I am going to be building a computer in a couple months (waiting on the 700s and hasswells) and i want it to be as quiet as possible i would appreciate case recomendations and noise solutions while still being able to keep my system cool ive heard water cooling is very quiet and very cool and i am very confident with my motor skills. Thats it any tips would be appreciated
if your budget is low get the xigmatek dark night 2 for a cpu cooler. you cant get much better than that with air cooloing and it is very silent. However if you dont have a budget i would recommend going with water cooling. The kraken x60 from nzxt is my favorite and i also like the corsair h110. For cases the most silent case has got to be the Fractal Design define r4 it is completely silent with great airflow. please go check out logans review on it.
I was kind of hoping for something windowed and more or less silent fans that i can throw into it right now i was looking at the thermaltake s 71 but it wont be release for a while so it doesnt have any reveiws and im not sure if there will be enough room for water cooling rads and pumps and res'swater cooling rads or the r
The best way to keep it quite is to watercool it. If you use an overpowered loop, you can turn everything down to some of the lowest settings they offer (that will offer any worthwhile performance) and enjoy noise bliss. The loudest part is generally your graphics card, and stock fans. There are ways to have a, for all intesnive purposes, silent air cooled system, using Noctua/Scythe/Cougar fans, after-market GPU heatsinks, and expensive air coolers, but at that point, you are in watercooling prices.
For a top-of-the-line loop, you will need a top-of-the-line case. The Corsair 900D and Case Labs cases are the cases for watercooling, but come at a steep price ($350 minimum). Still, if you have the money, go for them. I, myself, will be getting a Case Labs M8 later this Summer to put my loop in, and I'm going all out for silence and performance, but it does get expensive. A great, yet "cheap" alternative would be the Switch 810, Corsair 650D, and Corsair 350D (for mATX).
If you are going to be watercooling using 120mm based radiators (120mm, 240mm, 360mm, 480mm), then I would recommend Aplhacool NexXxos Monsta radiators, paired with Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1450 RPM fans. They are silent, look pretty good, and are cheaper than some options out there. If you are going to be using 140mm based radiators (not as common; less supported cases - 140mm, 280mm, 420mm, 560mm), then I would go for Cougar Vortex 140mm fans. They also make great 120mm fans.
The best pump for a silent system would be a Swiftech MCP35X PWM, or dual D5s. The 35X is an insanely powerful pump, that can be turned down to its lowest RPM (1200) and still be more than powerful enough for a standard loop. With multiple pumps, such as dual D5 or DDC pumps, you can use less powerful pumps, turn them down, but have the flow from both of them to increase performance with lower noise. I, personally, would use an MCP35X with an integrated reservoir, and mod-top, for looks, ease, and a few less fittings.
If you don't want to use an integrated reservoir (maybe you want a specific looking one), then a mod-top isn't required. I am partial of the Bitspower Z Multi 250mL res; well built, clear, and cheap. There are plenty of options, though, such as helixs, bay, and larger/smaller variations.
You will need fittings to connect your parts. These won't really affect noise, but they are related to flow, which could require a louder, faster pump. I love Bitspower Black Sparkle fittings; make sure they fit your tubing, and stay away from too many sharp turns.
Tubing has no affect on noise.
If, after all of that, your system is still too loud, then line your case with some soundproofing.
You can get a lot better than the Dark Knight 2. To name a few:
Phanteks PH-TC12DX
Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Noctua NH-D14
Thermalright Silver Arrow Extreme
And so on...
Brilliant anwser brennanriddell but, I would just get some really loud speakers and say fuck the sound, i'll just over power it
Hah! Thanks :) You could always just put your computer in the closet, and use a nice pair of noise-cancelling headphones, with some speakers blaring white-noise ;)
the fractal design define r4 has windowed and a none windowed vershon
My H100i is pretty quiet, but I'm pretty sure an Noctua D14 would be much quiter. I turned all of my fans down to test what was the loudest component, and it turns out the fans are nearly inaudible under 1,500RPMs. What makes most of the noise is the pump.
I have a Define R4, so that kind of helps. For my next builds I'm definitely going with a high-end air cooler instead of a closed loop.
Wow talk about thorough im pretty sure that wraps it up thank you and everyone else a ton
and the m8 looks awesome i might have to bite the bullet and splurge for that large windowed version
There are several ways to ensure a silent PC on different levels of budget. We have to think what parts on the system matter:
1st: Case, there are several cases out there that are made with the idea of a silent build. Personally I like the Define R4 (they come on several colors, and with/without window), however there are many out there, just like Corsair that has been making some great silent cases.
2nd: Case Fans, if your budget allows, you can get aftermarket fans that will ensure you a quiet rig, Go with the Low RPM ones with PWM control, Silverstone, Noctua, etc.
3rd: PSU, you have lots of reviews on any PSU out there, and you can check if it has chance of coming with with a noisy fan or coil whine, However some PSUs are known for being silent, many XFX ones don't use its fan until they go on full load, and some others like the Rosewill Silent Night that doesn't even have fans.
4th: Vibration, from case panels, to HDD, it will be vibration, rubber padding just solves the issue.
5th: CPU cooling; If you are an enthusiast going for a OC'ed system, you must know that watercoolers (closed loops) are quite silent on full load work. However, if you are not going extreme, getting a good air cooler and using it on PWM low setting will never be loud and it will work just fine.
6th: VGA cooling: When picking the Graphics card, you might want to spend a few extra bucks and grabing one that with a great cooling system, that way you can have the fans to be at lower RPMs, I personally love the Vapor-X series from sapphire (AMD), but an AsusDirectCUII never gets hot either.
7th: If you don't have a tight budget and want to cross the umbral of power, a Custom Water Cooled rig will be the most silent choice, even after extreme OC your temps will be low and you will sleep next to your PC while it's on without noticing it.
I hope this can help you making up your mind, if you have any question just post it ;)
Look around for a used one; hell, even look for a used Silverstone TJ07. The TJ07 is older, but it is an insanely awesome case. Still, the M8 is better. If you do get one, you will not regret it. Well, your wallet might.
You don't need to watercool for a PC to be silent. Silence was important when I was building my computer. It's taken me ages to find the right combination of parts for a silent computer, but I've finally managed it.
Case doesn't really do much in silencing your PC. It's all about the components. I've got a Corsair gold power supply which switches the fan off when using low power. A cheaper PSU will create noise all the time.
I've got my CPU fan set to very low speeds (it hardly spins when browsing the web), my HD 7950 has two large low RPM fans on it (XFX Double Dissipation).
My primary storage is an SSD, so there's no hard drive spin noise.
Also I don't have any case fans on my Bitfenix Progidy, which really makes a lot of difference.
I've got no issues with high temperatures, and the computer is literally inaudiable most of the time. If I switch the monitor off, there's no actual way of knowing if the computer is on or off!
Since you already got your answer I'm going to advise yelling at it till it's to scared to make a noise then telling it you love it and that you would never hurt it... Then selling the script about a Mad Mans unhealthy obsession about his computer and the trials and tribulations that they both must overcome in his never ending pursuit of quiet computing and make millions. Or not.