Hello All,
In early 2013 I built a Mini-ITX gaming rig (MMO’s and FPS’) using the components listed below. I liked the idea of a smaller case and still be able to game with high settings. I came from a Corsair 600T series case which was huge for a “mid tower” using a Noctua NH-D14 and it was dead silent. It had an issue with random popping and cracking sounds even when the PC was turned off. I assumed if I went Mini-ITX of course heat would be an issue so I chose the BitFenix Prodigy case thinking it would have better cooling. I replaced the front 140mm fan with a 200mm in hopes to increase air flow. I put on the Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler thinking it would keep things more quiet over a full air heat sink solution. The H80i installed on the back of the case with push pull config. I know the Haswell runs hot and I have replaced the Corsair cooler through Corsair once already but it sounds like a wind tunnel when I’m gaming. It is annoying as hell, to the point that I'm willing to go back to a larger case for some quiet. So I need your recommendations on a close as possible silent case with good airflow so I don’t burn up components. I would also like to keep a smaller foot print like a mini or micro atx but I am willing to go back to a mid-tower case if it will eliminate the noise. I know the H80i CPU cooler is the main culprit for making the noise. I’ve adjusted it from performance to silent and it makes very little difference when gaming on both units I tried. I am willing to go back to an air heat sink solution to solve this if that’s the recommendation but since the Prodigy case is pretty open to begin with sound will travel easily. I game with 1 main monitor and 2 supported monitors. I do not plan on going SLI unless the recommendation is a larger case (assuming it will be) then I may just get a larger motherboard with SLI or Crossfire capabilities. So mobo recommendations would be nice as well. I do not have a particular budget for this other than Case $200 or less, Mobo $200 or less and CPU heat sink $150 or less.
Thank you for your time and help with this issue.
Case: BitFenix Prodigy Midnight Black / Black Steel / Plastic Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
1 x Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 - Sleeve Bearing 200mm Silent Fan for Computer Cases (Black)
PSU: 1 x SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready ...
CPU: 1 x Intel Core i7-4771 Haswell 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 ...
CPU Cooler: 1 x CORSAIR Hydro Series H80i High Performance Water/Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm
Memory: 1 x G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GAO
Motherboard: 1 x ASRock Z87E-ITX LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel I217V Lan 802.11ac WiFi Intel Motherboard
GPU: 1 x GIGABYTE GV-N760OC-4GD GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready WindForce 3X 450W Video Card
SSD: 1 x SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
In early 2013 I built a Mini-ITX gaming rig (MMO’s and FPS’) using the components listed below. I liked the idea of a smaller case and still be able to game with high settings. I came from a Corsair 600T series case which was huge for a “mid tower” using a Noctua NH-D14 and it was dead silent. It had an issue with random popping and cracking sounds even when the PC was turned off. I assumed if I went Mini-ITX of course heat would be an issue so I chose the BitFenix Prodigy case thinking it would have better cooling. I replaced the front 140mm fan with a 200mm in hopes to increase air flow. I put on the Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler thinking it would keep things more quiet over a full air heat sink solution. The H80i installed on the back of the case with push pull config. I know the Haswell runs hot and I have replaced the Corsair cooler through Corsair once already but it sounds like a wind tunnel when I’m gaming. It is annoying as hell, to the point that I'm willing to go back to a larger case for some quiet. So I need your recommendations on a close as possible silent case with good airflow so I don’t burn up components. I would also like to keep a smaller foot print like a mini or micro atx but I am willing to go back to a mid-tower case if it will eliminate the noise. I know the H80i CPU cooler is the main culprit for making the noise. I’ve adjusted it from performance to silent and it makes very little difference when gaming on both units I tried. I am willing to go back to an air heat sink solution to solve this if that’s the recommendation but since the Prodigy case is pretty open to begin with sound will travel easily. I game with 1 main monitor and 2 supported monitors. I do not plan on going SLI unless the recommendation is a larger case (assuming it will be) then I may just get a larger motherboard with SLI or Crossfire capabilities. So mobo recommendations would be nice as well. I do not have a particular budget for this other than Case $200 or less, Mobo $200 or less and CPU heat sink $150 or less.
Thank you for your time and help with this issue.
Case: BitFenix Prodigy Midnight Black / Black Steel / Plastic Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
1 x Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 - Sleeve Bearing 200mm Silent Fan for Computer Cases (Black)
PSU: 1 x SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready ...
CPU: 1 x Intel Core i7-4771 Haswell 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 ...
CPU Cooler: 1 x CORSAIR Hydro Series H80i High Performance Water/Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm
Memory: 1 x G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GAO
Motherboard: 1 x ASRock Z87E-ITX LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel I217V Lan 802.11ac WiFi Intel Motherboard
GPU: 1 x GIGABYTE GV-N760OC-4GD GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready WindForce 3X 450W Video Card
SSD: 1 x SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
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