Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
Maxlor
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:48 am

Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Maxlor » Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:20 am

Hi there!

I'm new here, got recommended from reddit to pay you guys a visit for my new build.

Since I'm allergic to noise, my workstation at my office is in another room with 10 meter hdmicables. That is not an option at home unfortunatly, and now it's time to build a desktop for the home.

I'll play a lot of the latest games, develop 3dapps in unity and render stuff in maya and design stuff in photoshop with high resolutions and a lot of layers (web development mostly, but the retarded agencies often send over 2gig psd files with 1k layers)

So, i want a lot of juice.

I think ill manage with a gtx 780, and while i could wait for the 800series, i dont want to.

I'm pretty clueless on the CPU scene at the moment, but i'd like a really powerful one for rendering and such. But the focus is on the GPU, because everything got ok gpuenhancement nowadays.

This is a quick list i put together:

https://www.inet.se/kundvagn/visa/7032195/2014-08-09



But i dont have a clue what PSU to use, and the gpu and ram and such is just taken wih gut feeling.

So, dear Silentpcreview masters, what can I do to make a gtx780 with a high end CPU as silent as possible without spending more then 50% of the budget on silenceing?

Thank you!

BR,
Max

Pappnaas
Posts: 726
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 11:23 am
Location: Germany

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Pappnaas » Sun Aug 10, 2014 1:24 am

Some random thoughts:

-CPU: think about a Xeon E3
-Don't use RAM with heatspreaders, those are obsolet and could block CPU fan
-AC hybrid watercooling for GPU is not tested here, but from what i have gathered isn't more silent than some of hte 780 with air cooling

-for CPU cooling look for a Macho, any 120/140mm Noctua or some Scythe modells, see the reviews
-PSU around 500-600W should be enough (Superflower 500 passiv?)
-Start with the stock case fans, you can always swap them after

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Abula » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:43 am

Welcome to SPCR!!!

I would wait a month for the Haswell E platform, you might be able to get a Six Core close to price of the 4820K, wccftech Intel Haswell-E Specifications Unveiled
The Core i7-5820K would be the entry level processor of the lineup featuring 6 cores and 12 threads. The CPU comes with a 15 MB L3 Cache, 3.3 GHz base clock, 3.6-3.8 GHz boost clock, 140W TDP and support for DDR4-2133 MHz memory. Being similar to the Core i7-5930K in terms of technical specifications aside from the clock speeds, the Core i7-5820K might just become an attractive processor for the X99 chipset platform since it will be priced around a lower range of $300 – $350 US.
For the CPU cooler i would try to stay on air, a Noctua NH-U14S should be good for it or a NH-D15 if you wish, Noctua fans can be dropped very low, close 300rpms on idle where they are inaudible and ramp up depending on the conditions of the CPU, specially since you will be going with FanXpert motherboard. Worth checking also Scythe Kotetsu and Mugen 4 and the for cheaper alternatives.

On the memory i agree with Pappnaas, get something standard height or if you can low profile like Crucial Ballistic Sport or Tactical, they will allow you to use big end air coolers. Although for DDR4 you will have to wait to see what opens in the market next month.

On the GPU you seem set on the GTX780, and seems you chose MSI, to what i have read seems the quietest atm, if you wish to read more check,

TechPowerUP MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming 3 GB
TechPowerUp MSI GTX 780 TwinFrozr Gaming 3 GB

Image

If you still dont find it quiet enough for your liking, look into Prolimatech MK-26 and attach a pair of quiet 120mm fans, run them at 500rpms or so, and should be inaudible.

For PSU, depending on what you end up buying look into Corsair RM series, they offer semi passive PSU fully modular that range from 450W to 1000W.

Maxlor
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:48 am

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Maxlor » Sun Aug 10, 2014 7:47 am

Abula wrote:Welcome to SPCR!!!

I would wait a month for the Haswell E platform, you might be able to get a Six Core close to price of the 4820K, wccftech Intel Haswell-E Specifications Unveiled
The Core i7-5820K would be the entry level processor of the lineup featuring 6 cores and 12 threads. The CPU comes with a 15 MB L3 Cache, 3.3 GHz base clock, 3.6-3.8 GHz boost clock, 140W TDP and support for DDR4-2133 MHz memory. Being similar to the Core i7-5930K in terms of technical specifications aside from the clock speeds, the Core i7-5820K might just become an attractive processor for the X99 chipset platform since it will be priced around a lower range of $300 – $350 US.
For the CPU cooler i would try to stay on air, a Noctua NH-U14S should be good for it or a NH-D15 if you wish, Noctua fans can be dropped very low, close 300rpms on idle where they are inaudible and ramp up depending on the conditions of the CPU, specially since you will be going with FanXpert motherboard. Worth checking also Scythe Kotetsu and Mugen 4 and the for cheaper alternatives.

On the memory i agree with Pappnaas, get something standard height or if you can low profile like Crucial Ballistic Sport or Tactical, they will allow you to use big end air coolers. Although for DDR4 you will have to wait to see what opens in the market next month.

On the GPU you seem set on the GTX780, and seems you chose MSI, to what i have read seems the quietest atm, if you wish to read more check,

TechPowerUP MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming 3 GB
TechPowerUp MSI GTX 780 TwinFrozr Gaming 3 GB

Image

If you still dont find it quiet enough for your liking, look into Prolimatech MK-26 and attach a pair of quiet 120mm fans, run them at 500rpms or so, and should be inaudible.

For PSU, depending on what you end up buying look into Corsair RM series, they offer semi passive PSU fully modular that range from 450W to 1000W.

Hi! Thank you :)

I revised my needs ill start of with a 4790k and a gtx780, and add another 780 later if needed. Cant wait for the new cpus unfortunatly!

So, that leaves me with this:

http://www.inet.se/kundvagn/visa/7035360/2014-08-10

Right now they do not have the noctune 14S in stock, just the regular 14 and 15, is there any difference?

I think i might place the computer in my pantry and run 5 meter hdmis again, but i still need a good cpu cooler i guess.

I took a 750 watt psu because of future sli support. Should be enough right?

I need too much power to go ultra silent, so ill go with the "hide the whole thing"-approach again hehe.

Thank you for your input! Ordering this tonight i think and will figure out cooling etc in the comin week!

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Aug 11, 2014 12:40 am

Abula wrote:If you still dont find it quiet enough for your liking, look into Prolimatech MK-26 and attach a pair of quiet 120mm fans, run them at 500rpms or so, and should be inaudible.
And what about the AC Accelero Extreme IV?

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:32 am

Maxlor wrote:Right now they do not have the noctune 14S in stock, just the regular 14 and 15, is there any difference?

Check the relevant SPCR review to see most of the actual difference between them. Probably the D15 should be preferable in a full PWM setup.

Maxlor wrote:I took a 750 watt psu because of future sli support. Should be enough right?

It should be so, but when you draw 6-700W from the wall your PSU (and your system) CANNOT be silent.

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Abula » Mon Aug 11, 2014 7:39 am

quest_for_silence wrote:
Abula wrote:If you still dont find it quiet enough for your liking, look into Prolimatech MK-26 and attach a pair of quiet 120mm fans, run them at 500rpms or so, and should be inaudible.
And what about the AC Accelero Extreme IV?
Well while i do think its a great cooler, it has a some drawbacks, with the back mounting plate that i like..... it becomes also a 4 slot cooler, kinda like MK-26 sort of speak, the MK-26 is a little better than accelero, specially under low rpms, SPCR Prolimatech MK-26 Multi-VGA Cooler, but its strength imo is that you can use whatever fans you like, specially someone looking for something extremely quiet, you can throw in some 500-800rpms 120mm fans and it should be inaudible and still sustain the heat of a high end gpu. Im still very happy with accelero, mostly i wanted to be able to control the fans, but at the end there isn't much ramping as the cooler can handle a gtx780 very easily, even after 5 hours of playing i never seen it pass 65C, and the fans never increased more than 150rpms, so its very similar at the end than running it with a steady voltage like I was doing on the Accelero III, so with this in mind and both are 4 slots now.... i would prefer the mk-26 and a pair for scythe gentle typhoons 500rpm or 800rpm version should run fine at 12V. But this is my last persue of aftermarket gpu coolers, i really wanted to do it, now that its done, when i move on to a newer gpu, ill probably will stick with MSI twin Forzrs or whatever is more quiet at the time, nvidia gpus, at least this gen, are not that hard to cool like GTX480 was, although AMD does seem to have a very hot running gpu with 290X, but i still think its no where near how it was on the past.
Maxlor wrote:Right now they do not have the noctune 14S in stock, just the regular 14 and 15, is there any difference?
If you are talking about the NH-D14 and NH-D15, i would go with the NH-D15, as quest posted, it comes with with 4pin pwm fans, while the D14 most of the time comes with 3pin fans. Most motherboards have its CPU_FAN header as a true PWM fan header, so it should be easier to control.
Maxlor wrote:I think i might place the computer in my pantry and run 5 meter hdmis again, but i still need a good cpu cooler i guess.
My GamiMi setup (check sig) will be very similar to what you want to build, my case is located like 2mts from me, i cant hear it at idle, and even gaming i never notice it, where i do is under stress tests but this are scenarios that i never reach under usual day to day basis.
Maxlor wrote:I took a 750 watt psu because of future sli support. Should be enough right?
I think it should be enough, but worth mentioning that the RM 450/550/650 are 160mm, once you go into bigger models the are larger, so might prevent the use of the bottom 140mm fan in the future if you decide to add this slot. I went with the biggest PSU that still remain on 160mm which is Seasonic SS-860XP2, their 760W version should be the same length in case you are interested, but some people have found coil whining and electric noise on them, i own two and mine are perfect no issues to report on either.

Since you are going with Asus Z97, should run FanXpert2 (or 3), so once you finish assembly and formatting, install Asus AI Suite III, and connect the Fractal 140 fans to CHA_FAN headers (it should have at least 3), and connect the NH-D15 fans (NF-A15 PWM) one to CPU_FAN and the other to the CPU_OPT, then run FanXpert tunning to stablish the max and mins of all the fans, check the suggested fan curves, and decided if you want to change them for a more quiet or cooler setup, etc. After this decide if you want after market fans or more fans, etc.

Maxlor
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:48 am

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Maxlor » Mon Aug 11, 2014 12:45 pm

Abula wrote:
quest_for_silence wrote:
Abula wrote:If you still dont find it quiet enough for your liking, look into Prolimatech MK-26 and attach a pair of quiet 120mm fans, run them at 500rpms or so, and should be inaudible.
And what about the AC Accelero Extreme IV?
Well while i do think its a great cooler, it has a some drawbacks, with the back mounting plate that i like..... it becomes also a 4 slot cooler, kinda like MK-26 sort of speak, the MK-26 is a little better than accelero, specially under low rpms, SPCR Prolimatech MK-26 Multi-VGA Cooler, but its strength imo is that you can use whatever fans you like, specially someone looking for something extremely quiet, you can throw in some 500-800rpms 120mm fans and it should be inaudible and still sustain the heat of a high end gpu. Im still very happy with accelero, mostly i wanted to be able to control the fans, but at the end there isn't much ramping as the cooler can handle a gtx780 very easily, even after 5 hours of playing i never seen it pass 65C, and the fans never increased more than 150rpms, so its very similar at the end than running it with a steady voltage like I was doing on the Accelero III, so with this in mind and both are 4 slots now.... i would prefer the mk-26 and a pair for scythe gentle typhoons 500rpm or 800rpm version should run fine at 12V. But this is my last persue of aftermarket gpu coolers, i really wanted to do it, now that its done, when i move on to a newer gpu, ill probably will stick with MSI twin Forzrs or whatever is more quiet at the time, nvidia gpus, at least this gen, are not that hard to cool like GTX480 was, although AMD does seem to have a very hot running gpu with 290X, but i still think its no where near how it was on the past.
Maxlor wrote:Right now they do not have the noctune 14S in stock, just the regular 14 and 15, is there any difference?
If you are talking about the NH-D14 and NH-D15, i would go with the NH-D15, as quest posted, it comes with with 4pin pwm fans, while the D14 most of the time comes with 3pin fans. Most motherboards have its CPU_FAN header as a true PWM fan header, so it should be easier to control.
Maxlor wrote:I think i might place the computer in my pantry and run 5 meter hdmis again, but i still need a good cpu cooler i guess.
My GamiMi setup (check sig) will be very similar to what you want to build, my case is located like 2mts from me, i cant hear it at idle, and even gaming i never notice it, where i do is under stress tests but this are scenarios that i never reach under usual day to day basis.
Maxlor wrote:I took a 750 watt psu because of future sli support. Should be enough right?
I think it should be enough, but worth mentioning that the RM 450/550/650 are 160mm, once you go into bigger models the are larger, so might prevent the use of the bottom 140mm fan in the future if you decide to add this slot. I went with the biggest PSU that still remain on 160mm which is Seasonic SS-860XP2, their 760W version should be the same length in case you are interested, but some people have found coil whining and electric noise on them, i own two and mine are perfect no issues to report on either.

Since you are going with Asus Z97, should run FanXpert2 (or 3), so once you finish assembly and formatting, install Asus AI Suite III, and connect the Fractal 140 fans to CHA_FAN headers (it should have at least 3), and connect the NH-D15 fans (NF-A15 PWM) one to CPU_FAN and the other to the CPU_OPT, then run FanXpert tunning to stablish the max and mins of all the fans, check the suggested fan curves, and decided if you want to change them for a more quiet or cooler setup, etc. After this decide if you want after market fans or more fans, etc.

Thank you guys so much, using this + the stickiedy threads about silent builds is a godsend! I'll check back when I'm in order and let you how it went, thanks again!!

Edit: what 120/140mm fans are best bang for the buck in the r4 case btw?

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Powerful gaming / unity / Photoshop rig

Post by Abula » Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:09 pm

Maxlor wrote:Edit: what 120/140mm fans are best bang for the buck in the r4 case btw?
Try the included first, with fanXpert2 it should drop them to 400rpm on idle. But the best ban for the buck on 140mm thinking on a quiet setup, Antec TrueQuiet 140 140mm Cooling Fan, they will drop to 200rpms under a fanXpert2 motherboard, and you can ramp them up to 850rpms where they are still very good. Now if you need more cooling.... look into phantek 140 or the antec two cool 140, both see perfrom well on SPCR roundups.

Post Reply