Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

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Derek Semeraro
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 6:49 am

Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by Derek Semeraro » Thu May 03, 2018 7:39 pm

This build list is a good place to start (and to revise as needed) for someone interested in building a silent and powerful workstation PC for either professional video editing or 3D modeling. This build emphasizes airflow with a total of 8 fans inside of a well-ventilated case, but silence is attained by running the fans at a very low RPM. Three storage drives are used to achieve a fast workflow at a reasonable price point. Air cooling is chosen because liquid cooling is more expensive, only marginally better and less convenient. The video card choice is debatable because of volatile prices and some creation software needing it more than others. For example, DaVinci Resolve may benefit from a GTX 1080 Ti, whereas a GTX 1080 Ti may be optimal enough for Adobe Premiere. White LED's are included on this list for monitoring fan performance and dust.

Image

Case: Fractal Design Define Meshify C
CPU: Ryzen 7 2700x
Cooler: Scythe Fuma Rev. B
Motherboard: Asus Prime X470 Pro
Video Card: EVGA GTX 1070 Ti Ultra-Silent
RAM: 16 GB (3000 MHz) x2
M.2 SSD: 120 GB (Corsair Force MP500)
M.2 SSD: 500 GB (Crucial MX500)
Hard Drive: 3 TB (Toshiba, 7200 RPM)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer (500w)
Case Fans: Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 PWM (140mm) x4
Lighting: Deepcool RGB 350

Budget alternatives: Ryzen 2600x, Be Quiet Pure Rock Slim, ASRock motherboard, Fractal Design Mini C, 1x 16 GB RAM, GTX 1050 Ti (or GTX 1060), Bitfenix Whisper 550w, the lowest price/GB SSD available.

BrianL
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:25 am

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by BrianL » Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:46 am

Derek Semeraro wrote:This build list is a good place to start (and to revise as needed) for someone interested in building a silent and powerful workstation PC for either professional video editing or 3D modeling. This build emphasizes airflow with a total of 8 fans inside of a well-ventilated case, but silence is attained by gimp freejobalert running the fans at a very low RPM. Three storage drives are used to achieve a fast workflow at a reasonable price point. Air cooling is chosen because liquid cooling is more expensive, only marginally better and less convenient. The video card choice is debatable because of volatile prices and some creation software needing it more than others. For example, DaVinci Resolve may benefit from a GTX 1080 Ti, whereas a GTX 1080 Ti may be optimal enough for Adobe Premiere. White LED's are included on this list for monitoring fan performance and dust.

Image

Case: Fractal Design Define Meshify C
CPU: Ryzen 7 2700x
Cooler: Scythe Fuma Rev. B
Motherboard: Asus Prime X470 Pro
Video Card: EVGA GTX 1070 Ti Ultra-Silent
RAM: 16 GB (3000 MHz) x2
M.2 SSD: 120 GB (Corsair Force MP500)
M.2 SSD: 500 GB (Crucial MX500)
Hard Drive: 3 TB (Toshiba, 7200 RPM)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer (500w)
Case Fans: Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 PWM (140mm) x4
Lighting: Deepcool RGB 350

Budget alternatives: Ryzen 2600x, Be Quiet Pure Rock Slim, ASRock motherboard, Fractal Design Mini C, 1x 16 GB RAM, GTX 1050 Ti (or GTX 1060), Bitfenix Whisper 550w, the lowest price/GB SSD available.
Thanks for this art of a spec list. Just changed the GPU to the RTX 2060 and now i am rolling.

Thanks a lot for that.
Regards,
Shane

Pierre
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:55 am
Location: Greece

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by Pierre » Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:30 am

Old Thread but I'm now building the following Pc

Case: Be Quiet! Pure Base 500/600 / Fractal Design R6 / Be Quiet Dark Base 900 (if really want to spend more or like big cages)
CPU: Ryzen 2600 for all around use / Ryzen 2700 if rendering, multi-tasking
Cooler: Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH edition
Motherboard: MSI B450 Tomahawk / Asrock B450 K4 Fatality
VGAQ MSI 1650 Super Gaming X / Sapphire 5500 XT OC 4G (0rpm fan on both at light tasks, around 28-29db when running max rpms)
RAM: 2 * 8GB / 2 * 16GB DDR3200 Hynix die (cheaper, highly compatible)...I got a 94EUR deal on the 2*16GB F4-3200C16-16GTZSW (hynix M-die)
M.2 SSD: Corsair MP600 / MP5100 500GB
(too many hdds to list here for storage / P2P)
PSU: Corsair RM550x (fans have almost never started spinning
Case fans: Scythe Flex

CA_Steve
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Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:06 pm

Just wondering why you are opting for Ryzen 2xxx instead of 3xxx (especially if opting for Ryzen 5 series)? Nice bump in performance and at lower power use for the 3xxx.

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by Olle P » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:24 am

CA_Steve wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:06 pm
... Ryzen 2xxx instead of 3xxx ...? ...
There's a bit of a price difference to take into account. With a Ryzen 5 3600 at the same or higher price than Ryzen 7 2700X the latter might be a better option for highly multithreaded tasks (at that price point).

Pierre
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:55 am
Location: Greece

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by Pierre » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:17 pm

CA_Steve wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:06 pm
Just wondering why you are opting for Ryzen 2xxx instead of 3xxx (especially if opting for Ryzen 5 series)? Nice bump in performance and at lower power use for the 3xxx.
For a 40-50 EUR difference, I would easily choose a R2700 over a R3600...and perhaps the R2600 is even a better choice, actually.

I bought the 2700 for a +20 EUR difference over the 2600 (and at a 50 EUR difference over the 3600) AND because of availability (at that lower price point) at the time of purchasing...I have kinda regretted that decision, to be honest, cause if the R3600 does get into the 30 EUR difference within a month or so (at 170 EUR), I will question my choice, whereas I wouldn't if the difference was 60-70 EUR and dropped to 50 EUR (had I chosen the R2600)

However, there are tasks, e.g. Gaming, where appropriately higher FPS can only be achieved if going for the pricier VGAs, whereas in the midrange, 3600-2600 differences are small.

I also wasn't sure if the only BIOS available for the Ryzen 3* would be trouble-free...on the contrary, BiOSes for the Ryzen 2* are very mature, RAM compatibility is now high, so it seemed the safer option for a B450 motherboard.

CA_Steve
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Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:36 pm

got it :)

Yeah, for gaming it's usually the gpu that constrains fps.

Pierre
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:55 am
Location: Greece

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by Pierre » Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:26 pm

And speak of the devil...

Ryzen 3600 is now sold at 176€ shipped...30€ more than the 2700 which I got....

BUT the 1600 AF (disguised R2600) has finally also made it's appearance at 94 EUR shipped...

Since I haven't broken the seal of the 2700 box yet, should I
a) return it and get a R3600?
b) return it and order the R1600 AF?
c) STFU and install the 2700?

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Feb 08, 2020 6:43 pm

<shrug>

Does getting the 1600 AF free up money that you can spend on a gfx card that better suits your needs?

Pierre
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:55 am
Location: Greece

Re: Silent Workstation PC Build (Mid 2018)

Post by Pierre » Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:31 am

CA_Steve wrote:
Sat Feb 08, 2020 6:43 pm
<shrug>

Does getting the 1600 AF free up money that you can spend on a gfx card that better suits your needs?
I already got the 1650 Super...only needed that one really to run 2 monitors at full resolution / refresh rate...didn't like paying the premium for the MSI Gaming X 0db fans, but I'll get over it...if it does run effectively passive, I'd be more than OK with it.

Just the 50 EUR difference hurts...getting the 2 extra physical cores and the extra performance (and better cooler) with regard to the R2600 kinda made sense for +20 EUR...but for +50 EUR (from the 1600 AF) not really.

I did end up however buying the Antec P110 Silent case for 72 EUR...if it works out, I will sell my old trusted Chieftec Full tower beast (for around 50EUR I am considering) so the difference will be 20 EUR...

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