Silent but violent system

hcclnoodles

hcclnoodles

hcclnoodles

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Joined
18 Jun 2007
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34
Hi there I am building a system that I need to be powerful yet at the same time, deadly quiet (as it will be on all night 5ft away from where im sleeping)

After much research into components that run cool and quiet yet are still up there in quality I have selected the following


Sapphire HD 7870 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games
£227.99

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
£179.99

Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
£154.99

Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black
£119.99

Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256D/EU)
£199.99

Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1156/LGA1155/LGA775/AM2/AM2)
£72.98

Memory will be Patriot G2 which im getting from another place




Id like to ask you good folks a few questions that i dont seem to be 100% on if i may?

1) Will the Noctua NH-D14 cooler fit ok with this Micro ATX board ? Ill only be running one GPU and the Patriot memory is fairly low profile height wise. im just a little concerned that its a pretty big cooler and a pretty small board.Will it fit ok?.. Im also pretty sure the case is ok size wise, which kind of leads me to the next question

2) Is there a case that will be as quiet as the obsidian but more sutable for micro atx and that cooler ? The obsidian is mid-tower .. if i can get something that is smaller yet as quiet and the Noctua will fit in ... ill go for that ..any ideas?

3) The Samsung SSD comes in a 'notebook' version that is slightly cheaper .. Will that version work just as well as the 'Desktop' version ? they seem to have the same speeds ...is the connectivity or the brackets different ? or do i need to go for the 'Desktop' edition

5) In my current PC, I have a 5 year old 'Corsair 620 modular PSU' that is labelled as 'HX620W' , can I still use this or has all the connectivity changed these days?

6) My current case is a 5 year old 'Lian Li pc-7 plus' if I have issues deciding on a case in the short term, would I be able to use this in the interim? or have they changed things that drastically in the last 5 years :)
 
What will the PC be doing when running over night? Heavy usage like folding, or light usage?

Samsung SSD is just the same, all that is difference is the accessories in the box. I assume the notebook version is cheaper as they sell less?
 
Last edited:
hcclnoodles said:
1) Will the Noctua NH-D14 cooler fit ok with this Micro ATX board ? Ill only be running one GPU and the Patriot memory is fairly low profile height wise. im just a little concerned that its a pretty big cooler and a pretty small board.Will it fit ok?.. Im also pretty sure the case is ok size wise, which kind of leads me to the next question
Click to expand...

yes. but look at the phanteks tc14pe or sliver arrow sb-e, its a better cooler than the d14


hcclnoodles said:
2) Is there a case that will be as quiet as the obsidian but more sutable for micro atx and that cooler ? The obsidian is mid-tower .. if i can get something that is smaller yet as quiet and the Noctua will fit in ... ill go for that ..any ideas?
Click to expand...

fractal arc mini perhaps?


hcclnoodles said:
3) The Samsung SSD comes in a 'notebook' version that is slightly cheaper .. Will that version work just as well as the 'Desktop' version ? they seem to have the same speeds ...is the connectivity or the brackets different ? or do i need to go for the 'Desktop' edition
Click to expand...
the ssd is the same. just the accessories that come with it will differ. get the cheapest tbh


hcclnoodles said:
5) In my current PC, I have a 5 year old 'Corsair 620 modular PSU' that is labelled as 'HX620W' , can I still use this or has all the connectivity changed these days?

6) My current case is a 5 year old 'Lian Li pc-7 plus' if I have issues deciding on a case in the short term, would I be able to use this in the interim? or have they changed things that drastically in the last 5 years :)
Click to expand...


you missed #4, but whatever ;p no, the psu and case should be fine.
 
Ok so ive been doing a little extra digging thanks to your comments above and I dont really think I neceesaraily need all the features of the 'Maximus V Gene'. I just want to do a bit of overclocking (maybe push up to 4.6 or something) and thats it ... By all accounts I can get that from the massively cheaper 'Gigabyte Z77-DS3H' at £75 ..

This does of course mean that i will go Mid tower as opposed to mATX, but thats fine


Now that you guys have introduced me to Fractal, and after reading some reviews of the new 'Fractal R4', it seems that it does as good a job on soundproofing as the Obsidian 550D and is also £30 cheaper (ish). So I may go for that (in white :))

Thanks also for the info on the Samsung SSd, ill go for the mobile one


This will reduce my cost a fair bit

Sapphire HD 7870 2048MB - £227.99
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz - £179.99
Gigabyte Z77-DS3H - £77.00
Fractal R4 White - £90(ish)
Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook edition - £173.99
Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator - £72.98
16GB Patriot G2 - £76

Total £897.95



I really would appreciate any feedback on the two new additions to my list

. the Fractal R4
. Gigabyte Z77-DS3H

Cheers
 
The Gigabyte Z77-D3H is a good value entry level Z77, you should be able to get a good OC out of it maybe around 4.20GHz or higher. As long as it has all the connecters and expansion ports you need, it will be perfect.

The R4 is a solid midi tower case which has great sound insulation however it can get quite hot inside so invest in some quiet case fans to add in addition to the standard fans.
 
Thanks NathWraith, Cripes, i t didnt realise it will only allow me to OC to 4.2 ish .. my understanding is that with the right motherboard these chips wil happily go to 4.8 ish without breaking a sweat... Would there be another budget motherboard that will go a little higher ?

Im not an expert in this field, but would I actually notice the difference between a 4.2Ghz and a 4.8Ghz in real terms?


One of the reasons i steered slightly away from the Maximus Gene V was that apparrantly with the Noctua cooler, the PCB of the GPU and the noctuas fan clips are pretty much touching ... Im assuming I will get a little more space on a non-mATX board ...?
 
You could probably push 4.4GHz but the board is an entry level Z77 so lifespan can become limited and more over, harder to overclock in the first place. The Z77X-UD5 is a good board to attain a solid 4.6-4.8GHz overclock on :)
 
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