EK Predator 280 + GPU block VS Air. Which is more Silent?

[Otonel88]

Hi guys. I currently have a Fractal R5 hosting a i7 6700k cooled by a Dark Rock Pro 3 and a Msi gaming x 1080, all cooled by three Noctua Noctua Redux NF-P14s, and I was thinking in going to a watecooled system for the CPU and GPU with one of the EK Predator 280 prebuilt kits. I really value silent operation for my system, and wanted your opinion on this: Do you guys think my current system can get more silent by passing from the current air cooled setup to the EK kits. Generally I do value more silence operation over temperatures and overclocking . Thanks

 

[SCHISCHKA]

You won't get silence by changing to a water pump. think about it; you still need those fans but you will also need a pump. Have you tried turning down the fan rpm via bios?

You won't get more silent than a Noctua running below 400rpm at idle. I have no fan on my CPU. Stock GPU. two 140mm fans (only need one but have two just for appearance), and one 120mm. All running at around 350rpm at idle and I max them when reaching 59C which is just below my temp limit on AMD FX. Sometimes I do hear the GPU fan when it switches on so I changed it so its always running. The only way to get it more silent is to go for a fanless celeron mintbox or a modern laptop.

[SmashinMachine]

If you want a silent operation in a Watercooling System, you have to cool the water enough with the lowest RPM. I don't think a 280mm Radiator can cool it enough. You need minimum 2x280mm Radiator

 

There is a formel 

more(bigger) Radiators+low rpm fan=Silent

one Radiator+high rpm fan=noisier than the AIR Cooling

 

 

Temperature=more(bigger) Radiators+low rpm fan=one Radiator+high rpm fan

 

[Otonel88]

So I see people are leaning towards air for silent operations. The I think I will stay with my current system, instead of investing in a water-cooling loop.

[SeanAngelo]

5 minutes ago, Otonel88 said:

So I see people are leaning towards air for silent operations. The I think I will stay with my current system, instead of investing in a water-cooling loop.

the air cooling config you got now will be quieter than getting a watercooling loop.

[atomicus]

1 hour ago, SmashinMachine said:

If you want a silent operation in a Watercooling System, you have to cool the water enough with the lowest RPM. I don't think a 280mm Radiator can cool it enough. You need minimum 2x280mm Radiator

 

There is a formel 

more(bigger) Radiators+low rpm fan=Silent

one Radiator+high rpm fan=noisier than the AIR Cooling

 

 

Temperature=more(bigger) Radiators+low rpm fan=one Radiator+high rpm fan

 

 

What he said. 

 

For GPU+CPU, a single 280mm won't be enough for silence, not a chance! You'll need two at a minimum, and fan selection is crucial.

[Curufinwe_wins]

3 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

You won't get silence by changing to a water pump. think about it; you still need those fans but you will also need a pump. Have you tried turning down the fan rpm via bios?

You won't get more silent than a Noctua running below 400rpm at idle. I have no fan on my CPU. Stock GPU. two 140mm fans (only need one but have two just for appearance), and one 120mm. All running at around 350rpm at idle and I max them when reaching 59C which is just below my temp limit on AMD FX. Sometimes I do hear the GPU fan when it switches on so I changed it so its always running. The only way to get it more silent is to go for a fanless celeron mintbox or a modern laptop.

Except you can get just as quiet or better at idle (I run at 200 rpm/off) and you don't ever need to exceed 500-600 rpm even under load (if you are willing to take air cooling temps).

 

Clearly far more quiet. Also good pumps like the d5 properly isolated and/or the predator ones are extremely quiet below 3000 rpm (and that is very high).

1 hour ago, atomicus said:

 

What he said. 

 

For GPU+CPU, a single 280mm won't be enough for silence, not a chance! You'll need two at a minimum, and fan selection is crucial.

No matter what you buy, fan selection is a huge deal. In general, I wouldn't recommend mixing loops because cpu temps really suffer, but with a single 1080 you can definitely do it on a single standard thickness 280 if you are ok with middling air cooling temps. I have two 980tis and a 5820k running silent on a thin 420 and a 280, and one 980ti puts out more heat than his entire loop would.