The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

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morgtom
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:45 am

The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by morgtom » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:21 pm

Hi everyone!

I haven't bought a new system in quite a while and I believe a lot has passed me by since i bought my system 4 or so years ago.

I am buying from Australia (http://pccasegear.com/) so prices are in AU$

What is the current silent top dog in these areas:
CPU+Fan heat-sink
Case Fan
Case
PSU
Fan Controller

I have done some research but I would very much like to tap the experts at SPCR.

Here is the build I'm considering, if there is any part that you think would serve me better than what I have listed please let me know.

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K $219
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P-B3 $209
RAM: Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1333 $93
SSD: Corsair Force Series 115GB $219
HDD1: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB $85
HDD2: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB $85
GPU: 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS450 $113 (replace stock cooler with Accelero S1)
Case: Antec P183 V3 $165 (replace stock fans with Nexus 120's as detailed below)
PSU: Seasonic M12II 520W $113
ODD: LiteOn iHAS324 $29
CPU HSF: Scythe Mugen 2 Cooler Rev B $75
GPU HSF: Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 rev.2 $35
System Fans: 5-pack of Nexus Real Silent 120mm $49 (two for case intake, one for case rear-exhaust
Fan Controller: Scythe Kaze Q 3.5" Fan Controller $20 (control the system fans from 12v to 5v)
Fan Cables: 2x 3pin Splitter Cables $7
Acoustic Foam: Lamptron Noise Dampening Kit $19

Thanks everyone for reading my post!
Thom

Grra
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:08 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by Grra » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:26 pm

'ello,

I'm not considering myself an expert but here goes.

Since you are adding an GFX card I'm assuming you'll be doing some gaming. If not I'd go with the built in GFX in the CPU.

Are you choosing the i5 2500K for its performance or just because its the "default" choice? Have you considered the 2405S which has a lower TDP value which means its cooler running. Sure you loose some Ghz when running all four cores but with Turbo and using one or two cores you'd have almost the same speed.
Lower TDP means less heat and a quieter rig - and since you're posting here that seems to be important for you :D

If your not going to do any marathon gaming sessions or taxing your system 24/7, have you thought about a fan less PSU and GFX card?
Using SmartFan (software fan controller) you could automate the usage of your fans and have a much quieter rig.

Regarding CPU cooling I'd use Noctuna even thou it's a bit pricier. You'll get quieter and cooler results than with the Mugen.
See this http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1020-page7.html

Again all this depends on you usage scenarios.

Hope this gives you some feedback.

/G

Jim G
Posts: 89
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:46 am
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by Jim G » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:36 pm

morgtom wrote: What is the current silent top dog in these areas:
CPU+Fan heat-sink
Case Fan
Case
PSU
Fan Controller

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K $219
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P-B3 $209
RAM: Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1333 $93
SSD: Corsair Force Series 115GB $219
HDD1: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB $85
HDD2: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB $85
GPU: 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS450 $113 (replace stock cooler with Accelero S1)
Case: Antec P183 V3 $165 (replace stock fans with Nexus 120's as detailed below)
PSU: Seasonic M12II 520W $113
ODD: LiteOn iHAS324 $29
CPU HSF: Scythe Mugen 2 Cooler Rev B $75
GPU HSF: Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 rev.2 $35
System Fans: 5-pack of Nexus Real Silent 120mm $49 (two for case intake, one for case rear-exhaust
Fan Controller: Scythe Kaze Q 3.5" Fan Controller $20 (control the system fans from 12v to 5v)
Fan Cables: 2x 3pin Splitter Cables $7
Acoustic Foam: Lamptron Noise Dampening Kit $19

Thanks everyone for reading my post!
Thom
If you're local to a Jaycar or similar they have some acoustic dampening foam that looks quite similar to the Lamptron stuff - self-adhesive 5mm foam. You may not need the acoustic foam, though... I'd wait and see what sort of noise you want to dampen before spending money on the stuff. If you have airborne noise the foam will help, if it's vibrations transmitted through the metal the lighter foam won't do much...

If you're looking for alternatives to the P183 have a look at the Fractal Design R3 - we have one and it's an excellent case to work with. It comes with some sound dampening materials built-in and the fan positioning/airflow in general seems quite good. Not that there's anything wrong with a P183...

We picked up a couple of Seasonic X-560s from PCCG and have been extremely happy with them - can't hear either whether idling or under load. I don't know anything about the acoustics of the M12II 520w, though, so I couldn't say whether it's worth the extra ~$60 - worth looking into, though, imho. The 80+ Gold means that for the same output the 560s will inherently produce less heat than the Bronze M12II, though, and the passive fan at low loads is a very nice feature.

The WD drives are excellent, we have a ton of them... quietest HDDs I've ever used.

Looks like a pretty solid selection all up as far as I can see from the components I'm familiar with (i.e. nfc about gfx!) :)

morgtom
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:45 am

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by morgtom » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:39 am

Thanks for the help guys!

Regarding the CPU, I am actually after high performance, and considering the I7 as well as the 8 core Bulldozers when they are released later this year.
I will do some very light gaming, so I do want a GPU, but it will mostly stay in idle most of the time.

The Noctua NH-D14 looks perfect for me. I will replace the fans with 2 nexus silent fans and under volt them to 7v, judging by the review having 2 undervolted nexus fans sounds the same but with greater performance.

Do the nexus fans fit ok on Noctua? Is it hard to setup?

Also, will the fans start spinning if they are undervolted to 7v?

Thanks again for the help and advice!

Grra
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:08 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by Grra » Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:13 am

morgtom wrote:Thanks for the help guys!

Do the nexus fans fit ok on Noctua? Is it hard to setup?

Also, will the fans start spinning if they are undervolted to 7v?
According to what I've read about the Nexus fans they will start OK even with 5 volts.

And the Nexus fans will fit the HS, i think it's shown in the review I linked to. The mounting is a bit of a kludge in the pictures but as i understand it you can make them fit using the included mounting brackets after modifying the Nexus fans a bit (i think that there is a plastic part that needs to be removed).

Hope it works out for you. If you'd write something here after you've built your system I think many would be interested in how it worked out.

/G

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by dhanson865 » Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:11 am

edit: oops, just saw you were doing this in AU$ and I did mine in US$. I'll go back through and see if I can add AU$ to it.

OK, here are some alternate parts from the other side of a few fences:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition US $180 / AU $195
Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth 990FX US $200 / not on PC Case Gear yet

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline or Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 US $80/83 / not on PC Case Gear
Alt ram choice: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 US $85 / AU $115

SSD: Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 US $225 / not on PC Case Gear
HDD1: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB US $80 / AU $90
HDD2: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB US $80 / AU $90

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R675SL-1GI Radeon HD 6750 US $113 (already has fanless heatsink) / not on PC Case Gear
Alt GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD6770 Ultra Durable 1GB US $130 / AU $145

PSU: SeaSonic X series SS-400FL 400W US $130 / AU $179
alt PSU: Seasonic SS-560KM US $125 / AU $175

You should be buying faster DDR3 even if you go with the Intel CPU. No reason (in the US) to buy DDR3-1333 any more (I now see in AU there is still a premium). Looking at newegg there are more 1600 sticks for sale than 1333 so that is where the price sweet spot is in the US. 1866 gets more expensive and doesn't add enough performance boost to justify the price difference yet. If you are buying on PC Case Gear I could see getting some DDR3-1333 now and upgrading a couple of years down the road when you grab a faster CPU.

Seasonic PSU: Ouch, after seeing the AU prices I'd be tempted to use your old PSU or grab a Corsair CX430 at AU $65 to hold you over until the price on the newer seasonics drop. I wondered why you were looking at the M12II until I realized the AU vs US difference.

Case choices are about style and personal preference. Go with whatever you like there.

Oh and all the choices I put above were top end items myself I'd build more mid range like

alt CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 840 US $105 / AU $105
alt Mobo: ASUS M5A99X EVO 990X US $165 / not on PC Case Gear yet
alt Mobo: ASUS M5A97 EVO 970 US $120 / not on PC Case Gear yet

with the thought of putting a bulldozer in the AM3+ socket down the road.

And given that the 970/990 chipset motherboards aren't on PC Case Gear yet I'd wait until they are to make your picks as those will be the common motherboard chipset choices on the high end for the next year or so.

morgtom
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:45 am

Re: The State of Silence as of June 2011 - New Build

Post by morgtom » Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:09 pm

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions!

Yea it is annoying that even though the aussie dollar is stronger than the the US we still have to pay more for the parts.

But anyway, I'm not sure if I should wait until bulldozer comes out, or buy a i5/i7 system now.


Thanks again everyone

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