Intel's Meteor Lake CPUs up to an Ultra 7 155H are going silent now thanks to Quiet PC's small form-factor implementation that employs the efficient Akasa Turing RC Pro case.https://www.notebookcheck.net/Quiet-PC-launches-UltraNUC-Pro-14-silent-mini-PCs-with-up-to-an-Intel-Ultra-7-155H-CPU.990338.0.html
Nice mini PC, however at 1K+ price tags even if its barebones its still far from competitive or reasonable priced imo. They really are just cashing in on the silence factor, with a bit more spending 1.2k-1.5k you may be able to get AMD Strix halo mini pc which are next gen in comparison.
Check Topton FU03 mini pcs from AMD with 8845HS cpu also, its barebones from aliexpress for around £300 and semi passive fan, the fan is quiet or can be replaced with a more silent usb 120mm noctua fan on top.