Silent build planning

[rohver]

This is not really a build planning but I had some thoughts on silent builds out there. To cut things short, does it really matter if I go the extra mile to pick parts optimized for silence? I'm talking about choosing parts which are little more expensive but have lower noise. For instance, picking up a noctua CPU cooler instead of a Hyper 212, picking up Noctua fans over say, Corsair AF, picking up 0 rpm PSU/GPUs (no load), padded chassis, etc. 

 

From what I think, if you are gaming and your rig is under load, you probably wont notice the "noise" over the game volume anyway. The only time I would need quiet is when I'm browsing, editing, etc. and the non-silence optimized parts do a decent job of cooling, the sound levels at idle are too low to notice.  I dunno, just trying to figure out why is so much important for many. Maybe I'm overlooking something? 

[elkenrod]

Moving parts = Noise

 

Regardless of how much money you spend on them.  Prioritize components that do not have moving parts and/or components that only move when you directly tell them to (controllers).

 

You can build a machine with zero moving parts and game at high resolutions.

[khchewy]

^ what he said

Seasonic builds some really high quality fanless power supplies - though a bit pricey

But one of those can run something like a GTX 970 Strix

That's a good start

[brob]

Most good modern psu use smart fan algorithms. While not all operate fanless at low draws, those that don't are quiet enough to be below ambient in most environments. So one generally gets a quieter psu just by picking a good quality model, something that is desirable in any build.

 

Systems under load can get quite noisy and one can be under load in more than just gaming. Which means that one does not always have other sounds camouflaging fan noise.

 

One of the things that is also annoying is the sometimes frequent increase then decrease in fan generated noise as a system goes under load and then heads back to idle. At least in gaming and rendering noise levels while high, are constant. Good fan profiles help with this problem, but it is often present.

 

Noise characteristics should also be taken into account. Some sounds, regardless of dB level are more irritating than others. When picking fans it is a good idea to check for recordings of various fans/coolers under differing loads.

[TwOne]

Don't forget to prioritize SSDs over HDDs. No moving parts in SSDs, so no noise.

[rohver]

Guys, you're missing the point. I wanna know is worth having the extra cost/dampening worth it if you wont notice it during gaming. 

[khchewy]

Guys, you're missing the point. I wanna know is worth having the extra cost/dampening worth it if you wont notice it during gaming. 

oh

not really

especially if you wear headphones

unless you sleep in the same room as your computer and leave it on overnight

[rohver]

Thats what I was thinking. I think if the ambient noise (or silence, depends on how you look at it) is more than the rig, I think its fine.