Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

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laststop
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Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by laststop » Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:52 pm

Will finally be upgrading from Nehalem. Some items are placeholders until kaby lake, optane 3d xpoint and finfet gpu's are released next year so please keep that in mind. Just getting an idea where I will be headed.

Case: Fractal Design R5 Black Window - $120
Mobo: Asus RoG Maximus VIII Hero (replaced with the z270 kaby lake chipset version) - $230
PSU: Corsair HX750i - $110
CPU: Core i7-6700k (replaced with kaby lake version) - $360
RAM: G Skill Trident Z 2x16GB DDR4 2800 Cas 14 - $230
GPU: Sapphire R9 Fury Tri-X (replaced with TBD finfet GPU) - $530
Main Storage: Samsung 950 pro 512GB ultra m2 ssd (replaced by 256/512 optane drive) - $370
Secondary Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 2TB ssd - $675
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U14s - $70
Case Fan replacements: 3x Noctua NF-A14 PWM - $23x3=$69

Total: $2764

I know I could dramatically lower the price by going with a HDD but I don't even want to deal with the vibration from it. Plus by next year when samsung releases its next gen V-Nand with even more layers the price will be even less. I know the review stated the fans that came with the R5 were good enough but I really like Noctua fans and feel their quality control warrants the extra cost. I know the unlocked i7 does not have huge gains over the i5 but I won't be upgrading for quite awhile after I build this at least not a total system overhaul so I do want every bit of performance I can get from the cpu. I am hoping with the finfet gpus they somehow top the performance noise ratio of the sapphire r9 fury which has gotten nothing but amazing marks in that respect. I will be gaming at 2560x1440 and the monitor I choose will depend on if I need Free Sync or G Sync we will just have to wait and see. The monitor upgrade will be further down the road anyways as I have a pretty new 32 inch 2560x1440 BenQ already.

The Intel optane drives are a big question mark right now. If they are insanely priced I might only get a 256GB one or even stay away altogether and go with the ultra m2 512GB drive. Really depends on the cost benefit analysis. Samsung is releasing a 1TB version next year but I really don't need more than 512GB for the OS drive.

So this is what I've come up with so far. I think it will perform very well in all aspects. Any comments or opinions on how I can make this build better in any way will be considered. Always good to have many minds reviewing your decisions. Thanks ahead of time for your input.

Almost forgot I have no need for an optical drive and all the 5.25" and 3.5" drive cages will all be removed and unused. I already have an external BD-R if I ever need to use one which is very rarely.

CA_Steve
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Dec 08, 2015 9:51 pm

Sooo, this is a wishlist for a build sometime in 2H 2016?

laststop
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by laststop » Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:07 pm

I currently have about 2200 put aside. Been slowly saving money for a while by keeping this same old crusty nehalem system since it was first released. Planning for next system to last a good decade.

CA_Steve
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:16 am

Ok. Do you have other uses than gaming? Because if this is just a 1440p gaming build,
- there is zero benefit to high performance SSD over the mainstream stuff like the Samsung 850 EVO. It's just boot time and load times that matter, and current gen SSDs all perform about the same.
- there is scant benefit of an i7 over an i5 and I sorta expect DX12 improvements to diminish it further. There may be some corner condition games where there is some fps benefit, but it's really rare. In general, just get the fastest i5.
- why do you need 32GB?
- No optical drive? How about the Define S?

That said, too many product intro's will happen between now and your build to comment on the rest.

laststop
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by laststop » Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:36 am

I do a large amount of video transcoding and editing that I get paid for for some certain youtube channels I'm not allowed to say what which. In the next few years I will be getting a 4k monitor as well so the 1440p gaming will be 2160p gaming. I know the i5 is the way better deal but my mind just can't let go of the extra cache and hyperthreading.

I will not be changing the core of this pc once it is built for a full 10 years mainly due to how much progress has slowed in cpu's. So I want the top of the line mainstream kaby lake in there.

Hell by the time things come out maybe ill scrap the whole thing and go with a 10 or maybe even 12 core skylake-e if they up it 2 more cores from broadwell-e to boost my video stuff. Only problem with that is it will add 1k to the build just to make my video work faster.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:37 am

laststop wrote:PSU: Corsair HX750i - $110
Unless it's some deal, an RM750i should be a better bet (as well as an EVGA P2 650).

laststop wrote:RAM: G Skill Trident Z 2x16GB DDR4 2800 Cas 14 - $230

I'd pick a less tall RAM.

laststop wrote:CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U14s - $70

Extremely nice cooler, but at low airflow there may be better deals (at least money-wise): TR Macho (even the new Macho Direct), TR True Spirit 140 Power, Scythe Kotetsu, BeQuiet Shadow Rock Slim may worth a look. You might also want something stronger whether you will pick an LGA-2011 CPU (and overclock it), even better, with an LGA2011 CPU and a Fury-class GPU (per TDP) you might think to custom water cooling.

laststop wrote:Case Fan replacements: 3x Noctua NF-A14 PWM - $23x3=$69

Pointless: they are not any quieter than stock Fractal GP14, moreover they are the worst sounding 140mm Noctuas (according to SPCR findings) with the usual ugly look (though they match the proposed cooler's fan).

CA_Steve
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Dec 19, 2015 7:16 am

Ok. You buried the lead :) Should have said "I'm planning a video editing/transcoding build for business". Yeah, Xeon high core > i7 > i5. You might wander around Anandtech's Bench to get a feel for performance vs price for various apps. One big unknown is the future state of GPU acceleration for your apps (QuickSync for Intel CPU and OpenCL for your discrete GPU) and how much performance gain you'll get vs. moving from, say, an i7 to a 6+ core Xeon. <shrugs>

Abula
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by Abula » Sat Dec 19, 2015 8:20 am

I would invest into X99 setup, specially because you edit a lot and want to game, i would probably start with 5820K (imo among the best buck for the buck even including the newer skylake CPUs) and if you need more power the 2016 Broadwell E should work on today mobos with a bios update, and in there you can go into 10 core.

Skylake E is very far away still, probably we wont see it on 2016, many think we will see broadwell E in first half of 2016 and Skylake E around the same time on 2017. Honestly i don't see much changing between Broadwell E and Skylake E, both should have their top tier CPUs into 10 cores, doubt we will see 12 cores in none Xeon offerings.

laststop
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by laststop » Sun Dec 20, 2015 3:48 pm

Abula wrote:I would invest into X99 setup, specially because you edit a lot and want to game, i would probably start with 5820K (imo among the best buck for the buck even including the newer skylake CPUs) and if you need more power the 2016 Broadwell E should work on today mobos with a bios update, and in there you can go into 10 core.

Skylake E is very far away still, probably we wont see it on 2016, many think we will see broadwell E in first half of 2016 and Skylake E around the same time on 2017. Honestly i don't see much changing between Broadwell E and Skylake E, both should have their top tier CPUs into 10 cores, doubt we will see 12 cores in none Xeon offerings.
It's not soooo bad using a nehalem system with a fury gpu. I feel like skylake-e is going to bring pci-e 4.0 which is a big deal if I expect the core of my next build to last a decade+. Guess I got awhile to keep saving and brainstorming.

Probably will just end up with kaby lake but who knows.

Abula
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by Abula » Sun Dec 20, 2015 4:24 pm

laststop wrote:
Abula wrote:I would invest into X99 setup, specially because you edit a lot and want to game, i would probably start with 5820K (imo among the best buck for the buck even including the newer skylake CPUs) and if you need more power the 2016 Broadwell E should work on today mobos with a bios update, and in there you can go into 10 core.

Skylake E is very far away still, probably we wont see it on 2016, many think we will see broadwell E in first half of 2016 and Skylake E around the same time on 2017. Honestly i don't see much changing between Broadwell E and Skylake E, both should have their top tier CPUs into 10 cores, doubt we will see 12 cores in none Xeon offerings.
It's not soooo bad using a nehalem system with a fury gpu. I feel like skylake-e is going to bring pci-e 4.0 which is a big deal if I expect the core of my next build to last a decade+. Guess I got awhile to keep saving and brainstorming.

Probably will just end up with kaby lake but who knows.
current Gpus don't even saturate a pice 16x, you still get full performance on sli on 8x, unless pascal is 4 times as fast, which I doubt, we won't need pice 4.0.

On the other hand a good cpu today will give you less time editing, which Is what you should be focusing.

laststop
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by laststop » Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:59 pm

Well I think I decided if they put 10 core broadwell-e at the top 1000 dollar spot and move 8 core into the 600 dollar slot I think I am going to go with an 8 core broadwell-e build. Keep the 2 fans that come with it and add a third to have 2 front intake fans to ensure positive pressure. I still have to wait for the finfet gpu's to decide if I'm going with amd or nvidia. Noise/performance ratio winner will be my choice. Intel optane is probably going to be so jacked up on price it's not worth it will most likely stick with 512GB samsung 950 + 2TB samsung 850 evo.

On the fan controller that comes with the r5 does it take 3 pin or 4 pin fans?

laststop
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by laststop » Sun Feb 14, 2016 6:08 am

How do the fan controllers operate on the r5 case? what pins do they use? Am I better off just using asus fan suite bios software? And I am taking your suggestion and not replacing the fans with noctua do they sell a third fan to put in the front since they only include 2, 1 140mm for rear and 1 140mm for front? And are there any other things I can do to make the sound even quieter? I have 2500 saved up so far so I can probably stretch the budget to 3kish for broadwell-e most likely just get the 8 core if they make the 10 core 1k and 8 core 600.

I've been on nehalem for a long time and it's time to make the change I want to wait for pci-e 4.0 and skylake but this pc i have now is so loud it's makin em mad.

CA_Steve
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Feb 14, 2016 7:34 am

Case fan switch is for 2-pin and 3-pin voltage controlled fans. You'll get better control with the bios control than with the fan switch. You might consider just trying out the two stock fans and see if you like their sonic signature. If so, then buy the third fan. If not, then it's time to shop for three other fans. The Fractal model is Dynamic GP14 and available at e-tailers for $12.

Abula
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Re: Quiet PC build in the works opinions/comments

Post by Abula » Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:02 am

laststop wrote:How do the fan controllers operate on the r5 case? what pins do they use?
Fractal fan controllers is a fixed switch, i believe has 3 settings (i never used it), it will just undervolt the fan, so it will spin lower.
laststop wrote:Am I better off just using asus fan suite bios software?
I would say it will be better, Asus AI Suite + FanXpert3 will allow any fan to spin as low as it can just by running the "Tunning" it will ramp the fan to their full and then down to stablish their minimum operational rpms, and then establish a suggested graph for each fan, this you can change to your own personal liking. Asus AI Suite can drop fan very very low, fans like Antec True Quiet 140 (3pin) and Noctua NF-P14s 900rpm (3pin) to about 200rpms, where they will be inaudible.

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laststop wrote:And I am taking your suggestion and not replacing the fans with noctua do they sell a third fan to put in the front since they only include 2, 1 140mm for rear and 1 140mm for front?
Test the included fans first, SPCR did like the new ones that come with R5. I believe the R5 has 2x 140mm fans, test with the two and see if you like them. If you dont i would suggest either of the above.

I personally liked 3 fans setup for the R4/5 more to have a little more air in to out, to create positive pressure thus minimizing the case sucking dust through openings like PCI covers and PSU when its passive, door openings, etc.
laststop wrote:And are there any other things I can do to make the sound even quieter? I have 2500 saved up so far so I can probably stretch the budget to 3kish for broadwell-e most likely just get the 8 core if they make the 10 core 1k and 8 core 600.
Run the FanXPert tunning, see how all fans work out, and see how your setup works on your day to day loads, see if you need more cooling, this is more to play around to tune your setup to your own needs/desires.

As final comment, try checking the following article, Bit tech The Big Air Cooling Investigation, it will help you understand how fans have diminishing returns, not always more is better, specially since fans are one of the few things that introduce noise.

Also check the following video, Linus TechTip Case Fans - How many should you have?

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