I'm looking at buying this Lenovo desktop. However, a colleague of mine is concerned that because it's relatively slim (3.9" x 13.2" x 15"), it will output more heat. We don't really care about the temperature inside the case, but because we plan to use it in a controlled lab environment, it's important that it doesn't generate significantly more heat than a standard desktop.
I haven't found any evidence supporting my colleague's claim on Google. Is he correct?
Um, size isn't what's important. At least not in this case. It's power consumption that matters. Smaller desktops, frankly, are likely to have lower-power components or smaller power supplies, which actually equates to less heat output.
The system has a 180W power supply. Compare that to traditional desktop machines which typically have 300W power supplies, and Bob's yer uncle, there's your answer: If fully loaded, the most heat it will shove out the back is 180W.
Since you are buying it with an i3 processor which only burns, at max computation, 55W per http://ark.intel.com/products/65693/ (Lenovo also stuffs the hotter 65W i7 CPU and hotter 7200rpm drives into the same chassis w/ the same 180W rating as shown here http://uk.insight.com/en-gb/productinfo/desktop-pcs/0001795315) the measured power consumption with only 4GB of RAM and a 5400 rpm drive will be significantly less than 180W.
