Reasonably Quiet Gaming PC

[Hammarby]

Hello,

I am planning to build my first PC in the next week or so and I want it to be fairly quiet. I will be using it mainly for gaming, Photoshop and web browsing. My budget is fairly generous and I haven't really set a limit for it. I guess I could get a nice e.g. Alienware or similar for this budget but I am 40+ and do not really like the design of most modern gaming machines. Plus I am really looking forward to building my own PC!!!

I already have a monitor Dell 3007HC (2560x1600) and I would like to play at this resolution when possible. Hopefully two 6950s in Crossfire should be able to do this? I am only planning to do some mild over clocking (4.0-4.2GHz) to keep temp and noise to a minimum.

Do you guys this config looks balanced and do you think it will be fairly quiet or should I make some adjustments?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16798605

Thanks for you help

 

[michxymi]

Hello,

I am planning to build my first PC in the next week or so and I want it to be fairly quiet. I will be using it mainly for gaming, Photoshop and web browsing. My budget is fairly generous and I haven't really set a limit for it. I guess I could get a nice e.g. Alienware or similar for this budget but I am 40+ and do not really like the design of most modern gaming machines. Plus I am really looking forward to building my own PC!!!

I already have a monitor Dell 3007HC (2560x1600) and I would like to play at this resolution when possible. Hopefully two 6950s in Crossfire should be able to do this? I am only planning to do some mild over clocking (4.0-4.2GHz) to keep temp and noise to a minimum.

Do you guys this config looks balanced and do you think it will be fairly quiet or should I make some adjustments?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16798605

Thanks for you help

First of all, a computer with 2 6950 and an overclocked CPU can't be very quiet! Such a powerful PC needs airflow Also cost can go way down without compromising everything in terms of perfomance!

 

[abekl]

A few thoughts.

Please don't get the Green caviar drive, go for the black. You'll be much more satisfied with the experience.

I think you are throwing away about 100 getting the i7 instead of the i5. There's nothing the i7 will do for you over what the i5 will. There is no software out there that can take advantage of that many threads.

 

[michxymi]

He can even get the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T. Cheaper platform, upgradeable to Bulldozers and at this resolution difference between i5 or i7 are very low or don't even exists..

 

[onefearlesssniper]

If you want to go quieter - go i5 2500k and a single 6990 4gb. also go caviar black, get a better case (obsidion is nice, better cases for the money out their though) better cpu cooler, get a better brand psu, (corsair, cooler master, antec) 130$ for a cd drive? no thanks, just get bluray

get windows 7 the other way...

 

[Hammarby]

Thank you for the input so far

@michxymi, I understand that you cannot build an entirely quiet pc if you want to game at high resolutions, I am just trying to go "reasonably" quiet. Also, I am an Intel guy. Why? No reason, I have just always used Intel.

@abekl, I will have a look at the "black" drive. If performance is much better than the green drive without adding any noise then I will probably go with that one instead.

@onefearlesssniper, please explain why I would go with the 6990 card. In every test I have read this is the noisiest card they have ever tested. Also, the OD I selected IS a blu ray burner?? What do you mean by "get windows 7 the other way"?

I have purposely tried to select parts that on their own are considered to be among the more quiet ones. The cpu fan is supposedly pretty quiet on its own. Not sure how it will work out in the case. The Seasonic psu operates in fanless mode under low loads and the graphics card are ASUS Direct CU IIs which are supposed to be much quieter than reference design.

My main focus is to keep this build on the more quiet side of things. More input is very welcome.

 

[onefearlesssniper]

6990>2 6950 in terms of heat and noise.

However the 2 6950's will outpreform the 6990.

*cough*download*cough*

 

[Silvune]

Yes, the Caviar Black will add noise. If it is a storage drive, then there's no need for it to be a fast/7200RPM drive.

Seasonic are a very good PSU manufacturer.

Yes, the Noctua NH-D14 comes with pretty quiet fans, obviously you will want to be installing the ULNAs to make sure the fans spin as slowly/quietly as possible.