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Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:41 pm
by gtac01
I'm building a new system and it will include a 7970 for gaming so I am looking for an adequate quiet case. From what i've read there are cases like the cooler master silencio, nanoxia deep silence (cannot find in the US), and a bunch of mods to non-silent cases.

I'm looking for something quiet out of the box with zero to minor mods required, and I am willing to purchase noctuas (or whatever quiet fans) if necessary. I am also going 100% air with a noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler for my 4670k.

What are my options as far as US-available, and mostly quiet out-of-the-box options with not much modding?

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:57 am
by CA_Steve
Hi and welcome to SPCR. An i5-4670K plus HD 7970 build will consume ~380W under stressed load (assuming no overclocking/overvolting). So, you'll want a quiet case that also has decent airflow. For an ATX mobo, the Fractal Define S4 gets a lot of play here. About the only "modding" you'd have to do is a little fan-fu and maybe remove the drive cages you don't need for better airflow. Use the included fan controller to slow the existing case fans and perhaps add a couple more slow rpm fans. There's also the Corsair 550D. Same story with the fans.

The HD 7970 has the potential to be the loudest component. So be sure to get one with an aftermarket cooler, like the Asus Matrix.

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:27 am
by Abula
I would consider for a mid tower,

Fractal Design Define R4 $99 - R4 hasnt been reviewed by SPCR, but the gen before, Fractal Design Define R3 ATX Tower
Really nice design, good cable management, good quality, the pannels are very solid with bitumen on the sides for noise dampening, but to me the top and bottom are a little flimsy. It uses 140mm fans and can fit 170mm cooler in height, so there is a lot of possibilities.

Corsair Obsidian Series 550D $120 - Reviewed by SPCR Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Case
Very well design cases, very nice magnetifc firlters, and modular windows for you to decide if you want more airflow or quiet... etc. There is a new purposal coming from Corsair, Corsair Carbide Series 330R cheaper that might be worth looking, i believe has 140mm fan support for the front but 120 on the back.

Antec Solo II $80 - Reviewed by SPCR Antec Solo II: The Legacy Lives On
Its streght over the other two imo is the hdd suspension mechanism, it should help some with hdd noise. It also can fit extra long gpus, as long as you use a motherboard that has the 16X PCIe on the second slot (the frist one will be in line of the cage). It construcion is very solid as most antec cases are, the doors have a noise dampening solid polimer/plastic that works well.

But cases in my experience matters very little, its nice to have at the end, but the most improtant thing is to chose quiet compoenents, so seconding CA_Steve suggestion, search for quiet 7970, or if you already own it, i would go with Artic Cooling Acelero 7970.

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:02 am
by gtac01
I just got the Fractal R4 from newegg for $64.99 shipped using "WALLET" coupon code from their mobile site for those interested. I can't wait to check it out. Thanks!

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:23 am
by Abula
gtac01 wrote:I just got the Fractal R4 from newegg for $64.99 shipped using "WALLET" coupon code from their mobile site for those interested. I can't wait to check it out. Thanks!
Nice find, really good price at $65. Remember to chose quiet components, the case wont do miracles, specially on the GPU/HDD/Fans, btw whats the rest of parts you planning on the build?

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:37 am
by gtac01
Abula wrote:
gtac01 wrote:I just got the Fractal R4 from newegg for $64.99 shipped using "WALLET" coupon code from their mobile site for those interested. I can't wait to check it out. Thanks!
Nice find, really good price at $65. Remember to chose quiet components, the case wont do miracles, specially on the GPU/HDD/Fans, btw whats the rest of parts you planning on the build?

I got 2 of these for $95 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820148655 . Hope 1.3v means they also run cool.
Just got the NH-D14 from NCIX for $70, weekly deal right now. I've seen people add a 3rd noctua to it, any pros/cons to this?
Sapphire OC vapor-x 7970 with 5 games for ~$300 about a month ago from newegg. This will be the loudest as you guys pointed out, will try it then evluate and maybe look into getting that arctic cooler.
I'm going to use my current 256gb tanscend SSD and 2TB 7200rpm hdd. Hdd is rarely accessed, so no noise.
4670k/Asrock Extreme6 deal from newegg for about $320. I will OC this until too loud/hot/unstable.
Fractal R4 $65 of course. How are the fans in this? Would it be recommended to switch them for Noctuas? If i were to get 1 more noctua, where should I place it without adding any/minimal noise?

Dell 1440p u2711 I got for $500 is what i'm trying to power, so I will be OCing the 7970 like the CPU until too hot etc. I think i can take some noise while playing due to the game being louder than any component usually, and I also place the PC under me and to the left. It should still be quiet during idle which is the important part for me to be able to sleep. I'm willing to run it on the hot side, we'll see.

My last piece is the PSU, and I need your help on that. I came across this 750w PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... kii%20750w which has good reviews saying it is silent. I also hope the fact that 750w is overkill to help with heat.

My current ghetto-silent PC is actually a full tower from 2006 with a QX6700 OCed (like 150w TDP stock lol) and an OCed 6850. I've basically taken the side cover off and all the fans except the huge CPU heatsink with a noctua in it. It runs hot, it's not pretty but it's stable and it's silent and it has spoiled me. Although i'm going the proper and pretty route this time, i'm not afraid to push the envelope to get what I want haha.

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:59 am
by edh
Going overkill with the PSU won't necessarily help make things cooler. The efficiency losses of modern PSUs don't vary so much with load so oversizing PSU by this amount will have no useful effect and is throwing money away.

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:06 am
by gtac01
edh wrote:Going overkill with the PSU won't necessarily help make things cooler. The efficiency losses of modern PSUs don't vary so much with load so oversizing PSU by this amount will have no useful effect and is throwing money away.
I "might" be thinking of CFX in the future if amd fixes microstutter with the drivers due july 31st

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:14 am
by CA_Steve
The good news is the z87 Asrock boards have what looks to be decent fan control now. I think this is the year that all the other vendors try to catch up to Asus.

Adding a third fan to the Noctua cooler. Unless you plan to overvolt like crazy, I don't see a big benefit.

gpu: yeah, try it as is...the one review I could find for it with noise testing shows it to run cool...but loud at load.

case fans: Don't expect perfection though purchases before you build - expect to do some fan-fu. Try the existing ones with the fan controller. You can always replace them. I'd add a second front fan and maybe a bottom intake as well.

psu: looks ok for an older design. How much are you planning to overclock/overvolt?

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:21 am
by gtac01
CA_Steve wrote:The good news is the z87 Asrock boards have what looks to be decent fan control now. I think this is the year that all the other vendors try to catch up to Asus.

Adding a third fan to the Noctua cooler. Unless you plan to overvolt like crazy, I don't see a big benefit.

gpu: yeah, try it as is...the one review I could find for it with noise testing shows it to run cool...but loud at load.

case fans: Don't expect perfection though purchases before you build - expect to do some fan-fu. Try the existing ones with the fan controller. You can always replace them. I'd add a second front fan and maybe a bottom intake as well.

psu: looks ok for an older design. How much are you planning to overclock/overvolt?

Im planning to push as far as I can maybe up to 1.3v on 4670k if i can get ~4.5ghz and looking for 1100/1500 on the sapphire which seems to be doable by many.

What PSU would be better than the one I posted?

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:59 am
by CA_Steve
Ok, this will wander a bit...

If you can get to 1.3V and 4.5GHz...and it's a crapshoot with Haswell...you will add ~70W to the CPU's power envelope. So, 155W at stressed load. Power is proportional to voltage squared x frequency. Stock load voltage is around 1.1V.

Taking another look at the GPU...seems like while the TDP is 250W, most reviews are finding the GHz cards to run around 220W. Call it 250W for the OC'd card...

So, that raises the stressed power estimate to ~455W. However, [H] reports 400W at the wall with an OC'ed i5-2500K while gaming..so, there's the reality vs estimates using a Sandy Bridge CPU. 400W at the wall means ~350W DC with the PSU they used.

That said, if you are thinking of adding a second gfx card into this mix.....your stressed load power estimate is 700W..maybe 750W. Probable gaming load in the 600-700W range. Looking around for Crossfire reviews...http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS ... re/22.html]Techpowerup saw 525W peak power at the wall ( or ~478W DC) with the stock sub-GHz cards and an OC'd i7-920 and a gold rated PSU. Figure two OC'ed Gfx cards adds another 100W DC. Call it 580W DC.

So, PSU recommendation...Get a PSU with Gold efficiency - or Platinum to cut down on PSU waste heat...and will provide lower rpm fan profiles. If you know you are going crossfire and plan to overclock/overvolt everything, realize that the gfx card fans will be the noisiest thing in the case. Figure on getting a 750W PSU if you don't mind it's fan revving up. Get a 850W PSU if it bothers you more. Kingwin LZP-750 or 850 come to mind. Passive at idle/low load, quiet at 3D loads.

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:06 am
by Abula
For a single GPU, there is a nice sale going on, SeaSonic X Series X650 $115 - $15 MIR - $20 Cupon = $80 for a Gold rated, semi passive PSU that will only turn the fan when needed.
I've seen people add a 3rd noctua to it, any pros/cons to this?
Personally i dont think there is a huge gain specially since it ends fan to fan with the back one. But this is a hobby so you could test with n without and you decide if you can get more mhz out of it without more noise...
How are the fans in this? Would it be recommended to switch them for Noctuas? If i were to get 1 more noctua, where should I place it without adding any/minimal noise?
The fans are pretty decent, at 7v they are quiet this is how i would run them, but they wont move tons of air. But remember will also depend on the placement and your ambient noise, you might be fine running them at 1000rpm... or you might want to use the fan controller, in noise as in audio everything is relative to the user. My only advice here is to move the included back case fan to the front and get another fan for the back, remember these are 140mm fans. SPCR just did a couple of 140mm fan roundups, so check them out before buying,

First 140 mm Fan Roundup: Noctua, Phanteks, Xigmatek
Second 140 mm Fan Roundup: Antec, bequiet!, Corsair, Scythe

Re: Looking for a quiet case for gaming with a 7970

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:54 am
by gtac01
I ended up going with the MK III which dropped $10 overnight and I made another newegg account to use the $15 coupon code again so $95 AR for a silent gold 750w. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 38566&SID= . Reviews say the fan doesn't even turn on while on idle.

I believe this was my last part so now I will run the system as is and fine tune from there as needed. Thanks for all the help.