Looking for a QUIET Workstation for $2050

[GoldenLag]

23 hours ago, thinwalrus said:

*snip*

Um. In other words. The 1200 watt unit is not worth it like ive mentioned mutple times?

 

23 hours ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Last question, how would it trip 40% load though? If my load is 400w (and PCPP says it's less actually) then how am I tripping it? PCPP says 380w, which is less than 40% (and less than 35%).

The powerdraw ok the 9900k is not 95 watts as advertised. It will draw 200 watts if it gets the oppertunity. And it will.

 

And in the end, even with fanless mode the total noise of the system is unchanged between each PSU. You are better of saving the money and getting the lower wattage PSU. Because you get the same system noise for a lower price.

Edited March 14, 2019 by wkdpaul

[GoldenLag]

5 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Sound is cumulative. 20db from the case fans adds to the 30db of the GPU fan, which adds to the 15db of the PSU fan, which adds to the 20db of the HDD noise. When you add all those decibles it's loud.

Yes and no. 

 

While sound can be accumelative under the right conditions, its usually not as for the sound to stack it needs to resonate.

 

Also decibel is not a liniear scale. You cant + decibels on top of eachother. 20dB is 1/10 as loud as 30dB. 

 

And unless the ennviroment is very specific the system will only be as loud as its loudest component.

 

Edit: or at least that is how far my physics education has gotten. 

[FinalFantasyBros]

2 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

Um. In other words. The 1200 watt unit is not worth it like ive mentioned mutple times? 

  

The powerdraw ok the 9900k is not 95 watts as advertised. It will draw 200 watts if it gets the oppertunity. And it will.

 

And in the end, even with fanless mode the total noise of the system is unchanged between each PSU. You are better of saving the money and getting the lower wattage PSU. Because you get the same system noise for a lower price.

I'm again not understanding. What is this now about 600 RPM. I thought we were talking about 0 RPM. The fan won't spin, no?

 

As my original message said, I need to spend the entire budget, so I have nothing to save. This is a buget surplus. We don't pocket any money not spent. And if we don't spend it we get less next year.

 

Finally, even if the fan is only 10db, that's added to all the other noise.

[LukeSavenije]

23 hours ago, thinwalrus said:

600rpm under load is bad for psu fan, opening up the top of the case for faster fans is good?

fan speed is not equal to noise...

 

*redacted*

Edited March 14, 2019 by wkdpaul

[GoldenLag]

2 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

 

As my original message said, I need to spend the entire budget, so I have nothing to save. This is a buget surplus. We don't pocket any money not spent. And if we don't spend it we get less next year

Grab the fanless unit from seasonic then. 0 fannoise. Enough wattage and everything.

 

3 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

I'm again not understanding. What is this now about 600 RPM. I thought we were talking about 0 RPM. The fan won't spin, no?

Under full load the fan is likely to spin.

 

As mentioned earlier the fan on the HX1200 isnt the best. 

4 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Finally, even if the fan is only 10db, that's added to all the other noise.

Only under very specific circumstances. 

 

The system will only be as loud as it loudest component. Which is likely to be the pump, casefans, or HDD.

 

Id suggest picking a good case like the Silent Base 801 from bequiet to limit the noise from the system. 

[LukeSavenije]

23 hours ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

*snip*

the most quiet are passive cooled ones, but probably way out of your budget

 

remove part the gpu and cpu noice with a hybrid and water cooler maybe?

then add a psu with a good fan (dark power pro 11, rmx, rmi, hx, hxi, pure power 11, formula, whisper and psu's like that)

 

the only way to remove hdd noise is to remove the hdd for a ssd, but that won't come cheap, especially in capacities higher than 1tb

 

I suggest something like a silent base 600 or 601, a couple more silent wings and you should have a pretty silent system

 

anything else you want to add to this?

[LukeSavenije]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$529.89 @ B&H
CPU Cooler	be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$84.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard	ASRock - Z390 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$158.88 @ OutletPC
Memory	G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$179.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial - P1 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$149.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB Black Video Card	$722.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	be quiet! - SILENT BASE 801 | SILVER ATX Mid Tower Case	$128.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$73.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2074.60
	Mail-in rebates	-$45.00
	Total	$2029.60
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-13 06:58 EDT-0400

this would be a example

[Stefan Payne]

10 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Finally, even if the fan is only 10db, that's added to all the other noise.

Maybe but so does you breathing, the wind outside the House and other stuff going on.

 

Anyway: You're wrong and someone told you something wrong.

And Electronics ain't no cars!
 

A 240HP Car might be quieter at 130km/h than a 110HP Car. But Electronics is not mechanics!

So that assumption is not true for Electronics, especially NOT when we are talking about the same design/layout!!

And even if we're not, there are things like air turbulence and other stuff. A 1200W PSU usually has more stuff, so more turbulence -> more noise.

 

I really don't get why people think that 1200W are quieter than 500W. Again, we ain't talking about Mechanics and transmissions, we're talking about ELectronics! 

 

And if you don't understand, listen to the people who have a couple of PSU in their house and tested them. Some of us know what we're talking about.

I have a bunch of PSU here and test some.

As I tried to tell you, fans are not the same! There are rather annoying fans with annoying Motor/Bearing Noise and then there are fans that have not noticable noise.

 

And yes, I'M talking about a be quiet Pure Power 10/400W or Cougar LX500 wich you have to put your ear onto the back of the PSU to hear the fan, with an armlenth away, you don't hear much about the fan.

 

But you don't seem to willing to listen to people who have actual experience with PSU and rather believe some stuff that's just wrong...

 

[Stefan Payne]

21 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

the most quiet are passive cooled ones,

Not really because people tend to forget the electronics noise, so every PSU makes some noise - if it doesn't its dead.

 

And when the Seasonic fanless were more popular, there were a lot of complaints about electroics noise...

 

So you want something with low electronics noise and low air noise as well as low motor/bearing noise.

There are some awful fans in the Market (hello Hong Hua/CWT), there are some awesome fans in the Market as well (I mentioned them above).

 

The Bitfenix are in the middle they aren't great, they aren't too annoying, they are pretty OK.

[LukeSavenije]

3 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

 

you don't understand me correctly

 

i'm talking this level of passive, but again, that's out of budget

[jerubedo]

21 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

I really don't get why people think that 1200W are quieter than 500W

It's because if you use a 1200W PSU with a load on it under 40% (in the case of the HX1200) , regardless of temperature, the fan won't spin at all. So if your total system draw is only 430W at peak then that fan won't kick on. 

[Stefan Payne]

Just now, jerubedo said:

It's because if you use a 1200W PSU with a load on it under 40% (in the caee of the HX1200) , regardless of temperature, the fan won't spin at all. So if your total system draw is only 430W at peak then that fan won't kick on. 

That's bullshit and only a rough presentation from Marketing.

It doesn't have to be that way in real life at all ever.

 

I don't get why you take Marketing Material at face value. Its for Marketing the Product and over simplifying what happens so that people understand it.

[Stefan Payne]

7 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

you don't understand me correctly

 

i'm talking this level of passive, but again, that's out of budget

Ahhh, that you meant.

Why didn't you say so from the start

 

But yeah, I'd bet one of those cases is like 150-200€ or more.

+inside, so minimum probably 500€ for something equivalent to an Athlon 200GE.

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, Stefan Payne said:

Ahhh, that you meant.

Why didn't you say so from the start

 

But yeah, I'd bet one of those cases is like 150-200€ or more.

a completely passive system? probably way above this budget with some good specs... i just listed the option

 

what do you think about that part list above?

[Stefan Payne]

11 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

a completely passive system? probably way above this budget with some good specs... i just listed the option

Yeah but still nice to see someone doing them.

 

11 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

what do you think about that part list above?

Its OK, though I'm more a fan of the Austrians for the Coolers but that's just a preference and question of taste.

Though I don't know if the 2080 you choose is that quiet, I doubt it.

And a thing here or there....

[thinwalrus]

23 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

*snip*

That is true. Fan blowing against a radiator will make much more noise as the airflow is more restricted.

Edited March 14, 2019 by wkdpaul

[Guest]

8 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

I'm lost here then, but that sounds like a broken otp to me

 

@jonnyGURU you design these, explain please

As usual, the users at Tom's forums are incorrect. 

 

The MCU that control the fans in RMx and up use a formula based on load, temperature and time to determine when the fan should turn on and for how long. 

 

 

[FinalFantasyBros]

After extensive research I'm going basically with @jerubedo's build with 2 changes: I went with slightly cheaper RAM and I went with the more expensive Samsung 970 Evo at the suggestion of @Stormseeker9. It has slightly better sequential performance. I'll be eating the extra expense of $25 myself. Many people suggested different cases, but the one jerubedo picked seems to be the most quiet:

 

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fractal-design-define-r6-tempered-glass-edition-case,5399-3.html

vs

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/be-quiet-silent-base-601,5821-3.html

 

The Fractal Design R6 only lets out 31.4db as opposed to the silent base which lets out 32.5db. Plus in jerubedo's build he replaces all of the fans with even quieter ones, so I'd expect below the quoted 31.4db. The first article also compares the R6 to the silent base 700 as well.

 

As for the GPU, a few people have suggested the RTX 2080 or RTX 2060, but in looking at the charts from both jerubedo and stormseeker9, as well as doing my own research, the GPU difference is minimal and everything I'm doing is heavily CPU bound. A few of you gave me dual fan designs as well and from what I've read the tripple fan setup has each fan moving less air to keep the same level of cooling and is therefore quieter.

 

For the PSU, I have decided to go with the HX1200 for silent operation. This article confirms what jerubedo was saying, and I've found numerous videos where they show a full system load under 500w doens't have the fan turn on:

 

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/corsair-hx1200i-80-plus-platinum-power-supply-review/6/

 

For the HDD I do like the enterprise level drive, seems pretty cheap too.

 

The article states that the fan didn't turn on until the load exceeded 500w and that the noise level for this unit was "excellent" and below 28db. The temperature at that load level was also below 40C and with a 93-94% efficiency. I've plugged my configuration into 3x PSU calculators and even added an overclock for the CPU and the load never goes beyond 420w. so putting that all together the fan should never turn on no matter what load I put on it in the current configuration.

 

@Stefan Payne and @Jurrunio  did you have anything to say regarding that article? It seems accurate to me but you both do seem pretty knowlegeable about PSUs in general.

 

By the way, I was almost on board for the fanless unit but then someone mentioned that they are far more prone to electrical noise, so that got me off the bandwagon for that.

 

So in the end this is my build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$529.89 @ B&H
CPU Cooler	Corsair - H150i PRO 47.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$139.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 AORUS ULTRA ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$243.05 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$175.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung - 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$247.99 @ B&H
Storage	Western Digital - RE 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$89.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Asus - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB STRIX GAMING Video Card	$319.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design - Define R6 Gunmetal TG ATX Mid Tower Case	$119.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - HX Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$159.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Corsair - ML140 97 CFM 140mm Fans	$35.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2082.85
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$2062.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-13 16:44 EDT-0400

 

[FinalFantasyBros]

9 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

you don't understand me correctly

 

i'm talking this level of passive, but again, that's out of budget

This would be amazing, but not in the budget *sigh*

[Stefan Payne]

12 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

After extensive research I'm going basically with @jerubedo's build with 2 changes:

Yeah, who isn't really into PSU or has a bunch of them lying around at home.

I do have a bunch of PSU. And I've written a couple of User Reviews.

 

But you rather believe the one that shares your fairy tales than the one who actually knows what he's talking about it seems...

 

Well, my time spent here seemed to be pointless spent. YOu don't want to listen, you don't want to learn.

You just believe that something is true for Cars it has to be true for Electronics as well.

 

Quote

For the PSU, I have decided to go with the HX1200 for silent operation.

...wich is total bogus but you don't seem to want to learn and accept that there are lower wattage PSU that are actually quieter. I provided you links.

But you don't even want to accept the facts that there are different quality fans out there., Some fans are high quality - like the Noctua ones and have low to no Motor/Bearing noise.

Others have real loud and annoying tickering.

 

Quote

This article confirms what jerubedo was saying, and I've found numerous videos where they show a full system load under 500w doens't have the fan turn on:

Oh yeah?!
What about this?
https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/cooler-master-v-series-550w-psu-review/6/

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/be-quiet-dark-power-pro-11-550w-review/6/

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/be-quiet-pure-power-10-700w-cm-psu-review/5/

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/fsp-hydro-x-650-power-supply-review/5/

 

I don't see much difference with those PSU towards your 1200W unit.

ANd that you're wrong and its not as you strongly believe.

 

Quote

 

@Stefan Payne and @Jurrunio  did you have anything to say regarding that article? It seems accurate to me but you both do seem pretty knowlegeable about PSUs in general.

 

Yes, there are quiet PSU in every level.

YOu want a quiet PSU.

 

You do not need 1200W.

That's just utter nonsense you want to believe. Not because it is true.

[FinalFantasyBros]

3 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Yeah, who isn't really into PSU or has a bunch of them lying around at home.

I do have a bunch of PSU. And I've written a couple of User Reviews.

 

But you rather believe the one that shares your fairy tales than the one who actually knows what he's talking about it seems...

 

Well, my time spent here seemed to be pointless spent. YOu don't want to listen, you don't want to learn.

You just believe that something is true for Cars it has to be true for Electronics as well.

 

...wich is total bogus but you don't seem to want to learn and accept that there are lower wattage PSU that are actually quieter. I provided you links.

But you don't even want to accept the facts that there are different quality fans out there., Some fans are high quality - like the Noctua ones and have low to no Motor/Bearing noise.

Others have real loud and annoying tickering.

 

Oh yeah?!
What about this?
https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/cooler-master-v-series-550w-psu-review/6/

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/be-quiet-dark-power-pro-11-550w-review/6/

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/be-quiet-pure-power-10-700w-cm-psu-review/5/

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/fsp-hydro-x-650-power-supply-review/5/

 

I don't see much difference with those PSU towards your 1200W unit.

ANd that you're wrong and its not as you strongly believe.

 

Yes, there are quiet PSU in every level.

YOu want a quiet PSU.

 

You do not need 1200W.

That's just utter nonsense you want to believe. Not because it is true.

I've looked at each article you linked.

 

For the first one: 30.5db vs the hx1200 <28db

Second: 31.4db vs <28db

Third: 30db vs <28db

Fourth: THIS one matches. <28db vs <28db BUT the efficiency is less. It's only 92% vs the 93-94% of the HX1200. The temps were also 42C vs 38C

 

So how are any of those better outside of being cheaper????

[LukeSavenije]

12 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

The Fractal Design R6 only lets out 31.4db as opposed to the silent base which lets out 32.5db. Plus in jerubedo's build he replaces all of the fans with even quieter ones, so I'd expect below the quoted 31.4db. The first article also compares the R6 to the silent base 700 as well.

i did the 801 tho...

 

14 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

As for the GPU, a few people have suggested the RTX 2080 or RTX 2060, but in looking at the charts from both jerubedo and stormseeker9, as well as doing my own research, the GPU difference is minimal and everything I'm doing is heavily CPU bound. A few of you gave me dual fan designs as well and from what I've read the tripple fan setup has each fan moving less air to keep the same level of cooling and is therefore quieter.

then keep a 1660ti as a option too, if you can find a good deal on it

 

16 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

For the HDD I do like the enterprise level drive, seems pretty cheap too

fair enough in business use

 

18 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Motherboard Gigabyte - Z390 AORUS ULTRA ATX LGA1151 Motherboard $243.05 @ Newegg

either step up to the master, or down to the pro/elite. this one is in a bit of a weird position

 

19 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Case Fractal Design - Define R6 Gunmetal TG ATX Mid Tower Case $119.99 @ Newegg

is still a great choice tho

 

20 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Storage Samsung - 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive $247.99 @ B&H

p1 is like 100 dollars cheaper, but a little worse

 

 

read again what jonnyguru had to say. he literally is the psu designer at corsair

[FinalFantasyBros]

1 minute ago, LukeSavenije said:

i did the 801 tho...

Whoops, I'll look at that one too then. Too many things going around on this thread.

 

2 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

either step up to the master, or down to the pro/elite. this one is in a bit of a weird position

I saw a video where a reviewer couldn't get his known 4200MHz RAM working stable on the pro board but he got it working on the Ultra. The Elite is even more expensive, so if I did go that route in stepping up what should I cut? Also what are the benefits between the Ultra and the Elite?

 

4 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

p1 is like 100 dollars cheaper, but a little worse

Yeah but I'd still prefer the slightly better performance for my needs.

 

4 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

read again what jonnyguru had to say. he literally is the psu designer at corsair

Of wow, I didn't know any high profile people were on these threads.

[LukeSavenije]

5 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

saw a video where a reviewer couldn't get his known 4200MHz RAM working stable on the pro board but he got it working on the Ultra. The Elite is even more expensive, so if I did go that route in stepping up what should I cut? Also what are the benefits between the Ultra and the Elite?

wait, the ultra is cheaper than the elite? that's weird... the elite should be the cheapest out of the 4

 

i know buildzoid about this, but are you even going to run ram at that speed? i think a pro should be more than enough

7 minutes ago, FinalFantasyBros said:

Of wow, I didn't know any high profile people were on these threads.

stefan is a psu reviewer for 15 years, jonnyguru used to be around the biggest, but got a job at corsair as psu designer (hence he has a industry affiliate rank),  and i and goldenlag are pretty much random nerds.

[FinalFantasyBros]

15 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

i did the 801 tho...

I did try and find a review on the 801 but the only one I found was Guru3D and they didn't do any noise tests