Transforming current PC to silent one

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QORD
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Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:01 am

Hi,

I am trying to transform my PC into silent one. My previous flat had high room noise so unfortunately I didn't buy quite/passive components.

My configuration consists of:
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K + stock cooler
Mobo: ASUS Z87-A
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB x2 (CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10)
SDD: OCZ Vertex 4 SSD
HDD: WD WD10EZRX x2
PSU: Corsair GS-550
Case: Chieftec DX-01

Marked components are the ones that would require modification or switch with another component.

For CPU I've found CR-95C 95, not sure if it fits my motherboard. Will do some measurements at home.
No clue which passive PSU is enough for my configuration.
By default GPU fan goes down to 20% which isn't enough. Will test if I can turn off the cooling completely and see how it goes, otherwise whats the strongest passive card I could get? I've seen that the market for those isn't really big :|
I am also considering removing my WD raid setup with another SSD disk, could build a NAS with those two in the future.
Any ideas for the case? I would need to install 2 fans to create flow in up direction.

Thanks in advance!
Last edited by QORD on Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

CA_Steve
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:50 am

Welcome to SPCR.

The trick to a quiet/inaudible PC is to have quiet components and a case that provides lots of unobstructed airflow. Going with passive components isn't always the best direction. Here's my take and a flow to follow:

- Replace the stock CPU cooler with the Scythe Kotetsu.
- Replace the case with one that uses 120 or 140mm fans. The coolermaster has fairly restricted airflow. The Fractal Design Define R5 is a great ATX mid tower candidates. You only need 2 fans. One in front and one in back.

Now, assemble in the new case without the gfx card. See what you hear. Is the PSU too noisy or not? If it is, then you can replace it. Your stressed load power is roughly 215W. So, 500W class is fine.

Add the gfx card and see if you hear it. The Sapphire 7770 is fairly quiet. If you really want to replace it, then it's best to talk about the games you play / monitor resolution/ to size the card.

The WD greens are about as quiet as you can go in a 3.5" HDD. Do you hear them in the new case? Is is seek noise?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:09 am

QORD wrote:GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition

If you're not going to replace it for performance reasons, you may try whether you can make a custom fans curve for its fans. With other brands, SpeedFan may run the card cooler as a semi-passive one, with fairly good results, noise-wise.

QORD wrote:PSU: Corsair GS-550
Quality-wise it's crap (sorry), noise-wise it is really mediocre: I'd replace with something better. Which is your budget for the PSU?

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:06 pm

Thank you for the answers, I will look into the specs tomorrow. Found out CR-95C 95 can't fit because of memory :|
Any ideas if Megahalems (Black) Series can be used without fan?

About the PSU, I was thinking about some 500W passive PSU, budget up to 170 eur, maybe more if really needed but I believe we can find a solid one in that money range?

Edit:
I've checked Scythe Kotetsu, do you think on 400 RPM it won't make any noises? I'm really aiming for as few fans as possible, that's why I love the CR-95C 95 idea :)

About the gfx, if I would to change the gfx I would like to have the same or better performance, I've found the following:
- ASUS GeForce GTX 750 (prefer Asus over Palit)
- Palit GTX750Ti KalmX

I've also considered buying Accelero S3.

Any thoughts?

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:05 am

QORD wrote:Thank you for the answers, I will look into the specs tomorrow. Found out CR-95C 95 can't fit because of memory :|
Any ideas if Megahalems (Black) Series can be used without fan?

It strongly depends of the ambient temp, and how much temp penalties you are willing to accept. Broadly speaking, no, the CR95C is the only truly fanless CPU heatsink on the market, and even so it does need to be used in specific, suitable enclosures. With some limitations/drawbacks, you may use some different heatsinks, but I don't see enough reasons to do that.

QORD wrote:About the PSU, I was thinking about some 500W passive PSU, budget up to 170 eur, maybe more if really needed but I believe we can find a solid one in that money range?

You don't need to spend all these money, and you don't need that much power (with current/proposed hardware): I'd also stress that fainless is pointless, you need active cooling from the case fans to run a passive system (or you do need a heathsinked case). Any high quality 350W unit will be plenty, with a 60W TDP card (like the 750Ti), a 200W PSU will be enough. Where are you located?

QORD wrote:I've checked Scythe Kotetsu, do you think on 400 RPM it won't make any noises?

My Kotetsu won't go down to 400rpm, both its fans (I ordered the optional one from Scythe) bottom just under 600rpm with PWM drive.
BTW, inside the case, they're virtually inaudible, though I prefer the noise signature of different fans (like, just for instance, some Noiseblocker ones).

QORD wrote:I'm really aiming for as few fans as possible, that's why I love the CR-95C 95 idea :)

As said, fanless is pointless, and it may be self defeating if your ambient temps may be high (if not for the CPU itself, for the mobo).

QORD wrote:Any thoughts?

The S3 is a better solution than the KalmX (and the ASUS Strix is a better solution than their regular GTX 750, as well as the MSI Gaming hold a consistent advantage, thermal-wise, over the regular ASUS), IMO, though even for the KalmX/S3 goes the same boundary conditions seen above: you need case airflow, so why going fanless? Please take note I'm currently using a FirePro V4900 with the S1, so I can fully understand how you're looking at such a solution.

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:49 am

Yeah I understand that I can't go fan-less without a heathsinked case. My wish/plan is at least two fans in case to make enough air flow for all passive components (GPU, CPU, PSU ...)
My ambient temp is around 22-23°C, during summer 26-27°C. I don't plan to OC any components for now, so I believe I could make my setup stable only with case fans.

Oh, I am from Slovenia.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:26 am

Set aside 27°C ambient temp isn't that low, well, a possible "fanless" setup could include the following parts.
  • cooler: Zalman FX-70 / Thermalright Macho (any revision) could do the job, particularly if close to a case fan (like a top intake or rear exhaust);
  • PSU: Super Flower Golden Silent 430 (nothing else, I guess you can order from caseking.de);
  • case: you're going to need a good ventilated one, something like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro would be a decent bet (ordinary look, decent airflow, not too many money). Some alternatives might be either the Fractal Arc or the Corsair Obsidian 450D (there are some fancy InWin which may serve you better but, they're so fancy...);
  • case fans: you should pick two or three of them, and there's plenty of options. Among 140mm ones there are the Antec TrueQuiet 140, the Noctua P14r Redux, the Phanteks PH-F140HP, the Prolimatech Vortex and some others I don't recall at the moment, while among the 120mm ones there are the bequiet! Silent Wings 2 120, the NoiseBlocker eLoop B12-2 and Black Silent Pro PL-2, the Scythe Slipstream M, the Nexus Real Silent Case Fans, the Arctic Cooling F12 (not PWM, PST, Pro, ecc), and surely some other else. I'm rather curious how the Noctua iPPC may work as a case fan, but they are terribly expensive and probably much more versed into fitting on liquid cooling radiators.

Please take note that I don't recommend such a fanless setup, at all (but it might turn out as a viable alternative, with some drawbacks).

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Fri Sep 18, 2015 4:33 am

Cool, thanks .. will look into it! My CPU TDP is 84 W, so the Zalman could probably manage it with a decent case air flow.
Hmm .. about the case suggestions ... wouldn't it be better if the side wasn't so open, I was thinking more like SilverStone FT03
or already mentioned Fractal Design Define R5 Titanium?

What kind of drawbacks? So you think I can achieve the same noise level with semi passive components without drawbacks?
I wouldn't mind going with semi passive components if I can limit the fan RPM at all time and hear nothing :)
Last edited by QORD on Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:29 am

QORD wrote:wouldn't it be better if the side wasn't so open, I was thinking more like SilverStone FT03?

The FT03 is a mATX only enclosure, while your mobo is an ATX one: and above all, thermally-wise it is rather mediocre, so the case fans should likely spin faster (than in a larger and better ventilated enclosure).

QORD wrote:I wouldn't mind going with semi passive components if I can limit the fan RPM at all time and hear nothing :)

You still have two mechanical hard disks, if I recall correctly: you will hear them anyway (and you have likely to address that issue), along with the case fans.

My point is that, *with a proper setup of the cooling set*, you can have a fully fanned system with better temps and reliability, with an overall noise level equal or less the case fans (and hard drives) ones, so that going fanless is just... a bit pointless.

I guess you may start tinkering with cooling setup trying whether SpeedFan may dial down your Sapphire graphics (and your boxed cooler too).

About which parts, well, I think a classical and boring Fractal Design Define R5 (case), Scythe Kotetsu (cooler) BeQuiet Straight Power E10 400W (PSU), would be a very nice and rather cost-effective set, to mate your existing hardware and a Strix/Gaming GTX 750Ti graphics. Obviously, you may think to different alternatives, if you rather, and we can try to advice you about, if possible.

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:44 am

You still have two mechanical hard disks, if I recall correctly: you will hear them anyway (and you have likely to address that issue), along with the case fans.
I will probably replace HDDs with a bigger SSD and make a NAS with the current raid configured HDDs. So there are only case fans we should worry about in the end.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:35 am

QORD wrote:So there are only case fans we should worry about in the end.

That's easier, but at any rate you likely won't be able to dial down the case fans lower than how much the CPU and PSU fans will spin.

All in all, given the same size and computing power, a fanned system may run cooler and it can be more reliable, a fanless system (without low power parts and heatsinked enclosures) is often doable but more than once just pointless, a semi-fanless (or hybrid) one is often "so and so": not as cool as a fanned one, not enough quiet as a fanless one (though still very/extremely quiet!). So, just pick your poison! :wink:

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:28 am

Any alternatives to Super Flower Golden Silent 430 or shall I order it on amazon, ebay etc Couldn't find it in my country.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:54 am

QORD wrote:Any alternatives to Super Flower Golden Silent 430 or shall I order it on amazon, ebay etc Couldn't find it in my country.
As I clearly stated:
quest_for_silence wrote:PSU: Super Flower Golden Silent 430 (nothing else, I guess you can order from caseking.de);

Caseking is the SF european distributor, their cheaper charge to Slovenia is by UPS, around 12 euros, then by GLS, around 18 euros.

The only alternative to the SF Golden Silent is the Seasonic X-400FL Platinum (but with this PSU there's an higher chance it can whine, that's why I recommend you the SF, for a fanless system).

AFAIK there is not any other really reliable fanless PSU in the market.

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Sat Sep 19, 2015 9:07 am

Cool, thanks. I just ordered it, can't wait :) Next is the case, I am considering Fractal Design Define R5, any final toughs? It was already recommended in previous posts.

Edit:
I was googling for a very long time and came across SilverStone Heligon HE02 and found this review. The review was taking place with 130W i7-3960x CPU and passively cooled 7770HD with DeepCool V4000 and 6 case fans. It looks really promising, don't you think? I won't require that many case fans, since my aim isn't an overclocked "passively" cooled system. I will try to find some good compression reviews between the fanless CPU coolers, surprisingly there aren't that many :|

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:08 am

OK this is my final build:
- silverstone-heligon-he02
- fractal-design-define-r5
- arctic-accelero-s3
- super-flower-golden-silent-80-plus-gold-fanless-netzteil-430
- samsung-250gb-850-evo-ssd

If required I will buy additional case fans if the default ones by R5 aren't enough or are to loud. Already ordered PSU and GFX cooler. Still searching for best offer for other components.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:58 am

QORD wrote:I was googling for a very long time and came across SilverStone Heligon HE02 and found this review. The review was taking place with 130W i7-3960x CPU and passively cooled 7770HD with DeepCool V4000 and 6 case fans. It looks really promising, don't you think?
Well, no: the HE02 was already tested by SPCR, either fanless or fanned.

The relevant outcome was not a top one, maybe somewhat disappointing (fanless and fanned), so I don't think it can cool an SB-E under any circumstance, and given also the uglyness and the price tag of that cooler, personally I won't recommend it over any of the already mentioned ones.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:13 am

Couldn't find a decent review of fx-70, do you have any? BTW what does SB-E stand for? :)

Update:
You suggested Thermalright HR-02 Macho which performs even worse then SilverStone Heligon HE02.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:36 am

QORD wrote:Couldn't find a decent review of fx-70, do you have any? BTW what does SB-E stand for? :)
Actually there are quite a few: one rather complete is the one from CoolingTechnique, but it's in italian, though they have a built-in Google Translator feature you may use. There are also some forumer's feedback (including me) here and there.

Broadly speaking, if you're willing to spend some money on a fanless cooler, the only real fanless cooler nowadays is still the expensive NoFan CR95C already tested by SPCR, which deserves a dedicated case (like the InWin Dragon Slayer).
Otherwise, your mileage may vary: there are some doable options, which mostly depends of case, ventilation and ambient temp but which won't work safely on synthetic loads/benchmarks, and which usually don't like low airflow enclosures like the Fractal Define, high ambient temps (> 27°C ?), and/or prolonged loads.

Among those latter, less performing alternatives, currently the FX-70 is usually somewhat cheaper than some worthy contender, like the Thermalright Macho or the NoFan CR-80H, while personally I'd avoid some more problematic (expensive, heavy, bulky, not up to the task) heatsink like the proposed Heligon, or the Zalmanx FX-100 (going straight to the NoFan CR95C, in case). I think you may find some more information in the relevant SPCR recommendation article.

Last but not least, SB-E stands for "Sandy Bridge-Extreme", it is the architecture name of the Core i7 3960X, the CPU used by X-Bit Labs for their review.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:32 am

As already mentioned, unfortunately NoFan CR95C doesn't fit on my configuration because of the memory, otherwise I would already order it.

I don't see how can that review be irrelevant when the owner of the Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition cooled it even when OCed. I will most
definitely check the fx-70 review. Thank you.

CA_Steve
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:55 am

Note that there were 6 case fans operating in X-Bit Lab's review of the Heligon cooler. three 120mm in front, two 120mm rear, one 200mm on top.

So the real question is, which can provide an effective quieter solution: a passive cooler with six case fans or an active cooler with one fan and 2 case fans? MY money would be on the latter.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:21 am

Yeah I know, but those 6 fans are required when OC is in business. I'm so lost right now hehe .. Wish I could borrow some stuff and
just test things out. All I know is NoFan CR-95C can't be mounted on my setup because of memory dimensions.

It is true that Heligon HE02 cooperates very bad with any kind of air flow, so fx-70 might be better with any kind of case air flow.

Oh well, guess I am not done with the review reading after all :)

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:41 am

QORD wrote:I don't see how can that review be irrelevant when the owner of the Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition cooled it even when OCed.
I didn't write the word "irrelevant", I said about the HE02 that "I don't think it can cool an SB-E under any circumstance" and "personally I won't recommend it over any of the already mentioned ones".

With reference to the X-bit Labs review, as in any review, the test conditions do matter: they recorded the temps after 11 minutes of load, their ambient was thermally controlled around 23°C, they don't state the six large case fans spinning pace, and so on. Set aside any noise issue (1+ on what Steve wrote), with such limitations it isn't that easy to extrapolate the real world HE02 performances (in passive mode), though they used a rather hot SB-E in their test.

Just for instance, this summer I tested a bunch of coolers to replace a fanned Scythe Kabuto which suffered the high ambient temp in a rig of mines. Well, long story short, the Kabuto with an ambient temp of about 27-28°C was able to cool a quad cores Intel, stabilizing at around 70-73°C under an 8 hours 6600Mb Linpack libraries test (IBT, which is an equivalent of the Linx interface used by X-bit Labs), but with just 4-6°C more (ambient temp around 32-33°C), the cores temperature with the same load jumped up to 81-84°C. A 4-6°C ambient rise leaded to an 8°-14° core rise, and I'm talking about an heatsink sporting a 1200rpm spinning fan.

Obviously, the ambient temp rise doesn't explain the whole matter.

Higher ambient temp likely means also higher ambient humidity in my place, which affect cooling prowess, any heatsink has its own thermal collapse load, and I don't know the Kabuto's one, as well as I didn't run case fans at full speed in order to help the cooler work because I wanted to test real life scenarios, but that may have led to a critical heat build up, and so on.
On the other hand, I hope it's enough to illustrate my point: from what I can see, in a noticeable number of cases an HE02 may be enough, but that's not granted.
So, given the bulkyness, the price tage, and the relative lacks of usage flexibility of that heatsink, I won't recommend it, though it may work in lots of scenarios (maybe even in yours).

Also obviously, the other mentioned coolers suffer of similar thermal limitations, but in my experience they can mate quite better with active airflow and they usually cost considerably less, so that definitely I prefer those ones and advice accordingly (and you may do what you think best, of course).

In any case, I won't mate any of all the quoted passive coolers with a closed case like the Fractal Define R5, in my opinion it's sort of a countersense, particularly thinking to an ambient temp of 27°C. Personally I'm not expecting such a system will run any quieter than if it were in (to say) a Fractal Arc (providing the same case fans were used).

Hope this helps.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by pcgeek » Fri Oct 02, 2015 12:40 am

Welcome! And thanks for the information, it was a good read for me.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by Abula » Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:11 am

QORD wrote:All I know is NoFan CR-95C can't be mounted on my setup because of memory dimensions.
Well there are solutions for this, when i installed my NoFan95C (check sig CamMi build), the memory i used was also none standard height and it didnt fit with the cooler, the solution is simple, take off the coolers, in most cases they are just pretty marking trick, its not like the old days where memory do get really hot, now days its more that they sell their so called premium memory with their heatsinks, but if you think you do need them for whatever reason, do what i did, change the heatsinks to standard height, Enzotech Pure Forged Copper Memory Heatspreaders, i have used those heatspreaders in two builds (cammi and servemi), they are pure cooper and look really good, and will allow you to install the NoFan95.

One thing to mention is that the NoFan95 wont be able to handle the i7 4770K on high load (like prime95 or heavy encoding), when i tested in the outside it was passing 90C in less than 10mins and was still going up, you will need good ventilation to able to sustain that load, meaning multiple fans on your setup, if you read SPCR NoFan CR-95C Copper Fanless CPU Cooler, you can see the following
Passive Cooler Comparison: Thermal Rise (Core i7-965 @ 3.2 GHz, 1.2V, Prime95, half load)
On my build the CPU is under load always analyzing all the cameras for movement and re encoding if an event happens, usually the most i seen the CPU is 70C, and i have monitor it for a year now, so in most scenarios is not good to evaluate with Prime95, its just a stress test that will most likely never happen, but i still do it because its fun for me testing and i do like to know if there is a risk in case i do put a high load on the setup.

Another thing is that a lot of people have gotten very good results delidding their 4770K, in some cases 20C temp difference, this alone should allow the NoFan95 to handle the i7 4770K under prime95.

That said, i think you wil better of with Scythe Kotetsu or Thermalright HR02 Macho Rev B, both can handle an i7 4770K quietly.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Sun Oct 04, 2015 11:45 pm

Hey guys, just a quick update. Yesterday I had the time to assemble all the components, it took quite some time :)

I bought the Heligon HE02 and it's amazing! Without any fans attached to the case (passive PSU, SSD and integrated
GFX) it was working on full load (intel stress test) for an hour and max temp was 67°C. I can only compare it with my
stock cooler which handled the same test on cca 2k RPM and reached 62°C.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for the GFX, which was kinda expected. The GFX isn't stable without any fans and
reaches 90°C quite fast. I will setup case fans for GFX and see if I can get it under 90°C, preferably 80°C or less under
full load with ~400RPM. I will also reconsidering passive GTX750Ti.

Currently case fans are by default positioned in front and back, which basically only works well for the CPU. With that
setup my CPU reached only 58°C (on ~400RPM). However those aren't finally results since I didn't yet have time for
proper long stress tests.

This week I will finish my assembling (cables, fans etc) and do some serious stress testing and keep you guys updated.
For now I can say that I'm really satisfied with the CPU cooler, PSU and case. Really nice recommendations, although I
didn't agree with you on the CPU cooler, which was kinda noticeable by reading the posts :)

Let me know if there are any wishes how I should stress test. I will ofc also include prime95 in the future but still kinda
outdated with the stress testing techniques so let me know if there is anything special I should know. Thanks.

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Mon Oct 05, 2015 11:13 pm

I was able to get gfx a lot more stable if not stable by making sure the cooler is tightly fastened on the GPU. Didn't reach
80°C after 10 minutes of FurMark without any additional fans (case was open).

Unfortunately I won't have much time till the weekend for any proper stress tests. But so far it is looking very promising
and for summer ambient temperature rising I will have those two case fans which you can't hear if they are controlled by
the case controller as a backup.

Let me know if you wish for me to take any pictures and if you have any questions.

QORD
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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:51 am

I made a decision to buy the passive palit gtx750 ti which performs a little better then the current gfx which unfortunately
can't work without any additional fans even in games let alone FurMark. I am not such a hardcore gfx user so it should be
fine even for the future. I was thinking about trying to find R270 from colorpower but I believe that gfx can't be run without
any additional fans, specially in my configuration. I will buy new protective film and thermal pads and try to sell the S3
and install default GPU cooler before selling the old gfx.

I was considering buying i7-5775C which has a nice GPU and lower TDP and performs almost as good as i7-4770k but decided
to pass.

Small updated about the temps, with ambient temp of 22°C I was able to get CPU up to 67°C with prime95. The temp rose to
72°C when gfx was on 82°C. I couldn't stabilize the gfx so currently I am waiting for the new delivery and playing games on
-20% power.

Things I can improve in the future if I am not satisfied with the overall performance:
- delidding CPU (will wait till the summer)
- use better thermal paste
- test other 140mm case fans (r5 ones are to load even on lowest rpm, but that's only because nothing else can be heard)

At the moment I am very pleased with the CPU cooler and I think the new gfx will allow me to run my PC completely passive.

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:32 pm

QORD wrote:I will buy new protective film and thermal pads and try to sell the S3

What's the point of selling the S3?

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Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by Irrelevant » Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:39 pm

There's another solution to GPU noise: aftermarket coolers. They take up a lot of expansion slots, void most (if not all) GPU manufacturers' warranties (though in most cases if you just swap the original cooler back in before you RMA, you're golden), and can be tricky to install (non-reference cards may be incompatible), but the bigger ones can tame the acoustics of even high-end cards, and they're probably cheaper in the long run than going with passive cards, as they can be useful through multiple upgrade cycles and allow the use of cheaper GPUs with crap stock coolers. Additionally, many can fit >120mm fans, so what noise they produce is usually way less obnoxious than the <92mm fans required to avoid exceeding the height limit for expansion cards.

Personally, I have yet to find a stock GPU cooler I can stand, so I'm quite fond of aftermarket coolers and have had good luck with them. At the moment, I have a Prolimatech Mk.26 on a Radeon 6950 (yes, it's practically an antique now, but it's a pretty thirsty one), and a single TY-143 at its lowest RPM is enough to keep it under 50C when gaming, even when mildly overclocked.

QORD
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Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:25 am

Re: Transforming current PC to silent one

Post by QORD » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:36 am

So sorry for a late reply hehe

I ended up putting my artcitc s3 on to kalmx and the difference in temperatures were at least 10°C
compared to stock kalmx cooler. You can read more about it here: Palit GTX 750 Ti KalmX temperature

So in the end i managed to finish my completely passive PC without a single fan running and it's been
working great and stable for about half a year. Thank you guys for a lot of help all though i must say
the support wasn't that good :P

Here are some pictures.

Tried uploading pictures here but max size is 256kb Oo

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