External thoughts
Any PC design that takes quietness truly seriously needs to be based on a passive cooling ethos. That was one of our main hopes with the Tranquil PC.
We put great emphasis on efficient and sure packaging, and Tranquil don't disappoint. It's almost bombproof in nature, with two large cardboard gussets providing ample protection on either side. A foolish courier would be needed to damage any part of this system.
The real fun starts when we examine the chassis.
A sleek, half height case with a tasty acrylic see-through front and contrasting laptop-sized DVD-ROM drive. There's a reasonable amount more to this design that meets the eye. Minimalism is the order of the day. There's just a single power button on this hi-fi-esque base unit, and there's no floppy drive to pollute the front's aesthetic appeal. The right-hand side is a talking point in itself.
Tranquil indeed. The side operates as one huge CPU heatsink. You'll see how a little later on. The construction and appearance is first class in every respect, from the groovy acrylic to the expertly constructed heatsink / side.
If the front has been left relatively bare in true minimalist style, the back is full of useful ports and jacks.
Going from left to right, the back panel houses the two expected PS/2 ports, a welcome, integrated HD15 socket, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 10/100 LAN, S-Video socket, S/PDIF - RCA-Out (switchable via an on-board jumper), parallel port, serial port and 3 analogue audio jacks. Readers with pin-sharp memories may recall this arrangement of ports and sockets from a previous review a couple of months ago. For the rest, we'll continue with the externals before we divulge just how this unit is powered and cooled. Further high-speed connectively hasn't been forgotten in this age of USB 2.0 and FireWire. A couple of examples of each are located on the right, just below a rotated PCI slot cover.
Perhaps the most interesting socket is the one used to provide power to the Tranquil. It's none other than a standard laptop power port located on the right extremity. That gives us further insight into the low power consumption of this supposedly quiet PC.
The supplied PSU delivers 4.58A via 12v DC. That's relatively lowly for a modern system, and many powerful laptops have similar supplies. We can surmise that a low wattage CPU and a bunch of power efficient components will be used inside.
Another neat trick is the soothing blue light that envelopes the front when the PC is switched on. The LED is cleverly designed such that it doesn't cause any glare when looking directly at the sexy front. Looking good is now becoming a necessity, and the Tranquility PC is certainly a looker. It's certainly not as light as you might expect. A quality steel housing pushes the total weight to just over 6kg. Hi-fi looks and quality construction on the outside, we'll have a look at the all-important internals. We're interested in what makes this Tranquil PC so quiet.
