My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update GTX580 )

Show off your quiet rig.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update GTX580 )

Post by justice99 » Fri May 13, 2011 1:47 pm

Hello guyz,
a lot of great person on this forum gave me a tons of good advice to build a quiet computer, my specs :

CPU : i5 2500K @ 4.5Ghz (TurboBoost enable)
CPU Fan : Scythe Mugen 2
Mobo : MSI P67A-G45
RAM : 1x4go G.Skill Ripjaws
GPU : GeForce GTX 460 OC, 1 Go, Gigabyte ( stock 715/1430/1800 oc to 850/1700/2050 with modded bios)
SSD & HDD : SSD Vertex Series & 3xWD20EARS
Case : Fractal Design R3
PSU : Enermax PRO87+ 600W
Scythe Kaze Master Fan Controller

Image

Image


What about noise?

At idle, if i turn GPU fan to minimum (40%), my CPU fan to minimum (90RPM via bios) and the front/back fan of my case to min, the computer is almost inaudible, and i am very close to it. I can only ear a little ''breath'', i dont know if i can do better, the gpu's fan run at 1800rpm at idle, cant do better.
The temp are perfect, 38degres for GPU and 35-40 degres for CPU.

Even when i play games like Crysis2, the computer is not noisy, i can play without headphone.

Comments are welcome :-)


Edit #1:

I have flashed my gpu bios to be able to turn my fan to 30%, that's the result :

Image

Under 30%, i have crazy number like 40000RPM... i think its kind of bug, fans cant goes under 30%.

About Noise ? It's perfect!!! Now, i can say that my computer is dead silent lol, its 500RPM less, and the temp is almost the same (+2/3 degres).

That's make me want to buy another one hehe :D


Edit #2 :

Hello,
i decided to change my Fractal R3 fan, so i bought 2x Scythe Slip Stream 120mm (SY1225SL12LM-P) :

Image


I dont ear a difference between stock fan and these fan, i control my front and back fan with a Fan Controler, and the speed is always at the minimum.
So its better to dont change them!

I also bought a wattmetter, and at idle, my computer consome 66Watts, and if i stress the CPU & GPU at 100% and at the same time, the consumption is 288Watts.
So i can easily buy another GTX460 or a powerfull GPU.

Edit #3 :

Hello again,
I decided to change my graphic card for a powerfull one. I bought a PNY GeForce GTX 580.
This card come with the classic Nvidia heatskin. I did a couple of test to know if the card is quiet at idle.
After flashing the bios, i got this information :

Fan at 40% : 1400 RPM
Fant at 30% : 1000 RPM
Fan at 25% : 850 RPM

At 40%, the fan is audible, at 30% and 25% the computer is really really quiet, i can barely hear it but i got a heat problem.
You can't watch a video/youtube video without increasing the temperature to 58/60 degres, so fan start to make a loud noise.

I decided to change the heatskin for an Accelero Xtreme PLUS II.
It's really impresive, i cant hear my graphic card.

Fans at 30% : 950 RPM
Fans at 40% : 1300 RPM

I can't hear my graphic card at 25/30/40%, and the temps are great : 35/37 degres at idle.
Even during games the card is very quiet.

So if you are looking for a powerfull and quiet card, buy a cheap 580 and mod it !!

Image

Image
Last edited by justice99 on Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:22 am, edited 10 times in total.

Zargon
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:00 am
Location: Urbana, IL

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by Zargon » Fri May 13, 2011 1:57 pm

very nice build. those cases are so clean!

johnniecache7
Posts: 332
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:10 pm
Location: Toronto - Ontario - Canada

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by johnniecache7 » Fri May 13, 2011 2:20 pm

Does they fan clear you memory slots? I'm thinking buying that cooler but not sure if it would clear my standard sized DDR3 sticks.

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by justice99 » Fri May 13, 2011 2:25 pm

Well, you should not buy a long DDR, actually i had to move the cpu' fan a little to the top to be able to put my DDR on the first slot.

Image

Btw, this cooler is fantastic, at idle, it can run at 0 RPM ( 90 RPM in fact ), and the temps is still very good.

johnniecache7
Posts: 332
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:10 pm
Location: Toronto - Ontario - Canada

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by johnniecache7 » Fri May 13, 2011 2:32 pm

Rip Jaws are out my budget, I'm just using good soild value memory with no heatspeaders. Does it bend your motherboard or anything my motherboard is matx AM3 and the memory slots are really close to the cpu but it looks like it would fit.

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by justice99 » Fri May 13, 2011 2:37 pm

It will fit if they have no heatspeaders, dont worry about that.

matchu
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:16 pm

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by matchu » Fri May 13, 2011 6:51 pm

Sweet build! Looks very similar to mine, and I was thinking of all the parts you used

I used an Antec p183v3 and a Radeon 6850 instead of the Define R3 and GTX 460.

If you want to make things quieter, you could consider replacing the stock cooler of the 460 with the Gelid Icy Vision. I spin it down to 23% and at 700rpm, the gpu doesn't hit past 70C on Furmark.

[edit]

A question, actually...

you mentioned your cpu temps being 35-40C. Is that on load, or at idle? i ask because my room is 22C and yet the CPU idles at 40C. I'm using the Scythe Mugen 2 with the included fan @ 700rpm.

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by justice99 » Fri May 13, 2011 11:49 pm

That's my CPU temps at idle :

Image

But after couple of hours the temps if between 37 and 41 maximum.
System Fan 1 & 2 are controlled by my rhéobus, and they are at minimum but CPIUD show them at 100%, its a bug.
CPU fan is controlled by my mobo, and i can also adjust it with CPUID or SpeedFan.

I was planning to buy a Gelid Icy Vision but i think that's better to put this fan in a more powerfull graphic card.
But the gpu's fan is what i can ear at idle...
Im gonna see if i can flash the bios to be able to turn the fan to 30% instead 40%.

Edit :
you could consider replacing the stock cooler of the 460 with the Gelid Icy Vision. I spin it down to 23% and at 700rpm, the gpu doesn't hit past 70C on Furmark
With MSI Afterburner, you can setup the fans to 23% (so 700rpm) ??

Someone knows if i can flash my gpu bios to downspeed the fan to 30% for example?

kuzzia
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 709
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 4:41 am
Location: Denmark

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by kuzzia » Sat May 14, 2011 1:22 am

First off, it looks r-e-a-l-l-y nice.

My question is: how well does the case deal with the very small amount of vibration from the WD's? Is that even an issue?

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by justice99 » Sat May 14, 2011 1:48 am

I don't ear my HDD, my OS is on my SSD (inaudible) and i use my 4 WD20EARS (i added one) for my movie/games/mp3 and they are very quiet, they are most of the time in sleepmode, but i can hardly ear the scratch of my hdd when i copy/past stuff for example.

My GPU fan cover these scratch.

I found a bios editor guide to set my fan speed to 30%, im gonna try it and tell you the result.

matchu
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:16 pm

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by matchu » Sat May 14, 2011 8:15 am

justice99 wrote:That's my CPU temps at idle :
With MSI Afterburner, you can setup the fans to 23% (so 700rpm) ??
Someone knows if i can flash my gpu bios to downspeed the fan to 30% for example?

what i did was hook up the Gelid Vision to my motherboard and use Speedfan to set it to 23%. Works like a charm for me!

But unfortunately, it does take up an extra header on the motherboard. On some msi motherboard's, voltage-controllable fan headers are a bit of a limited resource....

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : A Silent Baby !

Post by justice99 » Sat May 14, 2011 9:37 am

Yes that kind of cooler is a must for very powerfull gpu.

Nice to know, thanks.

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by justice99 » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:08 pm

Hello guyz,

i have updated my post, i dont ear any difference between stock fan and Scythe SlipStream fan, its normal?
Should i link my fans to my mobo and control them via a software or my FanController is better?

Best regards.

faustus
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 7:47 pm
Location: Norway

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by faustus » Thu Jun 09, 2011 2:04 pm

I expect that with the fan controller on minimum you probably won't hear the stock case fans over the rest of the system? At low voltages the stock fans are very quiet according to the SPCR review.
If you remove the side panel and listen to the system while it's running, which components make the most noise?

As for manual fan controller vs. automatic mobo control: If the fans can be set to a fixed speed that cools well enough under maximum load while remaining almost inaudible, it doesn't matter.

Nice system, BTW :)

discy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:24 pm

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by discy » Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:30 pm

Dear justice99,

Could you please provide some pics of how the Scythe Kaze Master fancontroller fits in your case? (from the front and if you could from the side etc).
I'm thinking about buying this case, but I want to know how my kaze master fits. I understood from some other forum that it isn't possible to close the door unless you slide the fancontroller back.
Maybe you could fill us in on this issue? :).

Thanks! :D

ps. sorry if my english is a bit wrong or even rude. I'm still not that good but I try :P.

mkk
Posts: 687
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2004 1:51 pm
Location: Gefle, Sweden
Contact:

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by mkk » Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:32 pm

justice99 wrote:i have updated my post, i dont ear any difference between stock fan and Scythe SlipStream fan, its normal?
In a position like the rear vent, yes. Because what you hear is most likely just the turbulence of X amount of air being pressed thrugh the holes in the vent. To be really quiet I had to lower the speed of my Slip Stream 800 fan in the rear vent position, and the Slip Stream 1200 that you use rotates at about 800 RPM even at just 5V. It can run at less than 5V though so if possible you could try around 4V with the aid of an extra resistor or something like that. For instance Zalman has an inexpensive 12to7V 3pin resistor that combined with a fan controller could get really low voltages. Or you could get a Slip Stream 800 for the exhaust, as you'll never want a fan that blows more air back there. The 1200's are great on CPU coolers and stuff. Just my experience.

Added note: I opened up the rear top vent and have two SS 800 RPM fans at 5V as exhaust, and due to quiet components there isn't much noise that leaks out from the top vent anyway. I have slightly cooler running parts though.

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by justice99 » Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:16 pm

Hello,

thats a picture of my fan controller, i can easily close the front door, actually this model fit on a 2.5'' bay:

Image
you hear is most likely just the turbulence of X amount of air being pressed thrugh the holes in the vent.
That's what i ear yes.
the Slip Stream 1200 that you use rotates at about 800 RPM even at just 5V.
But from SPCR review, my fan's model run at 500RPM at 8V :

Image

Maybe 500RPM is not enough, should i change them buy a 800RPM model?
Will i really ear the difference?

Regards.

mkk
Posts: 687
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2004 1:51 pm
Location: Gefle, Sweden
Contact:

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by mkk » Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:57 pm

Ah, I didn't notice that they were PWM fans. Sorry. :)
Then at 5V they should be very quiet and the airflow not high enough to cause discernable turbulence at the rear vent. What kind of noise did they generate for you that matched the standard Define R3 fans?

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by justice99 » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:26 am

mkk wrote:Ah, I didn't notice that they were PWM fans. Sorry. :)
Then at 5V they should be very quiet and the airflow not high enough to cause discernable turbulence at the rear vent. What kind of noise did they generate for you that matched the standard Define R3 fans?
Honestly, i dont ear any difference between stock fan and these fans at minimum speed, its almost the same noise.
At maximum speed, these fans are quitter, but i always keep them at minimum speed, even during game.

Its the same noise, but its very very very quiet you know, if someone is planing to buy this case, i would recommend to only buy a Scythe Fan Controller (20$) and link the stock fan to this controller.

I have 3 HDD behind the front fan (WDEARS), and there temp is always under 35°.

kuzzia
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 709
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 4:41 am
Location: Denmark

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by kuzzia » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:27 am

You haven't mentioned anything about cable routing.. How is the cable management in that cabinet?

discy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:24 pm

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by discy » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:44 am

justice99 wrote:Hello,
thats a picture of my fan controller, i can easily close the front door, actually this model fit on a 2.5'' bay:
Thanks so much! I have to say, looks really sleek.

Just want to let you know that your fan controller is a Scythe Kaze Q instead of a Scythe Kaze Master. :). A kaze master is 5.25", but I guess it could fit too.

matchu
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:16 pm

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by matchu » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:14 am

are you sure you aren't simply hearing your GPU? Have you successfully modded the bios, or is it unchanged?

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by justice99 » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:30 am

You haven't mentioned anything about cable routing.. How is the cable management in that cabinet?
Cable routing? what do you mean?
My CPU fan is linked to my mobo, at idle, after bios configurations, the fan is almost off, 0% with CPUID.

The front and back fans are linked to my Scythe fan controller, 4pins to 4pins.
are you sure you aren't simply hearing your GPU? Have you successfully modded the bios, or is it unchanged?
I have successfully modded the bios, its quitter at 30% of course, maybe you are right, i ear my GPU.

By the way, my system is very quiet, i just tried to made it almost inaudible, but whit that kind of hardware, you must have couple of fans on.

kuzzia
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 709
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 4:41 am
Location: Denmark

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by kuzzia » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:44 am

justice99 wrote:
You haven't mentioned anything about cable routing.. How is the cable management in that cabinet?
Cable routing? what do you mean?
Well, how easy is it to route cables behind the motherboard tray? I mean, is there enough space to make it easy or is it a pain in the a...?? Despite of the many R3 owners, no one really seems to mention that :/

mkk
Posts: 687
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2004 1:51 pm
Location: Gefle, Sweden
Contact:

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by mkk » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:22 am

kuzzia wrote:Well, how easy is it to route cables behind the motherboard tray? I mean, is there enough space to make it easy or is it a pain in the a...?? Despite of the many R3 owners, no one really seems to mention that :/
It's good and unproblematic, therefor probably not much talked about. The silicone grommets dislodge easily though I read something about some improvements to the latest model so far sold only in the US. Personally I don't care for routing hole grommets and simply removed them from my case. There are cases with even more generous space behind the motherboard tray but those are few. No problem at all fitting my thick braided Seasonic 24pin cable behind there.

kuzzia
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 709
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 4:41 am
Location: Denmark

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by kuzzia » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:25 am

Ok, thank you for the answer, I sincerely appreciate it.

discy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:24 pm

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by discy » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:46 am

kuzzia wrote:Ok, thank you for the answer, I sincerely appreciate it.
this reviewer makes some pretty good points about cable management :)

It's quite a long sit because he compares it to the NZXT H2, but he does tell about that when he showed the define r3 with his team they left the back-sidepanel of to show how great the cable management was. I found his review very interessting and it did help me with the decision to buy the case :).

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by justice99 » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:08 am

Yes its not a problem, its really easy to route them and its clean, but my PSU cable was too short, i had to buy an extension.

kuzzia
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 709
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 4:41 am
Location: Denmark

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by kuzzia » Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:29 am

by PSU cable, do you mean the 24-pin mainboard cable? or maybe the 4+4 pin cable? For anyone's sake, I hope those extension cables don't cost that much.

justice99
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:12 am

Re: My First Desktop : Fractal R3 ! (update)

Post by justice99 » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:31 pm

The 4+4pin, the extension cost me 6€, and i bought a very good one.

Without this extension, i wasnt able to hide the cable and it was touching my heatskin...

Post Reply