SirDrannik said:
I don't like boxy cases. And as silent as possible, with those 4 fans. And the color, because eventually I will get a windowed case, so want to keep the fans as simple looking as possible. And the case isn't large. It holds a Micro-Atx maximum and couldn't find any mini-itx tower with foam to reduce the noise. And I decided to go with The EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2. Future proof when I decide to upgrade. And probably, heck, will decide to go for a much better system. Probably a Z97 mini-itx board (I just love mini-itx boards. Exactly what I need, no useless ugly PCI ports. Only what I need. ), and a 4690k and some AIO water cooling kit. And can't get the noctua cooler. Won't fit. Maximum CPU cooler height is 155mm. The noctua seems to be 158.
1) I'd bet any money the Noctua NH-U12S will fit. At worst the very top would lightly touch the FOAM on the side panel. The acoustic foam is probably why they claim it won't fit in addition to erring on the side of case flex etc.
The side panel actually is raised where the CPU cooler would hit in a large square by a few mm's (for the foam) so I would say there's a ZERO chance the NH-U12S won't fit.
2) Again, just stick with two fans (front and rear) and connect them directly to the motherboard, and use the motherboard's fan control software.
I would assume no fan issues as they are apparently 3-pin (voltage) so probably can drop down to basically inaudible levels (i.e. set to 40% max at 40degC, then ramp up).
3) Liquid cooling:
If you really want quiet, then adding a PUMP maybe isn't the best idea. The pump is always going, and the CPU fan would spin faster than for air in idle temperatures since there's no heatsink to dissipate heat, just the fan/radiator method. Liquid coolers are fine if you need to push the limit for cooling but otherwise they'll just be NOISIER than you need.
*I say again, a good air cooler is a better option unless you absolutely need to push your CPU to the limit which I don't recommend. Stick with the "XMP" settings in the BIOS which keeps Intel Power Management intact (thus less heat, thus less noise).
Take all this as you want, but if you really want the quietest system then look at every single part in the system that makes noise. One loud fan defeats the entire purpose of your design.
My dad's computer is inaudible basically. The front fan drops to 300RPM, the power supply fan can't be heard, and the Noctua NH-U12S can't be heard unless my CPU is running near max load (no graphics card). To be clear your graphics card will produce at least 75% of the noise if you have everything optimized according to my recommendations unless the GTX880 has an awesome low-noise in idle design which would be nice.