Hi there,
I'm building my first PC, almost entirely for gaming either from disc or Steam.
In terms of priorities, the machine being as quiet as possible is the priority (I've got tinnitus so loud, high-pitched whining from any source is a problem) followed by the graphics being as good as possible to work on a high-end Panasonic 60-inch plasma TV - ie. 1080p/60FPS/Ultra Settings.
Then there's performance, I'm mostly playing single player games but will likely use quite a few mods where possible.
Finally there's cost - I know that to get the kind of machine I wanted that wouldn't require upgrading for sometime yet it would probably sit at around 2.5-3K total so I've budgeted for it.
It will essentially be a games machine though, not really used for anything else. There's also no plans for over clocking it for now, maybe down the line, and I went with more powerful components as a result so I don't need to "push" them and thus hopefully keep them naturally quieter and cooler in the final build.
It took a lot of digging to find the best performing quiet components I could. I'm also going for a black/white with silver and gold highlights color scheme on the case inside. Right now here's the build, it'll be operating in a high-ceiling shaded room without AC (only a ceiling fan) with wooden floors - temps ranging from 18-33C (64-91F) over the year:
Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0GHz CPU
NZXT H440 Mid-Tower White Case
Corsair RM-1000 PSU
ASUS Z97-Deluxe Motherboard
Samsung 840 EVO 500Gb Solid State Drive
Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2x8Gb) DDR3-1600 RAM
MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming 3Gb Graphics Card
Corsair Hydro Series H110 280mm CPU Cooler
5 x Aerocool DS Fan 140mm White LED Fan
Corsair Gen2 White Sleeved Modular Cable Kit
My main questions are regarding the fans/cooler placement and airflow. All the DS fans run at 1200rpm standard, but can be swapped with a lower voltage 700rpm cord for even quieter (but not as effective) performance.
As I said I'm deliberately not overclocking so I didn't have to get the higher RPM fans with their louder noise, but 700RPM sounds too low to be effective as a fan so I'm sticking with the standard 1200RPM on all of them.
I was always told it was better to have more exhaust than intake so the plan is for the 2x140mm top fans and 1x140mm rear fans to be exhaust, and the 2x140mm front fans to be intake. So:
1. Where would be the best place to fit the H110 cooler - the top or the front? I'm thinking it's the top, but do H110s work with exhaust fans only?
2. If I do put it at the top, would a push/pull configuration with fans on either side of the radiator make a difference (or even fit)?
3. Is there any rule regarding amount of air inflow/exhaust? The current config is 129.6CFM intake/194.4CFM exhaust - would it be better to swap one or two of the rear exhaust fan intakes to the quieter 700PM setting so the difference isn't as much?
4. Anyone have any general suggestions about making it quieter?
I'm building my first PC, almost entirely for gaming either from disc or Steam.
In terms of priorities, the machine being as quiet as possible is the priority (I've got tinnitus so loud, high-pitched whining from any source is a problem) followed by the graphics being as good as possible to work on a high-end Panasonic 60-inch plasma TV - ie. 1080p/60FPS/Ultra Settings.
Then there's performance, I'm mostly playing single player games but will likely use quite a few mods where possible.
Finally there's cost - I know that to get the kind of machine I wanted that wouldn't require upgrading for sometime yet it would probably sit at around 2.5-3K total so I've budgeted for it.
It will essentially be a games machine though, not really used for anything else. There's also no plans for over clocking it for now, maybe down the line, and I went with more powerful components as a result so I don't need to "push" them and thus hopefully keep them naturally quieter and cooler in the final build.
It took a lot of digging to find the best performing quiet components I could. I'm also going for a black/white with silver and gold highlights color scheme on the case inside. Right now here's the build, it'll be operating in a high-ceiling shaded room without AC (only a ceiling fan) with wooden floors - temps ranging from 18-33C (64-91F) over the year:
Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0GHz CPU
NZXT H440 Mid-Tower White Case
Corsair RM-1000 PSU
ASUS Z97-Deluxe Motherboard
Samsung 840 EVO 500Gb Solid State Drive
Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2x8Gb) DDR3-1600 RAM
MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming 3Gb Graphics Card
Corsair Hydro Series H110 280mm CPU Cooler
5 x Aerocool DS Fan 140mm White LED Fan
Corsair Gen2 White Sleeved Modular Cable Kit
My main questions are regarding the fans/cooler placement and airflow. All the DS fans run at 1200rpm standard, but can be swapped with a lower voltage 700rpm cord for even quieter (but not as effective) performance.
As I said I'm deliberately not overclocking so I didn't have to get the higher RPM fans with their louder noise, but 700RPM sounds too low to be effective as a fan so I'm sticking with the standard 1200RPM on all of them.
I was always told it was better to have more exhaust than intake so the plan is for the 2x140mm top fans and 1x140mm rear fans to be exhaust, and the 2x140mm front fans to be intake. So:
1. Where would be the best place to fit the H110 cooler - the top or the front? I'm thinking it's the top, but do H110s work with exhaust fans only?
2. If I do put it at the top, would a push/pull configuration with fans on either side of the radiator make a difference (or even fit)?
3. Is there any rule regarding amount of air inflow/exhaust? The current config is 129.6CFM intake/194.4CFM exhaust - would it be better to swap one or two of the rear exhaust fan intakes to the quieter 700PM setting so the difference isn't as much?
4. Anyone have any general suggestions about making it quieter?
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