you say go 750 only because it is quieter at 1/2 power, right? Yes, it is right, mostly: last but not least the relevant OEM is a better one (Chicony vs CWT). Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. Chicony vs CWT? But if I get the 750W won't I waste electricity and spend more on power every day? ...

Luca, You say Corsair RM 750W instead of Corsair RM 650. I do not need the extra wattage, but you say go 750 only because it is quieter at 1/2 power, right? But if I get the 750W won't I waste electricity and spend more on power every day? I was able to find the dark power pro for $160 for 550W, or ...

The Seasonic controller is temperature AND load based: so, with reference to the 660, I guess it will probably be noisier than the AX1200 at the attended average gaming load (something around 300-350W), providing that at 250W it is clearly audible and at 400W it is actually loud. On the contrary, t...

Luca, Hmm... I'm concerned when you say that the seasonic gets "aggressive" at high loads. Being this is a gaming build, I expect high loads to be common and a PSU that's only quiet on little or normal loads is quite useless to me. The whole point of me comparing my build to the one in the Anandtech...

Its way to hard to answer your questions, all are subjective, noise is not something that we all measure the same, its not like temperature that its measurable, given that noise can be measure in dbs, its not that matters, noise has a characters, tonality, each component have a sonic signature that...

Abdula, Thanks for yet another detailed response. The mobo I selected should work fine with the Xeon, but I will take your advice when it comes to checking out others and I will look into the ones you suggested. I need to learn about fan control and which boards support it. While I certainly appreci...

I'm putting together a gaming build which I plan to keep 5-6 years. I don't ever plan to overclock the CPU and I don't plan to ever upgrade so there's no need to leave room to do so. This is a gaming rig so I don't expect nor am I willing to pay big money for a super silent build. However, noise is ...

Abula,

Everything you say sounds right to me. I'll look for a mobo with fan control and I'll need to think more about the build as a whole.

Thank you for all your help and advice!

...what you wrote above is non-sense... ha ha, I was afraid of that but based on the justification you offered, I accept your conclusion. Thanks for clearing that up. I can't really speak to your methodology, but when it comes to adding/subtracting db, my concern would be that the different testing...

Ah, sorry Steve, I'm still a noob here. I see you've got a long running thread on this reoccurring sale. Please feel free to delete my post/thread in the name of efficiency.

I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules here by posting a good deal from a specific website, but I know this is a popular case which I've personally been very interested in so I thought others might like to hear about this good deal. I just ordered one from Newegg. $79.99 ship included. Use promo co...

Abula, Again, thanks for the advice. I appreciate your PSU recommendations and will research the ones you mention in more detail. Regarding Fractal Design R4, are the two stock case fans quiet enough on their own or would you replace those with the Antec True Quiet 140 or some other fans? Warning: S...

Personally I don't recommend the r9 290X way to much heat and power consumption, if I were buying a top end card the msi gtx780ti would be my pick, can't link you much ATM as I'm on my iPad, but check techpowerup review of it, it's a very quiet card for what it delivers, and if my memory doesn't fa...

The R4 has 2 removable hdd cages, top holds 5 drives, the bottom hold 3. Since you only going to use 2 of this slots, remove the top cage and any gpu should fit, I would add another fan so it gets some fresh air and you end up with positive pressure. Thanks, this is just what I wanted to know. I'm ...

I'm planning to buy a Fractal Design R4 and a Sapphire R9 290 tri-x oc card. I don't have either and plan to purchase them online so I won't see them until they arrive. The video card itself has aftermarket cooling from Sapphire which makes it unusually long, about 11.6 inches. I've heard stories of...

CA_Steve wrote:In general, yes. In specific, there might be build where the noise emitted by having the side fan populated is more than offset by the lowering of noise from another component. Doubtful, but possible.

Cool. Thanks, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. Have a good one.

While there is a side panel vent on the non-windowed version, it's optional to use it and it comes covered with more sound dampening material. So, it's not a primary noise source. Thanks for your reply. So is it fair to say the quietest way to use this case is to get the non-windowed version and to...

If you replace metal+sound dampening material with a piece of plastic, what do you think will happen? :) . I agree that it would seem the plastic would be louder, but I don't design cases and don't know if this was compensated for in another way. It's not simply replaced with metal+sound dampening ...

The Fractal Design Define R4 comes in a variety of colors, some with, some without a window. I don't care what color it is and I don't care if it has a window or not although I have a slight preference for not. My question is, when it comes to sound dampening, does having the window make the case lo...

CA_Steve wrote:Sorry - I don't track consoles.

I'm not a console fan either. Thanks for all your feedback just the same.

If consoles do all you need to, then go for it, its cheaper. But personally i just do a lot of more things on the PC, even gaming for me takes maybe 30% of the time i spend on the PC, for me consoles are not an option. I am NOT a fan of consoles and haven't owned one since Atari 2600 , but the fact...

What was your mobo/memory/cpu fan/psu on your new setup? It's all in the referenced thread. I ended up with the G.Skill 1833 RAM. K part: I will eventually OC when the games need it. At the moment, there's no reason to. When I built my e8400 system (in signature), I didn't OC for 2-3 years. Then, I...

The build is only a week old - still fine tuning. Love it so far. I game at 1080p. Here's some early results: WoW (I frame limited it to 60fps) - CPU 38C, GPU 54C, exhaust fan temp 28C, Power use 120 to 180W. (running around, not in an instance). Rift (seeing 80 fps) - CPU 45C, GPU 61C, exhaust 29C...

Not to be nit picky, but during the anti-spam registration the question was asked who was assassinated, MLK jr or Ghandi. I put Ghandi and got it wrong, but the truth is that BOTH men were assassinated. Ghandi was assassinated? That's a revelation to me. It seems that I did not study 'world history...

CA_Steve wrote:...u kit, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, HD5770 + AC L2 Pro, ,.. .

I'm using the HD5770 right now on Core CPU @2.4 (6600). I imagine your new build is a considerable step up.

Welcome to SPCR. I just built an i5-4670K/GTX 760 based system in the R4. The case is solid and very easy to work with. The included fans are quiet @5V, but not silent. Cool. How'd that work out? I think if I went with anything like that I'd give the stock fans a test before considering an upgrade....

I've built PCs for decades, usually one every 5 years or so, but I don't keep up with the tech in between builds so it's a little like starting over each time. My current rig is an Antec Solo (orig) which I've been happy with, although the power button broke pretty early on and I had to recreate the...