Help me make up my mind in order to achieve what I'm after

Morthoseth

Morthoseth

Morthoseth

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Joined
13 May 2004
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1,491
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Wales, Wrexham
Right, this is probably going to sound like a bit of a bizarre thread as it goes, but I'll start with what I have now, and what I want to / intend to do.

CPU: i7 920 @ 4ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
GPU: ATI 4870X2
RAM: Kingston HyperX 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9
Case: Zalman Z-Machine GT1000
HDD: 2x 150gb Raptor X (Raid 0)
HDD2: 1x 1TB Samsung F3
Sound Card: Auzentech Prelude
PSU: Antec Truepower 650w

Right, this computer as it stands is stupidly loud, and as far as I can figure out, the main culprit is the 4870X2 (Seriously, this thing when it starts to ramp up can drown out sound on my headphones)

My main aim in any of my plans is to reduce the noise output by a dramatic amount, though also hopefully help my gaming performance at high resolutions (2560x1600).

My first option was a simple GPU upgrade with perhaps an aftermarket cooling solution, I was going to do this with my 4870X2 at one point, but the Accelero cooler that is made for it is too big to fit inside my case, and I am thinking the likelihood is it will be the same with any other graphics cards at the moment, so am perfectly willing to purchase a new case and work from there.

Watercooling has been considered, although I am not sure how much quieter it would be than a good air setup, and am also not sure how confident I would be setting up such a kit, a new case would be required if i were to consider it, but it is still a serious possibility.

Now, as I have not purchased any upgrades for a relatively long time, I am perfectly happy with considering absolutely any new components, and am open to ideas with parts of my rig that I should drop (I am considering selling both raptors and simply getting an SSD of some description in their place)

Apologies if it sounds like I've been rambling, but what do you think my best options are?

edit - budget can be up to about £1k

Cheers
 
First off, sell the two raptors and buy an awesome solid state drive. There will be a massive performance increase.

What configuration do you have the fans in? Bit-tech notes that with your case, the back fans should be on 12V and the front on 5V- the other way around is both noisier and less capable at cooling.

Your case looks like a very nice one, so I'd be hesitant to get rid of it. I'd be tempted to replace the 4870s with 6870s, or possibly the upcoming 69xx, with your budget.
 
go for xfired 6870s, cracking performance and theyre much quieter than those old 48xx series (Im suffering too, just cant quite afford the upgrade ATM) that should make a massive difference in itself, or wait for the new 69xx series if you can
 
Thanks for the posts, and Hybrid I totally agree that the case is very nice, it is really well made - i have since replaced the original rear fan that came with it with an Enermax cluster fan, and the two front fans I find near impossible to get at as I can no longer find the allen-key type device that was made to unlock the back panel! Haha!

As for the graphics cards, I will have a look into those straight away as it does sound like a good idea, I am glad to hear newer generations of graphics cards are now quieter
 
Forgive me for being skeptical on the issue, but these 6970's are really that quiet compared to the 4870X2 or similar? Beind similar in size I'd have thought noise / temperature would have been an issue, but every single benchmark I am reading has positive results, looking like a fantastic option.
 
Morthoseth said:
Forgive me for being skeptical on the issue, but these 6970's are really that quiet compared to the 4870X2 or similar? Beind similar in size I'd have thought noise / temperature would have been an issue, but every single benchmark I am reading has positive results, looking like a fantastic option.
Click to expand...

The high end 4 series were noisy and badass. The 5 and 6 series have provided performance gains over it, but the 4 series performed so well that they still provide high performance on a budget today. However, the 5 and 6 series offer significant gains, cooling and noise wise.
 
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