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 Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 00:38 Post subject: Upcoming upgrade: achieving absolute silence in idle |
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I am preparing for a new upgrade (could be in weeks, or months, depending on whether I choose to wait and see Zen/Intel refresh or just get 6700K now).
Meanwhile I thought I could clear up my mind on what case, psu or fans should get once I actually pull the trigger  Compared to my build from 2010, acoustics went up really high on my priority list. I don't necessarily require total silence while playing games as I use headphones (although open, so I still must keep my PC noise in moderation). But in idle, I want my new computer to be 100% silent.
From my old build, I want to keep Noctua NH-D14 (I'll just replace its fans as they ran for all 5 years already and they are starting to make sounds) and Sapphire R9 390 Nitro (will replace with polaris or pascal, whichever will be better once they both come out) - this model shuts off fans in idle so it should be a problem for now acoustic-wise.
What cases do you recommend? I've been pretty happy with R2 (which I had to ghetto mod by removing HDD cage to fit my current 31.5cm graphics card) so I was thinking maybe I could get new R5 for the new features. On the other hand I would prefer something smaller factor, although that's not priority and likely not even possible due to huge NH-D14 CPU cooler and huge videocard card. My PC is sitting on floor beside a desk and is rarely seen so I don't really care how it looks inside nor outside. Priroities: noise reduction, airflow, build quality. Budget ideally within 150USD but I can go higher if it's really worth it.
What are good PSU nowadays? I have older Corsair model of HX650 which I found after unplugging last of my mechanical drives to be making most noise in my system. While it's working OK, I'll be replacing it with ideally semi-passive one. I'd aim for 650w-750w (maybe 750w would be better choice if it's semi-passive as it will actually spin-up when it's used more than by 50%? Or it doesnt work like that?). Budget: best bang for the buck. I don't want super premium most expensive PSU. Good quality, acoustics and modular cables in reasonable price.
Case fans and replacement fans for my noctua CPU cooler? I've been pretty happy with Noctua so I might as well go again with them? Or are there any other as good/better fans for better price? I guess PWM would be ideal (or get motherboard with DC voltage control on each individual header) and control it via SpeedFan. Set up a profile to spin them up on CPU/GPU temperature. Or if there is some hardware fan controller worth buying, please recommend also!
Thanks for any suggestions!
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 07:33 Post subject: |
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R2 and r5 are incredible cases.
not sure about absolute silence tho. Those cases are best for that but it will be hard to do.
For starters, i recommend getting good fanless thermalright macho 120 or hr02/22 radiator.
I have 120, removed fan from it and my temps are fantastic. 60c in stress on cpu. I even removed that huge intake fan for the case and only left back and back up fans taking air out at 800rpm, so they basically work as fans for that macho but are super quiet at those speeds.
Gpu had to be capped at 30% gan speeds to be acceptable.
So i got the fans noise down quite a bit but my corsair psu is a bitch. When its fan kicks in, its super lound and squeeks when turning fan on and off. Also the amount of coil whine I get from that pc makes me crazy. It must be that psu.
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 08:47 Post subject: Re: Upcoming upgrade: achieving absolute silence in idle |
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I see they are selling two models - EVGA 220-G2-0750-XR and a possibly newer EVGA 220-G2-0750-X2. Which one is better? Most shops already stopped selling -XR now, but there are still few available.
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 08:52 Post subject: |
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As far as I know X2 should be OK aswell. Just remember to register it @ EVGA to get 10 years warranty. Shop is providing only 2 years if I can remember correctly.
Ryzen 9800X3D CO ~-26/+200 | Freezer III 360 A-RGB & 3x Phanteks T30 | Strix X670E-F WiFi | MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Ventus OC | Fury Beast 64GB (2x 32GB) DDR5 5600MHz C40 @ 6000MHz C28 | 970 EVO Plus 2 TB | 38GN950-B | S.M.S.L RAW-MDA1 & HiFiMAN Arya Organic | Lancool III Snow White + 4x be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 140mm | RM1000x (2021) Gold | G Pro X SUPERLIGHT 2 & POWERPLAY | Win 11 Pro | Logitech MX MECHANICAL
Sometimes I publish YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/@RandomTechChannel
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 10:05 Post subject: I have left. |
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 10:09 Post subject: |
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All the top PSU platforms don't spin their fans up until they hit 50% load nowadays. Seasonic started that years ago (and thus all the SS-based Corsair units have it), Super Flower picked up on it not long after that (and thus EVGA have it).
It is worth noting that you need to look closely at your local prices. Super Flower branded units are a bit cheaper than their EVGA branded counter parts in most places. You do pay extra for the EVGA brand name and the extra 5 years of warranty. An SF Platinum unit tends to be cheaper than the G2.
For the CPU cooling, get an AIO kit. Yes, you most likely will hear the pump when it's idle (although my hard drive is still noisier than my H100i's pump is), but under load it won't actually get much noisier with the right fans.
I can safely say that when idle, the hard drive is the noisiest part in my PC. Under load, it's the graphics card. At no point do my case fans or the fans on the rad become audible on their own really.
As an extra note on this, because I doubt tolanri is aware: do not just blindly look at dB(A) and CFM. If you're looking for a CPU cooler fan (_especially_ with a radiator), look at static pressure rather than CFM.
In this comparison example, the Noctuas would be the better buy as a CPU cooler/rad fan, because they have 2.5x the pressure.
| Shoshomiga wrote: | | PSU fans can be loud, I use a RM1000 psu because it turns off the fan if its not over 50% load (which it never is in my system) |
What kind of crappy PSUs have you used? 
None of the SS and SF based PSUs that I've used have been anywhere near noisy. Those things stay so cool that even when they do spin up the fan, it's often still at very low RPM.
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JBeckman
VIP Member
Posts: 34994
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 10:22 Post subject: |
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I had a Corsair PSU once that I later found out had a known problem with their fan controller so the fan ran at full speed all the time, they fixed that in a later model though and this was a few years back so it shouldn't be a problem anymore.
Really like the Noctua fans too, higher-end models are pretty heavy though but excellent performance and cooling.
(A bit too good nearly as on default bios settings the fan or well radiator is capable of passively cooling my CPU so it doesn't start spinning until I reach higher activity / load so now I use a custom setting where I run it at 50% speed by default, helps airflow in the rest of the case too that way.)
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 10:33 Post subject: I have left. |
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couleur
[Moderator] Janitor
Posts: 14360
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 10:36 Post subject: |
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I'm using a Fractal R4 and I found that in idle, the HDDs are almost the biggest offenders concerning noise.
The fan on my Thermalright Macho at 600rpm is practically silent. I cant hear it. So I'm not sure if it is worth investing in an Aio kit.
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment."
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 10:42 Post subject: I have left. |
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Stige
Posts: 3545
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 11:05 Post subject: |
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| Shoshomiga wrote: | Kind of offtopic but I still have nightmares about AIOs
I bought one a long a time ago because watercooling hurr durr, shit was loud as fuck, and the coolant actually evaporated eventually, I wasn't paying attention and the CPU went as high as 120c for an extended period of time, after shutting it off it never turned back on again, mobo was dead, guess something melted but the cpu actually still works to this day |
They don't offer any cooling performance at all over good air coolers, especially if you want them to be quiet. They are just utter garbage really and cost way more than equally performing air cooler would.
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 11:18 Post subject: |
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Forgot to mention I don't have any HDD in my system. I don't use NAS, but I bought docking station for HDD so that I just power them up when I need to access the hard drive, which is rare, and I also use some external hdd. For day to day downloading I set up small archlinux server and put it in the attic. Basically HDD noise is not a problem for me anymore. And GPU during idle neither (as I said I have R9 390 which turns off the fans in idle, and in my future graphics card I will be specifically looking for this feature too).
@Werelds: you recommended AIO. I read that my NH-D14 is about as good in cooling and acoustics as the commonly used AIO. Since I already have noctua and I am not hardcore overclocker, I'd think that with current efficient CPUs it can get a job done with turned off fans in idle and low RPM under load. Am I wrong? Investing in AIO would be a sidegrade at best. I realize that with AIO there's more space to work in case, but once I set it up, I won't touch it for few years, except for regular dedusting.
Last edited by tolanri on Mon, 14th Mar 2016 11:25; edited 1 time in total
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Werelds
Special Little Man
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 11:21 Post subject: |
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| Shoshomiga wrote: | | Werelds wrote: |
What kind of crappy PSUs have you used?
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Says somebody who actually bought a h100i 
Seriously those things have like the loudest fans of all time out of the box, over 2500 rpm on a 120mm fan  |
Who says I'm using the stock fans? 
That kind of was the point above. For a rad, CFM is not that relevant, SP is. And with higher SP, CFM tends to drop and so does the noise
| couleur wrote: | I'm using a Fractal R4 and I found that in idle, the HDDs are almost the biggest offenders concerning noise.
The fan on my Thermalright Macho at 600rpm is practically silent. I cant hear it. So I'm not sure if it is worth investing in an Aio kit. |
Yeah, but do you run your CPU overclocked?
I've got one of those "terrible" Haswells (4770K) running at 4.4 GHz without breaking a sweat and far more silent than any traditional CPU cooler. Nothing I've tried gets mine past 63 degrees and at that point my GPU is still louder even at 50% fan speed. It's just a matter of sticking the right fans on.
| Shoshomiga wrote: | Kind of offtopic but I still have nightmares about AIOs
I bought one a long a time ago because watercooling hurr durr, shit was loud as fuck, and the coolant actually evaporated eventually, I wasn't paying attention and the CPU went as high as 120c for an extended period of time, after shutting it off it never turned back on again, mobo was dead, guess something melted but the cpu actually still works to this day |
What the fuck? What AIO was that? :/
I've been running mine for over 2 years now, hasn't risen even one degree.
| Stige wrote: | | They don't offer any cooling performance at all over good air coolers, especially if you want them to be quiet. They are just utter garbage really and cost way more than equally performing air cooler would. |
Cooling performance, no. Less noise, yes (when used with fans that have high SP).
Above all though? You actually still have room to work in your case.
Here's one of the coolers that can really compete with AIO kits on all fronts (most coolers lose out on noise).
I'll keep my H100i, thank you. I can actually get to my memory, power plugs on both side, fan headers on the motherboard with it installed
| tolanri wrote: | | @Werelds: you recommended AIO. I read that my NH-D14 is about as good in cooling and acoustics as the commonly used AIO. Since I already have noctua and I am not hardcore overclocker, I'd think that with current efficient CPUs it can get a job done with turned off fans in idle and low RPM under load. Am I wrong? |
I wouldn't recommend turning fans off entirely. If your fans are audible under 800 RPM, they're shitty fans.
And yeah, your D14 does the job just fine, but compared to an AIO it does take up a ridiculous amount of space. For me that was what got me to buy an AIO. Too lazy to maintain a full WC setup, but still much better access to my PC than with an air cooler |
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Stige
Posts: 3545
Location: Finland
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Werelds
Special Little Man
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 11:40 Post subject: |
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| tolanri wrote: | | Werelds wrote: | | And yeah, your D14 does the job just fine, but compared to an AIO it does take up a ridiculous amount of space. For me that was what got me to buy an AIO. Too lazy to maintain a full WC setup, but still much better access to my PC than with an air cooler |
I'd probably get AIO too if I were looking for a new cooler now. But I am more than happy with my Noctua. Except the huge size I can't see other disadvantage. And the size alone wouldn't convince me to buy AIO. |
Fair enough 
Just invest into the right (case) fans then. The biggest the better; a large fan will be able to move the same volume of air around at lower RPMs. 200mm and 140mm is preferred over 120mm if the case fits it.
As for case recommendations? I have a soft spot for NZXT, every case I've worked in from them for the last 5 years has been outstanding (which would be my own old Phantom, an H440, Switch 810, Phantom 530 and Source 340). I've built a system in an R5 and I liked that too, but my heart's still with NZXT (even though I run a Corsair Air 540 now, purely for the form factor  ). |
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Stige
Posts: 3545
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 11:59 Post subject: |
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But there aren't very many good 200mm fans out there, like I got one on my side panel but there is a very thick grill/grid/whateveryoucallit in front of it and they can barely move air through it cause of no pressure.
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couleur
[Moderator] Janitor
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 14:46 Post subject: |
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@Werelds
My 3570K has been oced to 4.5Ghz for the last two years, but not on idle where it clocks down to 1.6Ghz. I never had any stability issues either.
After a an hour of Prime95 the temp can reach up to 75-80° but that is still a very safe temperature and it never goes that high in Games. I never cared to have the lowest possible temp, as long as its safe and as long as the heat is getting out of the case.
This CPU/Cooler combo is now 3.5 years old and its still perfectly silent on idle and you can hear a slight sound when it goes up to 1000-1200 rpm. Still nothing compared to an air-cooled GPU.
My setup is not completely silent though since I have 5 fans in my case that I run at around 600 rpm to keep a constant flow. But I barely notice them.
I use Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR2-140 R2 fans. They are ok on idle but on load they get a bit noisy. I would probably not recommend them, but they were fairly cheap compared to the high end Noctua fans.
My PSU is a bequiet Straight Power E9 that has a Silentwings fan. I dont hear it.
http://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/282
The Sapphire Tri-X on load and the WD Black (once it spins up) are by far the loudest parts.
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment."
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Stige
Posts: 3545
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 15:02 Post subject: |
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Quality PSUs are really all like it, none of them should ever be audible over any other part in the system. If they are quality that is.
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 16:19 Post subject: |
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My HX650 is spinning all the time. I turned off all the fans and I could hear it. But most noisy parts now in my computer (in idle, that is) are CPU fans and case fans. All are noctuas, albeit quite old already. They are all connected to 7V fan resistors. One of them does a bit muffled rattling sound. Unfortunately I don't have any good fan controller and my current mobo is shit (can't regulate voltage, as they are all non-PWM).
For test, I turned off all case fans, and only let CPU fans spin up, connected to their U.L.N.A adapters they seems to be spinning around 900rpm according to AIDA64 (not sure if it's reliable number though). It's still very much audible, especially one that does the rattling sound. Basically if I could eliminate sound of PSU (going for that EVGA G2 should hopefuly solve that issue) and most importantly fans (getting a decent motherboard with good fan control, or even going for a dedicated fan controller if it's worth it) should help.
Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.6 GHz | Asus Z170 Pro Gaming | Corsair Vengenace LPX 16GB DDR4 3200 MHz | MSI GeForce GTX 1080 FE | Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB + 250 GB | EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 | Fractal Design Define R5 | Noctua NH-D14
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Stige
Posts: 3545
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 16:27 Post subject: |
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If your fan makes a rattling sound then it's shit... Replace it.
Last edited by Stige on Mon, 14th Mar 2016 18:21; edited 1 time in total
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| Posted: Mon, 14th Mar 2016 18:15 Post subject: |
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| Werelds wrote: |
As an extra note on this, because I doubt tolanri is aware: do not just blindly look at dB(A) and CFM. If you're looking for a CPU cooler fan (_especially_ with a radiator), look at static pressure rather than CFM.
In this comparison example, the Noctuas would be the better buy as a CPU cooler/rad fan, because they have 2.5x the pressure. |
Sure. I forgot to mention that I meant case fans with those recommendations posted above. For CPU cooler definitely pressure based fans eg. Noctuas (or if you can find Gentle Typhoons (non industrial models).
Ryzen 9800X3D CO ~-26/+200 | Freezer III 360 A-RGB & 3x Phanteks T30 | Strix X670E-F WiFi | MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Ventus OC | Fury Beast 64GB (2x 32GB) DDR5 5600MHz C40 @ 6000MHz C28 | 970 EVO Plus 2 TB | 38GN950-B | S.M.S.L RAW-MDA1 & HiFiMAN Arya Organic | Lancool III Snow White + 4x be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 140mm | RM1000x (2021) Gold | G Pro X SUPERLIGHT 2 & POWERPLAY | Win 11 Pro | Logitech MX MECHANICAL
Sometimes I publish YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/@RandomTechChannel |
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| Posted: Thu, 31st Mar 2016 14:14 Post subject: |
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I have built myself a near silent rig. I Used Be quiet's case, fans and cpu cooler.
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Cyb3r
Posts: 615
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu, 31st Mar 2016 22:06 Post subject: |
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for case i love my nanoxia deep silence they're cheaper here than the define's and offer the same silence
Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 6 (Black) | MB: Msi X99A Gaming 9 | CPU: i7 5960x
CPU Cooling(temp): Corsair 110i Gtx | PSU: Evga Supernova 1000w | GPU: Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980ti 6gb | RAM: 16gb Ripjaws 4 3200mhz | Screen: Asus MG279Q / LG 23" Ips
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| Posted: Fri, 1st Apr 2016 09:56 Post subject: |
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So, finally update: Upgrade complete (6700K, Asus Z170 Pro Gaming, Corsair DDR4 3200MHz CL16, EVGA G2 750W, Fractal R5).
Even with stock fractal case fans, and old Noctua fans (couldn't order any noctua fans from shop I was getting rest of the stuff from), the computer is extremely quiet. I wouldn't say it's inaudible, because when I focus and there's no ambient noise, I can hear a slight hum, originating from CPU cooler. Only problem now is GPU that, while it's turning its fan off during idle, it sometimes kicks in due to memory/clock speed going all over the place even in idle (probably caused by hw acceleration in some programs). Well, GPU upgrade is imminent anyway, as soon as both nvidia and amd release their new products.
Cooling-wise, even with fans set to lowest possible through Asus bios (around 480-600RPM for all fans), is acceptable. I overclocked my 6700K to 4.6GHz (at 1.312V, my seems to be not that good overclocker ) and running AIDA64 stress test for hour, the cores temp averages at 63C, with max 78C. Not great, but acceptable, considering I won't usually put my CPU under such stress in daily usage, I think it's okay.
I also tried playing with fan speeds in SpeedFan. I got fan control working fine for all but one fan (CHA_FAN1 - called Sys Fan in SpeedFan), as I'd like to increase case fans speed depending on GPU temp, which unfortunately is not possible in Asus Bios.
Overall I am happy with my new PC. Finally it's silent, difference is night and day. And when I replace this hot R9 390, I can only imagine getting even better.
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| Posted: Sat, 2nd Apr 2016 04:41 Post subject: |
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