Help with $2200 SILENT gaming pc

[taco supreme]

Hi Guys,

I was thinking about building a new gaming pc for bf3 and other intensive games that are out or may come out in the future. After thinking about what i want i noticed that every day in the morning when i get on my old pc from 2008 it sounds like a jet engine on the runway! i am getting tired of this. i want to get a silent pc that will be as quiet as possible from the time i start it up to the time i shut down for bed.

it doesnt need to look cool or flashy.

my budget is around $2200

i know a bit about computers but nothing about making them silent.

i need everything (monitor and gaming mouse including all core components)

1080p is fine, like a 24"

water or air cooling is fine just make it silent

i like nvidia and intel

any help or research would be great

thanks

 

[C12Friedman]

I have a few contributions right away
Fractal Design Define Mini Black Micro ATX Silent PC Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352011
with included sound dampening material, should prove to be effective in noise reduction - I'd suspect it would be kind of tight to build in. It is the least expensive case I've found that has sound dampening
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
this GPU is used in the August system builder marathon here ($1000 enthusiast) and one of the comments in the article was how quiet the graphics card was. See this page
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-a-pc-overclock-benchmark,3276-3.html
SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088
This PSU has a fan but rarely uses it - One of the highest rated PSU's made. It is pricey but for a high quality, virtually silent PSU, I don't think you could do much better. See this article (linked to conclusion page)
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=169
Noctua NH-C14 140mm x 2 SSO CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608020
One of the quietest yet effective HSF's out there - very pricy. If you can fit a CM Hyper212 EVO in that case (I'm not sure), with slower fans, that is also an option (much less expensive).
That pretty much covers your internal noise producers, get an SSD, that'll help too

 

[Outlander_04]

Antec P280 case

Intel 3570K
MB with a Z77 chip set
2 x4 gig of 1600 MHz RAM
The gigabyte GTX 670 listed above
The seasonic 650 gold listed above .
Scythe ninja 3 cpu cooler [set to low], or the Noctua listed above
120 - 180 gig SSD ......probably the samsung 830 range
a pair of noctua 120 mm fans for the front of the case , or 1200 rpm scythe slipstreams
a WD GREEN hard drive for data storage

Lots less than $2200, able to run any game at 1080p and good detail settings

and very very quiet

 

[taco supreme]

Thank you guys for the research and suggestions I will continue researching but you have helped me greatly

 

[hansrotec]

a corsair 550d is a very nice silent case with ability to adapt in the future if needs change, as for the cpu sandy bridge or ivy bridge i5.

an asus or msi z77 motherboard due to the fan control software they offer.

nvidia gtx 670 or 660Ti there are a few quite 680s as well.

pick up a larger ssd to cut down on mechanical hd noise (the crucial m4 512 has been around 350 a few places recently)

fans LOGISYS Computer SF120 ... they were 16.99 but have gone up to 26.99 too much for them i think, but they work great if you can find them at 16 pick them up... they were/are the same as the deepcool some will still have that branding ....

psu either a corsair or seasonic, at the higher end many of them have either fand that dont turn on until a particular load is reached or a very quite stepped fan ... also get modular its worth the extra cost

for the cooler i used a prolimatech Megahalems, but the others list here rock

ram 1600mhz or better i see no reason not to pick up 16 gb, ram is dirt cheap right now

 

[taco supreme]

how does this look guys.
this is just a rough sketch of what im thinking of

cpu: 3570k $215 at newegg
cooler:noctua nh-c14 $55 at ncix
motherboard:asrock extreme 4 $135 at microcenter
memory:16gb corsair vengeance $90 at newegg
hdd:seagate barricuda 2tb $100 at ncix
ssd:OCZ vertex 4 128gb $110 at newegg
video cards:gtx 670 direct cu 2 OR windforce(2 cards) $420 each at ncix
case:fractal design define xl $145 at ncix
psu:hx 1050 watt corsair $145 at ncix
optical:lite on 124 $17
monitors:asus ve248h $165 each at newegg (2 monitors)(soon to be 3 for surround)
windows $90
razer naga wired 80$

all comes to around $2320
i know a little over but it is what i want. also, what kind of overclock do you think i can push on the i5 3570k with the c14? and how much will it bottleneck my 670's?
lastly, down the road im am going to get a third asus monitor. What kind of frames should i expect with a surround set up in battlefield 3? what settings should i turn down to make it playable?

thanks everyone.

 

[taco supreme]

lol the face in ocz

 

[azeem40]

At 1080p, just get one GTX 670. Even if you are going to CF/SLI, 1050W is 300W overkill. A quality 750W PSU from PC Power and Cooling, Seasonic, some Corsair, and XFX will be enough.

 

[ssddx]

remember, the greater you overclock the harder your cooling components will have to work which will increase the noise.

sources of noise:

case fans - using larger fans at slower rpm will reduce the noise. remember though that airflow itself creates noise. remember that even on a watercooled system you will need fans for the radiators.

gpu fan - better ambient airflow so that the cooler does not have to work as hard or watercooled.

cpu fan - larger heatsinks with larger fans at slower rpms will be more silent. watercooling is also an option.

cd rom drive - there really is not much you can do about this noise except not to use cds or dvds often.

hard drive- unless you run 10,000rpm wd raptors or 15,000rpm scsi drives you should not hear much in the way of noise. using a ssd as a boot drive will be totally silent.

options:

case soundproofing- this will reduce the amount of noise you hear from hard drives and other internal components but it will never completely go away. remember that the hotter your system gets the harder the cooling system works and all that air makes quite a bit of noise.

watercooling- remember that pumps make noise and fans for radiators make noise. using a reservator or other large reservoir can help. in general watercooling gets to be expensive for what little you gain.

----

now, what is a cost effective solution?

first, use a full tower case. the increase in size will reduce the temperatures inside which in turn reduces the demand on your cooling devices resulting in lower rpm and noise output.

second, use large case fans. 120mm or larger.

have enough airflow on the northbridge or have a passive radiator cooler. some boards give you the option to pick either or.

invest in a fan controller and some decent fans. you can manually set the rpm. remember though that you will need to raise the rpm if temps start getting too high or your system controlled fans (gpu, cpu) will sound like jet engines taking off. buying low noise - medium cfm fans instead of junker no-name freebies can definitely help as well.

route your cables well inside the case and secure them. having everything tucked back out of the way of airflow can definitely help reduce temps.

use a case with a good airflow schema. dual zone cases such as the hdd/psu & cdrom/cpu/gpu split work well. better airflow dynamics mean your cooling devices will not work as hard.

i will state it again: overclock and your cooling devices work harder resulting in more noise. better off just buying better components up front instead of overclocking if noise is a factor.

placing the tower under the desk also helps reduce noise.

 

[jmsellars1]

I have the sound dampening foam in my case, its not great for a gaming build if I'm honest. It will heat the computer up because although it will stop noise escaping, it also stops heat escaping. That means you have your fans on a higher setting than normal. That kind of defeats the point. I would go for something more along the lines of the Antec P280. Solid construction to reduce vibrations and decent ventilation, meaning your fans won't have to work any harder than normal. Just make sure the fans on your PSU, CPU and GPU are quiet enough. Seasonic, Noctua and ASUS are some good brands for low noise in my experience.