Project Silent i7 8 Core - No Moving Parts

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Weeth

Gawd
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
662
I was literally the first customer to order all the bits for an i7-5960X system from NCIX (they didn't even have the CPU and mobo on the site yet) and they're winging their way to me now. I'm going to set up the system so that under normal operating conditions there is not a single moving part. The case will be set up with about a hundred green LEDs to match the case exterior inserts. It's a personal workstation (a lot of Adobe CS) not a gaming rig so it should be a fun build and a great system to get work done on... in a green glow and perfect silence!
 
So what are your idle and load temps running passively? It's hard for me to imagine you could run that chip fanless without some serious underclocking?
 
So the idea is neat, however a workstation part for workstation loads without workstation cooling is leaving me skeptical. Buuuut, I love being proved wrong, so count me in.
 
I was running a 4770K and I had never seen anything over mid-40s C even under full working loads on Adobe CS. The rig did not explode, but I did run into a really stupid problem.

This is the case with the power supply installed. The green fan is wired into a fan controller so that under normal use it's stopped.

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This is the motherboard ready to take the CPU

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This is the CPU with the LGA2011v3 mounting. This is where the problem is:

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Even in the Asus mobo manual it doesn't mention anything about the fact that the X99 mobos are the first Intel-based ones that I can ever remember without any holes through them for the CPU HSF mounting. Therefore my LGA2011 earlier model HSF is useless. I also read several reviews of the Asus X99 Deluxe and that was never mentioned. So now I've come to a screeching halt on the build until I try to source an HSF that fits, and nobody seems to have a clue. So far Newegg.ca and Newegg.com, NCIX, and even Fry's have just shrugged. Whoops!
 
Update: After calling a whack of resellers as well as Asus and getting no intelligible replies whatsoever, I just punched holes in the plastic plugs which close off the bottoms of the mounting sockets and slammed the screws through. The original backplate doesn't fit over the huge 2011v3 one so I'm improvising spacers to get the HSF to make contact. Yes, this is definitely a backyard mechanic solution, but I'm hoping that I can get the contact clearances just right. I'll know I did it wrong when I boot it up if the CPU temps jump to 90C! What a nice experiment to do with a $5,000 PC. NOT!
 
man, all socket 2011 coolers are compatible socket 2011v3 without any kind of issue, you are the first person i see trying to put a backplate into a 2011 board... because that was never necessary for 2011 boards....what cooler are you trying to use..?
 
NoFan cooler. LGA2011 compatible but no backplate = no mounting. As I started to space it the damn copper bracket underneath the cooler smacked right into the heat spreaders on the GSkill Ripjaws so that's the end of that idea. Regardless, the nightmare might be over as I just ordered a Corsair H110. Saw that Anand had their Haswell-E tests running on the H105 and since the only diff is the 140mm twin rads vs. 120mm on the 105 that sucker better fit. I also ordered two of the Noctua 140mm 900 Redux fans to replace the standard Corsair. Hopefully that will keep the rig somewhat quiet but there goes the whole no moving parts thing. Damn.
 
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as far i know, none of the NoFan coolers are compatible with socket 2011, and certainly they does not have the cooling dissipation ability to handle a socket 2011 chip as even the better cooler its only rated for 95W TDP they can barely maintain at safe a 4c/8t chip and that without overclock... thats why you will not find any backplate to 2011, because its not even compatible as i said any socket 2011 compatible cooler does not require a backplate because the motherboard already have the backplate included and only require standoff to attach any cooler..
 
You're absolutely right and I stand corrected as I could have sworn that when I bought that NoFan last year there was an LGA2011 compatibility listed. However, I've been googling a bit and I find that is not correct. As for the cooling ability, the unit had worked wonderfully with my 4770K and I was hoping to transplant its silence to the 8core. I'm just hoping that with the Noctua 900 Redux 140s the Corsair H110 will be quiet enough to put up with.
 
Matthew Kane said:
*Rips out the popcorn*

Just wondering what Adobe CS stuff you using?
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I am as well...OP, You do realize that Adobe CS is GPU accelerated now with AMD GPUs right? You can cut workloads from 20~80% (or more) depending on exact what you are doing..That 250 you have is quite weak..I would get one of the R7 260X or 265s with some nice quite fans on it..Should rip through anything you can throw at it coupled with that Octacore!

EDIT: According to Adobe's list of supported GPU's, they just list the R7 series, so it is possible the 250 will help somewhat, but I would still think that jumping up to the '60/65 would give you a much better performance boost.
 
If you've got some caramel corn, throw some over my way. :) I'm using primarily Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects. Yup, I'm aware of the GPU accel by CS but my primary goal was silence. Since that entire concept of total quiet is going down the tubes with all these changes to the configuration of the rig, I'm more than open to getting an R9 290. The question though is which card manufacturer's version is the quietest fan setup, or should I consider changing them out when I get the card?
 
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Weeth said:
If you've got some caramel corn, throw some over my way. :) I'm using primarily Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects. Yup, I'm aware of the GPU accel by CS but my primary goal was silence. Since that entire concept of total quiet is going down the tubes with all these changes to the configuration of the rig, I'm more than open to getting an R9 290. The question though is which card manufacturer's version is the quietest fan setup, or should I consider changing them out when I get the card?
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Many seem to love the Sapphire Tri-X 290s for their ability to stay cool and quiet...I WC all of my parts since I am a silence freak so I can't offer much more help then that.
 
as ccityinstaller said Sapphire Tri-X, but also Asus Matrix and Gigabyte Windforce. i've tested both Tri-X and Windforce both are great..
 
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I would really like to go with a closed loop cooler and the only one I've found is on twin 295s. Do you know of any closed loops with a 290 or 290x? Otherwise, I can go with the Tri-X and pray it's quiet enough.
 
This sounds a little fishy. If you're using a case, AND demanding no moving parts, that means your case fans need to be off. In that situation, using a case is actually detrimental to temps because it will hinder your passive cooling.

Why not use high-quality, ultra-low RPM fans? You can get by with one blowing through your cpu cooler and a couple intakes for the case. It's still possible to make this silent (according to SPCR's strict definition) from a couple feet away.
 
The fan controller is an AeroCool V12XT, and to update the last few comments, the no moving parts concept is now dead given that the NoFan HSF won't fit on the socket. So I'm expecting the Corsair H110 with Noctua NF-P14s REDUX 900s as per my sig to be delivered today and although I'm going to have the build initially use a Sapphire R7 250 Fanless I am looking for a very quiet R9 290 or 290X. The Tri-X has been suggested, but I'd really like a closed loop version and it doesn't seem to exist.
 
My desktop is completely fanless except for the power supply where I can't really escape having a fan. You just need to shuttle the heat off to a remote location to be disposed of, which is why I have 150 feet of hose running through my house :)
 
I would be careful with your cooler, I have a coolermaster 212 on my 2687w (sandybridge 8c/16t) 150W chip and it gets pretty toasty under load. Where the 5960x has a 140w TDP... now granted you could always mess with the powerstate maximum settings in the bios (like underclocking) and probably drop that tdp significantly. If you want quiet maybe a closed loop water cooler with some silent fans? I am curious with what you come up with, but suggest you be careful ;)
 
dr/owned said:
My desktop is completely fanless except for the power supply where I can't really escape having a fan. You just need to shuttle the heat off to a remote location to be disposed of, which is why I have 150 feet of hose running through my house :)
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My desktop is completely fanless apart from the GPU. You just need a case which channels the heat appropriately.
 
For the ones who didn't read the whole thread, the NoFan is in the trash now and I'm expecting a Corsair H110 with Noctua NF-P14s REDUX 900s to arrive tomorrow. So much for the no moving parts. Sigh...
 
Building a passive system would be much more realistic with a lower tdp processor. My computer is silent at idle. All my fans are able to spin down as slow as 500 RPM, and only spin up if needed and only as fast as needed.
 
Weeth said:
For the ones who didn't read the whole thread, the NoFan is in the trash now and I'm expecting a Corsair H110 with Noctua NF-P14s REDUX 900s to arrive tomorrow. So much for the no moving parts. Sigh...
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My system (see sig) has no moving parts apart from the GPU's fans.
 
It's taken over three weeks to get all the right bits, but it's finally finished. I'll post a couple of pix of the final product in a few minutes. It's not silent at all, and actually it's a bit louder than I had hoped for but given that my options for silence vanished as the build went on I can't complain too much. A couple of questions:

  1. Did those closed loop AMD single GPU cards that were supposed to come out this week ever launch?
  2. Is there a version of CoreTemp, SpeedFan, or anything like that with a taskbar temp display which works on X99 available anywhere (note to X99 users, don't install CoreTemp... instant crash on desktop launch)?
 
Ok, here is the final product. Sorry for the pics being sideways but they were correct rotation when I uploaded them to tinypic and I can't figure out any way to change the display to right side up. The rig is completely finished except that I specified 8 sticks of black G-Skill RAM and they sent me 4 black and 4 red, so I'm waiting to get the right color. The red looked awful under all those green LEDs.

This is in no way the system I intended to end up with when I started, but it's ok. Very very very disappointed with the sound level and that's with the case fan at 800 rpm. Even the twin Noctua NF-P14s REDUX 900s that are on the rad are waaaaaaaaaay too loud for my tastes but I guess I'm stuck with them.

The performance is awesome... and the highest temp I've seen in "regular" use is 34C. Even the Adobe CS performance is amazing and that's running an R7 250 GPU. I can just imagine what would happen with a GTX980... that's if I could find one with a quiet enough fan or one that I can swap fans out with.

Since the X99-Deluxe mobo comes with an M.2 card the question remains... should I get one and have it be my C:? Is it going to be a significant upgrade over my current Samsung 850 Pro? Also, I'm running the SSDs off the Intel SATA connectors, but would I be better off switching them to the ASMedia connectors?

The superstar in this system is the BenQ 32" VA WQHD 3200PT. Totally flawless, amazing, and eye-boggling quality and massive size. Until there is widespread availability of 4K in single tile (not the current idiotic two side-by-side tile setup which is total BS) I'm not giving up this monitor for any reason. Anyone buying it, pay close attention to the suggested settings in various reviews as the monitor default settings suck, but once you go sRGB and tweak gamma, etc. it's nothing short of awesome.

Now for a very strange question that I've been researching but haven't figured out as there doesn't seem to be too much info on this on various forums, etc. With the closed loop system, how safe is it to leave the system on sleep? I know that the CPU goes into a low powered state, but is it enough to not overheat it once the pump, etc. is stopped? Would it be better to just turn the thing off when I'm not using it?

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