Loud to silent(ish) PC overhaul, will it work?

ElliottC420

ElliottC420

ElliottC420

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213
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West Yorkshire
Hey guys, as it's nearly Christmas I've decided that it is about time I do something about my ridiculously loud PC.

Here are the current relevant specs:
- Case: Zalman Z9 Plus
- Mobo: Gigabyte Z77-D3H
- CPU: i5 3570k (stock cooler, no OC)
- GPU: R9 290 (reference model, no OC)

As you can probably imagine, the biggest issue here is the graphics card, it is really, REALLY loud and the heat/throttling is almost unbearable. Also the CPU is running at stock clocks which isn't ideal.

Basically what I'm wanting to do is these three things:
- New case, I've been looking at the NZXT H440 and the Corsair 450D.
- Watercool the CPU with a Kraken X40. (Also interested in the Corsair Hydro coolers)
- Watercool the GPU with a Kraken X40 + G10 adapter.

But now comes the issue of where the coolers will be placed on the case (preferably the H440), and whether the fans will have enough room to breathe with how the case is designed.
My first thought was running the GPU on one of the front fan slots, and the CPU at the top, but I'm not sure whether the tubes are long enough or not.

So any answers to whether this setup will work or not/if it would even be very effective are greatly appreciated.

(Parts list)
G10 Adapter http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-007-NX
H440 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-149-NX&groupid=2362&catid=35
X40 Cooler http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-003-NX
 
Should you not be looking at silenced cases?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black (CC-9011015-WW) £119.99
1 x BeQuiet Silent Base 800 - Black £99.95
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £94.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black (CC-9011024-WW) £69.95
Total : £414.34 (includes shipping : £24.55).




Then a heatsink for the CPU and that G10 adapter and AIO for the GFX card?

Or - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-029-CS&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2342 - but there are no cheap corsair AIO in stock.

-----------------------

This would work,

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT H440 Midi-Tower - Black / Blue £89.99
1 x Cooler Master Nepton 240M AIO Cooling Solution £79.99
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X40 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 140mm £78.98
1 x NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Black £24.95
Total : £288.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
I guess I'd take slightly cooler temps over absolute silence, and I'm pretty much set on one of those two cases now as I've had them both recommended by multiple people and actually had a look at them in person. (I especially like the H440)

And I'm really wanting to try out watercooling, it seems a bit silly but I've fit multiple aftermarket coolers to friends' PCs and kinda wanted to go to the next step. Plus they look kinda ugly for the most part.
 
stulid said:
This would work,

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT H440 Midi-Tower - Black / Blue £89.99
1 x Cooler Master Nepton 240M AIO Cooling Solution £79.99
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X40 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 140mm £78.98
1 x NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Black £24.95
Total : £288.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

Awesome, exactly what I'm looking for. Is the Cooler Master Nepton better than the NZXT + Corsair alternatives?
And if you were to build this yourself, where would you position the fans? (Mainly the GPU one, as the CPU radiator would fit nicely at the top)
Cheers.
 
I wouldn't go with AIO coolers, the pump and stock fans are usually crap...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Black £69.98
1 x Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV - VGA Cooler £64.99
Total : £144.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



And Fractal R5 would be perfect, sadly OcUK don't stock this case which is strange as for the money its no-brainer : O

Edit:

If you want to WC, you might as well do it properly and setup a loop...
 
Last edited:
IC3 said:
I wouldn't go with AIO coolers, the pump and stock fans are usually crap...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Black £69.98
1 x Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV - VGA Cooler £64.99
Total : £144.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



And Fractal R5 would be perfect, sadly OcUK don't stock this case which is strange as for the money its no-brainer : O

Edit:

If you want to WC, you might as well do it properly and setup a loop...
Click to expand...

I've heard that those Arctic Accelero IV coolers aren't great at cooling the VRM and people (on youtube anyway) have had to custom fit extra heatsinks before placing the actual cooler on there.

I'd like to WC properly but the max amount of money I'm wanting to spend is around £300-£350, and from what I've seen WC is very expensive.
 
ElliottC420 said:
I've heard that those Arctic Accelero IV coolers aren't great at cooling the VRM and people (on youtube anyway) have had to custom fit extra heatsinks before placing the actual cooler on there.

I'd like to WC properly but the max amount of money I'm wanting to spend is around £300-£350, and from what I've seen WC is very expensive.
Click to expand...

You can buy one of the coolers listed by stulid instead and add on 120/140mm fans which for absolute quietness should run below 1k rpm.

I'm just saying that WC AIO staff is rubbish, just buy air cooler and save some cash. Think about it, you spend 70-80 pounds on rubbish AIO cooler and for silent operation you need to spend another 20 squids on decent fans as the stock ones are rubbish...

Here's a small video of R5...
 
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