Queitest cooler for i7-7700k

[drhousedk]

Hi,

 

This has probably been asked a plethora of times before (for gaming rigs - which this isn't) - what is the quietest air cooler for an i7-7700k processor? The case is a Fractal Design Define S. The pump in the block of the Coolermaster Seidon 120V v2 kit is apparently annoying to my friend for whom I built the rig, so... Even less noise is wanted.

 

The CPU load is in the low end, and the computer won't be used for gaming at all.

 

Troels

[DoctorZeus]

If pump noise is a problem The quietest cooler would be a heat sink with the fans turned down. 

[musama18117]

How about a giant aluminium heat sink from Noctua?

 

Just remover the fans and boom, silent.

[lettuce head]

realistically, its about the fans on the air cooler and the fan curve applied. if youre not doing anything super intense, there's no reason to get anything more intense than a hyper 212x or 212 evo with a or 2 be quiet pwm fans or noctua fans. and turn the fan curve way down.

[rn8686]

Some low-profile cooler from Noctua like the NH-L9i would be good.  

[SaladFingers]

Water cooling is usually not that quiet unless you go crazy with huge rads and dozens of fans that all run ridiculously low. 

 

Since your friend doesn't game, and usage is expected to be on the low end, have you ever thought about completely passive cooling? You could grab some of BeQuiet's huge heatsinks and run it without a fan  Either way, for silence, I would recommend either BeQuiet or Noctua. 

[dizmo]

Go with a larger Noctua cooler. They come with quality fans and are near dead silent. But really, any cooler rated for your TDP is fine. Then just add quite airflow fans to it. They are, after all, the only thing making noise. Voila. Silent solution. I've never dived into the loudness of fans but I'm sure someone here has, or Google is an excellent research resource.

 

If you're trying to make your computer silent, did you get a graphics card that doesn't spool up to a certain temperature and a silent case?

27 minutes ago, rn8686 said:

Some low-profile cooler from Noctua like the NH-L9i would be good.  

I don't think they're rated for his TDP.

[rn8686]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Go with a larger Noctua cooler. They come with quality fans and are near dead silent. But really, any cooler rated for your TDP is fine. Then just add quite airflow fans to it. Voila. Silent solution. I've never dived into the loudness of fans but I'm sure someone here has, or Google is an excellent research resource.

I don't think they're rated for his TDP.

So it isnt, should have checked, a NH-U14s will do fine though. 

[drhousedk]

I'm running a Noctua NH-D14 in my own rig (i7-6700k). On "factory" setting (without the resistor in line) I found it quite noisy compared to the old box cooler I used to begin with (came from my i7-2600k). Even with the resistor in line, I find it to be only on par with the box cooler. Kind of baffles me.

[Nets]

3 hours ago, drhousedk said:

I'm running a Noctua NH-D14 in my own rig (i7-6700k). On "factory" setting (without the resistor in line) I found it quite noisy compared to the old box cooler I used to begin with (came from my i7-2600k). Even with the resistor in line, I find it to be only on par with the box cooler. Kind of baffles me.

im using nh-d15 i can't hear it on  nzxt h440 and temperatures are awsome

[WoodenMarker]

On 2/24/2017 at 1:59 AM, drhousedk said:

I'm running a Noctua NH-D14 in my own rig (i7-6700k). On "factory" setting (without the resistor in line) I found it quite noisy compared to the old box cooler I used to begin with (came from my i7-2600k). Even with the resistor in line, I find it to be only on par with the box cooler. Kind of baffles me.

There's no factory setting for the cooler. Any control should be coming from where you plug the fans into. 

 

Is your friend oc'ing? Where are you shopping/located? Budget?