Silverstone LC06 and MSI K8NGM2-FID based HTPC (2 Viewers)

[Mars Warrior]

That cooler looks nice, but I'm still looking for some passive or semi-passive solution.

The problem however is that I have no idea how much headroom there is in the case for a HS, ie can I use a normal HS or am I forced to use a low profile HS??

For passive heatsinks, I came accross these ones:
1U:

, and 2U:

Both at OrbitMicro: Coolermaster 1U and Coolermaster 2U

A nice but HEAVY one is also the Sharkoon Redshock:

A slow spinning large quiet 12cm fan orso should then take care of some airflow in the case...

 

[Tech Geek]

My passive cooler has over twice the cooling area of those models and is designed to take advantage of an existing fan. That tells me those others are going to run very hot. I think I'd at least stick with the models with heat pipes. If you can rig up a duct from the cpu cooler to the case fan temp would be no problem at all.

If your motherboard doesn't have fan speed control I'd go with a case fan that has a built in temperature sensor.
I've been using the Antec fans with heat sensors. They rarely speed up in the systems I've installed them in but in a setup like you are building that might be usefull to prevent overheating.

 

[Mars Warrior]

The motherboard has Q&Q, so temperature controlled speed of the fans should be possible.

But I have also good experiences with the solution you mention: a fan duct over the CPU combined with a temperature controlled case fan.

Another thing I'm thinking about is, as the case is rather small and has venting holes on both sides, back and top, is to "build" compartments so that each part has its own dedicated airflow/duct/vents:
- Passive PSU + HDD, right side of case
- DVD ROM, left side of case
- Motherboard, back and top side of case

in which case the separate components don't warm up each other too much...

 

[Tech Geek]

Another thing I'm thinking about is, as the case is rather small and has venting holes on both sides, back and top, is to "build" compartments so that each part has its own dedicated airflow/duct/vents:
- Passive PSU + HDD, right side of case
- DVD ROM, left side of case
- Motherboard, back and top side of case

in which case the separate components don't warm up each other too much...

Interesting idea. All you'd really need is some dividers to separate airflow through different sections and just let it mix back by the exhaust fan. As long as air is flowing in you won't have hotter air going to cooler components. You might not need to do more than isolate the power supply and direct intake air over the CPU given the power requirements of that system. You are talking the heat output of about a 100W bulb but with active cooling and a much greater surface area to distribute the heat.