EulersK

Going to get straight to the point. I'm revamping my years-old build to focus more on low noise, and I'm using this build guide as a general... well, guide. I'm not looking to rebuild my entire system, but this motherboard has got to go. I'm currently using an Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark S, and although it's an absolutely gorgeous board, it's loud. The onboard fans are frankly obnoxious. So, it'll retire to the computer running the television. The guide I referenced before suggested anything from Asus's X99 lineup, but unfortunately for me not a single board in that lineup takes an 1150 CPU (I have an i7 4790K). So, the question becomes this. Does anyone know of an LGA 1150 board that has decent passive cooling? And as an added bonus, I'm trying to keep my 4x4GB Corsair Dominator memory. The guide above specifically mentions this memory as having a clearance issue with the CPU cooler. The aesthetic shrouds come off, and I've got no issue ditching them (case has no window after all), but a board where the RAM slots are a decent distance from the socket would be a bonus. And yes, yes, yes, I know - all things that would be resolved by just upgrading the system a bit. But to be frank, I'm trying to save as much money as possible. Especially since my computer is still plenty powerful for my measly 1080p monitor. If it matters, here is essentially what the computer will end up being. As it stands, I'm looking to just upgrade the case, CPU cooler, and motherboard. The RAM may need to change, but only as a last resort.

I recently got a great deal on a pair of these monitors, and they are absolutely great. However, I'm running into a snag on both monitors, which are hooked up to different computers. Despite my efforts, the speakers simply do not work. Through the control panel, under Sound, the monitor is selected as the playback device, and it even shows that it is hooked up via HDMI. On top of that, when I have audio playing, the audio level on that sound screen shows that audio is being played. I have restarted the computer, ran any updates, selected my default device, adjusted the volume through the speaker itself, and even restored the monitor to factory settings. I've even tried running a physical aux cable to the monitor, bypassing the HDMI all together. Still nothing. Any other ideas that I could try? Like I said, it is happening with two monitors on two separate computers. The chance that they are both a lemon is pretty low. I'm clearly doing something wrong here, and I can't for the life of me figure it out. For one computer, it is hooked up directly to the motherboard's I/O via a DVI to HDMI cable. For the other computer, it is hooked up to an EVGA GTX 980 via an HDMI cable. Again, I have tried a separate aux cable for both machines. EDIT: I forgot to mention. There's also an aux port on the side of the monitor that is to be used for headphones. When I plug in my headphones, I can hear that audio 'click' through the headphones, but no audio ever comes through. Thanks for any help, this forum has always come through for me!

UPDATE: I ended up finding out that it wasn't my Kraken after all. Well, sort of. It was actually the vibration of the case being caused by the contact with the radiator. A simple radiator gasket fixed the problem immediately. See this thread for the complete conversation:

Logitech is, by far, my favorite brand for peripherals. The only thing I own that isn't by them is my Razer Tartarus, and the only reason I didn't go with the Logitech keypad is because it is massive. The entire point of me getting the keypad was to remove a clunky keyboard, and given that I already have 12 keys on my right thumb alone, I just didn't need more keys.

Wow, thanks, really! The feedback really means a lot. I poured a lot into this, so it's great to hear this isn't a case of a parent thinking their child is beautiful. @Sean_A91 I am going to own those headphones after my taxes get back, good god. These Beats give me a headache after 5+ hours, they hurt the cartilage of my ears after awhile. Also, if you're interested, take a look at what the build looked like before: I decided that the orange was just too gaudy, but I made a happy little discovery. If you paint your components with fluorescent paint (which that orange was), they actually change color depending on what wavelength (i.e. color) of light hits it. I wish I would have taken more pictures. The green light made the GPU and RAM turn blue, red light made them turn almost black, blue light made them greenish, and so on. It looked wild when I had the cycle-color effect going on the light strip. Not really what I was going for, but definitely take a look at that for an interesting touch. It's really hard to imagine what it looks like without having actually seen it, but I highly recommend checking it out.

Yeah, Beats, I know lol But hey, it matches! I literally picked them up on Craigslist for a few bucks. They're actually great for gaming because of their ridiculous amount of bass. Makes the 'splosions sound oh so good. As for the lights, here they are: Logisys Multi-Colored LED Strip with Remote Control http://www.frys.com/product/7931760?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG I think it's great that you can daisy chain them together if you want more lights. Had I not found those, yeah, I would have made them custom. As for picking the parts, I honestly kind of cheated and used https://pcpartpicker.com/ lmao Took the guess work out. I started with the case and worked from there. And yeah, I said in the original post that I stole the carbon fiber idea from Enderman. He actually helped me silence this darn thing, and I saw an S340 build in his signature.

History and Namesake I started working at a computer repair shop when I began college to help pay for the ungodly expenses. Before then, I had simply dipped my toe in computer repair. Before that job, the most I had ever done was replace an HDD. By the time I graduated, I was the shop manager, and I would (of course) work on the majority of computers to some extent. Directly after college, I began to freelance my computer work to supplement my terrible income. My jobs ranged from simple printer setups for the elderly to building full systems for rich kids on their birthday. The theme was always the same - I was in direct contact with often top of the line machines, meanwhile all I had was a stock gaming rig from Gateway that I got as a graduation gift in high school. About a year ago, however, I finally landed a great job thanks to my degree and even got my employer to pay for furthering my education... along with a signing bonus. Overnight, I had a very good chunk of money sitting in the bank, and I only had one thing on my mind. My Achievement Build began rolling. Specifications and Choices I knew that I had neither the funds nor the desire for a custom water loop, although I despise the look of air coolers in such a small case. Thus, the AiO cooler was a must. Silence was also a necessity, and with the help of several users on this very forum, I've finally finished silencing this build. I literally put the finishing touches on tweaking fan curves today, and it's finally where it needs to be. The motherboard was a no brainer due to color. RAM was chosen based on the ability to paint them, so the Corsair Dominator series with the added light bars was added. While better SSD's are out there, I wanted a custom touch, so I went with the Kingston Hyper X drives. NZXT S340 White Asus Sabertooth z97 Mark S Intel i7-4790K EVGA GTX 980 EVGA 850W Gold PSU Corsair Dominator 4x4GB EVGA Hybrid Cooler NZXT Kraken X61 Kingston Hyper X (2x120GB, RAID 0) Customization The Corsair Dominator sticks were either painted stark white or left silver with the stock white bar which I recolored orange to match the build. Both Kingston SSD's were painted white, with the black spikes retained (this was done four times due to bleeding issues with the spray paint). The EVGA backplate for the GPU was painted, as was the shroud that came with the hybrid cooler A carbon fiber vinyl film was added to the top, as the black ruined the build (idea stolen from Enderman on this forum!) An RGB LED strip was added to the top, allowing me to control the color with the included remote Note: All painting was done using Plastidip Pictures And now for the reason people actually lurk on these subforums! Here is the neutral version. The RGB light strip emits a white light, although the camera makes it look blue, so it is turned off in this picture. The following pictures show why I chose a white build. I like to change things up, and the light strip allowed me to do that. The flash on my camera washed out the colors, although the flash is required to focus... so, I apologize for the blurriness: And now for a closeup... Simplicity... And, finally, my point of view. A Logitech Atlas G410 keyboard, Logitech G600 mouse, and Razer Tartarus accompany my gaming. Still need to upgrade the monitor, but that's for another time. And there we have it! Input is more than welcome. As I said, this is my first build. I'm extremely happy with it, although I'm more than willing to hear suggestions. Thanks for the help, and thanks for checking this out!

In my neverending quest to have a silent PC, I have decided to try out a few software solutions for fan controlling. My case has a whopping three fans total, so a physical fan controller is somewhat unneeded. All in all, I've tried about five different software solutions, and the one that seems to work the best is Asus Thermal Radar 2. So far, it's the only one that allows me to control those pesky little "assistant fans" that manage to produce more noise than the full sized fans. Further, it appears to allow me to turn the fans to a lower RPM than other software. I also simply love the GUI, among a multitude of other reasons. However, there's a major, major flaw - the software makes the block of my Kraken X61 constantly tick. From what I've read online, it seems as if this is the result of the software lowering the voltage being delivered to the block. This is irritating, because I don't even want the software to control the block, I only want it to control the three full and two assistant fans. Does anyone have a way around this? A solution I've read online involves setting the voltage to max on the block in BIOS, although either I am doing something wrong or this solution doesn't work. Hardware involved: NZXT Kraken X61 Asus Sabertooth z97 Mark S

UPDATE: I got the gaskets in, and that immediately fixed the problem. Thanks, Enderman! For the record, what I bought came with two gaskets, so I put one between the case and the radiator as well as one between the radiator and the fan. I have a nice and quiet PC now!

THANK YOU. That's exactly what I need. Now let's hope this fixes the problem. @colinreay: Good point, but since there is minimal noise (none that I can hear, actually) when the radiator is removed, even if you're right, the gasket looks like it would take care of the issue. I know what people have to say about AIO coolers, but at the very least, the stock fan seems to be quite nice. Not Noctua nice, of course, but very quiet for essentially being a freebie.

I posted a question a few weeks ago regarding a constant 'humming' coming from my water cooler. I was able to narrow it down to a specific cooler, but before I went to the manufacturer, I had a buddy of mine (who works in audio hardware design) come over with a meter whose name escapes me. He was able to point the meter to areas of the computer, and he narrowed it down to the radiator. Sure enough, when I removed the radiator from the case (with the whole system still on), the humming immediately went away. It was the vibration against the case all along! Much better scenario than the pump itself being bad. Well, now comes the fun part. I have my radiator mounted in the following way: Case | Radiator | Fan. Note that since this is an AIO cooler, customization isn't a huge option here. That is, I can't set it up to be a pull rather than a push airflow unless I want a fan mounted on the outside of my case (I don't). I'd be able to flip the radiator 180 degrees, so air is blowing into the case, but I don't see how that would help at all. I've looked up ways to reduce the vibration - my knee jerk was to simply buy some rubber/silicon washers and call it a day. Apparently, according to my friend and several sources online, that will do very little due to the screws themselves transferring the vibration. He suggested these professional grade noise dampening screws that his work uses... to the tune of $10 a pop. No thank you. I've looked online and some have suggested using zip ties, and terrible aesthetics aside, this doesn't seem to be an option for this cooler. So then, there must be a solution here. There's no way I'm the only one that has run into this problem, but hours of research online has yielded little more than frustration. Are rubber washers my only choice? If it matters, here are the relevant parts: S340 case (radiator is mounted to the rear exhaust) with a EVGA Hybrid cooler on a GTX 980 ref card.

I tried taking a video, and the sound just doesn't come through very well. I mean, it's a literal humming - specifically, it's A#. I checked it. That's how bonkers this is driving me. Any advice you have will help, I'll try anything. @crystal6tak Yeah, I am aware that these pumps aren't always the best on the market, but a custom loop is just not something I really wanted to get into just yet. This is my first build, and I'm certain that I'll upgrade to a custom loop eventually, but I need to take baby steps. I'm not looking for completely silent, but I just have a hard time believing that this is a normal noise.

The title honestly given just about everything there is to know. There is a constant low humming noise coming from the case, and I have a strong suspicion that it is originating from the block. It does not get noticeably louder as I stress the CPU. It's hard to say if this humming has been present since I got the cooler, as I had the stock air cooler on my GPU for about four months before scrapping that for another water cooler. I know for a fact that the noise is not coming from the GPU cooler, as I have completely taken the card out, and the noise persists. It's also not a random fan, as I have unhooked each fan one-by-one to try and diagnose this. Block screws have been tightened, cables have been messed with to ensure no vibration, fans have been turned off. Still the humming. This may be completely unrelated, but something that has been present since day 1 on this cooler is the occasional 'burp' - clearly air bubbles passing through the block. This happens maybe a couple times per day, and the noise has not gotten worse. It should also be noted that I sit just under 18 inches from my tower. That being said, is this simply the sound that water coolers make? People talk about "silent operation", and this is far from it. Frankly, at idol, I'd say an air cooler is far quieter. So, could I have a dud unit? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill? Either way, this humming is driving me to insanity, and something needs to be fixed.

Yes, I'm looking for pure gaming. I don't really do anything else other than school on this computer. I've looked at benchmarks and comparisons between the 980Ti and the 980, and honestly, it's not significant enough to constitute getting rid of my current 980. Not only have I invested in a water cooler for it, but I have also done a custom paint job on it. Tidbit of annoyance - the paint job is white, and the MSI 980 Ti is white out of the box. So yeah, frustration, but I'm fairly invested in this current 980. The only real option I see here is what my original question was, albeit the circumstances have changed: I could sell the 980 Ti and invest in another 980 plus make some extra money, or just sell it and pocket the funds entirely. Running two 980's will outperform a 980 Ti on my setup (when they work, of course). At this resolution, several benchmarks are reporting a measly 30% improvement over the 980. If I were to run SLI on two 980's, on the low end of reporting benchmarks, I will see a 60% increase in performance. That's a huge difference. And even if the SLI doesn't work on particular games, I simply turn it off and run off a single GPU.

Well you all took the wind out of my sails :rolleyes: I knew that it had to be the same chipset, and I just kind of assumed that the 980 and 980 Ti would be compatible. Oh well - thanks for the input, all! Sorry to waste time. EDIT: Okay then, what about this - I sell the 980 Ti and buy a 980 AND earn some extra cash? Or, once again, move on from SLI? Honestly, the aesthetics alone are drawing me, but the performance boost (when it's working) seems to be a huge deal.