Best case/fans setup in terms of acoustic for performance

[lb_felipe]

I was thinking something like:

ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (silent and probably coil whine free)
Silverstone FT05 (looks nice, sound absorption, dust free due to positive pressure stuffs etc)
Scythe Kotetsu (SPCR king)
Corsair HX1000i (the 1000W version very much because its range of fanless operation, and the HXi series because a supposed coil whine free operation)
2 x Phanteks 140SP (same level SPCR acoustics king Noctua P14) to replace the stock AP181 fans

Abula said me the streight for FT05 is 180x32mm fans. As I don't want the AP181 because its poor acoustics (click/buzz etc), and I don't want knobs/switches as unusable freak garnish, I think Fortress or even Raven is not for me.

So, What do I want?

[MikeC]

So what do you think the total max TDP of your system will be? How many HDDs? Do you have a size requirement? Presumably if you're going for a GTX 980, you will accept something like 30 dBA@1m full load? (This is techpowerup's measurement of the MSI 980, 10 dB above the room ambient, with an industry standard Bruel & Kjaer SLM, so reasonably trustworthy.) This suggests a less powerful PSU that's fanless at lower loads would be fine, since the graphics card fan will drown out anything else in the system at load. With the ~210W max of the GTX980, add max 100W CPU TDP (assuming a oc'd 1150 CPU) and perhaps 50W for the rest, you're really looking at 350W max for the system. 1kw is total overkill & you will end up with pretty poor efficiency at typical load.

[Abula]

One important thing that you do need to ask yourself is what will i be doing with it, playing games at what res? even a GTX750ti can handle 1080p, gpus like 780/970/980 imo are more meant for 1440 gaming or benching. Personally i think the upcoming gtx960 should be a very good option for 1080p gaming, even hard games, i feel its going to be the sweetspot, but too bad nvidia delayed the release to January so it doesn't cannibalized the GTX970.

The knobs or switches on the fortress in theory are built in the line of the fan, so its not like the the usual fan controllers, this are more like switches on the fan that were extended to the case, so its not the same case as the R4, where its a elementary fan controller that takes the power from the PSU molex and sends the undervolted signal to the fan via the fan controller. While its not totally different, in the case of the R4 you can swap fan and still use the controller, on the Silvertstone, you lose the fan you lose the switch, that if you are not into modding and do some splicing and soldering.

In terms of the best fans, i would recommend you to stay on 120mm, there are a vast amount of options, and a ton tested from SPCR, fans like Scythe Gentle Typhoon, Glidestream/Slipstream, Noiseblocker M12 S1/2, Noctua NF-S12A are really good fans, probably among the best tonally, even over 140s and 180s and 200mm, that said, but a bigger diameter fan will also push more air with less rpms (among other things). I personally have accepted the tradeoffs when i went with the R4, i wanted total control on PWM, i was fed up with issues with Asus issues, from soundcard pops, usb issues, and AI Suite has a very wierd way of measureing temps, that according to Asus is intentional, and they use their own algorithm to perdict a much more accurate CPU temp, that it will not match anything from another probe.... this is when i decided to dump asus and move to MSI, out of not having fanXpert2 i decided to go full PWM and thu the reason i ended with NF-A14PWM.

Now in theory there are two ways to achieve a quiet PC, either you don't produce the noise or you try to enclose it or mitigate it. Both aspects are mutually exclusive, but end up in the same path at the end. A more closed and dampened case, will be restrictive on airflow thus needing more rpms to equal the cooling, but the gain is noise isnt as freely let out, now a case more open will require less rpms as it will not be as restricted and thus you can have one of the noisiest components of today... fans, at much lower rpms thus ending with a quieter PC.... again both are very different approaches that can end up very similar. But its best to chose components that are quiet and later on decide whatever case you feel its better for your cooling needs.

Now about components you are considering,

ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (silent and probably coil whine free)

Asus tens to market their GPUs as coil free, and while i havent seen any newegg/amazon users reviews say anything different.... its not out of the subject. Check the following video, and while its not clear its asus gpus, as she is still trouble shooting, its just a mention for you to consider, Semi-Passive Gaming Build – GTX 980 970 780 Strix, i7 4790K, Noctua NH-D15, Corsair 730T, ROG Hero

Silverstone FT05 (looks nice, sound absorption, dust free due to positive pressure stuffs etc)

Here its up to you, and while cases do impact somewhat what gets out, in my experience it can be done with open cases as well, more importantly is to chose properly the other components to not be huge generators of noise. Personally i like the design from the FT02, although once you have fans it matters very little the orientation of the components, but for a semi passive setup might be worth it, specially if the PSU is semi passive and so is the GPU. But on the FT05 real gain more than the orientation is the 180mm fans, which are massive and at full rpms they cool like no other at the expense of noise, lowering them at sub 500rpms place them into a decent quiet setup, not silent but quiet, there are alternatives like AP182 that can be dropped off even further, but at expense of having it undervolted with the knob and with the motherboard aswell, here Asus or MSI should do it fine. Personally i wouldnt consider the FT05 for 140mm fans, for that i would go with another case, if you want open Corsair Air 540 would be my pick, or a more closed Fractal Desing Define R4. If you are interested on staying with 120mm fans, then consider NZXT 440 or Nanoxia DS1.

Scythe Kotetsu (SPCR king)

Not much to say, its the king atm for price and performance.

Corsair HX1000i (the 1000W version very much because its range of fanless operation, and the HXi series because a supposed coil whine free operation)

1000W is not even needed for a quad sli, a HX750i would be more than enough for a even a quad sli, really the new gen is very efficient, i would stay in the range of 750W just to have more options for the future, but 1000W imo is overdoing it to the extreme. Check Hardware.info Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 SLI / 3-way SLI / 4-way SLI review. If your goal is a single GPU, drop to 500W-600W at the most, and you easily could power it with 450W, but we dont know how will future gen might be, so safer imo 500-600. A PSU like Kingwin LZP 550 would be my pick, reviewed and recommened by SPCR, should do fine with the GTX980.

2 x Phanteks 140SP (same level SPCR acoustics king Noctua P14) to replace the stock AP181 fans

I would go with the phanteks on an R4, but not on ft05.

[lb_felipe]

Mike,

eXtreme PSU Calculator:

Minimum PSU Wattage: 548 W
Recommended: 598 W

I set 20% for capacitor aging.

I know, they overestimate the consume but...

0 (zero) HDDs. I am thinking HDDs or internal mass sotorage is pointless nowadays. Cloud sotorage or even external NAS storage is the route, in addition to reduce noise on or under the desk. Desktop HDDs is death.

About GTX 980... I guess TPU is very inaccurate since they don't have controlled chamber. They are very good to have an idea about a noise component, but do not suppose that the measures in dBA are well above the read for you. I pursuit a impossible stuff: silent with performance.

I really don't mind about efficience. Being 50%+ I think it already is good. What I mind is acoustic comfort!!

My concern is waste of money on PSU when the other component kill the silent, like the video card fans, case fans, coils whining, etc.

Abula,

I wish play on ASUS PG278Q. There are 2560x1440x144Hz! Of course, as it is Gsync, we always down the refresh rates without bothering with it, but with Gsync turned off, ULMB 120Hz or 144Hz, it is a GPU challenge. By my researchs, GTX 980 is the way for me.

I really don't want things to control fan on the case. I thought those ones on FT05 could be used with 3rd fan and motherboard at same time, but I see they couldn't thus it is the same issue with R4. I always want to control speed fans on the motherboard even whether it is to keep fixed speed.

The concept of NZXT H440 is almost perfect to me, but that windows, those water cooling supports and those HDDs bay annoy me.

Gentle Typhoon and Glide Stream are end of life.

I am still reading your post and the Mike's too. I am translating to portuguese... Sorry, for my slowness.

already, thank you very much.

Soon I continue.

[Abula]

I really don't want things to control fan on the case. I thought those ones on FT05 could be used with 3rd fan and motherboard at same time, but I see they couldn't thus it is the same issue with R4. I always want to control speed fans on the motherboard even whether it is to keep fixed speed.

The AP181 and AP182, the knob or switch acts like a limiter, think about them like if you have a car, where you have 1st gear, 2nd gear and so on.... on the AP182 what the knob do is limit their min and max rpms, but you can still control them with the motherboard, for example on the ap182 with the knob dialed down i coudl still control it from 200-700rpms with the motherboard, bios in the case of MSI or FanXpert2 in case of the Asus, fans were connected to CHA_FAn or SYS_Fan headers. The reality is that knob is very useful, think of it as having multiple fans on one, as you can have a 200-700rpms or a 1000-2000rpms with just moving a knob, the trick is just to find the right range for you, and then never touch it again, and just have the motherboard increase or decrease the rpms based on the temperature of cpu.

In the case of the AP181 (the included fans), i would always use the switch on low always (never touch it again), it still gives you 400-900rpm that its more than enough, its controllable by the Asus and MSI motherborads connected to the 3pin fan headers (sys_fan for MSI or cha_fan for asus).

[MikeC]

OK, 600W sounds not unreasonable. The quietest PSU might be the bequiet! straight power 10 600W. I know these guys, most (all?) their stuff is Seasonic made, and with this model, the SPL at 50% load is <12 dBA. You could also go with any of the 5~700W Seasonic Gold/Plat.

We have a H440 sample here; not recommended for a gaming rig -- don't think the airflow is good enough, vents too small/blocked, not enough of them. I want to like the design, there's lots of good things, but NZXT consistently errs with the "silent" cases by not providing enough venting.

The Fractal is probably as good as any, ditto the FT05. They're both good enough that it's what you do with them -- the details -- that will matter more.

BTW, if you're not contemplating a dual graphics card system, consider mATX so you can try a Corsair Air 240. http://www.corsair.com/en-ca/carbide-se ... tx-pc-case We just got a sample of this case, and I have to say I have not been so impressed with the design & execution of a case in years. I'm itching to build something in this asap. About the only downsides...

1. ~120mm max height for air CPU cooler, but there's lots of great downblow HS choices anyway.
2. Big footprint on your desk, because you don't want it on the floor. An issue if your desktop gets out of control as much as mine does.
3. #2 leads to this -- being on the desk, it will be closer to you than if it's on the floor deside or under your desk where the desk -- and the distance -- help to reduce the noise.

[quest_for_silence]

Mike,

eXtreme PSU Calculator:

Minimum PSU Wattage: 548 W
Recommended: 598 W

I set 20% for capacitor aging.

I know, they overestimate the consume but...

But that's just bullshit, don't let they foolish you about, you won't ever need more than 300W.

you can try a Corsair Air 240. http://www.corsair.com/en-ca/carbide-se ... tx-pc-case We just got a sample of this case, and I have to say I have not been so impressed with the design & execution of a case in years. I'm itching to build something in this asap.

Really? The few reviews with thermal findings (a couple) about that enclosure talk about a not excellent cooling prowess: are you findings radically different?

[MikeC]

you can try a Corsair Air 240. http://www.corsair.com/en-ca/carbide-se ... tx-pc-case We just got a sample of this case, and I have to say I have not been so impressed with the design & execution of a case in years. I'm itching to build something in this asap.

Really? The few reviews with thermal findings (a couple) about that enclosure talk about a not excellent cooling prowess: are you findings radically different?

Haven't had time to do anything with it yet, but the overall design has very clever use of space & airflow potential in a total volume no bigger than a typical mATX case. For a single GPU gaming system it looks very promising.

Which review do you refer to?

[lb_felipe]

I'm doing a double reading of posts in order not to leave any valuable information you. Thank you very much Mike, Abula and Luca.

Abula, I'll ponder everything that you said.

Mike, according TPU, Corsair HXi is very quiet. Do you guess bequiet! straight power 10 600W is quieter than that? Here in Brazil, bequiet is absent while Corsair is easy to find.

HX750i 0 rpm till 375W +. HX1000i, till 500W+

750
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... t&reid=392

1000
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... t&reid=394

HX1000i 400W 0 rpm
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cors ... 00i/6.html

From Corsair's site:

"But that’s not all. It’s quieter than most PSUs when the fan’s not spinning, too. The HXi is built with capacitors and other internal components specially selected to reduce coil whine and other electronic noise"

Abula, sorry. I think I wasn't clear. The point is not to use the Silverstone fans. According Mike, Lawrence and SPCR guys, those fans are noisy or not acoustic pleasant. I will want others whatever fans that they are almost perfect acoustic.

I really think it is possible a very high performance PC that will be almost silent.

Luca, I'm thinking of HX750i and straight power 10 600W now.

BS?

I chose i7-5820K @ 4GHz and 1.4V, 16GB DDR4, GTX 980, 14 USB, 7 fans, 20% capacitor aging, etc.

By the way, depending on the noise in load, a ~750W PSU is appropriate, but the 1000W because its 0 rpm range make me dream.

Abula, I need to read your review about AP182. Also I worry about 90 degrees orientation and the effect on the heatpipes.

Mike, I loved the concept and the desig air240. I already aimed it, but I guess the larger video card's heatsink won't fit inside it.

For me, an almost perfect design is the NZXT S340. I just don't like top fans and side window. I miss filters, quality and positive pressure too. Another sexy case for me is the Phanteks EVOLV. No HDD bay, no ODD bay. It's nice.

[Abula]

Also I worry about 90 degrees orientation and the effect on the heatpipes.

Thats a fair worry, there are some heatsinks that might get affected, weather its for the good or bad, idk. But in all fairness, i always see great comments about the FT02 and that still remains as the best air cooling case in the market, even SPCR gave it the editors choice back then. Personally i could care less about the 90 rotation, specially once you have fans pulling air in and out, there convection rule that hot air rises matters very little, personally what i like about the 90 rotation is the heavy gpus will not strain that much the pci slots, and probably will not bend at all, i wished in the past of using coolers like prolimatech mk26, but never really went that way out of seeing the bending produce by it, but on a case like FT05 would be great (as long as the height fits, considering the limitation of the 162mm that silverstone rates). Overall i wouldnt worry too much though, else we would have seen a lot of FT02 users complaining, and its backwards, where owners still cant find anything better to upgrade after years of testing new stuff.

Personally im not sure what im doing yet, while im very excited about the FT05, there are things that i dislike, for example Silverstone removing the AP182, this is not a big deal i already bought two that are stored, but they change the top IO, so i cant place the knobs that easily, either im going to have to mod it or leave the knobs inside the case, with the cable management of the case not being its biggest strength... i wish not to do the knobs inside... but i dont think it will be a huge deal either. That said, i have a bigger problem that i need to address before moving toward the FT05, and its not related to cases but to my motherboard, the realtek 1150 and my combo of amplifier (Emotiva UPA5) and speakers (JBL NSP1 + PSA XS15SE), have a electrical noise when ever i click an icon or open a program, this is present in 3 different motherbords (MSI and Asus), so it seems more a realtek flaw than the motherboards, this might not apparent on low end computer speakers, but on mine gets really annoying, to the point that i bought an Omega eClaro to fix this issue, and i been very happy with it, superb sound, no noises or hiss, drivers seem solid. Now going SLI.... the card would be ideal on the 1st pcie slot, just i have the problem of the design of the card has a really big capacitor right next to where the gpu latch is placed, not allowing the card to go in. So when i move to SLI and this is the main reason i want to go into FT05, is that i will need another sound card.... creative is coming with their top end of the line in December, X7, but who knows if its going to work... the R4 has an alternative though, not one that i like but it could be functional, it has an extra pcie side ways, i would need a pcie 1x extension... but i seen some, wont be pretty but out of my alternatives.... its a possibility.

So there you have it, that my reason for not buying yet the FT05, but still im burning inside into doing it..... and ill probably will not resist and end up buying it, i just gotta wait some to see how creative X7 turns out.

Abula, sorry. I think I wasn't clear. The point is not to use the Silverstone fans. According Mike, Lawrence and SPCR guys, those fans are noisy or not acoustic pleasant. I will want others whatever fans that they are almost perfect acoustic.

If you read the TJ08-E review you will find comments like,

The Temjin TJ08-E ships with a single 18 cm 3-pin Air Penetrator fan with the model number "S1803212HN-3M" which is the same fan included with the Sugo SG07. It has a top speed of ~1200 RPM and a power rating of 0.45 amps (5.4W). Its acoustic character is reasonably good with a smooth profile at lower speeds. It also has a slight hum that becomes more pronounced at medium speed but is drowned out by air turbulence at higher speeds.

Powered by a full 12V, the low speed setting is disappointing, measuring an unacceptable 27 dBA@1m (equivalent to 7V at the high speed setting). We recommend using the low setting combined with some kind of voltage control, either via your motherboard or a dedicated fan control device. 9V~10V is a good starting range depending on the other components in the system.

The fan itself is not bad, not the best either, but the trick is to lower it enough, from my living with the TJ08-E for couple of years, dropping it to 420rpms its pretty decent, its not silent, but its a small wosh, weather this is good enough for your, it will also depend on your ambient and your other components, either way you are getting high end stuff, and you are overclocking, so you will need good airflow.

Now if you read also the review of the FT04 (which has the AP182 from stock),

The main noise source within the FT04 are its two high speed 3-pin 18 cm fans. They're rated for 2,000 RPM which is really fast for any size fan, let alone 18 cm monsters. Thankfully, each fan is connected to its own dedicated fan controller.

Our CrossFireX HD 4870 configuration assembled and running idle measured just 22 dBA@1m with the system fans disabled. Turning the system fans on to the lowest controllable speed of 500 RPM added only 1~2 dB on top of that.

You can still drop the fan even further than 500rpms with a motherboard like Asus or MSI like i linked you, but again it depends on what you want and how much cooling you will need.

@Mike, nice that you have FT05 in house, i have been tracking reviews and been waiting on SPCR, and in most have been doing good, but there have been some user comments about some minor things not being up to what silverstone has traditionally been qaulity wise, so maybe you guys can do a very thorough inspection of the case. Also maybe you guys can run FanXpert on the AP181, to see if they are still the same design as they were on the TJ08-E, im really interested into how low they can drop.

[quest_for_silence]

Which review do you refer to?

I was referring to bit-tech.net and techgage.com: those ones let me think that a) it shouldn't offer any definitive advantage over established designs, cooling-wise (like, for instance, the BitFenix Prodigy M); b) it should be more versed into liquid cooling.

Luca, I'm thinking of HX750i and straight power 10 600W now.

BS?

Any HXi is an higher quality unit than any Straight Power E10, but I can't compare their sound qualities, as they should be very close and I haven't owned them.
Noise-wise I would expect they both are two excellent picks.
If available there, another possible, probably less expensive alternative is the eVGA SuperNOVA G2 750W, which offer a longer warranty also (10 years).
Anyway, given the expected power draw, probably I would consider also a passive unit, whether you have a known, reliable local supplier.

[MikeC]

Which review do you refer to?

I was referring to bit-tech.net and techgage.com: those ones let me think that a) it shouldn't offer any definitive advantage over established designs, cooling-wise (like, for instance, the BitFenix Prodigy M); b) it should be more versed into liquid cooling.

Undoubtedly, the 240 is WC & gaming oriented, and definitely not designed w/ the lowest noise in mind, but I don't see where those reviews question the cooling; it's just a matter of picking the optimal cooling components for the case. Because of its 124mm cooler height limit, most reviews were not using their standard test cooler; hence higher CPU temps -- but CPU cooling really isn't the challenge any more, it's always the video card that's the real challenge for quiet cooling. I would not recommend it for dual vid cards, but it'd work great w/a single card with either a top end aftermarket cooler w/ intake fan(s) on the bottom or something like the Kraken X41 w/ NZXT's vidcard adapter. The resulting noise AT FULL LOAD would challenge any system... though at idle, you're not going to get much lower than maybe 20 dBA due to the residual noise of the pump & multiple fans. I know I'd end up replacing the Corsair fans if I was looking for the the best sonic signature -- they have a buzzy tendency the best don't have -- and that might shave a dB or two at idle. (FYI, I did some initial testing with the Air 240 yesterday -- with all 3 stock fans: 12V-33 dBA, 9V-28 dBA, 7V 24 dBA, 5V - 18 dBA. That slightly buzzy quality is there close up, which might be an issue on the desktop where this case has to live.)

Luca, I'm thinking of HX750i and straight power 10 600W now.

Actually there are so many PSUs that are quiet <300W where you'll be >90% of the time with that system that this really isn't critical. Choose from what's available to you locally, for sure.

re - the FT05: Not sure when we'll get to the review, but my advice to you Abula is go for it, you know you'll have to try it anyway. lol! The reason we haven't got to the review yet is that we've been working overtime for a month to prepare a multi-article series on *Silent Gaming PC Build Guides*. (Hence my interest in the Air 240 ) I wasn't going to give this away before the first article launched... but the first batch will most likely cover 6 builds: A high end & a mid-level build in ATX, mATX and mITX. As usual we will build and fully test every system, it won't be the shopping list that other sites describe as "build guides". This will become an ongoing series updated periodically as next gen components come along. We've been seeing the interest in quiet/silent gaming for a while; just took a while for us to wrap our heads around the challenge of quieting >500W systems. And yes WC is definitely in the lineup. Procuring & then managing the sheer volume and # of new product samples for this project has been challenging. We weren't able to get all the products samples we want & still, not all the new samples will go in the systems, of course; we have to experiment to determine the best combinations, etc. Lotsa work & very little time as our target for all these articles in by the end of Nov. US Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day in the US.

[quest_for_silence]

I don't see where those reviews question the cooling

Set aside the GPU crashed during techgage tests, but to be precise I said "a not excellent cooling prowess".

So, broadly speaking I don't need that a reviewer explicitly tell me there's an issue: there are the figures which speak by themselves, and about figures I found more odd that according techgage CPU temp were surprisingly good, while according to bit-tech that CPU temp were just mediocre.

Techgage data seemed useful to me to assess that Corsair marketing claim about the relocable feet as probably groundless, because the system seem to need lying upon the PSU chamber to work properly, GPU-cooling-wise. Comparative data on from bit-tech look more interesting: apparently the Obsidian 250D did better than the larger Carbide 240, with a similar design (a left to right airflow). Even the Bitfenix Phenom did better, CPU-wise: the Phenom which has a radically opposite design, without any serious intake anywhere. Do you remember what you said about the Phenom? "The lack of ventilation is appalling", but while that could be acceptable with a solid front design, it seemed a bit odd to me that with seven inlets and three fans the Carbide trails the Phenom in CPU cooling prowess. Other designs did noticeably better, like the tiny (14lt) Silverstone RVZ01/ML08/FTZ01/ML07, the proven and similarly sized Prodigy and Node 304, the recent Silverstone SG09/SG10, and even some comparatively very cheap and a tad larger towers like Antec One (44lt) or NZXT Source 210 (42lt). Not to mention the large number of designs which mixed against the Carbide: there's plenty of option (the classic Silverstone SG08, the stylish InWin 901, the odd Lian Li V358, the not odd Lian Li V360 which has same volume while being a tower, the cheaper CM Elites 120/130, the Antec ISK600...).
Summarizing, what's the strongest selling point of that 33lt design? It hasn't such a small footprint, it isn't a very cool environment, it isn't silent, it isn't particularly cheap, it isn't made of durable metal, it isn't really that flexible... maybe the aesthetics?

To be fair, up to now every iteration of that "fashion" looks like disappointing to me, cooling wise (I mean all those various "big cubes" Deepcool Steam Castle/Aerocool Dead Silence/Xigmatek Aquila, the newest FD Node 804, that Corsair Carbide 240, or the close sibling Obsidian 250).
Whether you take into account it cannot dampen virtually any noise, it isn't well suited against dust build up (no positive pressure setup seems possible), my thought about the Carbide 240 isn't very positive atm.

it's always the video card that's the real challenge for quiet cooling.

And there are lots of enclosures with similar performance at comparable noise levels of any size and price.
Frankly I don't see why that one should worth but, hey, I didn't agree with SPCR even on other assessment/findings (recently the Kotetsu cooling prowess), so you can perfectly live with that (and me too, of course).
Not to mention I didn't agree with Corsair with most of their commercial strategies.

Well, I apologize to lb_felipe for having been OT that much, and thanks a lot for your time and patience, Mike.

[MikeC]

Luca -- you lost me a bit there in your long reply... but Anantech has a different PoV. In any case, we have it in hand, and we'll find out what we can do with it.

[lb_felipe]

Air 240 is compatible with wide GTX 980 like MSI Gaming or ASUS STRIX?


EDIT:

Sorry I missed something.

Now I saw that Air 240 really is not compatible with wider video cards. I saw pics.

Luca, What does OT mean?

[MikeC]

Air 240 is compatible with wide GTX 980 like MSI Gaming or ASUS STRIX?

Good question -- answer is no. Needs another inch of width to fit either 970 or 980. hmmm.....

EDIT: OT = off topic

[Abula]

re - the FT05: Not sure when we'll get to the review, but my advice to you Abula is go for it, you know you'll have to try it anyway. lol!

You are right, who im i fooling, just need a final push =).... the bad news is it went out of stock in both frozencpu and performance-pcs, but seems amazon is getting a batch in the next two weeks =P

[quest_for_silence]

Luca -- you lost me a bit there in your long reply...

Probably even more than a bit: on the other hand it was so late when I wrote it down (however, it isn't that long).

but Anantech has a different PoV

I'm sorry Mike, but I don't appreciate that much their current editor for cases & PSUs, so that often I shy away from reading what he write, whether it isn't really necessary: at any rate, I'll give some skimming and scanning to it.

In any case, we have it in hand, and we'll find out what we can do with it.

As said elsewhere, Mike, I'm very curious about your tests and assessment (and excited about the announced new series of SPCR articles): so keep up the good work, and have a great day!

[lm]

Presumably if you're going for a GTX 980, you will accept something like 30 dBA@1m full load?

MikeC, doesn't your latest guide now prove that 25dB at full load is the upper limit for what should be accepted with a GTX 980 - equipped system? Even <20dB with some software side tweaking.

I mean why to do any worse than something already shown to be very much doable?

[MikeC]

Presumably if you're going for a GTX 980, you will accept something like 30 dBA@1m full load?

MikeC, doesn't your latest guide now prove that 25dB at full load is the upper limit for what should be accepted with a GTX 980 - equipped system? Even <20dB with some software side tweaking.

I mean why to do any worse than something already shown to be very much doable?

Yes, I was wrong in thinking a Strix GTX 980 would be ~30 dBA at full load. Obviously it is less -- much less if you tweak it the way we did in our build. My comments were made before we got our hands on one, based on techpowerup's review of the unit, which cited 28 dBA @ 1m, irrc. I'm not sure you can say this to be true for ALL GTX 980s, our only experience is with the Asus Strix.

[Olaf van der Spek]

One important thing that you do need to ask yourself is what will i be doing with it, playing games at what res? even a GTX750ti can handle 1080p, gpus like 780/970/980 imo are more meant for 1440 gaming or benching.

120Hz displays could use a beefy card as well.

For casual gaming a 750 might suffice, but for serious multiplayer fun I'd buy something better. GPUs are mostly the bottleneck in gaming...