Project Silence

[Toffe]

Hello everyone ! 

 

I am trying to go for a very silent build and looking for all the advice i can get !

It all started out with my pre build MSI Codex XE, the CPU cooler was way too loud. and now i just want it to be as silent as possible ! 

Basic info
CPU Intel I7-8700K
GPU MSI 1080 Armor

MOBO MSI z370-a

Case MSI Codex XE

 

I changed the standard CPU cooler with a Noctua NH-D14 and removed one of the fans because of the humming sound i couldn't get rid off... the fans that followed are 3 pins and can only be set at one setting, thinking about changing them, but for which one ? or maybe another CPU cooler ?! 

I am thinking about changing it with a Noctua NF-A14, with 4 pins for easier control, and putting the other fan in the top as an intake.

 

As you can see space is tight and it can not get any 'taller' either! 

 

I have a Noctua fan in front as well, with the Ultra low Noise cable in. 

 

 

Right now my biggest problem is the temp of my GPU, it is between 70 - 80 C when playing games such as PUBG. 

 

 

 

So, looking for ideas, suggestions and solutions, on how to make the PC more Quiet.

So far I am thinking about:

 - Changing my CPU cooler fan with another Noctua fan, for better control. 

 - Putting another Noctua fan on top as an intake. 

 - chaning for PSU with a Corsair RM550x

 

What do you think about all this ?!

[Toffe]

Another thing i could do for a better airflow, was to remove all the mods in front, i dont use them, only the one in the bottum for my Harddisk.. 

 

[Bananasplit_00]

get a fanless seasonic PSU and maybe an Arctic TwinTurbo GPU cooler. My TwinTurbo was wisper quiet to the point where i kinda miss my NH-D14 and TwinTurbo 3 days  watercooling is way louder because THICC rads for dat cooling  

[meenmeen1103]

Seems like the setup suffers from lack of air intake. Top intake will not help GPU temp at all, and I suspect will probably have little effect on CPU as well. First, I'd suggest adding a front intake fan underneath the existing one, and minimizing obstructions between front fans and GPU/CPU as you see fit. The MSI Armor variant, while it uses a very decent PCB, has a lacking cooler design so any extra help it can get is worth the GPU boost afforded afterward.

[Toffe]

Sounds like a good idea with an extra fan in the front. 

 All modules in the front have holes in the, so it should be possible to get some air through. 

 

Which noctua fan do you recommend ?

[Bcat00]

From what I can tell, the biggest culprit of the noise is 3 things: PSU fan, GPU fan, and your harddrive.

 

Here's a test solution for you that i tried in the past to save some money. 

 

1) Remove the shroud from the GPU and the fan as well, then buy a VGA wire adapter to hook up some bigger fans to the GPU cooler

2) get some SSDs, 960 evo since its the cheapest with the highest storage level currently. Replace that harddrive.

3) get a new PSU that is fanless or get the Bequiet PSU / replace the PSU fan with a new quiet one then drill a hole through the side to hook up to your motherboard

[Toffe]

55 minutes ago, Bcat00 said:

From what I can tell, the biggest culprit of the noise is 3 things: PSU fan, GPU fan, and your harddrive.

 

Here's a test solution for you that i tried in the past to save some money. 

 

1) Remove the shroud from the GPU and the fan as well, then buy a VGA wire adapter to hook up some bigger fans to the GPU cooler

2) get some SSDs, 960 evo since its the cheapest with the highest storage level currently. Replace that harddrive.

3) get a new PSU that is fanless or get the Bequiet PSU / replace the PSU fan with a new quiet one then drill a hole through the side to hook up to your motherboard

The GPU is not a big problem so far yet either. 

The outlet fan is a standard one, I will change it for a Noctua. But I am not sure which noctua fans to choose as case fans. 

 

I have thought about changing the harddrive, but right now it is not my biggest issue. 

 

The PSU is loud, I don't know about a  fanless one, because I only have one outtake then.  Still thinking about the corsair RM 550x, it should be really quiet.  But I will look up some fanless as well. 

[Toffe]

4 hours ago, meenmeen1103 said:

Seems like the setup suffers from lack of air intake. Top intake will not help GPU temp at all, and I suspect will probably have little effect on CPU as well. First, I'd suggest adding a front intake fan underneath the existing one, and minimizing obstructions between front fans and GPU/CPU as you see fit. The MSI Armor variant, while it uses a very decent PCB, has a lacking cooler design so any extra help it can get is worth the GPU boost afforded afterward.

Which noctua fan do you recommend ? 

[Toffe]

What about a Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV GPU cooler ? 

[seon123]

1 hour ago, Toffe said:

What about a Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV GPU cooler ? 

It might not fit with the CPU cooler, due to the backplate/heatsink. If the GPU PCB is wider than the PCIe slot, it also won't fit the card. 

[Defyant]

You are always going to be fighting a loosing battle with case.   The front is too restrictive for full air flow... The fans will always ramp up trying to suck enough air to cool the system under load.

 

 

 

[Toffe]

2 hours ago, seon123 said:

It might not fit with the CPU cooler, due to the backplate/heatsink. If the GPU PCB is wider than the PCIe slot, it also won't fit the card. 

Hmm .. what if i dont install the backplate ?

If i wont fit, do you know a GPU cooler that will ?

[Toffe]

1 hour ago, Defyant said:

You are always going to be fighting a loosing battle with case.   The front is too restrictive for full air flow... The fans will always ramp up trying to suck enough air to cool the system under load.

 

 

 

Maybe yes ... i will never get a full airflow. But i really like the case.

Because of the extra support for the back of the GP, it is safe for transport and it wont hang too much over time.

and the VR plug and USB C in front. 

So i think i will just remove some of the stuff i wont need. 

[seon123]

4 minutes ago, Toffe said:

Hmm .. what if i dont install the backplate ?

If i wont fit, do you know a GPU cooler that will ?

It's a part of the mounting mechanism for the cooler, and it helps cool the hot PCB components. 

There should be plenty other GPU coolers that don't have a heatsink as a backplate. Raijintek I think has one, and Arctic has some others, I think. 

[Bcat00]

5 hours ago, Toffe said:

 

For the best overall 120mm fans, get the NF-A12 if you can afford it, otherwise go with the (NF-P12) and not the similar F12 series 

If you want the 140mm model fans then get the NF-A14/15, these 2 models cannot go wrong.

 

Now for the PSU, if you are afraid about going fanless then go Bequiet, its as quiet as it comes in the market.

If money is a factor or if you are not willing to fork over 200$ or more then do what i did as a test run, rip open the PSU shroud and remove that loud fan inside your thing and then drill a hole through the side of that metal plate. Afterwards remount the thing with the noctua fan in it and then run the fan wire through the hole into your motherboard. 

 

Now you can control the fan speed according to your preference. 

 

As for the Arctic Accelero IV, i own one of them and its good no question about that, but is it worth dumping that much money right away? 

I say not yet until you try mounting a new fan to your MSI cooler first.

If temps aren't good then buy, if its manageable then buy a VGA wire and you've saved money

[Toffe]

8 hours ago, Bcat00 said:

For the best overall 120mm fans, get the NF-A12 if you can afford it, otherwise go with the (NF-P12) and not the similar F12 series 

If you want the 140mm model fans then get the NF-A14/15, these 2 models cannot go wrong.

 

Now for the PSU, if you are afraid about going fanless then go Bequiet, its as quiet as it comes in the market.

If money is a factor or if you are not willing to fork over 200$ or more then do what i did as a test run, rip open the PSU shroud and remove that loud fan inside your thing and then drill a hole through the side of that metal plate. Afterwards remount the thing with the noctua fan in it and then run the fan wire through the hole into your motherboard. 

 

Now you can control the fan speed according to your preference. 

 

As for the Arctic Accelero IV, i own one of them and its good no question about that, but is it worth dumping that much money right away? 

I say not yet until you try mounting a new fan to your MSI cooler first.

If temps aren't good then buy, if its manageable then buy a VGA wire and you've saved money

My front and back fans are 120 mm, so I'll try two NF-12, one more for the front and then change the standard in the back with one as well. 

 

I'll look into the be quiet PSU, and maybe for fun trying to mod the one I got now  

 

The temps right now are okay, while playing PUBG on highest settings, I do 54 degrees in my CPU, but 71 - 75 degrees on my GPU, I hope the extra fan in the front will make a difference. Or ells i will try a new PSU before the new GPU cooler. 

 

Thank you ! 

[Bcat00]

3 hours ago, Toffe said:

 

Just make sure you get the "P" series and not the "F" series.

[Toffe]

3 minutes ago, Bcat00 said:

Just make sure you get the "P" series and not the "F" series.

Just ordered two NF-A12x25  neither the P or F .. I was close to the P or F series because of the possiblity of Chromax .. 

But A was the best right ? haha

 

Going to put an extra in front and change the standard in the back, going to get them monday and will give an update !

I am doing CPU 31 C and GPU 35 C, while browsing, thinking about slowing the fans further down until 50 C 

[Toffe]

42 minutes ago, James Evens said:

What is your fan speed? 500 RPM under full load is possible.  But at this point you need to get rid of HDDs and stock GPU cooler to see a improvement in noise.

Away to improve airflow is to remove the hard drive cage in front of the lower input fan. If you have problems with the case heating up add a low RPM exhaust fan on the top.

The 850x might be the better option compared to a 550x. 340W without the fan spinning up.

500 RPM on a NH-D14 with a single fan ? I am not that low at all so far, doing 1200 or 800 at iddle. 

So far i can still hear my CPU coller and my exhaust fan , I'll exchange it with the Noctua and put an extra in front, and then set them at a way lower RPM to see what happens.  I can not hear my HDD yet, not really using it .. 

 

I will wait and see what the extra fan in front will do for my GPU temp, before i change that, the GPU stock cooler is actually really quiet. 

 

The 850x might be the solution then !  

 

another thing is that i have to go all the way in the bios every time ! my MOBO is not supported by speedfan and i only have 3-pin noctua fans ..  

[Toffe]

On 1/4/2019 at 11:17 PM, Defyant said:

You are always going to be fighting a loosing battle with case.   The front is too restrictive for full air flow... The fans will always ramp up trying to suck enough air to cool the system under load.

 

 

 

I think you are right about the case .. just dropped from 75 to 65 C with the case open ... 
 but havent installed the extra front fan yet ! 

[Toffe]

Quick update
I changed the standard exhaust cooler with a Noctua, it got a bit more quiet, but still have to a lot of RPMs to keep it cool while gaming.. of cause
One extra Noctua fan in front, and it got my graphic down by 3 - 4 degrees.. 

 

I will now look for a better and more quiet PSU and maybe a better case .. I think i lost the battle to the case ...

[Toffe]

On 1/4/2019 at 11:17 PM, Defyant said:

You are always going to be fighting a loosing battle with case.   The front is too restrictive for full air flow... The fans will always ramp up trying to suck enough air to cool the system under load.

 

 

 

Which case will you suggest for a better airflow and more quiet build ?

Already got 2 extra Noctua coolers i would like to use in the case, if necessary 

[Defyant]

Appols for the late reply...

 

I think price to value you cant beat the fratcal meshify...

 

Quiet cases are about getting air to flow for max cooling at low fan speeds

[Toffe]

On 1/17/2019 at 9:57 PM, Defyant said:

Appols for the late reply...

 

I think price to value you cant beat the fratcal meshify...

 

Quiet cases are about getting air to flow for max cooling at low fan speeds

But ! no USB C  ... 

 and yes, the better airflow, the more cooling, the lower your fans can go. 

that is why this codex Xe case sucks ..  

[Defyant]

Fractal Meshify S2 !!!