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Girlfriend is complaining her PC is too loud

TheMonsterMan8

My girlfriend has been pretty happy with her PC so far;

 

 
CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For £155.99) 
CPU Cooler:  Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (Purchased For £49.31) 
Motherboard:  MSI Z87-G43 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (Purchased For £74.99) 
Memory:  Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (Purchased For £64.29) 
Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (Purchased For £62.99) 
Video Card:  Gainward GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  (Purchased For £199.99) 
Power Supply:  Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For £46.27) 
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (Purchased For £45.99) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  (Purchased For £15.99) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-A14 FLX 68.0 CFM 140mm  Fan  (Purchased For £18.99) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-A14 FLX 68.0 CFM 140mm  Fan  (Purchased For £18.99) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-A14 FLX 68.0 CFM 140mm  Fan  (Purchased For £18.99) 
Total: £849.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-20 21:42 BST+0100)
 
Her main complaints are that when she ramps the fans up to 12v instead of the standard 7v (she runs them with the included Low Noise Adapter but also uses the built in fan controller) they make a lot of noise. I've heard it, and it sounds less like actual fan noise and more just sheer AIR being moved. Any way to combat this?
Secondly, the Graphics Card is quite noisy, even when not under load. It's not so much noisy, but it's a higher pitched sound to the rest of the computer, so it's quite annoying. Would she benefit from a stock cooled GPU or something with big fans (like the EVGA ACX cooler?)
 
Thanks guys.

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The high pitch from the GPU might be coil whine but I don't think it can be because it's also apparent at load. Maybe one of the fans aren't lubricated enough and it just makes a sound as a result.

 

And the sound of the air moving, I don't think you can do much about it.

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Any GPU is going to be louder than Noctuas. 

I have an EVGA GTX 780 and it's louder than my stock case fans at idle. 

 

There is literally no point in quiet fans unless you have no GPU or you are water cooled. 

 

You COULD get the Kraken G10 with a Noctua fan but the non-removable fan on the G10 would still be super loud...

 

Also, why would you get Noctua's when Scythe GT's move more air and are quieter for the same price? 

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Any GPU is going to be louder than Noctuas. 

I have an EVGA GTX 780 and it's louder than my stock case fans at idle. 

 

There is literally no point in quiet fans unless you have no GPU or you are water cooled. 

 

You COULD get the Kraken G10 with a Noctua fan but the non-removable fan on the G10 would still be super loud...

 

Also, why would you get Noctua's when Scythe GT's move more air and are quieter for the same price? 

I know, it's just the pitch that's a pain.

G10... Oh gahd.

At the time this was built, I'd never heard of Scythe GT's, and considering how much Linus raves about Noctuas...

 

The high pitch from the GPU might be coil whine but I don't think it can be because it's also apparent at load. Maybe one of the fans aren't lubricated enough and it just makes a sound as a result.

 

And the sound of the air moving, I don't think you can do much about it.

I don't think it's coil whine, it's not that high. I think it's just small fans at high RPM's.

I suppose I could remove fans, and then just get some that move more air at a lower RPM.

 

Tell her it won't be as loud in the kitchen?

Boom.

I shouldn't laugh. But that was hilarious.

 

I have thought of a solution, that also benefits in appearance terms. Get some Scythe GT's and buy the windowed sidepanel, which means I remove one fan. At some point replace the GPU with an ACX one from EVGA, which would be quieter under load anyway because I'd get something faster than the 760, so it doesn't have to go as hard to achieve the same effect.

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Any GPU is going to be louder than Noctuas. 

I have an EVGA GTX 780 and it's louder than my stock case fans at idle. 

 

My NF-F12, when running at full speed are definetly louder, than my MSI 760 under gaming loads ;)

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12V will be noisy, there's really nothing you can do about it.

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well then leave them on 7V. maybe the fans are close to something(vent holes or dust filter). the most quiet cards are from msi,asus and gigabyte. i personally hate the phantom cooler couse it doesn`t cool so well for an aftermarket cooler. it was preety silent in idle atleast(a friend had a phantom card the gtx 560Ti or something from that gen)

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My NF-F12, when running at full speed are definetly louder, than my MSI 760 under gaming loads ;)

Really? I thought Noctua's were supposed to be quiet

Kappa.gif

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Could get a silence optimised case if you don't mind sacrificing air flow. I used to have a Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 and it was sound-proofed pretty well, but would crash a lot during summer. (My GPUs have taken a bit of a beating over the last two years.) Would suit a water cooling loop, which is another way to get silent operation without sacrificing low temperatures or performance.

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I have thought of a solution, that also benefits in appearance terms. Get some Scythe GT's and buy the windowed sidepanel, which means I remove one fan. 

oh yeah remove the side fan . at 12V,any fan will be noisy when they are close to vent holes. but no need to change the fans lol. noctuas are quiet, but put them at 7V or get some 9V splitters or fan controll

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Could get a silence optimised case if you don't mind sacrificing air flow. I used to have a Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 and it was sound-proofed pretty well, but would crash a lot during summer. (My GPUs have taken a bit of a beating over the last two years.) Would suit a water cooling loop, which is another way to get silent operation without sacrificing low temperatures or performance.

She has a R4 case

CPU: Intel core i5 3570 Motherboard: Gigabyte-H77-DS3H Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB  GPU: MSI Radeon HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Evo RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB  PSU: Seasonic G Series 550W

 

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You could always line the inside of the case with some noise reducing foam, might help a bit.

Not much you can do about the GPU, any aftermarket cooler will most likely cost more than its worth.

Maybe switch to some lower rpm fans? The CM HAF series are decently quiet.

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She has a R4 case

 

Fair enough. Running the fans slower or water cooling would be your options then. Or lower graphics settings/limit fps so the gpu doesn't get hot?

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Thanks a butt tonne guys, I'm planning to remove the side fan and stick in the windowed side panel instead (because it's majestical and stuff.) I might stick in some acoustic foam, although the case is lined with Fractal's stuff. Definetly won't switch out the fans, as they're said to compare to the GT's, even if they cost more. She'll have to deal with the GPU until she can afford to replace it (maybe next gen?) I'm thinking ACX, because the bigger fans on it can spin slower (especially with the butt tonne of heatpipes.) Having used an ACX 770, 780 and Titan, I can definitely vouch for the quietness. Thank you a lot, guys.

Gaming and Editing: Intel Core i7-4930k 4.6Ghz 6-Core Processor - EK Supremacy CSQ CPU WaterblockASUS P9X79 ATX Motherboard - Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (8x4GB) 1866 Memory - EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Black 1200Mhz 6GB W/ EK FC780 Ti Nickel Waterblock Graphics Card  - Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive x3 - Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD x2 - Fractal Design Define R4 Window Modded - BitFenix Spectre Pro Blue LED 140mm Fan x1 - BitFenix Spectre PWM LED 120mm Fan x4 - Corsair HX850 80 Plus Gold Modular Power SupplyMicrosoft Windows 8 64-bit Operating System


 


 

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Thanks a butt tonne guys, I'm planning to remove the side fan and stick in the windowed side panel instead (because it's majestical and stuff.) I might stick in some acoustic foam, although the case is lined with Fractal's stuff. Definetly won't switch out the fans, as they're said to compare to the GT's, even if they cost more. She'll have to deal with the GPU until she can afford to replace it (maybe next gen?) I'm thinking ACX, because the bigger fans on it can spin slower (especially with the butt tonne of heatpipes.) Having used an ACX 770, 780 and Titan, I can definitely vouch for the quietness. Thank you a lot, guys.

just set up a custom fan profile for the gpu fans

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just set up a custom fan profile for the gpu fans

Can't set it lower than 33%

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Do you really need that many, high performance case fans?

More air being moved around WILL cause more noise. Turbulences will be created as the air moves around the case. I'm sure you can remove one and run the others at a fixed, low to medium speed and not be affected to much temperature wise.

I have only 3 fans in my case. 2 120mm fans running at low speeds, one exhaust and one intake for my HDD. Another 140mm as intake, blowing air directly on my graphics card. It makes some air movement noise but still quiet enough to be acceptable. Granted, my case is a 300R, which is very open and hot air can escape easily.

If I change my CPU cooler (currently stock), HDD and PSU fan (has an abnormal noise in it), I'll have a near silent system, in a very open case. :P

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Really? I thought Noctua's were supposed to be quiet

 

not sure if serious or trolling but i will say this anyway, noctua is extremely overrated and those fans will only be silent when undervolted, otherwise, even at 1000 rpm you will start to hear the loud humm, noctua are really noisy unless they are barely running at all, 600-800 rpm ish, basicly run noctua undervolted or don't get noctua at all.

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not sure if serious or trolling but i will say this anyway, noctua is extremely overrated and those fans will only be silent when undervolted, otherwise, even at 1000 rpm you will start to hear the loud humm, noctua are really noisy unless they are barely running at all, 600-800 rpm ish, basicly run noctua undervolted or don't get noctua at all.

It was me poking fun at Noctuas for not being that quiet ;) 

 

You could get some EL Noise Blockers and I'm pretty sure they both peak at around the same noise level. 

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My girlfriend has been pretty happy with her PC so far;

 
Her main complaints are that when she ramps the fans up to 12v instead of the standard 7v (she runs them with the included Low Noise Adapter but also uses the built in fan controller) they make a lot of noise. I've heard it, and it sounds less like actual fan noise and more just sheer AIR being moved. Any way to combat this?
Secondly, the Graphics Card is quite noisy, even when not under load. It's not so much noisy, but it's a higher pitched sound to the rest of the computer, so it's quite annoying. Would she benefit from a stock cooled GPU or something with big fans (like the EVGA ACX cooler?)
 
Thanks guys.

 

A GPU never coil whines at idle, so it's pretty much the fans. ACX fans arent that great, theyre a good 10-15dba louder at idle or 10dba louder than a DC2. Also what's a Corsair CX psu doing in such a build? Theyre not quiet power supplies really, people who claim its quiet theyre deaf.

Make sure to hook the fans to the motherboard and change for the cpu header to profile mode and take silent mode, do the same for the chassis headers and put that 600rpm to ignore.

That sheer air you describe is fairly normal for a noctua fan, theyre awful fans at their highest speed but theyre one of the quietest fans out there on the low speeds.

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Is it the case fans that are loud or the GPU? NF-A14's shouldnt be loud at 7v much less lower unless its too low.

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My girlfriend has been pretty happy with her PC so far;

-snip-

Her main complaints are that when she ramps the fans up to 12v instead of the standard 7v (she runs them with the included Low Noise Adapter but also uses the built in fan controller) they make a lot of noise. I've heard it, and it sounds less like actual fan noise and more just sheer AIR being moved. Any way to combat this?
Secondly, the Graphics Card is quite noisy, even when not under load. It's not so much noisy, but it's a higher pitched sound to the rest of the computer, so it's quite annoying. Would she benefit from a stock cooled GPU or something with big fans (like the EVGA ACX cooler?)
 
Thanks guys.

 

proof that noctua doesnt=quiet. even if you spend the equivilant of a 750d on them

the fans are loud at 12v huh? maybe dont run them at 12v then...

you need to test it to see if the coil whine is coming from the psu or graphics card and replace the component causing it.

best of luck.

so upload a video of my cheap case with my bundled fans under load now

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ACX isn't all its made up to be. When i was at a LAN party two of my friends put there GTX 770s in my machine and ran a few games. The EVGA 770 w/ACX ran into the 80s while the Palit card ran at about 65.

Triple fan ftw then.

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Flash a modified bios, or do it yourself. KeplerBiosTweaker is really easy to use.

Even if you do it, the fan will stop.

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