Help needed - New SFF quiet build

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 11:18

So I'm looking to upgrade my current system and also downsize it to ITX.

My uses are general browsing, 4k video and very ocassional gaming, last game I played was COD4 remaster single player. It needs to be silent on idle and have no RGB.

Current spec is
i5 6600k
MSI Z170A PC Mate
8Gb Corsair DDR4 3000
GTX 1060
Samsung 970 EVO Polaris 500GB M.2
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX
Super Flower SF-550F14MGA

So far I've been looking at this, inspired buy @LiE recent build.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Lian-Li PC-TU150X Aluminium Mini-ITX Case - Black= £99.95
1 x Noctua NH-U12S Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler= £67.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £269.99
1 x ASUS ROG STRIX B450-I GAMING (Socket AM4) DDR4 Mini-ITX Motherboard= £158.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £98.99
1 x Seasonic Focus SGX 450W 80 Plus Gold Modular SFX Power Supply= £97.99

Total: £807.10 (includes shipping: £13.20)

I'm not sure if I need the motherboard, i want it to POST fast and I like that it has 3 x fan headers.

I'm not sure about the PSU, reviews say it can be noisy, I may look at the Corsair 600w.

I'm not sure about the cooler but I like the all black look.

I would also need 2 quiet black case fans.

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 11:31

Quartz said:
You're transferring your GPU, yes? Might an AIO cooler or something like a Cryorig C7 be more appropriate?

Yes, my GPU is more than enough and the fans don't spin on idle.
I thought about AIO but not sure what the noise is like, is there pump noise?

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 11:36

Quartz said:
Yes, there is pump noise.

That was my worry, I would prefer near silent so maybe best sticking to air cooling.

I'm happy to pay more for quietness, quality and future proofing.

Forgot to say I have a Samsung 970 EVO Polaris 500GB M.2 I will also transfer and a 1Gb SSD for storage.

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 12:06

I've decided to change the PSU to the Corsair SF600 Platinum.

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 16:31

LiE said:
For fans ideally you’d want Noctua A12x25 but the black version isn’t available yet. The Noctua A12x15 is a great slim fan for bottom intake on that case.

Thanks LiE, Noctua do some grey fans that aren’t bad too, I’m not a fan of their standard colour though.

I may look at Akasa Vipers as I’ve found them good in the past.

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 16:40

LiE said:
Any reason you want black if you’re not going for the tempered glass version?

I just like it to look neat when I do look inside. Even if I did have the window I wouldn’t see anyway as it will be under my desk on a shelf, my desk is too small to have it on top. I’m a bit OCD so I like to know that it looks good and tidy inside. Your build actually made decide on the case, it looks great. How tight is the cooler inside?

Nick1881 · 22 Feb 2020 at 21:09

LiE said:
Cooler fits well in the case, just put everything on the motherboard before you put it in the case including the power cables. Also make sure you have a long Philips screw driver for the top left motherboard mount.

I have just put a pre order in for a black Ncase M1 so build is going to being changing very soon I’ve been wanting to own one for a long time it’s a beautiful thing. Does mean I have to consider either an AIO or a Noctua C14S as the D15 won’t fit.

Thanks. I'm also looking at the Be Quiet Dark Rock 4, looks nice too.

I looked at the Ncase but I have concerns over noise and dust.

I'm used to mid tower cases so this is a big change for me.

Nick1881 · 23 Feb 2020 at 12:59

Danny75 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVPV9omPuyw

Thanks, think I'm going to go for Noctua.

Heres my final list

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Lian-Li PC-TU150X Aluminium Mini-ITX Case - Black= £99.95
1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £269.99
1 x ASUS ROG STRIX B450-I GAMING (Socket AM4) DDR4 Mini-ITX Motherboard= £158.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £98.99
1 x Noctua NH-U12S Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler= £67.99
1 x Arctic MX-4 2019 Edition Thermal Compound (4g)= £5.99
2 x Noctua NF-S12A PWM Chromax Premium Grade Fan - 120mm= £20.99

Total: £757.08 (includes shipping: £13.20)

Plus the Corsair SF600 Platinum that OcUK don't seem to sell.

Does it all look ok? One intake fan and one exhaust fan. I probably won't overclock much so think the cooler will be fine.

Nick1881 · 23 Feb 2020 at 13:59

Danny75 said:
Looks great. Couple of minor observations: the TU150X can take larger 140mm CPU coolers (though nothing wrong with the U12S) and the paste Noctua includes is at least as good as MX-4.

Thanks. I spent a long time looking at coolers, I was going to get the Dark Rock 4 but the Be Quiet site says it may have RAM clearance issues on the Motherboard, unless they mean for taller RAM. I would prefer the Noctua NH-U14 but it doesn't come in black.

@LiE Are you running custom PSU cables? If so which ones or did you mod them?

Nick1881 · 23 Feb 2020 at 14:19

Danny75 said:
Yes. Interestingly the larger Dark Rock Pro 4 is more compatible with the first DIMM slot than Dark Rock 4, in conjunction with using low profile RAM like the Vengeance. Because the Dark Pro 4 has a 120mm at the front whereas the Dark Rock 4 has a 135mm. The shape's a little different too.

I did weigh up the Dark Pro 4, but think it will be a little overkill. I also looked at the slim version. I think I will be happy with the Noctua and all round Noctua fans. I'm going to order today.

Nick1881 · 23 Feb 2020 at 14:35

LiE said:
Phanteks extensions, you’ll need them with the SF600/750 as the cables are small, designed for smaller cases.

Thank you so much, I would have been in real trouble then. Any chance you could link me to the ones I need?

Nick1881 · 23 Feb 2020 at 15:19

LiE said:
These are the ones I got.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-extension-cable-combo-kit-black-grey-cm-02e-pt.html

Thanks, think I'm ready to go now.

Nick1881 · 23 Feb 2020 at 20:17

tamzzy said:
TU150 isn't quite an sff case...it's like ~24L volume

Still a lot smaller than my current case and at least if I ever decide to go smaller I have the motherboard and components, I'd just need case and a cooler change.

I'll see how I get on with this setup first.

Nick1881 · 25 Feb 2020 at 17:13

All my bits arrived today and I've built it and installed Win 10.

Build went very well, very happy with everything. I no longer bash a huge case with my knee.

I didn't need the Phanteks extension cables, everything reached without them.

So far the only thing I changed in the BIOS (after updating) was to set the RAM to 3600. Do I need to change anything else to do with the CPU or am I ok to leave it all at Auto/default settings?

I tweaked the fan profile but it's still a little louder than I would like, I need to work out which fan is causing the noise.

Nick1881 · 25 Feb 2020 at 23:06

LiE said:
Good stuff. I guess I should have said you don't need the extension cables if you route the cables inside the main chassis instead of going through the top section and round the back section to keep things tidy.

I decided to use the 24pin, it does look better with it routed behind.

I've sorted my noise too, it was because I have a fan in the pump header and it was running flat out, now I've fixed that and sorted the fan profiles I'm really happy.