Absolute most quiet CPU cooling solution?

[Val.J]

Hello everybody!

I run a 3570K with the stock cooler at the moment. I`m not planning on doing any overclocking at the moment and i`m looking for the most quiet solution for this CPU. I`ll be using the PC for a home recording studio. Right now I`m looking at the Noctua NH-C14 which is branded as a silent cooler. Is there anything better as far as silent aircooling goes? Or may be a watercooling solution could be quieter?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated!!

[Jimbo]

Anything with the least number of fans, then undervolt them. In my experience 120mm fans are actually quieter than 140mm versions. I'd be looking at the Noctua NH-U12P SE2 if I were in that situation, it could easily handle the heat of a stock 3570 even with the fans spinning super slow (using the ultra low noise adapters included).

[Val.J]

Okay, that fits in the budget perfectly. However it has 2 fans. Should I use only one if get this cooler?

[Jimbo]

My guess is that with the U.L.N.A resistors in place it will be the quietest set of fans in your system, other things will drown it out. If you're finding that you can still hear it try it with one fan and see what your temps are like under load.

[Peter Griffin]

Hello everybody!

I run a 3570K with the stock cooler at the moment. I`m not planning on doing any overclocking at the moment and i`m looking for the most quiet solution for this CPU. I`ll be using the PC for a home recording studio. Right now I`m looking at the Noctua NH-C14 which is branded as a silent cooler. Is there anything better as far as silent aircooling goes? Or may be a watercooling solution could be quieter?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!!

passive cooler

[Parkway Drive]

Quietest option, probably just a heatsink and no fans = passive cooling

Performance isn't gonna be anything too good.

quiet option + good performance = watercooling

[Peter Griffin]

Quietest option, probably just a heatsink and no fans = passive cooling

But performance isn't gonna be good.

quietest option + good performance = watercooling

not the quietest, but nearly as quiet as passive but with better performance

[Parkway Drive]

not the quietest, but nearly as quiet as passive but with better performance

LoL yeh saw the typo, edited about 3 seconds after

[Val.J]

I was wondering if a really big heatsink without any fans at all would be enough, given that the CPU will run at stock speeds and will rarely get hit with alot of action. Given that I have no other fans in the case except for the power supply fan, it will probably be a bad idea, but still.

I was doing a little research and found that you could actually have fanless powersupply, fanless gpu (or onboard graphics) and fanless cpu cooling. And if all your storage is on SSDs, would that make it a completely silent computer that generates no noise at all?

[Val.J]

Quietest option, probably just a heatsink and no fans = passive cooling

Performance isn't gonna be anything too good.

quiet option + good performance = watercooling

What do you mean by "performance isn`t gonna be anything too good"? If it stays what it is now at stock speeds with the stock cooler - that`s ok

[Jimbo]

It would almost certainly overheat. Passive heatsinks rely on incidental airflow from other fans, if you make the entire build fanless it will just get hotter and hotter.

 

What case do you have and have you added any soundproofing?

[Parkway Drive]

I was wondering if a really big heatsink without any fans at all would be enough, given that the CPU will run at stock speeds and will rarely get hit with alot of action. Given that I have no other fans in the case except for the power supply fan, it will probably be a bad idea, but still.

I was doing a little research and found that you could actually have fanless powersupply, fanless gpu (or onboard graphics) and fanless cpu cooling. And if all your storage is on SSDs, would that make it a completely silent computer that generates no noise at all?

 

I'd have some airflow, only thing I could think about where I'd have no fans is maybe in a completely air conditioned room where the system can maintain a constant temp. Otherwise it'll still heat up a bit without airflow.

Completely silent...hmmm if you're lucky enough to not get any coil whine or don't put your ear directly on it, I guess so.

[Val.J]

Damn... all this silencing business is so complicated...   By the way, the product info on CPU coolers contains pretty detailed dB measurements. Should I trust those?

[Jimbo]

By the way, the product info on CPU coolers contains pretty detailed dB measurements. Should I trust those?

NO!

 

Nor should you trust them for ANY component. dB measuring is NOT as easy as it seems, various companies have different ways of doing it.

[Parkway Drive]

What do you mean by "performance isn`t gonna be anything too good"? If it stays what it is now at stock speeds with the stock cooler - that`s ok

 

Performance won't be anything near actively cooling or watercooling results.

It could probably maintain under its TJmax but as Jimbo mentioned it relys on incidental airflow which needs to come from somewhere.

Haven't tried out a heatsink without a fan before but my guess is eventually it'll heat up to a point where it won't be able to dissipate heat quick enough even at stock speeds unless it's got a large enough surface area.

If you're not doing any heavy tasks for long periods of time then yeh, the noctuas should be able to handle it without fans.

[Parkway Drive]

Get a nice silent case like the R4, get a few silent fans with some airflow in the case and it'll be close to silent.

the ambient noise around your place will probably be louder and you won't be able to hear it.

 

I'm running 7x bitfenix spectres at full speed and 2x D5 pumps on lowest settings, everything watercooled except my HDDs and I hear the noise outside my window more than my case. With the right setup you can find that balance in performance and silence you want.

 

Happy hunting. Hope you find what you're looking for

[Val.J]

NO!

 

Nor should you trust them for ANY component. dB measuring is NOT as easy as it seems, various companies have different ways of doing it.

Okay, note taken. However, right now i`m looking only at Noctua coolers. Given that it`s the same brand, will it stand to reason that the dB measurements are consistent among eachother? The quitest Noctua cooler, from the ones that my retailer has in stock right now is Noctua NH-U9B SE2.

Guys, you`re so much help, I can`t believe how good this forum is!

[Jimbo]

hmmmm, 92mm fans aren't my thing. Generally the smaller the fan the whinier it becomes, honestly the 120mm noctuas are ridiculously quiet normally, let alone while undervolted. I wouldn't rely on dB measurements even for the same brand, I just don't trust them.

[911^NEmeSis]

Yeah like others have said, aim for larger fans that run at a lower rpm. This should ensure a quiet cooler.

[Inehmo]

120mm really is the sweetpoint when it comes to silent fans. A lot of options to choose from.

 

My tip to you is to get a case with one intake fan and one exhaust fan. Good fans like Scythe Gentle Typhoon for example. You can get 800rpm-models of those and you can be certain that you get low noise. Then get some good heatsink. Thermalright HR02 Macho is good and cheap, strap another Scythe GT on it and it'll be silent as well. If you have more to spend check out the new Noctuas NH-U12S and NH-14S. You can try run them passive. If you don't stress your 3570 that much, I'm pretty sure something like NH14S will be able to cool it passively as well.

 

Then get PSU which is semi-passive meaning that its fan won't spin before high load situations. They are usually bit more expensive but Super Flower is good brand with reasonable prices. 

 

Now you have 2-3 fans + PSU on your system. The trick is to get them run as slow as possible. You can use separate fan controller or just use one on your motherboard. Make them spin as low as possible and only spin up when it's absolutely necessary. 

 

Now that we have 2-3 slow spinning fan and non-spinning PSU-fan, it's time to make the finishing touches like the case. Get something silence-optimized like Fractal Design Define R4/Mini. If you don't need more than 4 PCI-E expansion slots, just go with Mini. Define-series cases have very good sound dampeding materials all over the freakin' place so the small amount of noise your fans generate will be lowered even more. If you want to go HC, you can also remove any fangrilles right infront of any fan to avoid any turbulancenoise allthough this is less of an issue with low rpm.

 

If you can go SSD-only it would awesome but in any case you should try to keep the amount of HDDs minimum. Silencing HDDs can be pain in the backside but one is usually bearable. Just get a case that has some kind of rubber mounting system for them. Or if you want to go all the way you can use DIY-HDD-suspension like in Antec SOLO -series of cases.

 

 

If with these tips you don't get silent system I will eat my hat that I don't even have.

[Val.J]

Okay, so putting performance aside for a second, what would you rate as the quietest of the following (that`s what my retailer has in stock at the moment):
NH-U12P SE2
NH-C12P SE14
NH-D14
NH-L12
NH-C14
 

 

 

 

 

[onionring]

a 20ft hdmi cable used to move the computer in the other room is the way to go for quiet on the cheap.