Silent pc for gaming and streaming

[ricafr]

Hello all!

I'm the moderately happy owner of a Dell L502x laptop which has served me well for the last 4 years. It's a very mediocre laptop for gaming (I can't remember the last time I've had stable 30 FPS even at low video settings) and I believe it's time for a change. I'm looking into streaming games on twitch as a hobby and would like to get myself a desktop. However, being used to the silence of my laptop, I began doing some research on silent desktops. It led me to this pc build: http://mutepc.com/2015/07/completely-si ... r-edition/, which uses the Scythe Kotetsu and mentions SPCR. Although I'm not looking for an open air build, that SPCR mention was a game changer:

What an incredible site and community!

I was very pleasently surprised with the level of detail and the scientific approach in reviews, as well as the great feedback in this forum. Kudos to everyone involved!!! Now, after reading many great articles and debates, I think I've rounded up some component ideas to get me started on the brainstorming bit.

My budget is $1000-1500, but because of import taxes in Brazil everything can be a lot more expensive. If something is not readily available, as a rule of thumb, multiply any local US prices by 2.5 and that should roughly illustrate the price of products that are harder to find and could only be bought on Amazon such as the Scythe Kotetsu, which would cost me $130. Also, all prices mentioned are roughly converted from local Brazil shops.

So again, my goal is gaming and streaming. This is what I've come up with so far:

1) Monitor: my current LG 23MP65 monitor does not have 144Hz or 4k capabilities. Would wanting this in the future make any major changes to my build? I'm open to the possibility of getting a new monitor, but this would be out of my budget at the time being.

2) CPU: i5-6600. I don't understand much about overclocking so I was thinking about not getting the K version. I've also read that there is marginal improvement from the i5-6600 to the i7-6700, which is considerably more expensive. Can anyone confirm this?

3) CPU cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212X/TX3/T4. These are my cheap, readily available options at $38-66. Noctua readily available options include NH-L9a, NH-C14s, NH-D15S, NH-D14, NH-L9i, NH-D15, NH-U14S, NH-L9x65, NH-U9S, NH-U12S, NH-L12, NH-D9DX and NH-D9L, all above $66. Are any of these rough equivalents of the Kotetsu? It'd be a great way to compare bang for buck considering a $130 Kotetsu.

4) GPU: GTX 980 or 970. Should I wait for the new GTX 10xx? I thought about the new AMD RX 480 but it seems to run way too hot. I'm not very keen on the idea of getting the 970 because of so many people talking about coil whine. On the other hand, it's a lot cheaper than the 980. Would I need additional GPU cooling, such as the Prolimatech MK-26 mentioned in the link above, to achieve a silent build? What if I went with a factory overclocked GPU such as the GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0, would I need additional cooling then?

5) Mobo: Asus Z170M Plus/BR. Picking a mobo was very tricky and I'm not even remotely sure this is a good pick. If at all possible, I'd like to stick to mATX, but I don't have size limitations. I do want good sounds from it. For streaming I might use an external mic depending on driver compatibility. I chose Asus because I'd much rather control fan speed through software than through BIOS. Also, I'll be sticking to a single GPU so I don't care about any SLI stuff.

6) PSU: Seasonic Fanless 520W 80 Plus Platinum SS-520FL2: at $300, this thing's expensive! However, I do like the efficiency and also the prospect of a silent fanless PSU.

7) RAM: 2x4GB or 2x8GB. Any recommendations as to which one?

Case: no idea. The fractal design stuff seems expensive at $300.

9) Fans: would I need additional fans?

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR.

Here's some answers, comments and questions

1) future monitor affect build? The gfx card for 1080p/60 gaming is a lot different than the one for 4k. If a 4k monitor is 2 years out, then buy the gfx card you need now. Otherwise, you'll spend 3x more for capabilities you won't use for two years.

2) I wouldn't spend the extra $'s on an i7 for gaming.

3) The Hyper 212X is ok cooler, but Coolermaster doesn't fare as well on fan noise. You could try it and see. Replace the fan if it annoys you. How much is the Noctua NH-U12S in comparison? Good news - the i5-6600 is a 65W TDP CPU, so not as tough to cool quietly as the 125W device in the reviews.

4) Wait for the GTX 1060. It will more than cover what you want to do at 1080p/60 and 1080p/144. Performance should be close to the GTX 980.

5) mobo: It's got an older Realtek audio chip (ALC887). The ALC1150 can be found on the H170 Pro Gaming, Z170 Pro Gaming..

6) Crazy high price. Here are other brands/models to look for: be quiet! Straight Power 10 or 11, EVGA P2, Corsair RMx,...

7) All you really need is 2x4GB. If you are trying to save $'s go with this. You can always add another 2x4GB later if you have a 4-RAM slot mobo. Look for memory that's on Asus' qualified vendor list. Also, look for low or std height RAM so you don't run into clearance issues with cooler.

What case mfgrs are readily available to you?

9) Depends on the case

10) Storage: At least 250GB class SSD like the Samsung 850 EVO.

[ggumdol]

As a digression, if your monitor is 1080p (1920x1080), I highly recommend you to consider buying a 1440p "IPS" monitor. IPS matters a lot due to its accurate color reproduction. If you have an iPad or iPhone, you can have a rough idea of the vividness and fidelity of an IPS monitor. Most modern computers tend to be overkills and you can accomplish almost all of your intended tasks even on middling computers (e.g., i3-6100 "without" a discrete graphics card). However, a decent 1440p (or even 4k) IPS monitor with referesh rate 60Hz (I suppose 120-144Hz are not economical yet) makes an enormous difference in everyday's usage of your computer (e.g., web browsing). I would invest in such a monitor first.

Coming back to your questions, please go for one of cheaper PSUs suggested by CA_Steve. For the sake of choice simplification, you can buy the cheapest RMx series PSU by Corsair as long as you use Nvidia graphics card. Be patient a bit more and wait for GTX 1060, which will surely deliver (or over-deliver) for 1080p gaming.

1) Monitor: my current LG 23MP65 monitor does not have 144Hz or 4k capabilities. Would wanting this in the future make any major changes to my build? I'm open to the possibility of getting a new monitor, but this would be out of my budget at the time being.

[Fire-Flare]

If you're looking for an open-air case, I'm a proud owner of a Lian-Li T60.

http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pc-t60/


Not sure how easy they are to find in Brazil, but I've done a few builds with them and I trust their metal construction more than the acrylic open air cases that can be found online.

[ricafr]

Thank you all for the replies!

1) My monitor is 1080p/60 IPS. By the end of the year I could upgrade to the Asus VG248QE 1080p/144 TN ($547) or the Dell U2515H 1440p/60 IPS ($572). So it boils down to 144Hz TN vs 1440p IPS. I'm leaning towards 1080p/144 because I'll be mostly playing fast-paced games.

3) The Noctua NH-U12S is $96, but it's out of stock, along with most of the Noctua stuff I mentioned. I forgot to check Any fans I could look for if I want to change the one in the 212X?

6) Straight Power 10 500W ATX 12V 80 Plus Gold SilentWings Fan ($190) or Corsair 550W ATX RM550X 80 Plus Gold ($194)?

7) DDR4 HyperX Fury // Height: 1.340” (34.04mm). Is that height ok?

8 ) I couldn't find Lian-Li stuff. But also I think closed cases will be safer. Available case brands: Corsair, NZXT, CoolerMaster, Thermaltake, Aerocool, NoFan (C-60, C-80), Silverstone, Azzatek, C3 Tech, Cougar, Deep Cool.

10) I forgot to mention I have a Samsung EVO 850 250GB on my laptop which I'll be using on my desktop. Any cheap substitute recommendations so I can pass my laptop on?

Shop list:

$304 i5-6600
$238 Asus H170 Pro Gaming
$67 CoolerMaster Hyper 212X
$500 GTX 1060 (Brand?)
$73 2x4GB DDR4 HyperX Fury // Height: 1.340” (34.04mm)