Recommendations for a quiet PC

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Hi there,

I'm hoping you can help with a product recommendation.

I'm looking at buying the following combination of hardware.

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard
Intel Core i5 750 processor
4Gb Corsair PC3-1066C9 1333mhz DDR3 memory.

This PC is going to be in our main living room, so I'm looking for the best options to keep it running as quietly as possible.

Can you please recommend a CPU cooler and PSU (600w minimum) that will enable this to ru as quietly as it can?

Also, are you able to recommend a case for this system? I was looking at the Coolermaster Elite 330, but I understand they can be quite noisy also.

Thanks,

Rob
 
+1 With what lazer said.

Also, the Prolimatech Megahalems is a great cooler and it is made specifically for running low-noise, now rpm fans (it has a wide fin arrangement) - so you can still get excellent cooling with minimal noise. This cooler also fits fine in the Antec 300 case mentioned above.

As for your PSU, I suppose that depends on your graphics card you will be running. What GPU do you think you will be going for and do you plan to do SLI/Crossfire in the future?

It is also worth considering getting an SSD for your primary drive. SSDs are very fast, completely silent but also rather expensive. This is one I would suggest.
 
Thanks for the info so far! Very helpful.

I was looking at this for a cooler:- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR

GPU wise I'm looking at a Radeon HD5850, wasn't planning on doing SLI at any stage.

As a base PC I'm looking at the one specced in PC Gamer UK as their 'PC for under a grand' system.

I looked at two 1Tb drives to use in a mirrored RAID0 setup. I think they were Western Digital on another vendors site. I wasn't planning on a SSD drive mainly due to the expense ( and isn't there some performance issue with them after a while..?)

Rob

P.S. Can you still get a free copy of Assassins Creed 2 with a CPU purchase here at OCZ?
 
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Antec 300 case is very good with fantastic airflow.
And completely silencing incompatible.
Basic requirement for even chances to mod case to quiet is lack of direct noise escape paths.

Noctua's heatsinks are very good but fans aren't anything special for their high price.
S12 lacks pressure generating ability and can move air only in free air conditions. P12 again is acoustically just above mediocre.

mirrored RAID0 setup.
RAID1 is mirroring.

Fractal Design R2 is about cheapest quiet design case (with proper damping) which also takes easily gaming graphics cards and won't be cramped inside.
Or is smallest possible size also goal?

Already 500W PSU would be well enough for components supposed to stay quiet (i5 750+HD5850 draws barely 250W in games) but semi passively cooled very high efficiency Seasonic X-650 is pretty much the quietest PSU. (and replaced pasively cooled PSU in SPCR's CPU heatsink test platform)
 
RAID1 is mirroring.

*Ahem*, yes of course... :o

Fractal Design R2 is about cheapest quiet design case (with proper damping) which also takes easily gaming graphics cards and won't be cramped inside.
Or is smallest possible size also goal?

Small size isn't an issue particularly, I have a midi tower at the moment and it sits in the corner of the room so not really a problem.

Already 500W PSU would be well enough for components supposed to stay quiet (i5 750+HD5850 draws barely 250W in games) but semi passively cooled very high efficiency Seasonic X-650 is pretty much the quietest PSU. (and replaced passively cooled PSU in SPCR's CPU heatsink test platform)

PSU wise I was looking at the 'OCZ StealthXStream 700w Silent Power Supply' or the 'Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK)'

I don’t mind a bit on noise while gaming, but since the PC is left on 24/7 in a communal areas I'd like to keep the idling background noise to a minimum. It doesn't have to be /whisper/ quiet, but I don't want a roar.

Rob
 
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+1 for the Fractal design. Its a bit more expensive than the Antec 300 or CM 330, but the extra costs gives you a nice case with a degree of soundproofing and lots of space.

As for the PSU, you already stated that you don't plan to add a second GPU - so a 700-750W would be serious overkill. This isn't a bad thing as it does give you lots of upgrade headroom should you change your mind, and PSUs run most efficiently at ~50% load. However, in your case I think you would be better off spending the same money on a smaller capacity, higher quality PSU. Something like the Antec Truepower 550W would be ideal.

The seasonic suggested above is a wonderful bit of kit, if you can afford the extra cost. If you got it, then when the machine is idling then the fan will most likely not be on and only kick in when you start using the system heavily.
 
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One thing to note is the graphic card tends to be one of the loudest kit in the PC. So if you are not that fuss with overclocking the card by overvolting, then you could consider getting Sapphire 5850 Vapor-X 1GB...as it has one of the most quiet VGA cooler.
 
That card has the same capability as the 'standard' Sapphire 5850?

It is actually slightly faster due to a modest increase in core clockspeed. However, it does come at a price premium compared to standard 5850 cards.

Also, the ASUS DirectCu looks like it is worth a look. It also uses a custom cooler that is quieter than the stock one, seems to overclock well and comes with a 3 year warranty.
 
was looking at the 'OCZ StealthXStream 700w
FSP with very cheap capacitors.

Cooler of Vapor-X cards is different from stock cooler and instead of blowing all heat out from case it leaves about half of it inside case...
But at least HD5000 cards don't produce much heat at idle.
 
Ok, thanks for all the advice everyone.

Here is the final spec I think I've settled upon.:-

Intel Core i5-750 Quad Core 2.66GHz 8MB Processor
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2
Corsair 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMV4GX3M2A1333C9)

Antec TruePower New Modular 550W Power Supply
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1156 / 1366

Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon 5850 HD 1GB PCI-Express 2.0 x16 HDMI

2 x Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3 7200rpm SATA 3Gb/s 32MB

Fractal Design Define R2 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl



Does anything look jarringly out of place?
 
If you are going to spend £100 on RAM, I would suggest looking at this stuff.

I would also suggest going for the ASUS DirectCu over the Sapphire, as it is faster, cooler, quieter, more overclockable, has 1 more year of warranty and costs £1 less.

Will you be needing a DVD or OS?
 
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Ok, thanks for all the advice everyone.

Here is the final spec I think I've settled upon.:-

Intel Core i5-750 Quad Core 2.66GHz 8MB Processor
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2
Corsair 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMV4GX3M2A1333C9)

Antec TruePower New Modular 550W Power Supply
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1156 / 1366

Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon 5850 HD 1GB PCI-Express 2.0 x16 HDMI

2 x Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3 7200rpm SATA 3Gb/s 32MB

Fractal Design Define R2 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl



Does anything look jarringly out of place?
I think that is a standard 5850 card...get a Sapphire Vapor-X or Asus DirectCu version instead.

Also, do you already have a optical drive?

For rams, I would get these instead:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-042-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
 
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Yes, I already have a DVD drive, monitor, mouse and keyboard that I can recycle from my current, dead, PC.

I think I'll just go for a standard graphics card. I'm happy to spend a little more on a quiet case, but that's about the limit of my budget now so I think I'll have to stop there.

I really appreciate everyones help with this.

Rob
 
And completely silencing incompatible.
Basic requirement for even chances to mod case to quiet is lack of direct noise escape paths.

Rubbish. I have an Antec 300 and with the right components you can't hear a thing!! Mine is silent. Can't hear anything!
 
Just thought I'd report back that the PC is all working fine, one of the quietest machines I've owned, I have to double check it's actually turned on sometimes...

Thanks for all the advice.

Rob
 
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