Need to reduce noise & optimize watt usage. Should I move to Haswell or OC my i7-930?

en0ptik

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Jan 1, 2014
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10,510
TL;DR - Uses computer for mid-range gaming, lite graphic/video editing, and music production. Wants to reduce noise levels & power consumption. Opting for either a new mATX Haswell build or OCing my stock i7-930, replacing current case (HAF932 too noisy), and power supply (750W for a 402W build seems inefficient and wasteful). Should I go for the full upgrade now or just stick with my current build, replace a few things, and wait for next-gen tech?
My current ATX build works fine for my daily needs (sometimes gets BSOD - 0x0000004E), but I have a few things I want to change about it. Bear in mind that this is the first and only build I've ever made:

1. Reduce noise - My HAF932 is definitely too much case for me to handle. I'm thinking about downsizing to the Fractal Design Define R4 ATX Mid Tower Case. Will this fit my current build? Would it also be a good case for my potential mATX build?

2. More efficient PS wattage - I have a 750W PS. PCPartPicker estimates my current build's wattage to be 402W. Seems like my PS is a bit excessive. Is this an issue? If so, would it be better to get a PS with lower wattage? I'm thinking about getting the Seasonic SS-460FL2 (lower watts & less noise; fanless). Will a 460W PS be enough, and will it be compatible with my current X58 build? I apologize if my questions seem redundant. My knowledge on power supplies and watt efficiency is limited, so I just need some second opinions to be sure.
With frugality in mind, I'm leaning more towards my second choice of sticking with my current X58 build, OCing from stock, getting a quieter, mid-ATX case, and replacing my 750W PS for a fanless 460W and using it for as long as possible (or until Skylake releases & current tech prices drop). However, the option for Haswell still stands. All opinions, advice, and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

My current build - PCPartPicker
CPU: Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler: Corsair H50 57.0 CFM Liquid
Motherboard: EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 ATX LGA1366
Memory: Corsair XMS3 6GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3-1333
Storage: Kingston HyperX 120GB 2.5" SSD + Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 ATX Full Tower
Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-750TX
 
your power supply is fine. you could have a 650w, 750w or a 1000w like i do and you will still be using the same amount of power from those components. how large the psu is does not affect the draw of the components.

i have an i7-920 cpu, asus rampage iii motherboard (top end) 6gb ram (3x2gb), gtx470 gpu, 512gb ssd, 2tb hdd, corsair hx 1000w psu and you might think that due to my large psu (i got an awesome deal on it) runs really high on the power bill however at idle or doing basic tasks like web browsing it only uses about 162w (power calc says 584w at 100%tdp).

what this means is that at 100% system load (which outside of benchmarks is just about as rare as hens teeth) the system could use 584w. your actual usage will depend on what tasks you are doing. even when i was playing crysis on maximum i only saw a draw of about 420w which will give you a good idea how your own system scales.

my ccfl backlit (older lcd.. not the new led backlit) television uses more than this (175w!)

just because i have a 1000w psu doesnt mean i am using 1kwh on my power bill. most of the time i am only using about .16 for the tower or .33 if counting the tv in the same figure.

now with that said and explained.. what COULD save you money is having a platinum or gold rated psu over a silver or bronze rated one. the difference is how efficient they are at converting AC to DC for your computer. the lower efficiency ones (bronze for example) waste more electricity than a high efficiency model (gold for example). is it worth upgrading? not unless you run the pc 24/7/365 and are constantly running on 90%+ load. unless you are constantly pumping lots of voltage through it all the time... what you save on the power bill is going to be less than what you would pay to upgrade your psu. also you didnt list your model psu. not sure what yours is rated at.

the psu isnt likely an object you need to upgrade at this time. and since you stated a limited budget.... it would make more sense to push money elsewhere into your build.

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as far as upgrading or o/c your psu is concerned....

overclocking is going to use more wattage and require better cooling (more noise).

my i7-920 may be starting to feel its age however its still a decent chip and overclocking would yield some additional performance at very little additional cost.

while i dont have numbers for haswell (which is a little bit faster than ivy bridge) a stock i7-3770k (again... ivy bridge) runs with about 45-60% more performance than a stock i7-920 (yes i know yours is a 930). if you overclock the 920 to the max (say take it up to 3.5ghz from the stock 2.66) the performance difference between the oc 920 and a stock 3770k is much less. lets say between 10-20%.

read this thread for some numbers and user comments
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2253195

looks like you're running an x58 chipset (just like i am) so overclocking shouldnt be a problem. all you would need is to keep some good case airflow and buy a good cpu cooler (not sure if a h50 is going to be sufficient or not... you could try it)

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as for the case upgrade? if you plan on overclocking you want an open airflow case. you dont want a case with a flat front, you dont want one with limited fan slots. you also want the largest case that you are comfortable with.

open airflow cases = much better cooling = lower temps when oc
more fans = more airflow at lower rpm = lower noise (just airflow noise)
large case = more ambient air = overall lower tempeartures

personally the best options are cases with options for 120 or 140mm fans (at least 2 front, 2 top, 1 rear and i'd suggst 1-2 bottoms. sides are great and optional. if you throw some good high quality high airflow fans into a case (and dial down the rpm to save on noise with a fan controller) you can maintain both good airflow (cooling potential) and lower noise (than running fans at 100% speeds).

buying a good large cpu cooler would also mean that the fan attached to it (or in the case of "large" its typically at least 2 fans) at lower rpms hence lower noise.

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hope that provides some insight and ideas.

get back with your thoughts.
 

en0ptik

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Jan 1, 2014
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10,510

It's an 80%+ Bronze CMPSU-750TX. I'll take your word and just stick with my current PS. I have a few more questions:

1. If I were to upgrade to a Haswell build in the future, will my current PS be compatible?

2. If my H50 doesn't provide enough cooling for OC, what are some good alternatives? I'm not too comfortable with full liquid, but I do want to keep the noise levels as low as possible. As long as it's not too noisy, I'm open to air cooling. How does the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO sound?

Thanks for your input!
 
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7474/analyzing-power-use-80-plus-bronze-vs-platinum
assuming 24/7/365 runtime (which isnt going to happen) and at benchmarking loads to boot you will save about $25.20 in a year. the cheapest gold/platinum psu rated for your system is $59 (but its a bad brand). a better and trusted brand is $79. lets say that you did run your system at full load constant for a whole year... it would still take you 2-1/2 years to make up the difference in cost. now... since those figures are completely bogus (you wont run it 24/7 and certainly not always at full load) you are looking at around 5+ years to pay off the difference.

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
see above newegg quote. i dont see a problem with it.

as far as the h50 is concerned... it isnt all that bad. it does compare favorably to coolers around its price range. however, you specified quieter and also overclocking and those two terms arent the best of friends. you could probably do just fine with the h50 but i'm not so sure how well it would handle higher overclocks. this is why i said perhaps you may want to test out the h50 first and if it doesnt perform adequately then upgrade. what i would suggest as an upgrade would either be something like a dual-fan radiator like the h100i or a large air cooler like one of the noctua models.

oh and one more thing... just noticed you have 1333mhz ram. that will hold you back if you want to overclock. this will work against you. i would hate to say upgrade the ram but that would be best for performance if you o/c however since its triple channel that would pose an issue since most sets sold now are dual channel (2 or 4 sticks not 3 or 6) and also ram prices arent exactly cheap. this might make it more efficient to upgrade your whole build now regardless of the extra cost (or you could just deal with it and do the best you can with what you have)

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of course.. that is if you want to try and overclock for the time being instead of starting a new mATX haswell build. you will eventually have to upgrade to a new build. this is merely a bandaid to get you a bit more time and performance out of your current system.

just keep in mind that a haswell build is going to cost you at minimum of $450-500 not counting a new case

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2u6b4) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2u6b4/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2u6b4/benchmarks/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k) | $319.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Motherboard** | [Asus Z87-K ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z87k) | $112.99 @ NCIX US
**Memory** | [G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl11d8gbsr) | $73.80 @ Newegg
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $506.78
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-01 22:55 EST-0500 |

thats the haswell i7 you want for o/c in the future (if no o/c you can save a bit but not a huge amount), a z87 motherboard (full sized though since its cheaper) that you need for o/c and some new ram to go with it (since its fast and a good buy right now and what you have now is slow). you could reuse your gpu, psu, hdd, ssd, optical and winOS.

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i dont think you ever did state what kind of actual budget you were thinking of (for either an upgrade to what you have or for a new haswell system keeping in mind re-using some parts from this build)
 

en0ptik

Honorable
Jan 1, 2014
3
0
10,510
Budget for Haswell build - Between $500 - $700, but can spare an extra $100 if it's worthwhile.
Budget for upgrading current build - No more than $200.

Hmmm... considering how expensive RAM prices are right now, I think I'll just hold off on OCing. Until prices drop on today's tech or my current build ceases to function, it won't hurt to stick with what I have for at least another year.

Well, I just placed an order for the Define R4 mid tower. Here's to hoping it helps with my noise issues! I appreciate the lengthy posts, ssddx. Thanks again, your input has been very helpful. Hope you have a happy new year!