Sine we're talking small Xeon builds, just for fun I'm adding this photo of my dual E5-2670 build next to my mini ITX E3-1230 V3 build. Here's the tale of the tape:
Dual E5-2670 Rig:
CPU:
2x Intel Xeon E5-2670
Heatsink: 2x Cooler Master Hyper 212s
Motherboard: Intel S2600CP4 C602 Server Motherboard SSI-EEB Form-Factor
RAM: 8x 4GB Samsung
DDR3-1333 Registered ECC, 32GB total.
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Mini
Sound:
USB Sound
Other: NEC Renesas USB 3.0 with internal header, PCI-E x1 Card
PSU: Supermicro PWS-665-PQ 665W
SSD: Kingston HyperX 240GB
Case: Corsair Carbide Clear 400C
Case Fan: 2x 120mm Corsair PWM (Came with case)
Single E3-1230 V3 Rig:
CPU:
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3
Heatsink: Intel Retail
Motherboard: Asus H81I-Plus/CSM
RAM: 2x 4GB Crucial DDR3-1600, 8GB total.
GPU: MSI GT 730 2 GB GDDR5 Single-Slot, Low-Profile
Sound:
Onboard Sound
PSU: SeaSonic SS350-SFE 350W SFX
SSD: Mushkin ECO3 240GB
Case: Spire PowerCube 501
Case Fan: Mini Fan
Here's they are "in the flesh" so to speak followed by a photo of the guts of the mini Xeon box. The mini fan at mounted with velcro at the top-rear of the case does a great job of pulling heat that formerly collected at the top of the case, which really heated up the CPU heatsink after 100% run. It's from an old Asus motherboard and was intended to blow air onto the VRM heatsink or RAM. Virually silent, you can feel the hot air stream out the back and I can no longer fry eggs on the top of the case. The only other answer would have been to drill a hole in the top and put a 60mm fan there. Now temps only get to the mid 50C range and it cools down pretty quickly after a "hot" run.
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