TofuAce

I have the CM Nepton 240m and a Phanteks Enthoo Luxe (differences between Pro and Luxe not worth mentioning here).
 
I really enjoy this setup. I wanted a quiet AIO cooler and didn't want to replace the stock fans either. That is why I chose the 240m. Also the Phanteks included case fans are excellent too.
 
So yeah, quiet pump, quiet nepton 140mm fans, quiet phanteks case fans. Plenty of room in the case and very nice air flow.

Cooler Master Nepton 240M
That is a very solid and quiet AIO water cooler.

It shouldn't be a problem if the fans are between two meshed metal plates as long as both parts have the correct holes drilled to put screws through the fans to the radiator to mount it.

Choose the cheapest you find among these:
Noctua NT H1, MX4, Gelid GC Extreme, Prolimatek PK3

The Cryorig H7 hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet. I'd choose that over the 212 evo. Plenty of options out there that outperform the 212 evo with less noise for the same price range or near. That being said, the 212 evo isn't a bad choice, it's an old standby... just the market has moved forward a bit since the last revision.
 
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/heatsinks/42980-cryorig-h7-universal-cpu-cooler-review

I like the contrast between the clean (boring?) exterior of my case, and the flashy bling of the inside.

Because that:
 

 
Looks a hell of a lot better than that:
 

For CPU, anything smaller than 240mm is not a good purchase. 102/140mm AIOs perform similar or worse than equally priced air tower coolers, as well as being louder, and having more points of failure. If long life is your top priority, buy a Noctua NH-D14/15.
Otherwise, spend the money on a 240mm AIO. I highly recommend the Cooler Master Nepton 240M. It is ~$100 ,comes with incredibly high end fans, so no need to replace them. Has the most quiet pump of any AIO on the market, and a nice 5 year warranty. Basically Noctua level silence and performance in the form of an AIO.
Might I also recommend a different case? Check out the Phanteks Enthoo Pro. Its only $99, and comes with a lot more features than the R5.

Just because something has a "Gaming/Overclocking/Workstation" Branding doesn't make it better then something else.

I have always dedicated my heart and soul to one game at a time.
Gog completely broke me and my habits.. now i'm stuck with too
many games, and not a single game to single out and play first.. 
An all or nothing scenario resulting in chaotic nothing. 

Every object in the room effects sound quality of a speaker. Carpet is good because it doesn't reflect sound, which you don't want with a subwoofer.

ahh the good old 7.1 marketing bullshit.
took me a couple years and hundreds of dollars before I learned

Open headphones  >  7.1 headphones

Best to ignore him at this point, he really can't help you. As is standard I will direct you to the inexpensive but good Syba DAC: http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Stereo-Headphone-Amplifier-SD-DAC63057/dp/B009WN7QT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418606053&sr=8-1&keywords=syba+dac

It's definitely a quality of the 3D-wing design that I imagine most people need to get used to.  I've had no issues with them at all, but then again my first foray into some decent headphones was the AD700 so...

Here is one explaining how he has switched from ASUS Xonar Essence One to the O2/ODac.
(Side note: Even Linus himself would want people to see his words as one data point/source on things and I've heard him say to take him with a grain of salt in audio reviews before like the previously posted one with the objective2. I highly doubt he looks upon himself as the be all and end all of technology knowledge. He's a cool guy, and too smart to be that way.
 
 
Here we can hear him vent his frustration with this ongoing war in the audio forum. He is referring to a thread that seems to have been moderated now with harsher posts edited or removed. 
Note that he said he hasn't watched any of the Logan/Mayflower vids yet. Also lists specific use cases where an old onboard audio chipset or damaged chipset would not be a viable option over a new soundcard. Another use case in favor of a soundcard over an external usb DAC not for sound quality but for keeping it internal in a pc case rather than having it outside the case.
 
He vents on the audio forum regulars (I think only a couple of statements were unfair about understanding the position we have rather than simple elitism or ego stroking) but other then that I whole heartily agree with his vision for a friendly helpful forum that is as information dense as possible. Sometimes people can go too far, and I've done so before in my many years on the internet. We are human and in the end of the day we just try to improve and do it all again tomorrow. Are there bad apples in any group? Of course. I didn't get to see the unmoderated version of the thread in question, but it seemed it became very inflammatory. That's regrettable, but I feel this time was an exceptionally bad example to our normal dealings in everyday threads.
 
http://youtu.be/6IB7tJu9iqY?t=54m15s
 
 
I would just like to end with a restatement that onboard audio has gotten to a point where you may not need a soundcard. If there is no improvement on audio quality, why not put your money elsewhere like a new set of headphones or speakers! I don't think this is all that outrageous to consider, since as computer hardware enthusiasts, we see technology improve while shrinking in size. Is it so hard to believe we've been able to shrink a proper sound card until it fits perfectly fine on a motherboard? This is a recent development in the last few years of motherboard design (Or at least companies finally decided to), but the word is still getting out there. The audio industry in general (I'm talking about beyond having anything to do with computers) can be a treacherous trek along marketing and made up words to obfuscate the purpose and quality of a product. Simply, products are not competing on a level of pure function and technological design. If you can market a lifestyle, brand appeal, or shiny looks that are more appealing compared with your competition then that is more money going towards your company.
 
I feel that the Audio Forums main goal should be to suggest products that are function over form, rather than form over function. Prioritize performance, purpose, and value for your money over looks and appearance or some gaming coolness factor.Does that mean everything must look ugly? Of course not, but I rather have good performance and value with slightly less looks over a beautiful expensive part that gives me less performance or the latest sponsored MLB gaming team.
 
EDIT:
 
TL:DR Linus can see both sides of the argument and sound cards can serve a purpose in some instances. Also, don't be a mean know it all. Also $30 sound card isn't the worst way to throw away money in the expensive audio world so relax. Any unfair venting is probably due to generalization due to on-air live performance during a show.

I find it funny how we had this discussion over you not owning headphones jokingly last month and now people are actually saying the same thing.
 
Reality is stranger than fiction.  :rolleyes:
 
Er... I mean... we all know @EmoRarity only owns sausages instead of headphones. Any photo's he possesses are just masterfully done photoshops.
 
 
 
Edit: Oh, and Audio Technica is one of my favorite headphone companies and I own a pair of M50's. They are not worth the current asking price. Their rise in popularity has unfortunately priced them out of being competitive in the $150ish price range. 4-5 years ago I was trying to decide between AD700's and M50's. That part doesn't matter, what does is that at that time, m50's were in the $80-90 USD dollar price range. They are certainly not worth nearly twice their asking price that they are being listed as now.
 
Influences like certain youtubers, headphone forums, and the recent rise of Beats inflated the price of the m50's.
 
Btw, I'm currently listening to m50's right now. I listen to them on nearly a daily basis. They sound great for up to the $100ish dollar price point. But they should not be in the $150 dollar price point.

Dude, that's why tofuace is telling you that it is not that simple.  You can't just slot a product into a price range because each product and price range not only overlaps but has many features that need to be weighed of against each other.
 
EDIT: also I kindly remind you that we don't appreciate the veiled insult, please try to keep calm if you feel misunderstood.

When in doubt just generalize brother, makes life easier. 

Problem being its not usb and requires more spending to hook it up. 

Welcome,  If I was to try to type out everything I know it would either be to garbled to understand properly or I would be banned for spamming walls of text.
 
Read the FAQ at the top of the audio sub forum, a very nice piece of work that will enlighten you no end.  It also has links to some videos that are a little lengthy but to anyone interested in audio very informative and entertaining.

I would highly recommended reading the Audio FAQ sticky http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/18617-the-audio-boards-frequently-asked-questions-pre-answered/ and following up the links in that post.

Amusingly enough, (Purely subjective preference here) I find the 7506 to sound better, and I prefer coiled cables, since I'm 2m, isn't of 6m. 
 
DON'T REMIND ME!

I find it funny how we had this discussion over you not owning headphones jokingly last month and now people are actually saying the same thing.
 
Reality is stranger than fiction.  :rolleyes:
 
Er... I mean... we all know @EmoRarity only owns sausages instead of headphones. Any photo's he possesses are just masterfully done photoshops.
 
 
 
Edit: Oh, and Audio Technica is one of my favorite headphone companies and I own a pair of M50's. They are not worth the current asking price. Their rise in popularity has unfortunately priced them out of being competitive in the $150ish price range. 4-5 years ago I was trying to decide between AD700's and M50's. That part doesn't matter, what does is that at that time, m50's were in the $80-90 USD dollar price range. They are certainly not worth nearly twice their asking price that they are being listed as now.
 
Influences like certain youtubers, headphone forums, and the recent rise of Beats inflated the price of the m50's.
 
Btw, I'm currently listening to m50's right now. I listen to them on nearly a daily basis. They sound great for up to the $100ish dollar price point. But they should not be in the $150 dollar price point.

Seeing that they are currently $150ish they represent an over hyped bad value. If you can find them for $100 or less, good competitive value, any more and it loses to much better products. 

Future reference I do suppose, Sony only makes about four legitimately good headphones now-a-days. (7506/V6, R1, and a couple other studio monitors I can't be bothered to remember.)

Agreed. It comes down to the way people think. I personally like to know each "point of of failure" in my audio chain. If I know that everything but my headphone is 100% neutral, any anomalies or frequency responses can come directly from the headphones. When you add tube amps, or something that distorts or colors the audio, now you have 2 points of "failure" where you don't know what is effected by the equipment. Is it headphones, is it my amp? Both? None? I think Mayflower at the end of the video said, if you like tubes, good for you! By all means, if you think those guys were a bunch of idiots with a video camera, and you like your tubes and what not, no need to get upset and type hate emails. Just ignore their opinion and do what you think is best