Cooling a Be Quiet 800 silent build for music - advice needed on motherboard as well

[Holocron]

Hello forum!

 

I'm looking at building a new PC as my x58 motherboard is on the fritz, and I'm not interested in an ebay motherboard - time for a complete refresh. 

 

The PC will be primarily for audio production, (Ableton, 100 + midi/audio channels + huge effects chains) (you can hear the music I'm producing at soundcloud.com/holocron-psychedelia if you're interested ) but will also be used for gaming, and be in use nearly 247.

 

SO

I'm going to use my current power supply, (OCZ 700W), GPU (AMD R9 280x) and HDDs to save on budget. 

I've chosen SSDs and RAM, already as I've found the best UK deals going, but have questions around the other bits. 

First - if I were to get a 4790k, based on my requirements, are there any particular motherboards you guys would recommend? Personally I think the MSI Z97 Gaming 3 will do the job nicely as there's no chance I will ever multiple Nvidia cards, it will support my hobbyist level of overclocking... but maybe you guys know something I don't? I read somewhere "no intel NIC, no sale", but I don't game online and like the look of the Killer NIC software... I also read a customer feedback complaining about the MB software being dangerous because he nearly melted his chip... but intuition tells me this was poor workman blaming his tools??? (I don't want to spend more than £120 on a motherboard if I can help it.)

 

Second - I love the look of the BeQuiet 800 silent case, but not sure about cooling? I'd prefer an enclosed water cooling system over air cooling, but wonder how a 280mm would perform up in the top where the ventilation is limited. I think I'll go with the NZXT X series, but wonder if an X41 would perform better mounted on the back than the X61 up in the top because of air flow? If anyone has any examples of this with this particular or a similar case, I'd be really grateful for your insight! 

Thanks for your help! 

 

All the best

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cheeze_tartz]

Always get a Z97 board for K series CPU's. If you're not going to Overclock, you're better off with a B85 board and a non-K CPU. MSI Gaming 5 and Asrock Extreme4 boards are really good Z97 boards.

The Silent Base 800 is a really good case for a quiet build. Your temps might be a little bit higher because of the fans included. The intake fans are really good fans, but they don't spin fast, but you shouldn't be too worried about the temps. The X61 is better because its a 280 rad, more surface area. The top shouldn't be a big problem because the fans are exhausting air out of the case.

[cheeze_tartz]

+If you're using it as a Workstation, I would go with an air cooler. They are technically more quiet, and last longer than AIO's, and less maintenance. If you do more gaming than editing, an AIO won't be so bad.

[Holocron]

Thank you for the responses so far. 

 

Always get a Z97 board for K series CPU's. If you're not going to Overclock, you're better off with a B85 board and a non-K CPU. MSI Gaming 5 and Asrock Extreme4 boards are really good Z97 boards.

The Silent Base 800 is a really good case for a quiet build. Your temps might be a little bit higher because of the fans included. The intake fans are really good fans, but they don't spin fast, but you shouldn't be too worried about the temps. The X61 is better because its a 280 rad, more surface area. The top shouldn't be a big problem because the fans are exhausting air out of the case.

 

 

What makes you recommend those motherboards over the Gaming 3 which I'd already picked out - I don't see what the extra spending will actually give me?
 

 

+If you're using it as a Workstation, I would go with an air cooler. They are technically more quiet, and last longer than AIO's, and less maintenance. If you do more gaming than editing, an AIO won't be so bad.

 

 

6 year warranty on the x61 means it should last long enough. + I'd prefer a few degrees cooler than decibels quieter. How is a AIO more maintenance than an air cooler? Rather than having to clean something strapped, to the motherboard, I should be able to remove the radiator with the block still on the cpu to clean the it thoroughly with compressed air... sounds easier to me? And I don't need to replace any fluids or anything do I?

Thanks again for the help

[cheeze_tartz]

What makes you recommend those motherboards over the Gaming 3 which I'd already picked out - I don't see what the extra spending will actually give me?

The Gaming 5 costs only $5-10 more than the 3. It has better overclocking support, and it supports SLI.

 

6 year warranty on the x61 means it should last long enough. + I'd prefer a few degrees cooler than decibels quieter. How is a AIO more maintenance than an air cooler? Rather than having to clean something strapped, to the motherboard, I should be able to remove the radiator with the block still on the cpu to clean the it thoroughly with compressed air... sounds easier to me? And I don't need to replace any fluids or anything do I?

An AIO is more likely to fail since it has more moving parts (2 Fans, and a pump). You can risk leakage as well, although cases like that are rare. And no, you don't need to refill any fluids with an AIO. The Noctua NH-D15 is one of the best Air Coolers  (Although the fans look like trash) They par up to the high end AIO's, and it also has a 6 year warranty. You only need to clean to fins of the heatsink once in a while.

[Holocron]

I've done my research guys and found that the dude Dmitry from Hardware Canucks did a review of the case that featured a build with the x61, happy with the results, and have been researching further on the motherboard and am opting for the gigabyte gaming 5. In the UK so pricing is not like US/Canada. The Gigabyte Gaming 5 is only £15 more than the MSI Gaming 3, and has better power phase watsits and dual bios. Problem solved. Picked out all my parts now so will post the finished build here once I find the balls required to spend this money haha. 

Cheers for the help. 

[cheeze_tartz]

I've done my research guys and found that the dude Dmitry from Hardware Canucks did a review of the case that featured a build with the x61, happy with the results, and have been researching further on the motherboard and am opting for the gigabyte gaming 5. In the UK so pricing is not like US/Canada. The Gigabyte Gaming 5 is only £15 more than the MSI Gaming 3, and has better power phase watsits and dual bios. Problem solved. Picked out all my parts now so will post the finished build here once I find the balls required to spend this money haha. 

Cheers for the help. 

No problem glad to help.