU if the PC is being configured with a 65W CPU and the graphics card option. For stability reason we do not recommend the 160W NanoPSU when configuring the system with a graphics card. The combination of a 65W CPU and a graphics card, along with other components installed in the system encroaches exceeds the limit of the 160W PSU.

If you are opting for a 65W CPU or lower and are looking to add a maximum of two storage drives (either M.2/SSD or HDD) and no graphics card, then the 160W NanoPSU will be ideal. Please also note that the NanoPSU is supplied with an external AC adaptor block that will sit outside of the PC. The ZF240 is a single unit that does not require a AC adaptor block, making for a cleaner installation. The only exception to this rule is if you are opting for the i9-11900 CPU, this CPU needs the 240W PSU to function due to the turbo frequency the CPU offers.

Storage considerations

When specifying your new PC’s storage options using our system configurator below, you will be offered a choice of drives which vary by price and capacity. There are two primary types of storage. A conventional hard disk drive (HDD) offers huge storage capacity for a low price, but it won’t be especially fast and it will generate a certain amount of running noise since it contains a constantly-rotating spindle. A solid state (SSD) or a M2 drive on the other hand, offer tremendous speed and absolutely silent operation, but they cost more than an HDD for any given capacity.

So if you need a lot of storage space (for videos or large quantities of digital photos for example), then we would recommend an HDD. On the other hand, if you prefer silence and speed (especially boot-up speed), then an SSD or M2 drive would be a better choice. Of course you can have more than one drive, so you could have the best of both worlds by choosing one of each! We recommend that customers chose an SSD or M2 drive as a boot drive that contains the operating system and important programs and a conventional HDD to store other data, but remember that if you intend to have a totally silent PC you might want to forgo the HDDs all together as they will make some noise due to their moving parts.

Clean Build™ Promise

These days, many pre-built PCs often rely on cash incentives from software companies to support their prices. These companies pay hardware manufacturers to pre-install limited or trial versions of their software, hoping that customers will eventually opt to upgrade to the full version. Unfortunately, this approach has a downside: it fills the new PC with unnecessary “junkware,” leading to an inflated operating system and performance issues.

At Quiet PC, we firmly believe that customers deserve the utmost performance from their brand new PCs. That’s why we proudly offer our Clean Build™ promise with every system we build. When you choose one of our PCs, we install only the essentials: the operating system (if requested), motherboard drivers, OS updates and Windows Security. Say goodbye to annoying pop-ups and nag screens. With our clean build promise you can immediately start using your new PC without the hassle of uninstalling numerous unwanted programs. Experience lightning-fast boot times and enjoy optimal performance for months and years to come.

Free hardware support and fully inclusive warranty

We offer free hardware technical support for as long as you own the machine. This support covers any hardware query or problem, including advice on maintenance and upgrades. We regret we can’t offer software support or training so we would recommend contacting the software vendor in this instance.

Our hardware warranty runs for at least two years and is “collect and return” meaning that you don’t need to worry about getting the machine back to us - we will instruct our courier to collect it from you on a day of your choosing, then after we have checked and repaired it we will send it back to you by express courier at our expense. In addition, unlike many other PC suppliers, we have an “open-case” policy which means you are free to open the machine and perform your own minor modifications or upgrades without worrying that your warranty might be affected.