Will Noctua fans make my PC noise tolerable?

I have a new system, all housed inside of a cooler master storm trooper case.

The case is gigantic. So large, it cannot even fit under my desk which is surprising. So instead, it's on top of my desk, a foot or so away from me. As a result the thing is a little noisy for my tastes with the built in fans on the case.

 

I have a noctua dh-14 heatsink/fan combo to cool my i7 4770k processor. I do not have a graphics card in the system yet but am thinking about saving up for a gtx 780 ti.

 

My question to you guys is... will more noctua fans to replace all of my case fans result in a signficiantly quieter case, such that I can have the case on my desk so close to me and not be bothered by the noise? Noise to myself isn't my only consideration... I'm also concerned about noise going into my microphone when I'm gaming with friends.

I would sugest getting some noice deading foam and some low rpm Noctua fans and you will not hear it agian.

Where would I put the noise deadening foam? I'm not trying to create a sound studio here.

Most fans these days are very quiet, although I'm sure there are exceptions.  For me the hard drive was the culprit, without that the computer is inaudible at 6 feet.

I'd suggest disconnecting all fans except the CPU fan, leaving the case open, and see if the noise is still there.

To test the hard drive noise, you may be able to set the HD to spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity.

 

Hmm. Not a bad idea, disconnecting everything. with the back cover off(closest to me), it's pretty damn quiet with just the noctua fans of the heatsink going. I don't currently have an HDD on this system, only an SSD.

I guess I'll have to see about saving up a hundred or so bucks replacing all the fans with noctua fans.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-fan-bffscf14025wwrp

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-case-fan-xlff1454

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835352006&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

all cheap fans

You glue the foam to the inside of the case side panels so that it absorbs some of the vibrations (thus noise) that would otherwise be present. Some cases already have this foam in place from factory, examples are the corsair 550D and Fractal design Define r4, I own the latter and the foam does seem to make less noise when compared to my last cooler master case, so aftermarket fitment of such foam to your PC may make a big difference.

If the price is a sticking point I know you can get quiet 3pin fans for less than $6 each... the only downside is unlike most Noctua fans they won't be able to be run faster should their fairly low airflow be insufficient, but personally I've found if you just fill all the slots with cheap low rpm fans cooling is fine anyway. Its true its not going to be quite as quiet as a lesser number of better fans, but its close, its cheap and typically moves just as much air during normal operation (sometimes ever more), it just can't ramp up automatically.

Does all of this even matter if when I get my GPU, which typically idle at 35-40db?

not really

noctuas are crazy overrated aswell, pretty good static pressure, but in everything else a good percentage of their product range are outclassed by $5 fans

Hmmm those fractal design fans look good.

If it's just for case fans then drop the rpm. I run my standard coolermaster fans at 40% and can't hear them and there's no real difference in case temps from running them at 100%

I've used Noctuas for my watercooling and personally I find them to be uncomfortably loud unless they have the speed dropped which in turn harms their performance. I'm currently using Scythe Gentle Typhoons and they are quieter than the Noctuas, have the same performance and are cheaper. Plus they look just as ugly in their own special way.