Is extra cooling necessary?

Spit

Spit

Spit

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I have always had lots of fans in my PC because I thought it was necessary for good airflow with top components. I am now fed up with the noise they make and want a quiet PC. I am currently biulding the following:

4GHz I7 Bundle from ocuk. UD5, Patriot etc.
128Gb SSD M225
1Tb HDD
4870 (5870 on release day)
DVD Rom
Case with 1 extra fan

Anyone else run theirs with just 1 small fan in the case and the CPU cooler?

My build will not be finished until mid week. I dont mind a little noise but not the hairdryer i currently have.

Cheers
 
The i7 does not by itself suggest a quiet computer, and overclocking it to 4ghz definitely does not. I'm running my computer with one scythe s-flex and the psu fan at the moment, and at 4ghz stable, but I'm using water to do this.

Small fans are generally louder than quiet fans. The graphics card is unlikely to be quiet either.

I'm afraid your options are to reduce the speed of the machine, tolerate the noise or move to water. Case can help, but the most important step is starting with quiet components.
 
It is possible to run a quiet i7 @ 4ghz as thats what i do and its a horrible c0 revision too.
As your pc had d0 revision 920 it means less volts/heat than i get.

I use the fans linked above (Akasa Apache) and they move a good bit of air even at 1000rpm.I run them at around 850 rpm most of the time (unless gaming) and at that speed there near silent.
You then will have to look at aftermarket cooling for the Gfx card as in general the fans on it will be the loudest thing in your rig.
If your using a Corsair or BeQuiet Psu you will be fine with them.
 
Id've thought that so long as you've got a high end air cooler, you'd easily get away with 1 intake and 1 exhaust fan. As long as your case is fairly big and there's not too many cables obstructing air etc.
 
I have a 4GHz i7 and 7 fans in total and i woudl call it resonably quiet a lot depends on what size and speed quality of fan you use.
 
i've got 7 fans already..i'll definitely hear them, but maybe not as bad as my existing rig.........

the only fan that bothers me............... is what will the GTX 300 sound like :cool:....................and this will be the 8th and final fan
 
I run my i7 OC in a large mid tower case with 1x 120mm exhaust fan and the Noctua cooler along with a top mounted 120mm fanned PSU. Gets a little toasty in there sometimes. Would probably have more fans if my case supported a top fan or 120mm intake at front.
 
Spit said:
I always have the case side off because it faces a wall. That must help with cooling.
Click to expand...

facepalm.jpg
 
Ah, becoming a messy thread. If you redefine quiet to be seven fans then yes, your computer can easily be quiet. I think quiet is difficult to hear, and seven fans wont be.

For a sufficiently relaxed definition of quiet of course it's easily done. I think the point to aim for is the psu as the loudest thing in the system, and that's only because I haven't worked out how to shut up a psu yet. What budget are you working with? A simple wc loop is probably the answer. That or just buy better fans if you're easily pleased.

^Appropriate facepalm.
 
to be honest, i dont care if i hear it... it's rattling i hate..... i've got Acoustic cloth in there so it shouldn't be too loud..

i'm resigned to the fact that it's going to make a noise, i've tried my best but there you go, that's life....all the noise will escape out the front grill...c'est la vie!

the important thing is...... that it'll be miles more powerful than my existing rig, plus next year i'll be wearing headphones ;);)
 
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The sound dampening matting is the last step to quieting a computer, not the first. It'll do absolutely bugger all for a loud computer.

If you're resigned to it being loud, than I wonder why you made this thread.

Rattling means you want to put blu tack / something like this between the case panels and the case. Or, ideally, mass load them.
 
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