Looking for a PC with the most silent config

[MrAnonymous]

So i am looking in the market for the most silent Pc that i can build. i recently build my PC late June. I am planning to give it to my sibling then build a new one by next month or 2. So far this is what i have in mind.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cDNDvK

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cDNDvK/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Mwave) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97A GAMING 9 ACK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($299.99 @ B&H) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($81.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($97.95 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($89.88 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Titanium) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($25.50 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($25.50 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($25.50 @ Amazon) 

Total: $1544.25

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-27 04:25 EDT-0400

 

Any suggestions? Compatibility issues? (that pcpartspicker might not include), Better options?

Thanks

[Octavialicious]

R9 390 is fairly loud, I would try to get a kraken g10 on it or possibly look into a GTX 980

[blu4]

More moving parts- more noise. Get a low powered CPU and you'll be able to run it passively, not sure about the GPU.. You have to get a Maxwell, they are dead silent.

[BigDay]

move this to new builds and planning

[manikyath]

the question is, what will the build be doing? because that kinda decides what parts are going to be needed.

[MrAnonymous]

Saw a few reviews on the 390 GPU and they are pretty much on the same DBA as the 970. the fans dont run until it hits 40℃. Also noctua CPU cooler is pretty silent coz of the fans. im going to run them at 1000 RPM. gonna change the case fan with the noctuas too. is 4790k not worth it? i am going to mainly play AAA games and do some music editing (not videos tho), and photoshops. 

 

R9 390 is fairly loud, I would try to get a kraken g10 on it or possibly look into a GTX 980

Adding a Pump = louder than just a fan.

[Aytex]

[MrAnonymous]

the question is, what will the build be doing? because that kinda decides what parts are going to be needed.

AAA games on 1440p @ 144Hz monitor. i dont have freesync/Gsync tho. just a regular 144Hz 1440p monitor. also Music editing, photoshops, and heavy tab abuse browsing.

[MrAnonymous]

saw this already. pretty dated. noctuas are more silent and better at cooling than pro 3, also Define r5 so far is the current best silent case atm. (imo)

[Aytex]

saw this already. pretty dated. noctuas are more silent and better at cooling than pro 3, also Define r5 so far is the current best silent case atm. (imo)

a case without fans is the silentest case lel

[MrAnonymous]

a case without fans is the silentest case lel

true but i am going to OC, so i am pretty sure to put some fans in it (positive air pressure) 

[manikyath]

AAA games on 1440p @ 144Hz monitor. i dont have freesync/Gsync tho. just a regular 144Hz 1440p monitor. also Music editing, photoshops, and heavy tab abuse browsing.

in that case, i'd say get only front fans in your case (two of the noctuas will do), the cooler you picked seems good.

 

i'd really suggest finding some space for a second SSD, as a hard drive will -defenately- be the loudest part of the system, and having at least your most played games on SSD space will be a big improvement. (or upgrade the first one to 500GB)

 

as for the GPU, i cant quite say how loud the R9 390 is, but there may be better solutions.

[MrAnonymous]

in that case, i'd say get only front fans in your case (two of the noctuas will do), the cooler you picked seems good.

 

i'd really suggest finding some space for a second SSD, as a hard drive will -defenately- be the loudest part of the system, and having at least your most played games on SSD space will be a big improvement. (or upgrade the first one to 500GB)

 

as for the GPU, i cant quite say how loud the R9 390 is, but there may be better solutions.

yeah, so far i think the GPU and the HDD would be the loudest components. just that 1GB of SSD is just not practical. i am tryna go look more into the DBA levels of the 390 tho. main reason i pick it coz it is better than the 970 and cheaper at the same time.

[Damir]

R9 390 is not loud, don't listen to them... most importantly would be a case with lots of sound dampening properties. Your fans are a great choice. Although I am not familiar with the MSI z97 gaming 9 board, but would be great if you could verify if it has 4pin chassis fan headers where you could control the Noctua fans via PWM.

 

I have an Asus Sabertooth Mark 2 z97 board, and it has 4 chassis fan headers which are all true 4pin PWM, also has dual CPU 4pin headers as well for the Dual Fans on the Noctua D15 which I also have. With the Asus fan profile my chassis fans spin at around 240-260rpm with my NF A15 PWM fans x4, and CPU fan is at 360RPM. Also it shuts the fans off when system is idling with system temps less than 50C. The loudest part in my system most of the time are my RAID 1 array drives, you can hear them work.

 

Also the Noctua NH D15 is capable of passively cooling your i74790K as long as it moderately idle.

[MrAnonymous]

R9 390 is not loud, don't listen to them... most importantly would be a case with lots of sound dampening properties. Your fans are a great choice. Although I am not familiar with the MSI z97 gaming 9 board, but would be great if you could verify if it has 4pin chassis fan headers where you could control the Noctua fans via PWM.

 

I have an Asus Sabertooth Mark 2 z97 board, and it has 4 chassis fan headers which are all true 4pin PWM, also has dual CPU 4pin headers as well for the Dual Fans on the Noctua D15 which I also have. With the Asus fan profile my chassis fans spin at around 240-260rpm with my NF A15 PWM fans x4, and CPU fan is at 360RPM. Also it shuts the fans off when system is idling with system temps less than 50C. The loudest part in my system most of the time are my RAID 1 array drives, you can hear them work.

 

Also the Noctua NH D15 is capable of passively cooling your i74790K as long as it moderately idle.

is the Mark 2 the one with the "Shield"? or is it the Mark 1? i was looking into that too, but i haven't used Asus MoBo and not sure how user friendly it's interface is. the Gaming 9 is tbh an overkill i can go with a gaming 6 and would be able to use everything. anyways,  did you use the adapter for the fans? that config sounds great (see what i did there? )

Gotchu so r9 390 is a solid choice, eh/

[Damir]

BTW I have the R9 290 TriX OC from Sapphire, and it is pretty quiet in my system case, which is a TT V71, and no way is that case designed for quiet computing at all. Full front and top mesh that has no sound insulation.

[KamiKatze]

saw this already. pretty dated. noctuas are more silent and better at cooling than pro 3, also Define r5 so far is the current best silent case atm. (imo)

 

Not true at all. Noctuas have a good performance/noise ratio but their overall noise output is a lot higher than the one of bequiet fans. I read a review once of a bunch of 140 mm fans in a renominate PC Hardware magazine comparing the noise of tha fans. The noctuas turned out to have 1.2 Sone at full speed on their standardized test bench, whereas the bequeits came in at a mere 0.5 Sone.

 

This is why i would recommend getting every fan/CPU cooler from bequiet. They are truly the most quiet you can get.

 

As far as storage goes, removing the HDD is a huge difference when you're searching for the last bits of silence. Or at elast consider getting a Western Digital Green for reduced noise.

 

The Graphics card should be all about heatoutput which directly affects noise. So unless you really want an AMD graphics card, I'd recommend dumping the red team this time and go with a Nvidia GTX 970 instead. Choose the Asus Strix or MSI Gaming variant to get not only the semi passive operation of the fans, but also one of the two most silent variants of the 970 while under load. This is again based on testings of that renominate PC hardware magazine (0.7 Sone under load)... I personally can confirm that the Asus Strix is very quiet.

[MrAnonymous]

BTW I have the R9 290 TriX OC from Sapphire, and it is pretty quiet in my system case, which is a TT V71, and no way is that case designed for quiet computing at all. Full front and top mesh that has no sound insulation.

Currently using a 280X Vapor-X Tri-X, it's ok imo. i have an n200 case tho. so my system is not that quiet at all and it annoys me, reason why i am giving it and building a new one.

[Octavialicious]

 

 

Adding a Pump = louder than just a fan.

haha, you're funny

[KamiKatze]

R9 390 is not loud, don't listen to them... most importantly would be a case with lots of sound dampening properties. 

 

Yes it is in comparison. Even the very "silent" MSI R9 390 generates ~ 2.2 Sone in a standardized test bench while an Asus Strix 970 does 0.7.

And also remember that your PC is only as quiet as its components inside. Noise dampening helps a little but it's not that noticable.

[KamiKatze]

haha, you're funny

 

It's the truth.

[MrAnonymous]

Not true at all. Noctuas have a good performance/noise ratio but their overall noise output is a lot higher than the one of bequiet fans. I read a review once of a bunch of 140 mm fans in a renominate PC Hardware magazine comparing the noise of tha fans. The noctuas turned out to have 1.2 Sone at full speed on their standardized test bench, whereas the bequeits came in at a mere 0.5 Sone.

 

This is why i would recommend getting every fan/CPU cooler from bequiet. They are truly the most quiet you can get.

 

As far as storage geos, removing the HDD is a huge difference when you're searching for the last bits of silence. Or at elast consider getting a Western Digital Green for reduced noise.

 

The Graphics card should be all about heatoutput which directly affects noise. So unless you really wand an AMD graphics card, I'd recommend dumping the red team this time and go with a Nvidia GTX 970 instead. Choose the Asus Strix or MSI Gaming variant to get not only the semi passive oepration of the fans, but also on of the two most silent variants of the 970 while under load. This is again based on testings of that renominate PC hardware magazine (0.7 Sone under load)... I personally can confirm that the Asus Strix is very quiet.

i wont be running on full RPMs for the fan, and isnt the wing something from be quiet is only airflow fans? it's ok for the front. but Static pressure is what i need for the back exhaust and the CPU cooler. as for the GPU the price/prefomance of the 390 is much better than the 970. ik it has a lower TDP, i only watch/read a few reviews. and all of them says the same thing. a max difference of 7 DBA (r9 390 MSI Twin Frozr vs Gigabyte G1 Gaming 970). so idk

[Octavialicious]

It's the truth.

Don't know what AiO's you use, I have two H55's in my system and when I use a fan controller to turn down the fan on the rad it's practically silent (can't even here the pump at all)

 

I hope you don't think the R9 390 is practically silent, no?

[MrAnonymous]

haha, you're funny

how so? that's a fact. even @blu4 said it, "more moving parts = more noise" (not the exact quote).

[Damir]

is the Mark 2 the one with the "Shield"? or is it the Mark 1? i was looking into that too, but i haven't used Asus MoBo and not sure how user friendly it's interface is. the Gaming 9 is tbh an overkill i can go with a gaming 6 and would be able to use everything. anyways,  did you use the adapter for the fans? that config sounds great (see what i did there? )

Gotchu so r9 390 is a solid choice, eh/

 

the Mark 1 is the version with the shield. I honestly think that the shield is more of an aesthetic reason, but I do see where it could add rigidity to the PCB, but I don't carry the tower around for it to be an issue with huge sinks like NH D15.

 

No, I plugged them straight into the 4pin headers, no adapters. Bios was easy, although Asus is my first UEFI Bios, and it seemed pretty easy. 

 

There is a newer version of the Asus Sabertooth Mark 2 with 3.1 USB, I would look out for that one if it matters to you. But I am sure as long as the MSI has 4 pin headers for the chassis fans, then you ought to be able to do the same and control them like the Asus. But like I said, I have no experience with fan control and MSI boards in that regard. Love the Asus Thermal Radar software, very nice IMO.