Sound Optimization

[Ninety1Nine]

My rig is too loud for my liking and I want to do something about it.

Here are my plans, give your opinion for changes and show me why.

I want a near silent system at idle and a quiet system while playing games (probably about 60% load).

I have a NZXT Phantom 410.

i5 3570k with a H100i

MSI 660ti PE

Everything will be bought through Amazon.com because that is the easiest place for me to buy things right now.

1. I want to fill all the fan mounts except the ones on the side panel and the hard drive cage. I currently have 2 NF-P12 PWMs on my H100i in push and 2 3-pin NF-P12s (purchased wrong ones first) in the front. All the others are stock.

I was considering the NF-S12A PWMs to replace the all but the radiator fans. Why? Noctua claims they are quieter than the NF-P12s and experience has shown the P12s are very quiet.
I wanted to replace the radiator fans with NF-F12 PWMs for more airflow.

If you can prove to me your fan suggestion is better(and not just saying they are), I will consider changing my fan choice. Basicly need something quiet, don't need too much airflow for the case fans. I would also like for them to be PWM.

 

I have the h100i and a ASUS MoBo. Should I used the fan control in the h100i, or use the Fan Xpert software for my motherboard?


2. I want to replace my power supply, as it is the loudest component in my case as of now. (Thermaltake 600W, not even sure if it has a 80+ rating). I need a suggestion for a replacement. I need 3 SATA power for hard drives and 2 for DVD drives, also 2 6-pin connectors for my graphics card.

PSU needs to be:
At least 80+ Silver(as long as it is quiet. Gold+ is preffered)
700W (or enough to run 660ti SLI later)
Semi-Modular with as few cables pre-attached (Fully-Modular preffered)
All black or completely sleeved cables
PSU casing Colored Black (or the gunmetal color of my case)
$100-200US on Amazon
QUIET under load, NEAR-SILENT or silent at idle

I did recently find this: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750G
I like this power supply except the only things I didn't know are How quiet is it? and Does the fan shut off?

3. Something a little simpler. I will put a thin (1/4 inch, maybe less) peice of foam on the inside of the side panel with the window. The plan is for it to cover the entire inside except for a cut-out where the side window is.


4. Later planning on an SSD to replace my noisy mech HDD. I'll look into that more later as I get money saved for it, but I would like something with performance/speed/longevity well balaned with the price.

Basicly I'm just looking for suggestions on other replacement parts or a gold star on the parts I have chosen.

 

Edits(If anyone cares):

Changed intro sligthly.

Added link to Phantom 410

Added details to what I have.

Added more details to: Fans, PSU, 

[WoodenMarker]

How's this?: http://gyazo.com/9e026300ba42a536aa6e6c71931dbd89

 

The seasonic x series has fans that turn off when under 20% and is in silent mode when under 50% load. (It's colors really go well with the gunmetal imo.)

 

The wd caviar red is one of the most quiet hdds (the 3tb one specifically. The 1tb has a flimsier enclosure and can rattle a little bit but the 3tb model should be nearly silent.)

 

The samsung 840 is a great ssd and considering I'm not really sure what your budget is; it is what I came up with. If you have high performance in mind, the pro version is a bit pricier.

[Wulfgar]

NF-F12, Corsair SP120, and Gentle Typhoon fans are all great silent options depending on your color/budget preference. Just make sure to dial them to the correct voltage/pwm% for your optimal noise/thermal equilibrium.

 

I'm glad you said your PSU budget limit is $200, because I present to you one of the finest PSU on the market: the Seasonic 860 Platinum. All the connectors you need, all black and sleeved black cables. The efficiency on this unit is so high that the unit can be switched to hybrid mode which allows to to run without the fan spinning until it gets severely loaded (which probably won't happen). How's about that for silent?

 

Good choice on the SSD. HDD can be quite noisy depending on the rpm...

[Ninety1Nine]

How's this?: http://gyazo.com/9e026300ba42a536aa6e6c71931dbd89

 

The seasonic x series has fans that turn off when under 20% and is in silent mode when under 50% load. (It's colors really go well with the gunmetal imo.)

 

The wd caviar red is one of the most quiet hdds (the 3tb one specifically. The 1tb has a flimsier enclosure and can rattle a little bit but the 3tb model should be nearly silent.)

 

The samsung 840 is a great ssd and considering I'm not really sure what your budget is; it is what I came up with. If you have high performance in mind, the pro version is a bit pricier.

 

@WoodenMarker

I was considering a Seasonic X PSU but was unsure of how it did against a cheaper PSU. Comes with black cables and it's nice and quiet.

 

I had no idea that the 3Tb was better, and I probably would have ended up getting a 1Tb since I don't need a lot of space. Thank you.

 

I'm not sure what my budget for an ssd is yet, but I want a good amount of speed/performance and longevity well balanced with price.

 

 

 

NF-F12, Corsair SP120, and Gentle Typhoon fans are all great silent options depending on your color/budget preference. Just make sure to dial them to the correct voltage/pwm% for your optimal noise/thermal equilibrium.

 

I'm glad you said your PSU budget limit is $200, because I present to you one of the finest PSU on the market: the Seasonic 860 Platinum. All the connectors you need, all black and sleeved black cables. The efficiency on this unit is so high that the unit can be switched to hybrid mode which allows to to run without the fan spinning until it gets severely loaded (which probably won't happen). How's about that for silent?

 

Good choice on the SSD. HDD can be quite noisy depending on the rpm...

 

@Wulfgar

Thanks for the suggestion on the fans.

 

I like the idea and features of the Seasonic Platnium, but the cables that come with it aren't completely black/sleeved. I am running the cables behind the MoBo tray and the one part near the end that would be seen isn't black/sleeved on the included cables.

[Guest]

I won't comment on the fans thing as I haven't used many of Noctuas fans however with your PSU issue, have you considered the Seasonic Fanless? http://www.seasonicusa.com/Platinum_Series_FL2.htm

 

They literally don't have a fan and from all reports are pretty damn good PSU's.