Product Reviews

Noise annoys. Luckily for us, designers have long realised this, and strive to make our world quieter. Double glazing blocks out road noises, walls are thicker to muffle our neighbour's rows -hush is a valuable commodity.

Until recently, though, PCs have been at odds with this march towards a quiet life. As computers got quicker, so they've become noisier. The noise is caused by fans working to rid the PC of the heat generated by processors that pump out warmth as they work. Thankfully, computer makers have now got the message - and a new breed of silent machines has been born.

The Tranquil PC is one such machine. Switch it on, and the blue light that spills out into the Perspex facia is the only clue that it's doing anything. It is utterly silent - quieter than a napping Cistercian monk. It's also tiny, measuring just 330x255x63mm (wdh).

At the Tranquil PC's heart is a 1GHz VIA C3 fixed into an EPIA-M motherboard. The C3 is not as fast or fancy as the Pentium 4s and AMD Athlon XPs we're used to seeing in power PCs - but it doesn't claim to be. Instead, the VIA C3 is designed to be cool,

With the Tranquil PC's lid open, it becomes clear how this silence has been achieved. The VIA C3 'Nehemiah' processor nestles under a silver heat sink with no fan. The new C3 is designed to run without one. And to make sure the rest of the PC stays cool to avoid crashes, Tranquil PC has designed its case to dissipate as much heat as possible, too.

To help the machine remain compact, the VIA EPIA-M motherboard has many features built in. It has integrated graphics, six-channel surround sound, TV out, FireWire, a 10/100 network port and four USB 2 sockets. Pretty impressive, when you consider it's all packed onto a board measuring just 7 inches square.

Slotted into the board is 256MB of 266MHz RAM. Though 266MHz isn't the fastest type of memory available, 256MB is enough to ensure Windows XP runs smoothly. The PC also has a quiet 120GB hard disk and a combined DVD and CD-RW drive. There's also space for one extra PCI add-on card such as a TV tuner or modem (the only notable omission).

Compared to many of the PCs we see in the Computer Buyer Labs, the Tranquil PC performs poorly. It scores just 282 in our office work tests and 989 in 3D Mark 2001. These scores aren't enough to play games, but you can watch DVDs on the machine and office work will be a breeze.

What the Tranquil PC lacks in performance, it makes up for it silence, good looks and clever design. It uses just 11W of power, too. For a room where you need a PC but don't want noise it's an ideal buy - but for one factor: the cost. For £530 you get just the PC, with no monitor, keyboard or mouse.