Quiet but powerful gaming rig suggestion

Xrave

Xrave

Supreme [H]ardness
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Jun 29, 2004
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I've been out of the computer building area for 5+ years, so I'm not up to date on the best hardware revisions, etc. Could use some help.

One thing I would like to try and do is do a build that is quiet...the wife already complains about the noise of my old Shuttle build I'm currently using. Loud during gaming is ok as long as the cooling can intelligently adapt to the thermal requirements and spin down the cooling capabilities when not needed. Ideally I "wouldn't want to hear the computer" if it is just idling on the desktop.

Priority is on the gaming side of things, not the noise...but would like to take effort to minimize it with noise dampening case, etc.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $1500ish with wiggle room so could include tax/shipping or not

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Cali, US

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case/cooling
Mobo
CPU
RAM
Video card
SSD
PSU

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Mouse, keyboard, speakers, Bluray drive, monitors

6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably no, but would push performance if thermals allowed it (don't need to design for overclocking)

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
2x 22" 1080p monitors in landscape mode (Dell P2214H)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within next month but open to waiting if something worth-it is coming down the line

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Won't do SLI or RAID, would want USB3.0, SATA should support whatever the SSD recommendation would be, nothing else is really a need

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit
Will use Win7 Ultimate 64bit (legit)
 
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Probably the best thing you can wait for would be the Geforce 1080 GTX. The reason being is that it is a 165w card vs the 200+ w of a 980Ti, less chance to heat up causing you other stuff to make noise.

Personally I like small stuff, so I would recommend the EVGA Hadron Air case, but you will need to do some surgery on the 40mm power supply fan, and replace the 2 120mm fans that come with it. Now the case is ITX, so your best bet would be an ASrock or Asus z170 board, and a i7 6700k. The m.2 Samsung 850 pros are a real nice drive. You can also get deals for 32GB (16x2) ddr4 for around $100.
 
Good tip on the power reduction of the 1080 GTX.

The ITX is interesting. I guess I forgot to mention I will have a Bluray drive on the machine that I'm reusing and it's not a slot loader, so that specific case probably won't work.
 
I have pretty much given up on optical :), now maybe if some 4k bluray playback software comes out. If you were so inclined there are a bunch of the slim slot load sata bluray burners on ebay for about $60 or lower.
I have heard good things about the Corsair Carbide Quiet 600Q, if you are wanting to do a full tower.

I have a pretty similar setup to the one above, but running on the 1150 platform, with a 980ti, and 2 8tb mechanical drives it is pretty quiet until I render some heavy load games.
 
Look into building around the EVGA 980 Ti Hybrid GPU. It's an all-in-one water cooling GPU that's really, really quite. Plus you can easily vent majority of the hot air it generates directly out the case via the radiator.
 
Skillz said:
Look into building around the EVGA 980 Ti Hybrid GPU. It's an all-in-one water cooling GPU that's really, really quite. Plus you can easily vent majority of the hot air it generates directly out the case via the radiator.
Click to expand...

That hybrid EVGA 980Ti is nice, thanks for the recommendation.
 
Is there any actual performance difference between the i7 6700 andi7 6700K? I know the -K is unlocked but I probably won't try to overclock so I can keep the acoustics more quiet. Additionally the 6700 is 65W vs. the 6700K 95W...so that power savings has to hit the performance somewhere?
 
I think at stock you get like 400mhz and with a higher tdp the gpu can work a little harder with the k version.
 
Decided to wait based on the latest generation of video cards. The $200 for the 480 is tempting... Hoping it will affect Nvidia prices.
 
In hindsight I'll probably go ahead and pull the trigger on the new machine and wait to make the video card decision later once some benchmarks start coming out.

Here is what I've settled on PC Hound - Build a PC in Seconds

Any suggestions on performance increases for marginal cost or on the other hand cheaper items that don't have much of a performance hit?

I'm mainly concerned with checking the RAM module height, CPU cooler clearance and mobo area. The NH-D14 says it can support 44mm RAM module clearance and the G.skill Ripjaw V RAM is 42mm...so it just eeks in. Based on the reviews of the cooler and the Asus Z170-A it looks like I can mount the NH-D14 so the fans are pointing to the front/back of the case (not top/bottom), but want to get a sanity check on all of this.

Also wanting to make sure this RAM series is optimal for this motherboard and CPU....there are a few series out there and want to be sure I get the right one.

Looking to buy in the next few days!
 
I'm going to recommend a few tweaks to your PC Hound build....

If you're not overclocking, why are you going with the Noctua NH-D14? The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is much cheaper yet still provides excellent cooling for the Skylake processors. When you combine the Hyper 212 EVO with a case like the Fractal Design Define R4, the processor will be very quiet.

Speaking of which, in the interest of cost-cutting, what does the Corsair 600Q offers that the Define R4 (or the newer R5) doesn't?

You may want to find a set of RAM with lower heatspreaders than the G.Skill Ripjaws V. I found two good alternatives in the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT and the Corsair Vengenace LPX.

I recommend that you spend a little extra and swap out the 256GB Samsung 850 PRO for the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO. The majority of benchmarks show that the 850 EVO's overall performance isn't that far off from the 850 PRO. Plus, having additional storage space aids the SSD in lifespan and (to a lesser degree) performance.
 
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I had looked at the 212 EVO but decided on the NH-D14 for quieter performance under full load conditions, plus it will give me the ability to overclock in the future if I want to start pushing the system. Also I saw some various rumblings about the Skylake bending issue and that the NH-D14 spring holders don't have this problem although I'm sure the 212 EVO is also probably ok...but it's something that bugs me in the back of my mind.

I chose the 600Q due to its layout where there isn't drive holders in the front of the case blocking airflow like most other cases. The hope is this allows me to run slower fan settings to improve acoustics while being able to mange the heat. It looks like the R5 can remove the 3.5" drive holders (?) but I'll probably have 1 old legacy drive in the system so I would need to keep it in. Plus the 600Q has full sound dampening on the case wall; the R5 looks like it either has a window (no dampening where there is a window) or the Black version has a venting hole grid directly over the video card area. I can't find any direct comparison of the R4 or R5 to the 600Q, but based on the design of the cases I would assume the 600Q has some acoustic performance benefit. Not too sure about thermal. Know of any comparisons?

Is there a reason for the RAM suggestions or is it due to the tight clearance? Also the Crucial RAM looks to be 16-16-16-35 and the G.Skill 15-15-15-35. I thought I read somewhere that the G.Skill 2400 can "easily" support 2666 speeds but I can't seem to find that now; not sure if I'm remembering that correctly.

Good suggestion on the EVO, didn't think about it and the 500GB will definitely help. I did see the Pro is rated at about 2x the lifetime of the Evo (10yr vs 5 yr). Have to decide if I'm getting a new drive within 5 years lol.

Any wrong conceptions that I'm using to justify my choices?
 
You'll be able to achieve the same overclock with a 212 EVO. So no point in spending the extra money. The mounting isn't an issue.

I have the Fractal Design Define R5 without a window on the side. They have two versions. I have a stock Intel cooler mounted on a i5-2400s and a 980 GTX in this case along with 7 mechanical hard drives. While the GPU's fan is running at 100% I can barely, BARELY hear it humming. Newer GPUs will be even quieter than that. Especially if you go with one with a liquid cooling setup on it. If I was to have one of my Hybrid 980 Ti's in that rig I'd never be able to hear it running. It's one of the quietest cases I've ever owned. My Fractal Design Node 605 is right their with it in low sound, but it has a 980 Ti Hybrid in it and an aftermarket low profile, cooler on the CPU.

It's just based on clearance issues with tower coolers. Those heat spreaders have never been proven to do any good. Timings wont even make an iota difference in performance so you'll never notice it.

That's mostly just marketing on the SSD lifetime. A gaming rig wont be doing enough I/O operations to kill it.
 
Thanks for suggestions and the R5 case review, makes me feel better about the noise.

Made adjustments for the HDD, case, and cooler. PC Hound - Build a PC in Seconds
Any opinions about the past that comes with the 212 Evo?

The RAM still has me uncertain. I added the 3 different series to the PC Hound build as a comparison. Both the Crucial and Corsair RAM are basically the same price, one $5 cheaper and one $5 more expensive than the G.Skill. However everything I'm looking at online does show the G.Skill with the better performance at rated speeds and OC potential.

With the adjustment to the 212 Evo cooler I have less clearance (37mm vs. the G.Skill RAM height of 42mm), but the Evo 212 is narrower than the original NH-D14.

Looking at it seems like I have 1.5mm of space between the fan bezel and the DIMM slot, assuming the motherboard picture I found online is accurate (the Evo 212 drawing is from Cooler Master's website). Based on the pricing I'm feeling like staying with the G.Skill unless it seems the physical clearance space is too marginal?
Hyper-212-EVO-measurement-600.jpg

02-measurements-top_down.jpg
 
The clearance issue really isn't that much of a problem IMHO. You can move the fan to the other side if it is or slide the fan up a little higher since they're just clipped onto the cooler. An alternative would be to go with a more expensive liquid cooling cooler. The benefit to that would be you could direct ALL the CPU heat out the back of the case which in turn will keep everything else inside cooler. I don't have one inside the R5, but inside my not-so-quiet CM 690 Advanced II case I have one and I can't hear it running. Even when under a load. So I suspect it would be dead quiet inside the R5 also. In fact, my next setup (when I get around to putting it all together) will have water cooling on both the GPUs and CPU this go around. I already have the GPUs under water, but I need to buy a cooler for the CPU as well. Then I will be transferring it into my 690 Advanced II case as my main rig.
 
Looking at Amazon's website it's not clear if the 212 Evo comes with paste, but even if it does I'm assuming it's Cooler Master's paste.

Anything posted anywhere comparing the NT-H1 and AS5-3.5G pastes? I'm assuming you won't really see the difference but it seems [H] always goes with the NT-H1 paste in reviews.
 
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