Revising my cooling setup - Need recommendations!

[Homicidium]

Hey Guys!

 

I'm currently looking into revising my air cooling setup, not because it isn't silent enough nor bad, but obviously Noctua's color scheme isn't too great and I'm looking to color coordinate my setup a little better. 

Right now, I'm using a NH-D14 and three NF-A14, each having a 3-pin header. My goal is obviously to also move to a full PWM setup. 

 

My color scheme: Red and Black; with the option to switch to an orange and black setup. I'm obviously looking for either full black fans with optional  orange or red accents. A darker grey would also be acceptable!

My goals: Silence. I value silence over performance, finding a happy balance however would be preferable! Obviously, the quality should also be good/great.

My usecase: During the summer time I don't have any overclock on the CPU, during colder months only a mild 4GHz OC, so temperatures shouldn't be too much of an issue, and I don't have an issue with downsizing the CPU heatsink, however I want to retain the 140mm fans. My case is a Phanteks Enthoo Pro.

My budget: My current budget for everything is currently 150€ (+/- 20€), like I said, I value quality and I'm willing to spend the extra to get a little bit extra silence AND performance.

My location: Germany. I would prefer a german shop, but I wouldn't have a problem with ordering from Austria or the Netherlands. PayPal is must though! 

My setup: I have everything listed in my signature below this post!

 

Generally speaking I want to stay with air cooling, as I think it's still the best balance between price and performance and still offers the best possible option for having the quietest system possible. If however, for whatever reason, you feel like that I could be able to achieve the same level of silence, while maintaining/improving the level of performance, then please feel free to recommend a AIO solution as well!

 

Thanks in advance for the trouble and you guys helping me, 

Homicidium

 

 

 

 

 

[_JohnB330ci]

If you would prefer to stick with just fans, some of corsairs fans would be great (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CO-9050006-WW-SP120-Quiet-Pressure/dp/B007RESFR2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467276466&sr=8-2&keywords=corsair+fan) you can respray one of the rings (I'd recommend the blue as the white might look nice if you ever retheme your build) and then you have interchangable fan colours, the rings don't effect the fans performance and still look equally nice, I rock 4 of them in the top of my build

[Bleedingyamato]

If you're considering changing your CPU cooler you could try looking at the Cryorig H7.  I'm pretty sure it's sufficient for overclocking and I've heard good things about it including that it doesn't block RAM slots at all.

 

 Also, unless you're using them in a radiator you're better off using the AF120 quiet edition non-LED corsair fans instead of the sp version fans SherifsDog22 suggested.  I've got a couple of the AF120 fans in my secondary desktop and while the airflow from them seems very low to me they're very quiet if that's your main goal.  

 

 

[WoodenMarker]

7 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

If you're considering changing your CPU cooler you could try looking at the Cryorig H7.

The OP already has a NH-D14..

 

@Homicidium What fans do you have and what headers are they plugged into? Have you identified which components are making the most noise?

[Bleedingyamato]

6 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The OP already has a NH-D14..

 

@Homicidium What fans do you have and what headers are they plugged into? Have you identified which components are making the most noise?

They did say they were considering changing it so I thought I'd offer a suggestion in case they were interested.

[WoodenMarker]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

They did say they were considering changing it so I thought I'd offer a suggestion in case they were interested.

The H7 is a downgrade in every respect though. 

[Homicidium]

8 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The OP already has a NH-D14..

 

@Homicidium What fans do you have and what headers are they plugged into? Have you identified which components are making the most noise?

2 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The H7 is a downgrade in every respect though. 

 

I specifically asked for recommendations for a heatsink and it also states that I don't mind downsizing, considering that I don't have my CPU OC'd 24/7. Like the post states, I have 3x Noctua NF-A14, and none of them really make a lot of noise once I've started SpeedFan. They're plugged into the motherboard headers. 

 

However, the topic is basically unneccesary now, I've just placed an order for a beQuiet! Dark Rock 3 and 3x SilentWings in the 140mm variant! Thanks for everyone for replying and helping, it's very much appreciated!

 

[aisle9]

8 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

If you're considering changing your CPU cooler you could try looking at the Cryorig H7.

Not from an NH-D14 you couldn't. Unless you wanted to slice performance by 10C or so. The H5 would be a better comparison.

[Bleedingyamato]

7 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Not from an NH-D14 you couldn't. Unless you wanted to slice performance by 10C or so. The H5 would be a better comparison.

Idk exactly what the performance difference is but no ram interference and being known for an easy install makes the H7 a smart option to consider unless much is better performance is strictly required.  

[Bleedingyamato]

44 minutes ago, Homicidium said:

 

I specifically asked for recommendations for a heatsink and it also states that I don't mind downsizing, considering that I don't have my CPU OC'd 24/7. Like the post states, I have 3x Noctua NF-A14, and none of them really make a lot of noise once I've started SpeedFan. They're plugged into the motherboard headers. 

 

However, the topic is basically unneccesary now, I've just placed an order for a beQuiet! Dark Rock 3 and 3x SilentWings in the 140mm variant! Thanks for everyone for replying and helping, it's very much appreciated!

 

If you don't mind, where did you order the new stuff from?  I'm actually looking to add 2 more 120mm fans to my main desktop and could use some nice ones that have decent airflow without being jet engine loud.  

[Homicidium]

19 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

If you don't mind, where did you order the new stuff from?  I'm actually looking to add 2 more 120mm fans to my main desktop and could use some nice ones that have decent airflow without being jet engine loud.  

I ordered it from caseking.de, but they're currently out of stock, so I'll have to wait a couple of days until it arrives. 

[Bleedingyamato]

4 minutes ago, Homicidium said:

I ordered it from caseking.de, but they're currently out of stock, so I'll have to wait a couple of days until it arrives. 

I'm in the US so I might try looking at Newegg.  Thank you anyway though.

[WoodenMarker]

1 hour ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Idk exactly what the performance difference is but no ram interference and being known for an easy install makes the H7 a smart option to consider unless much is better performance is strictly required.  

The NH-D14 has better mounting hardware that's easier to install imo. 

Spending money on a worse cooler doesn't seem like a smart option. 

 

The NH-D14 is still one of the best performing air coolers available whereas the H7 performs very similarly to the 212 Evo and is just entering the normal-sized tower heatsink category.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/cpu_cooler_roundup_2013_q1_review,11.html

[Homicidium]

15 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The NH-D14 has better mounting hardware that's easier to install imo. 

Spending money on a worse cooler doesn't seem like a smart option. 

 

The NH-D14 is still one of the best performing air coolers available whereas the H7 performs very similarly to the 212 Evo and is just entering the normal-sized tower heatsink category.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/cpu_cooler_roundup_2013_q1_review,11.html

That's not the point though. The point is, and he rightfully recommended a cooler within my stated points, to color coordinate the system. 

Brown and Beige doesn't mix too well with Red and Black. Of course, I'm still very happy with the performance of both the heatsink as well as the fans, but considering that I now have a case with a window I'm constantly looking at it, hence why I wanted to switch the CPU cooler and the fans. 

 

I think that I have now struck a decent balance between silence, performance and most importantly asthetics with the beQuiet! line up of products, without sacrifising too much in the performance department. Yet, cooling performance wasn't even the most important factor, because I've stated that I'm currently running my 4690k at stock speeds and only overclock the CPU to right around 4GHz from September to right around April, when the temperatures in my room allow for overclocking without turning it into a ghetto sauna.

[WoodenMarker]

1 minute ago, Homicidium said:

Brown and Beige doesn't mix too well with Red and Black. Of course, I'm still very happy with the performance of both the heatsink as well as the fans, but considering that I now have a case with a window I'm constantly looking at it, hence why I wanted to switch the CPU cooler and the fans. 

Replacing the fans would be cheaper and better than replacing the heatsink. 

The silver on the top fin is easy to paint over with spraypaint.