Help my system be quieter please!

[clickhand]

I just built this system this week: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DLY7

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer

...and the thing is super loud, too loud for my tastes. Can anyone give me the best ways to silence my components? I'm willing to change cases and/or power supply. I'm willing to add or change case fans. What would be the best all around way to make a whisper quiet machine out of my main components?

Thanks for your help.

 

[TheBigTroll]

a couple of mistakes that have been made (or possible improvments that you could have done before building)

-if you were not to overclock, you should have picked up the xeon e3 1230v2. i7 speed but i5 price
-z77 is for overclocking. h77 would have been more suitable
-the 840 pro is the fastest ssd other than the ocz vector, but i could have gotten a plextor m5s for 30 bucks cheaper and you wouldnt notice the difference
-the xfx 550w pushes out more wattage and more efficency for around the same price

for silencing, throw this heatsink on the CPU. everything should be problem solved
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AXUTKEE/?tag=pcpapi-20

go download msi afterburner and change the fan curve on the video card. set it so that the fan runs at 20% speed until it reaches 40c 35% speed until it hits 60c. the stock fan curve is crap

 

[SHORYUKEN]

Yeah it's most likely from the poopy stock heatsink. They tend to be rather loud.

 

[clickhand]

so the stock intel sink/fan is the main culprit? I wouldn't have guessed that because when I was building the system I powered it up without the video card and it didn't seem to be all that loud. thanks for the tip about the video card fan curve i will give that a try. I tried adjusting the speeds of the case fans with my mobo utility and I couldn't tell a difference, wasn't even sure if the utility was working right. I'm willing to get a "silent" type case as well. Anybody have any experience with those?

 

[SHORYUKEN]

No don't use BIOS, use Afterburner.

 

[Onus]

The stock Intel cooler is actually fairly quiet if the CPU is not overclocked.
A possible culprit that is easy to find, and easy to fix, is one or more of the case fans. Temporarily disconnect all your case fans, and see how noisy it is. If this made a big difference, you have three choices, any or all of which will help.
One option is to replace noisy case fans with low-speed Scythe fans. These are 800 RPM, and whisper quiet.
Another option is to get a fan speed controller, OR, if possible, use your motherboard's fan headers to control the fan speeds.
You may also want to get some of those silicone fan "nails" which isolate fan vibration from the case. This is especially helpful on side fans. I really like these, but they're out of stock: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811996015 so these might work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998019 although reviews suggest they may be too fragile.

 

[StingElectra]

ive seen where people put at this material at bottom of there cases where it like absorbs sound so it make it much quietr but idk how quiet

 

[TheBigTroll]

silicone fan mounts are only useful to some fans. for example, with high quality fans, it makes no difference between using standard screws and silicone mounts since they are already well balanced. but some really crappy fans will have a much bigger difference when using them

there are silent cases out there. my favourite would be the fractal design define r4. pick one of these.
http://us.ncix.com/search/?categoryid=0&q=fractal+define+r4

but to be honest, if you asked last week, it would have only been 70 bucks for the case