Silent mATX build?

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Kobold
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Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:29 pm

So, after several years I am considering building a new system from scratch.

My rig right now is a untervolted Core i5-2500 with a Scythe Mugen 4 on an Intel DP67BG board, 8 GB of RAM, Powercolor Radeon R9270 SCS3 + slapped on low speed low profile cooler, 256 GB SSD + 1 TB WD Green, Optical DVD-Writer, an Asus Xonar DX in a P182 with several Scythe Slipstream fans and an Enermax Modu82+ 525W, which is an upgrade of this (viewtopic.php?f=23&t=48098). Some pics of the current build can be seen here, for those who are interested: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=67114

Anyway, several reasons for starting from scratch:-

- Because I can :D, tinkering is fun
- I want sth. smaller than the P182, but ITX seems to be compromising to much
- I am finally to annoyed by not having video during POST (see viewtopic.php?f=19&t=67114).

Inspired by the silent 4K gamer thread I started to have a look around (but am aiming at 1080p for the moment!).

My basic idea so far:

Smaller case for mATX, no dedicated sound card anymore (have children, gaming only with headphones now), 1 SSD 500 GB, maybe one HDD for storage 1-2 TB, rest gets put into NAS, single graphics card, 16 GB RAM, silent build.

Components I somehow have decided on so far (still open for suggestions):

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500
Cooler: Sycthe Mugen Max
GPU: 4096MB MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 4G (some love for that card in the forums here, quiet is really what I'd like to see even under load)
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB

Open for advice:
HDD: Anything Silent 1-2 TB? WD Greens are discontinued, any recommendation?
RAM: 16 GB of whatever quality brand, Eurogamer seems to think fast RAM does do wonders for FPS in games (cf. first table in this article: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... e-i5-2500k)?
PSU: Reasonably priced silent Gold-class 500-600 Watts? Recommendations?
Mobo: Z170 Quality part with good sound quality, mATX obviously as form factor
ODD: Not important, may be left out for external solution if interfering with system cooling, advice still appreciated

The hard part:

I've read a bit about cases here obviously and in some other places, but nothing was quite to my liking. The Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E seemed the closest match, but somehow did not quite convince me despite the SPCR award.

Some cases I am considering now:

- Anidees AI7 White (http://anidees.com/ai7/ai7white or http://www.hartware.de/review_1790.html (in german))

Pros: Seems well ventilated, like two chamber design
Cons: Ugly as hell, needs new fans (not really a con)

- Fractal Design Node 804 (http://www.fractal-design.com/home/prod ... s/node-804 or http://www.hartware.de/review_1747_4.html , in german)

Pros: Seems well ventilated, like two chamber design
Cons: Ugly as hell, rather cubish largish, cpu cooler might be a problem

- Aerocool DS Cube (http://www.aerocool.us/ds/ds_white.html or http://www.hartware.de/review_1702_1.html, in german)

Pros: Nice looking, like two chamber design. lots of space for cpu cooler (190 mm)
Cons: Ventilation?, stupid 200 mm fan, hard to replace, maybe 140 mm enough?

So far I am really leaning towards the Aerocool but am still somewhat worried about the cooling. In all the case the fans would anyway be replaced with sth. more silent with decoupled mounting. As a starter I would think of Scythe, as the Slip- or Glidestreams have yet to let me down.

So that is it so far. Any insight is very much appreciated. Aiming at doing the build probably in Summer.

Best

Kobold

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:59 pm

Aiming at doing the build probably in Summer.
You buried the lead :)

GPU: Next gen graphics cards are due out sometime this summer. Probably announce, if not intro, at Computex in early June. Expect to see significant fps gains / watt. So, if a summer build, probably ought to wait for the mid range cards to come out rather than going with the otherwise fine MSI Gaming '960.

A couple more random comments...maybe not what you were looking for, but that's the way I roll :)

RAM: Doubt you need more than 8GB, unless you do a lot of Photoshop or 4k video. Intel memory controller is pretty flat performance wise vs clock rate. Very little benefit beyond 2133. I tend to recommend 2400, just because the price is pretty close to 2133.

CPU: spend the extra $20 and get the i5-6600 for the bump in base and turbo speeds.

Cooler: It's a 65W TDP CPU and you aren't overclocking. Go with the Scythe Kotetsu. Less weight, less cost, similar/potentially slightly better performance....and you don't have to worry about getting the right length Mugen screws from Scythe for Skylake's slightly thinner dimension.

SSD: great SSD with ever decreasing pricing.

PSU: be quiet! straight power 10 500CM

mobo: not overclocking...so you could go with an H170..if there's a decent feature set.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Mar 04, 2016 2:15 pm

Kobold wrote:Cooler: Sycthe Mugen Max
When you downsize, you'd go smaller even inside, you have no internal space to waste. There's plenty of slimmer towers.

Kobold wrote:GPU: 4096MB MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 4G (some love for that card in the forums here, quiet is really what I'd like to see even under load)

Do not buy a Maxwell, wait for Pascal.

Kobold wrote:HDD: Anything Silent 1-2 TB? WD Greens are discontinued, any recommendation?

The Blue is the new Green (WD rebadged but not discontinued the Greens), but I prefers 2.5" drives, noise-wise.

Kobold wrote:RAM: 16 GB of whatever quality brand, Eurogamer seems to think fast RAM does do wonders for FPS in games (cf. first table in this article: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... e-i5-2500k)?

Phrases like "almost all modern triple-A titles make use of all eight CPU threads." leave me dubious and skeptic about how serious and trustworthy Eurogamer is.

Kobold wrote:PSU: Reasonably priced silent Gold-class 500-600 Watts? Recommendations?

What's reasonable for you? In EU personally I'd look at the 430W Super Flower Golden Silent at first.

Kobold wrote:I've read a bit about cases here obviously and in some other places, but nothing was quite to my liking. The Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E seemed the closest match, but somehow did not quite convince me despite the SPCR award.

The Silverstone KL 06 looks like a worthwhile alternative to the TJ-08E.

Kobold wrote:- Fractal Design Node 804 (http://www.fractal-design.com/home/prod ... s/node-804 or http://www.hartware.de/review_1747_4.html , in german)

Pros: Seems well ventilated, like two chamber design
Cons: Ugly as hell, rather cubish largish, cpu cooler might be a problem

In real life it looks better, according to me, but that's highly subjective: why the cooler should be a problem?

Kobold wrote:So far I am really leaning towards the Aerocool but am still somewhat worried about the cooling.

You are right to be worried: airflow is on the appalling side. Then why not the similarly designed Bitfenix Phenom M?

At any rate, I'd give a look to the Raijintek Styx, as it would look one of the most interesting mATX options, particulaly if you reverse the fans flow, as seen sometimes on Raijintek Methis' builds.

Other smaller options (mITX) are the recently SPCR-tested Lian Li PC Q10 or maybe the freshly released Fractal Design Define Nano.

Kobold wrote:In all the case the fans would anyway be replaced with sth. more silent with decoupled mounting. As a starter I would think of Scythe, as the Slip- or Glidestreams have yet to let me down.

The Slipstream is far better.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Fire-Flare » Fri Mar 04, 2016 2:32 pm

I'm not familiar with mATX cases, but for internals I've had good luck with Asus and Gigabyte motherboards, G-Skill RAM, SeaSonic X-series PSUs, and Samsung SSDs. (I don't have any experience with quiet platter drives. Sorry.)


For air cooling, I love Prolimatech's Genesis CPU cooler, Noctua PWM fans, and Arctic Accelero Xtremes on my video cards.

Kobold
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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sat Mar 05, 2016 8:14 am

First of all, thanks for the feedback so far.

Concerning the GPU I guess only high power Pascal parts will be released first, but still I guess I should wait. I will instead transfer my Powercolor Radeon R9 270 SCS3 for the time being and use the old MSI HD5770 for my previous system, which will be transferred to a work only system.

CPU: i5-6600 ist still a 65W part, thus you're right Steve_CA

Cooler: Will consider the Kosetsu as a lightweight alternative for the Mugen Max

MoBo: Z170 vs. H170... will have to look into that in more detail, I just wonder if by losing overclocking support if I would also limit my undervolting options. I definitely will not need the additional PCI-E lanes. For the moment let us just consider sth. like Asus H170M-PLUS. Will be limited to DDR4-2133 then however, XMP is ignored according to Asus beyond that.

HDD: Blue is new Green, ok read up on wdc.com, so sth like a WD20EZRZ with 2 TB

PSU: Well decent price is probably not to much north of 100 €. However, as this is a part which is not frequently replaced, quality matters.

Concerning the case, well the Fractal Design is just to much of a cube for me I think. Anyway, I need to look into the other cases mentioned.

Have to go now, my little daughter is getting bored.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Mar 05, 2016 10:40 am

Kobold wrote:MoBo: Z170 vs. H170... will have to look into that in more detail, I just wonder if by losing overclocking support if I would also limit my undervolting options.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA ... df#page=60

Kobold wrote:Will be limited to DDR4-2133 then however, XMP is ignored according to Asus beyond that.

Though you should be able to set higher speeds manually.

Kobold wrote:PSU: Well decent price is probably not to much north of 100 €. However, as this is a part which is not frequently replaced, quality matters.

The Super Flower Golden Silent 430 should be 109 euros MSRP fanless & platinum.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sat Mar 05, 2016 11:20 am

Kobold wrote:I've read a bit about cases here obviously and in some other places, but nothing was quite to my liking. The Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E seemed the closest match, but somehow did not quite convince me despite the SPCR award.
quest_for_silence wrote:The Silverstone KL 06 looks like a worthwhile alternative to the TJ-08E.


Really dislike the PSU on top :(
Kobold wrote:- Fractal Design Node 804 (http://www.fractal-design.com/home/prod ... s/node-804 or http://www.hartware.de/review_1747_4.html , in german)

Pros: Seems well ventilated, like two chamber design
Cons: Ugly as hell, rather cubish largish, cpu cooler might be a problem
quest_for_silence wrote:In real life it looks better, according to me, but that's highly subjective: why the cooler should be a problem?


Its just my subjective feeling, as mentioned it is too much of a cube for me. Max. Cooler height is 160mm, Mugen Max is 161 mmm (will probably fit)

Kobold wrote:So far I am really leaning towards the Aerocool but am still somewhat worried about the cooling.
quest_for_silence wrote:You are right to be worried: airflow is on the appalling side. Then why not the similarly designed Bitfenix Phenom M?

At any rate, I'd give a look to the Raijintek Styx, as it would look one of the most interesting mATX options, particulaly if you reverse the fans flow, as seen sometimes on Raijintek Methis' builds.

Other smaller options (mITX) are the recently SPCR-tested Lian Li PC Q10 or maybe the freshly released Fractal Design Define Nano.


Bitfenix Phenom M is also really nice looking, however with those stupid intake vents on front I am not sure, if cooling will be much better. Who designed those stupid intake vent. I am really wondering if one can saw out the holes further without damaging the mesh part. I also looked at a review at techpowerup and the airflow design seems really strange, especially the GPU facing upwards cannot get to much air in standard config. IMO it seems like one would have to do a design where air is blown from top to bottom to actually get cleanest airflow, maybe I am wrong?

A shame, this would be a worthwhile alternative

The Styx also seems really limited concerning airflow, am I missing sth.?

Fractal Design Define Nano is ITX unfortunately.

Still, thanks for all the suggestions, will have to think about the BitFenix case some more as well.

Kobold
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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sat Mar 05, 2016 11:24 am

quest_for_silence wrote:
Kobold wrote:MoBo: Z170 vs. H170... will have to look into that in more detail, I just wonder if by losing overclocking support if I would also limit my undervolting options.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA ... df#page=60

Awesome, thanks, should have looked myself.
Kobold wrote:PSU: Well decent price is probably not to much north of 100 €. However, as this is a part which is not frequently replaced, quality matters.
quest_for_silence wrote:The Super Flower Golden Silent 430 should be 109 euros MSRP fanless & platinum.


Forgot to mention that earlier, fanless is not where I want to go right now, even though it is 100% quiet. Especially in case of the Bitfenix I think some airflow from PSU might help (even though the airflow design is welll... strange).

Thanks again.

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sun Mar 06, 2016 4:49 am

Ok,

did some more reading on case options:

- Phanteks Enthoo Evolv matx (https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Pha ... hoo_Evolv/) , more traditional tower cooler layout, but still nice looking and large coolers. And one window, oh well you cannot have everything. ITX version had bad SPCR review due to insufficient airflow, but here the case is of course bigger. 200 m fan was very well regarded in the review for its acoustics.
- Antec ISK 600M (https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Antec/ISK_600M/), a cube :D but in the right way, again airflow from front will be a concern.
( - maybe Xigmatek Aquila, https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aquila/)

Any hands-on experience with these cases for silent computing would be very helpful.

Daniel

(edited stupid typo)
Last edited by Kobold on Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:40 am

Kobold wrote:
quest_for_silence wrote:The Silverstone KL 06 looks like a worthwhile alternative to the TJ-08E.


Really dislike the PSU on top :(

So what? I mean, I dislike white fans, nonetheless the Nexus Real Silent Case Fan is an excellent pick for quiet computing. Is your one an aesthetical stance?

Kobold wrote:Bitfenix Phenom M is also really nice looking...IMO it seems like one would have to do a design where air is blown from top to bottom to actually get cleanest airflow, maybe I am wrong?

The Phenom M is mainly an inverted ATX like the TJ08-E, that's why it may look a bit odd: said that, at first instance the more rational airflow seems to be a positive pressure setup with active top intake for GPU, bottom intake for CPU, and rear exhaust; alternatively, passive top intake, active bottom and rear intakes.

IMHO such a solution could better address one of the major concern of the DS Cube-style cases (the Antec ISK600M is just another variation), an issue already seen in the Bitfenix Phenom ITX SPCR review (and in this respect the Xigmatek Aquila seems it may a bit better than the Aerocool and Steam Castle siblings, but it isn't sleek, as well as the Antec P50): there, given the horizontal layout, a massive fan faces the apparent lack of inlets, but even when the fan is really good (like the Phanteks PH-F200SP), you often end up with higher noise and/or lower cooling.

Kobold wrote:The Styx also seems really limited concerning airflow, am I missing sth.?

Probably the only real limit is that it sports just 1 stock fan, and it's wrongly oriented (you can't have ONLY a bottom exhaust with any serious system): it's again an inverted ATX, which addresses the major concern seen on the smaller Metis, I mean the lack of an inlet on the roof.

Kobold wrote:Fractal Design Define Nano is ITX unfortunately.

Given it may accept most of hardware and cooling options, does that make any real difference? Well, if you aim at a SLI/Crossfire setup, then it would do, but I guess it isn't that case.

Moreover, as seen on some recent SPCR reviews, those newer mITX enclosures (the Define Nano, but also the Core 500 by Fractal itself, or the PC-Q10 by Lian-Li) currently better address the need of downsizing gaming rigs (and similarly powerful - hot - systems) for the quiet-computing folks, thanks to their more effective/suitable airflow, rather than sleek cuboids with solid front panels which you felt in love... perhaps may you like the Cooltek W1 (ITX) or W2 (ATX)?
Last edited by quest_for_silence on Sun Mar 06, 2016 10:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

Abula
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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Abula » Sun Mar 06, 2016 10:30 am

Some comments / Suggestions

CPU:Intel Core i5-6500
Imo among the best price / performance / heat, i bought one couple of weeks ago because of this.

Cooler: Sycthe Mugen Max
Good cooler, but imo there are better options, Scythe Kotetsu or Ninja 4 are atm what its more recommended here in SPCR, personally i like more Thermalright Macho Rev B, comes with the TY147A which to me its one of the best CPU fans, the combo is pretty good for $50. If you get a good mobo with good fan control you can drop it extremly low, close to 300rpms,

Image

GPU: 4096MB MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 4G (some love for that card in the forums here, quiet is really what I'd like to see even under load)
Great value GPU.

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
Solid consumer ssd, i havent seen any issues.

HDD: Anything Silent 1-2 TB? WD Greens are discontinued, any recommendation?
WD Reds would be my pick. If you build on a smaller setup and you dont have space for a 3.5hdd i like the Seagate/Samsung M9T, 2tb 2.5 5400rpm hdd.

RAM: 16 GB of whatever quality brand, Eurogamer seems to think fast RAM does do wonders for FPS in games
Ram has little impcat on performance, i would recommend get the cheapest that its on the QVL List, and try to get standard/normal height, ram this days dont need heatsinks.

PSU: Reasonably priced silent Gold-class 500-600 Watts? Recommendations?
I like seasonic, but EVGA partenring with Superflower has delievered a really nicely priced platinum PSU, EVGA SuperNOVA 650 P2

Mobo: Z170 Quality part with good sound quality, mATX obviously as form factor
All motherboards will practically have the same Realtek 1150, well thats not true, some have the older 897/887 codec, but asking for good sound from onboard is asking too much, given that they have gotten better over time, its not imo good in quality still, but in audio everything is relative. Most manufacturers have their marketing toward dividing the pcb and having better caps, to me they still sound very close. I would disregard this completely and go for a motherboard that has the feature that you need at the price you like. I would recommend to go for something that has good fan control, Asus FanXpert to me its by far the easiest to setup, and allows full control of what your fans can run on. I would suggest to take a look into ASUS Z170M-PLUS, its cheap and comes with FanXpert3, the only downside is it comes with the older Realtek ALC887, to me its not a big deal as out 3 mobos with realtek 1150 none were usable because of noise, and tbh in the past i used 887 and never had issues, so to me would be better, quality wise none of the onboard are good, in time if you want better audio get a dedicated audio, or better yet, go extrenal with a DAC.

Now if you are not going with Windows based PC, like linux or hackingtosh, then i would suggest to go with one with good fan control, to me MSI is pretty good, Asrock also good on PWM from their CPU_FAN headers, thus i would go with a case with standard 120mm fans, and go with PWM and a PWM Fan Splitter, and control everything from the bios.

ODD: Not important, may be left out for external solution if interfering with system cooling, advice still appreciated
I no longer use opticals, i do have one stored down for some installs, but its sata and its mostly to install windows, so i usually have my PC open. Now about the external i have very little experience, i bought one for my brother, its noisy, but rarely gets used, get whatever is cheaper and use it the least.
I've read a bit about cases here obviously and in some other places, but nothing was quite to my liking. The Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E seemed the closest match, but somehow did not quite convince me despite the SPCR award.
The TJ08-E apeal its in cooling capablity, the AP181 is a monster fan for such a small case, i have built on it 3 builds, its really a nice case. But its not right for everyone, the frontal fan requieres a lot of undervolting for it to get quiet, Asus motherboards with FanXpert comes to mid a good pick for them.

Now there are other options if you fear the AP181, like the PS07, that was reviewed by SPCR , didnt came as well as the TJ08-E mostly because of its cooling, the twin 120s will not cool off as good as the 180x32, but you hardware is not that demanding, and this will give you the chance to swapping toward whatever 120mm fans you want over time, Noctua NF-S12B Redux 700rpms, Scythe Gentle Typhoons 800, NoiseBlacker M12-S1 and Nexus Basic 1200rpms are pretty good candidates.

Image

Image

Image

Similar there a newer version, a little different but in case you like it more check also Silvertone Kublai Series KL06, seems like hybrid of the TJ08-E with the PS07.
Kobold wrote:Some cases I am considering now:

- Anidees AI7 White (http://anidees.com/ai7/ai7white or http://www.hartware.de/review_1790.html (in german))

Pros: Seems well ventilated, like two chamber design
Cons: Ugly as hell, needs new fans (not really a con)

- Fractal Design Node 804 (http://www.fractal-design.com/home/prod ... s/node-804 or http://www.hartware.de/review_1747_4.html , in german)

Pros: Seems well ventilated, like two chamber design
Cons: Ugly as hell, rather cubish largish, cpu cooler might be a problem

- Aerocool DS Cube (http://www.aerocool.us/ds/ds_white.html or http://www.hartware.de/review_1702_1.html, in german)

Pros: Nice looking, like two chamber design. lots of space for cpu cooler (190 mm)
Cons: Ventilation?, stupid 200 mm fan, hard to replace, maybe 140 mm enough?

So far I am really leaning towards the Aerocool but am still somewhat worried about the cooling. In all the case the fans would anyway be replaced with sth. more silent with decoupled mounting. As a starter I would think of Scythe, as the Slip- or Glidestreams have yet to let me down.
If you like AereoCool go for it, i read that it somewhat starves on air because of the front, but i dont think you should have much of an issue, your CPU at 3.2ghz shouldn't need much cooling, nor the GTX960, i think you should be fine with it. But i would recommend to go with Asus mobo, replacing the frontal fan might not be that easy, so you need to be able to undervolt it, FanXpert3 should take care of it.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by mikeb » Sun Mar 06, 2016 12:53 pm

quest_for_silence wrote: At any rate, I'd give a look to the Raijintek Styx, as it would look one of the most interesting mATX options, particulaly if you reverse the fans flow, as seen sometimes on Raijintek Methis' builds.
quest_for_silence wrote: Probably the only real limit is that it sports just 1 stock fan, and it's wrongly oriented (you can't have ONLY a bottom exhaust with any serious system): it's again an inverted ATX, which addresses the major concern seen on the smaller Metis, I mean the lack of an inlet on the roof.
What would be the recommended airflow setup for Styx? (Exhaust or intake on bottom rear? Intake or exhaust on top? A fanless power supply that intakes from bottom, or one with a fan? CPU fan direction?)

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun Mar 06, 2016 1:48 pm

mikeb wrote:What would be the recommended airflow setup for Styx? (Exhaust or intake on bottom rear? Intake or exhaust on top? A fanless power supply that intakes from bottom, or one with a fan? CPU fan direction?)

Broadly speaking on closed enclosures inlet flows tend to be more beneficial, but it mostly depends of the specific parts: to say, an IGP system should run off a single rear intake and bank onto the stack effect to exhaust, a low TDP GPU (like a GTX 750ti or a small FirePro) may take advantage of an active bottom/passive top combo, while a tad hotter one (like a GTX 950) may even run passive whether there were a slow spinning top intake...

...about the PSU, apparently it cannot have any substantial exhaust role, so a fanned one should heat the internals as well as a fanless one (though maybe a tad less).

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Tue Mar 08, 2016 11:59 am

First of all, thanks again for all the contributions, expecially the very helpful and lengthy comments of CA_Steve, quest_for_silence and Abula.

Right now I have a rather good idea how the system will look like, even though I will probably only tackle the build sometime in April-June.

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 or i5-6600
Cooler: Sycthe Kosetsu (most likely)
GPU: Use old Powercolor Radeon R9 270 SCS3 while waiting for Pascal.
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
HDD: WD20EZRZ 2 TB
RAM: 2x8 GB of whatever quality brand
PSU: Still have to decide, fanless should work well for the case. will also do some more reading here. Still aim at the 500-600 Watts range to have ugrading options
Mobo: Asus H170M-PLUS as a good placeholder right now, will do some reading.
ODD: Something internal or external
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX (https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Pha ... olv/1.html)

Concerning the case, this will be actually a try if this will work as a silent product. I thought a bit about this and actually decided that the input airflow on a Ante P182 with door closed (which is the usual case for me) is actually not better. And if getting rid of the dust filter part in front (cf. https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Pha ... ffdust.jpg) can be done while putting the front plate back, airflow should be ok I think. If not, well then I will need to shell out some money for another case.

I also thought again a bit about ATX, but if I want to add some expansion card at some point again, I think I just feel to limited right now. Maybe I will transfer my old Asus Xonar DX to the new case as well, if onboard sound is to crappy as mentioned by Abula.

Will be fun to build something new.

As soon as I finish something, I will post some results, but as mentioned above this will take some time.

Again if anyone has some suggestion, I am willing to listen anytime.

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:01 pm

Hi,

I've been looking around for some more MATX-cases. Some cheap options could be:

- Thermaltake Versa H15 (http://www.thermaltake.com/products-mod ... C_00002583), should have ample ventilation and thus could be quiet. Would have to block top vent probably. Found only one "review": http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsec ... ng=english

- Rosewill Line M (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6798/rose ... u-microatx ; https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Rosewill/Line-M/ ). Not really nice looking, will probably need some work on the side panels (rattling, etc.), but should also give decent cooling due to rather direct front to back air path. Cons: Hav not found a vendor in Germany yet, but was not looking to hard as of now. Cabling will be a mess though.

For both of course decent fans,etc... and maybe even damping foam for the side panels (mostly do deaden against vibration I'd guess), which will also block off side intake in case of Rosewill case.

Has anyone used one of these for a build?

Best

Kobold

P.S. Ok found two sellers for the Rosewill on Amazon.de
P.P.S This easily available Sharkoon case looks extremely similar to the Rosewill one: https://de.sharkoon.com/product//13906#gallery, as well as https://de.sharkoon.com/product/1186/12084#gallery or https://de.sharkoon.com/product/1186/12077#gallery

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Mar 23, 2016 1:20 pm

Kobold wrote:Has anyone used one of these for a build?

As for PSUs, most of cases are rebadged by various manufacturers: as far as I may see (didn't checked the relevant figures), the TT design has been already seen as Cooler Master N200/Silencio 352, or as Corsair SPEC-01/02/03/M2, while the Rosewill one is sold not only by Sharkoon but it's also been seen as Aerocool Qs-200/200 Lite/200 Advanced and with noise lining as ACE Ecco 250.

I used the Aerocool Qs-200 Advanced some years ago: not too shabby, but not that good too, I think it was a decent option for the (few) money.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by ntavlas » Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:44 am

As far as cases are concerned, how about the NXZT S340? It full atx but at about 30 liters it is still smaller than many matx cases. Of the cases already mentioned I like Silverstone's TJ 08 the best. As others have said though you should perhaps consider going mini itx. Cases like the Lian Li PC-Q10, PC Q-33 or the Cooltek W1 perform just as well as their larger counterparts and look very sleek.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:20 am

ntavlas wrote:As far as cases are concerned, how about the NXZT S340? It full atx but at about 30 liters it is still smaller than many matx cases.[..]
Looks rather nice actually, like others mentioned in other threads exhaust is somewhat limited. Like it, though. It is 38 liters.

While looking at this I also starting to think about the Corsair Carbide Quiet 400Q (http://www.legitreviews.com/corsair-car ... iew_177638). Same size class, but should have somewhat better intake and exhaust. Not as nice looking of course, but still very minimalistic looks. The only thing the sound dampening probably does is damping panel case vibration, though. Well does not matter.

Of course now I got a lot larger again than I originally wanted, but still much smaller than a P182.

SPCR tested the 600Q, maybe also 400Q? :)

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by ntavlas » Sat Mar 26, 2016 4:40 am

The Corsair and NXZT have a very similar design, and while the Corsair is slightly larger and more expensive it does offer two more fan mounts and has less restrictive vents at the front. The NXZT still has mounts for two 120mm exhaust fans which should be ok for the hardware you want to put inside but you certainly can't go wrong with the Corsair 400Q.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:36 pm

So I guess am am nearly good to go:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500
Cooler: Sycthe Kosetsu
GPU: Use old Powercolor Radeon R9 270 SCS3 while waiting for Pascal.
SSD:
Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
HDD: WD20EZRZ 2 TB
RAM: 2x8 GB of whatever quality brand
PSU: Be Quiet Straight power 10 600W
Mobo: Asus H170M-PLUS
Case: Corsair Carbide 400Q (though for looks the NZXT S340 White is still tempting).

However, I still would like a recommandation for silent 140 mm DC fans.
The original Phanteks tested here seem to be discontinued? Or just go with the trusted (and cheap) 120 mm Scythe Slipstreams and not bother about 140 mm?

Regards

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Apr 13, 2016 1:17 pm

Kobold wrote:PSU: Be Quiet Straight power 10 600W

If you mind, the 400W/500W models offer a quieter (slower) fan and probably a better value.

Kobold wrote:However, I still would like a recommandation for silent 140 mm DC fans.l

There are some, Noctua P14s/P14r/A15 comes to mind, then Antec TrueQuiet 140, NZXT FN V2, but Prolimatech RV14/BV14/USV14 and Fractal GP14/HP14/HF14 also. I guess other co-forumers may advice for more ones (like the already quoted Thermalright TY147A).

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Abula » Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:55 pm

Kobold wrote:However, I still would like a recommendation for silent 140 mm DC fans.[/b]
I agreee with Lucas, my two recommendations are Noctua NF-P14s redux-900 or Antec TrueQuiet 140, both drop extremly low with Asus FanXpert, around 200rpms.

Image

Image

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sat Apr 16, 2016 12:30 pm

Abula wrote:Some comments / Suggestions

[..]

Mobo: Z170 Quality part with good sound quality, mATX obviously as form factor
All motherboards will practically have the same Realtek 1150, well thats not true, some have the older 897/887 codec, but asking for good sound from onboard is asking too much, given that they have gotten better over time, its not imo good in quality still, but in audio everything is relative. Most manufacturers have their marketing toward dividing the pcb and having better caps, to me they still sound very close. I would disregard this completely and go for a motherboard that has the feature that you need at the price you like. I would recommend to go for something that has good fan control, Asus FanXpert to me its by far the easiest to setup, and allows full control of what your fans can run on. I would suggest to take a look into ASUS Z170M-PLUS, its cheap and comes with FanXpert3, the only downside is it comes with the older Realtek ALC887, to me its not a big deal as out 3 mobos with realtek 1150 none were usable because of noise, and tbh in the past i used 887 and never had issues, so to me would be better, quality wise none of the onboard are good, in time if you want better audio get a dedicated audio, or better yet, go extrenal with a DAC.

Now if you are not going with Windows based PC, like linux or hackingtosh, then i would suggest to go with one with good fan control, to me MSI is pretty good, Asrock also good on PWM from their CPU_FAN headers, thus i would go with a case with standard 120mm fans, and go with PWM and a PWM Fan Splitter, and control everything from the bios.

[..]
A quick question regarding FanXpert: It seems that both for the Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus, that only the CPU-Fan is supported (according to manuals, e.g. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA ... df#page=30).

If this is true I will probably revert to an ATX Mobo like the H170 PRO GAMING, which has also more fan headers and support for at least 4 of them according to the manual, Display-Port and more USB-ports on the back, as well as a lot of stupid stuff :D.

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Abula » Sat Apr 16, 2016 1:11 pm

Kobold wrote:A quick question regarding FanXpert: It seems that both for the Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus, that only the CPU-Fan is supported (according to manuals, e.g. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA ... df#page=30).

If this is true I will probably revert to an ATX Mobo like the H170 PRO GAMING, which has also more fan headers and support for at least 4 of them according to the manual, Display-Port and more USB-ports on the back, as well as a lot of stupid stuff :D.

Daniel
I'm sorry daniel i don't get your question, CPU-Fan is supported for what?

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:22 pm

Abula wrote:I'm sorry daniel i don't get your question, CPU-Fan is supported for what?

I guess they were referring to the calibration procedure, but who knows...

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:01 am

Abula wrote:
Kobold wrote:A quick question regarding FanXpert: It seems that both for the Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus, that only the CPU-Fan is supported (according to manuals, e.g. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA ... df#page=30).

If this is true I will probably revert to an ATX Mobo like the H170 PRO GAMING, which has also more fan headers and support for at least 4 of them according to the manual, Display-Port and more USB-ports on the back, as well as a lot of stupid stuff :D.

Daniel
I'm sorry daniel i don't get your question, CPU-Fan is supported for what?
The manual somewhat nebulously states that only the CPU-Fan Header is supported in FanXpert. Maybe, it is what Luca wrote, that this refers to the calibration procedure, then I could not care less, as long as I can configure fan speed curves for all fan headers. So I was asking whether you might have any experience with those mobos.

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Abula » Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:10 am

Kobold wrote:The manual somewhat nebulously states that only the CPU-Fan Header is supported in FanXpert. Maybe, it is what Luca wrote, that this refers to the calibration procedure, then I could not care less, as long as I can configure fan speed curves for all fan headers. So I was asking whether you might have any experience with those mobos.
Its still not clear fully to me what you want, but ill try to give you what i know, maybe you can grab the answer from there.

I don't have any experience with the "Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus", i suggested out of you wanting to go micro ATX, and them having fanXpert. I currently own a Asus H170 Pro gaming, and i can tell you that all headers are PWM/DC (switchable on the bios), and all of them are read on fanXpert3 and you can control each fan to your liking, given each fan range of operation after you run the tuning. I would expect similar behavior on the "Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus", but i don't own either to tell you for sure. I can tell you that i had issues with Asus H170 Pro Gaming with the bios and their QTunning (fanXpert in the bios), with stabilities and able to save the settings, but i think its more a bios bug that will be work out in them, that said the fanXpert3 is perfect, no issues at all, it will read accurately each fan, any header can be ran PWM or DC (this is change on the bios, but works as they say), you can even stop fans, etc, still imo the best software to manage fan in the market, at least to me.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Kobold » Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:49 am

Abula wrote:
Kobold wrote:The manual somewhat nebulously states that only the CPU-Fan Header is supported in FanXpert. Maybe, it is what Luca wrote, that this refers to the calibration procedure, then I could not care less, as long as I can configure fan speed curves for all fan headers. So I was asking whether you might have any experience with those mobos.
Its still not clear fully to me what you want, but ill try to give you what i know, maybe you can grab the answer from there.

I don't have any experience with the "Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus", i suggested out of you wanting to go micro ATX, and them having fanXpert. I currently own a Asus H170 Pro gaming, and i can tell you that all headers are PWM/DC (switchable on the bios), and all of them are read on fanXpert3 and you can control each fan to your liking, given each fan range of operation after you run the tuning. I would expect similar behavior on the "Z170M-PLUS and H170M-Plus from Asus", but i don't own either to tell you for sure. I can tell you that i had issues with Asus H170 Pro Gaming with the bios and their QTunning (fanXpert in the bios), with stabilities and able to save the settings, but i think its more a bios bug that will be work out in them, that said the fanXpert3 is perfect, no issues at all, it will read accurately each fan, any header can be ran PWM or DC (this is change on the bios, but works as they say), you can even stop fans, etc, still imo the best software to manage fan in the market, at least to me.
Ok, then I should probably be fine, as the manual for the H170 Pro Gaming states "The CPU_FAN connector and CHA_FAN connectors support the ASUS FAN Xpert 3
feature" which would exclude the CPU_OPT header. Anyway, I might go with the Pro Gaming, due to the larger number of fan headers and a 30 € cashback running now.

Thanks

Daniel

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by Abula » Sun Apr 17, 2016 11:11 am

Kobold wrote:Ok, then I should probably be fine, as the manual for the H170 Pro Gaming states "The CPU_FAN connector and CHA_FAN connectors support the ASUS FAN Xpert 3
feature" which would exclude the CPU_OPT header. Anyway, I might go with the Pro Gaming, due to the larger number of fan headers and a 30 € cashback running now.
In all my Asus motherboards the CPU_OPT has been a dummy header, its a header that does the same as CPU_FAN, think of this as Y splitter, the CPU_OPT only mirrors what the CPU_FAN does. Both in the bios and in FanXpert you can read the RPMS but you cant control it. To me its just the way Asus thought of having a cooler with dual fans but you didn't want to use a Y splitter, the only good from it, is you can see the rpms that you wont be able on a Y splitter, thats about it, the header is not a controllable, its just a mirror of the CPU_FAN. That said it really doesn't matter much, i mean you have a lot more headers you can use if you want to fully control them, but it does have its uses, like dual fan cooler.

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Re: Silent mATX build?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun Apr 17, 2016 11:57 pm

Kobold wrote:Anyway, I might go with the Pro Gaming, due to the larger number of fan headers and a 30 € cashback running now.

I may be wrong, but check twice, I knew it ended yesterday.

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