New PC build

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Japanese Capacitor
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Location: Warszawa, Poland

Re: New PC build

Post by Japanese Capacitor » Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:47 pm

Generally I would start with mentioned turning pc 180 degrees to make it facing you with a front (if you don't need any longer cable to do it). Then I would experiment with fan curves. If done properly, it should satisfy you enough to not even think about any other effort like moving computer away, room rearrangement, using some soundproofing foam etc . Don't get crazy with trying to beat some world record in silencing your computer - that's stupid and probably you will never be satisfied, so double stupid. I have only one must - silent as off during light task like webrowsing. During load just quiet enough to be not disruptive. After all tweaks I did since I published my results in my topic, during load my pc is so damn quiet that fully satisfy me and I really don't care, if it could be even quieter and I don't try to achieve it.

Don't be like some guy from this forum, who bought himself Silent Base 601, changed original soundproofing material to some damn 5cm-thick foam, placed his computer on some material, glued to the wall facing back of computer another foam... Pure freaking acoustic psycho, who I'm sure still isn't satisfied. People like that should just move computer to another room - less effort, less money, less nerves.

Horseman
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Re: New PC build

Post by Horseman » Tue May 04, 2021 4:20 pm

Yeah, I know it's easy to go down the rabbit hole. And I'm obsessed with the details, so there's a risk of doing exactly what you are describing. :)

Maybe the best approach is indeed to start by turning the PC 180°, and only after that experiment with fan curves. I'm not sure yet when my friend will bring me the longer cable (with the cable I have now I can't turn the PC), but I can wait.

I have to say I'm quite happy with the current noise level. It isn't inaudible, I can definitely hear the PC when browsing, but it isn't distracting. I'm very curious to see/hear the difference when I turn the PC around, and also by placing it in the F position, under the table, but I'd live happily with the current noise level.

Japanese Capacitor
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Re: New PC build

Post by Japanese Capacitor » Wed May 05, 2021 1:04 am

I understand you, in Poland we say ,,appetite grows during eating", but I reccomend to always stay rational - wanting more and more when already having awesome leads to being unhappy with it.

It's strange to me that you can hear this computer during tasks like webbrowsing. Cooler is able to run that slow to be inaudible, card and PSU are semi-passive, maybe HDDs are working, maybe case fans are shitty and their minimum speed is audible. Do what I told you, maybe use your friend to identify source of noise and then we'll see.

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC build

Post by CA_Steve » Wed May 05, 2021 7:24 am

The rear case fan is pointed right at him. There's a significant reduction in noise when the source is baffled by the case.

Japanese Capacitor
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Location: Warszawa, Poland

Re: New PC build

Post by Japanese Capacitor » Wed May 05, 2021 11:31 am

Probably that - components are really quiet and I've seen the reviews of the case claiming that its fans or low speed are inaudible.

Horseman
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Re: New PC build

Post by Horseman » Thu May 06, 2021 5:14 am

It's hard to judge, I can't really get very close to the PC when I'm on my chair, but I suspect it's the back fan the main noise source. So I'm quite hopeful that turning the PC around will improve the situation.

In the meantime, a friend of mine suggested to make a few benchmarks to the CPU and the GPU, to check if everything is working as it should, that way if something isn't right, when my friend brings me the longer cable I can ask him (if necessary) to solve the problem/s.

I ran Cinebench R20, and I'm getting 7200 points, the CPU is perfectly within the expected parameters. But now I'm unsure about the GPU. I installed GPU-Z, and took a screenshot, and according to my friend the GPU is running in x4/1.1 mode, which isn't normal. I'll attach the screenshot.

It's the first time I'm using GPU-Z, so I'm not really sure where to look, but when I click the render test I get the attached image.

This morning I asked someone to open the PC case and take some photos, to try to make sure the GPU in the correct slot. Is it possible to see, looking at the photos?

(I'm not sure what I'm looking at. I checked the official ASUS website, but I think it doesn't specify which slot is the correct one.)
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Compo ... B550-PLUS/
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Horseman
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Re: New PC build

Post by Horseman » Thu May 06, 2021 5:15 am

photos attached.
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Japanese Capacitor
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Re: New PC build

Post by Japanese Capacitor » Thu May 06, 2021 8:13 am

Put this GPU into upper slot. It's possible, because I checked it before reccomending you this cooler and - according to Noctua - U14S doesn't overhang it on your board. Remove unused HDD cages and mounts (like this empty construction on the top - yes, it's removable).

Btw it got a little dusty. Treat seriously the maintenance - clean computer is healthy computer! I don't know, how dusty is your environment, but, let's say, clean the bottom and front filter once a month, the same with opening the case and taking dust from GPU backplate, PSU shroud or anywhere it accumulates. Generally educate yourself and a person, who will do it in terms of maintaining a computer - things like ground yourself before touching anything inside or don't use plastic end of hoover.

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC build

Post by CA_Steve » Thu May 06, 2021 8:27 am

Yep, the gfx card is in the wrong slot. The one it's in provides PCIe 4.0 x 4 lanes. If you ever put an additional card in any of the adjacent slots it drops to PCIe 4.0 x 1.

However, in the current slot you are just losing a few percent of performance. PCIe 4.0 x 4 bandwidth = PCIe 3.0 x 8 = PCIe 2.0 x 16. Here's a fun review of the performance comparisons at Techpowerup. Note the 5700 XT used has similar performance to your 3060.

Horseman
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Re: New PC build

Post by Horseman » Fri May 07, 2021 4:40 pm

Japanese Capacitor wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 8:13 am
Put this GPU into upper slot. It's possible, because I checked it before reccomending you this cooler and - according to Noctua - U14S doesn't overhang it on your board. Remove unused HDD cages and mounts (like this empty construction on the top - yes, it's removable).

Btw it got a little dusty. Treat seriously the maintenance - clean computer is healthy computer! I don't know, how dusty is your environment, but, let's say, clean the bottom and front filter once a month, the same with opening the case and taking dust from GPU backplate, PSU shroud or anywhere it accumulates. Generally educate yourself and a person, who will do it in terms of maintaining a computer - things like ground yourself before touching anything inside or don't use plastic end of hoover.
Thanks Japanese Capacitor. And yes, it seems the PC got dusty in just two or three weeks, I was very surprised when I saw the photos (because I can't get near the PC, as mentioned above). With my old PC this was a problem, I guess it's because I spend so many hours in the bedroom and it's inevitable to have a lot of dust in the air, but I was hoping the dust filters would solve this at least partially. This morning I explained to my mother how to remove the dust filters, and surprisingly they have a very small amount of dust, somehow the dust got inside the PC through them. Maybe my room has very thin dust! :)

Today I searched about this subject, and I'm overwhelmed, I've seen people suggesting using blowers and/or compressors, vacuum cleaners, paintbrushes, compressed air cans, soft fabrics, and much more.

I actually have a BIG but relatively portable compressor in the garage, I could ask my brother to once a year or so to make a full cleanup with compressed air, but from my understanding of this type of compressors they create H2O, so it doesn't seem is a good solution.

Using the vacuum cleaner also seems problematic, even with the PC OFF, in that case it'd be my mother using the vacuum cleaner, but I'm afraid the probability of the vacuum cleaner touching one of the components would be quite high.

From everything I read and saw the best candidates seem a paintbrush (but which type?) and perhaps a can of compressed air. Would this be a good solution?
CA_Steve wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 8:27 am
Yep, the gfx card is in the wrong slot. The one it's in provides PCIe 4.0 x 4 lanes. If you ever put an additional card in any of the adjacent slots it drops to PCIe 4.0 x 1.

However, in the current slot you are just losing a few percent of performance. PCIe 4.0 x 4 bandwidth = PCIe 3.0 x 8 = PCIe 2.0 x 16. Here's a fun review of the performance comparisons at Techpowerup. Note the 5700 XT used has similar performance to your 3060.
Thanks Steve. Also for the link. With the difference being just a few percent of performance I'll just keep the GPU as it is, at least for now. When my friend comes over I'll ask if you can change the GPU to the other slot, but if he can't I won't lose any sleep.

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC build

Post by CA_Steve » Fri May 07, 2021 5:59 pm

Yeah, lots of different ways to clean out dust..with tradeoffs.
- end of plastic vacuum hose can have static charge
- compressed air can over spin fans. Easy fix for this is to hold onto the fan so it doesn't spin.

An anti-static wrist strap is pretty cheap and easy to use for anyone messing around in your PC. You can find at amazon, etc.

Japanese Capacitor
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Location: Warszawa, Poland

Re: New PC build

Post by Japanese Capacitor » Sat May 08, 2021 12:37 am

I can tell you, how I clean my pc for years and nothing bad ever happened. I'm not some pc cleaning specialist, but as I said - it works flawlessly. I generally used to overkill its frequency, due to having way worse filtered cases than current one, so being used to do it often, but for now I clean front and bottom dusts filters every two weeks - there's not much dust, but that's not much work compared to cleaning whole room. I just put them out and hoover - it makes them clean, no need to use water as some advice. Once a month I open the case and wipe GPU backplate and psu shroud using paper towel with isopropanol, but I think anything multi-surface meant to clean dust will do fine - I just have too much isopropanol, which I need only when changing thermal paste every few years. Once a month I also hoover PSU thru its back grill and bottom without using plastic hose and making fan move due to what Steve said. The most dusty place of my computer is case's solid top cover, so with yours it will probably be the same. I clean the room once a week, hoover and wash floor twice, but the top collects more dust in two days than inside of the case in damn month. Compressed air is great to clean fans and heatsinks, but I would reccomend canned one, not some car compressors (they can be too strong, a lot of bad stories with using that). Don't lean can to the bottom, because then they blow not only air, but also liquid.

Don't worry about the filters being not effective, because always something will get inside. Filters are about balance of being restrictive to keep dust well, but also not blocking too much airflow your components need to stay cool and quiet. Another reason is GPU which sucks air thru unfiltered expansion slots covers. You will see dust accumulates on the bottom of their frame and their holes. You can buy somehow filtered slot covers, if you like :D I've seen only metal mesh ones, not legit filters, so I wouldn't expect them being much better than your current ones, which are basically the same, but with wider holes.

Generally the more often you clean your pc, the less effort it needs, but it's best to find the balance.

CA_Steve
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Re: New PC build

Post by CA_Steve » Sat May 08, 2021 4:55 am

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I wait until I notice increased fan noise and then I clean the case :D

It's about once/yr.

Japanese Capacitor
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Re: New PC build

Post by Japanese Capacitor » Sat May 08, 2021 5:53 am

Once a year seems not bad. I just have old habits I developed with using open mesh case combined with cleaning it not that often as now and not that thoroughly. When I wanted to sell this computer, I needed to clean it perfectly for photoshoot :> and generally it should be done. I put into this that much effort, which immediately convert my attitude to current one :] It all depends on how dusty is our environment, but I would say, maintenance is frequent enough until air (canned or hoover) manages to remove all of the dust. When it's needed to wipe hard, deshroud GPU to remove hard pieces of dust or the same with CPU cooler it gets to my taste too punishing to calculate with laziness.

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