The MicroQube Breeze i17 takes advantage of a very quiet Noctua CPU cooler and a Intel 12/13th gen processor, all housed in a very compact chassis.

Total Tranquility in a small package

Apart from the tiny UltraNUC, the MicroQube is one of the smallest PC we offer. Unlike the UltraNUC, this PC uses a conventional fully-featured motherboard, albeit a Mini-ITX sized one. The machine accommodates an Intel 12th or 13th gen processor, 2.5Gb LAN, WIFI 6, a single M.2 SSD and up to two 2.5” hard drives. It also features support for up to 64GB DDR4 memory. To keep temperatures in check we use one of the extremely popular Noctua CPU coolers. And because we offer the latest power-frugal processors, it can be cooled with very little airflow, making it one of the quietest air cooled PCs we offer. The power supply is either a small form factor (SFX) PSU and unlike the power supplies in many other small PCs, this one is fully integrated so there are no clumsy black “bricks” which you need to have lying around behind the PC.

The chassis is the classy Cooler Master NR200P which is supplied with both a vented or tempered glass side panel. So if thermals are important to you we suggest the vented panel, but if you prefer to glance inside the PC then you may be tempted by the glass alternative. Both panels are supplied so the decision is yours.

Intel Alder Lake 13th Gen Processor

The 13th Gen Intel processors offer a significant improvement over previous generations, thanks to the improved Performance-cores (P-cores) and/or Efficient-cores (E-cores). The processors P-cores are optimised for single and lightly-threaded performance, while its E-cores, are optimised for scaling highly-threaded workloads. That means gamers, creators, and professionals can harness both intelligence and power to enhance the experiences that matter the most. All processors on the list feature P-cores, but not all offer E-cores. To give you an idea of much of an improvement the 13th gen is over the 11th Gen processors, take a look at the table below that shows some PassMark CPU Benchmarks, the higher the number the better the performance the processors offers.

The figures above are as of January 2023. They do change over time.

Rear ports for ASRock motherboard

Rear ports for Gigabyte motherboard

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

The price of many pre-built PCs these days is often supported by cash kickbacks from software companies who pay hardware manufacturers to pre-install limited or trial versions of their software and then hope that the customer pays to upgrade to the full version. The downside to this approach is that the new PC comes pre-loaded with a lot of “junkware” which bloats the operating system and can cause severe performance degradation.

Here at Quiet PC we believe that customers have every right to expect the best possible performance from a brand new PC, so every system we build comes with our Clean Build™ promise. We install the operating system (if you order one), motherboard drivers, OS updates and Windows Security - that’s it. You won’t be pestered by pop-ups and nag screens and you can get on with using your new PC immediately without having to uninstall lots of junkware first. Your new machine will boot in super-quick time and will stay running quickly for many 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.