Thanks for all the info.

I think 'll just keep it the way it is. It's already very quiet, and if the noise bothers me, I'll just rearrange my room so that I can put the case on the floor.

Steve

I have good hearing, and the case is on the desk, right next to me. The room is quiet when my kids aren't in it.

What fan might you suggest to replace the stock Scythe fan?

Fan Xpert3, yes. It's on Silent mode.

The only fan spinning is the Scythe CPU fan at 419 rpm, but I can hear it. It's not an unpleasant noise, but it's audible.

I just wanted to post what became my build. Many thanks to those who answered my questions and gave their opinions. Case: Antec Solo II PSU: Rosewill Silent Night 500W MB: ASUS H170 Pro Gaming CPU: Intel i5 6500 CPU Cooler: Scythe Ninja 4 GPU: MSI 970 GTX Gaming 4G Ram: 8GB DDR4 Case Fans: 3 of the ...

Cost doesn't seem to be much of a concern for you, but if you're not using any HDDs, the Fractal Design S might be as good as the R5, at a lower price.

Thanks the replies everyone. I appreciatively your help.

I'm finalizing my new build, and pcpartpicker flagged the Kotetsu as potentially not fitting in a Solo II. The Kotetsu is supposedly 160mm tall and the Solo II can supposedly fit coolers up to 160mm tall, so it seems right, or maybe impossible, depending on tolerances. Does anyone know for sure it t...

Build time is rapidly approaching and I thought I'd resurrect this post Updated build Case: Antec solo ii Case fans: 3 of the Antec True Quiet 120s PSU: Rosewill Silent Night 500W CPU: i5 6500 or 6600 MB: Asus H170 Pro Gaming RAM: 8GB DDR4 CPU Cooler: Scythe Kotetsu SSD: Samsung Evo 512GB HDD: WD re...

Apparently my search criteria skills were poor.

I am surprised I haven't seen any value or performance comparisons on the main tech sites I visit.

Where are the non k processors? I had heard they were being released in the US at the end of September. Is that not true?

Does your HTCP draw too much power for a Pico PSU?

CA_Steve wrote:Looks like Asus added all of the Fan Xpert functionality into the BIOS, including fan speed calibration. That, plus letting you select the time it takes for a fan to ramp up/down is pretty darn cool.

So, now it's independent of the OS?

Where did you find the N3150dc-tx for sale?

Good question. I thought I might save money this way, since I have a case already, but that might not even be true. I'll look into it.

I'd like to build a new PC soon for my kids, for web browsing and streaming video from my Plex server. I'll probably run Linux Mint, but might stick with Windows 10. My plan is an ITX Braswell board, either a 3150 or a 3700, a SSD, 4GB RAM, a DVD drive, and a couple of fans, if needed. I was origina...

xan_user wrote:

QUIET! wrote:I would take anything from CA with several grains of salt.

Oh & my. (now there's something i've never seen posted on the internetz...)

I'm sure he meant CA to mean computer audiophile, not CA-Steve, just to be clear.

Good to know. Thanks so much!

Thanks. Do you happen to know about the ITX board fitting? I don't know how the stand-offs work.

I have an original Antec Solo case that I plan to repurpose to hold a Braswell motherboard, either a 3150 or a 3700 chip. I have a couple of questions: 1) Can the Solo hold a mini-ITX board, or just a micro-ATX? 2) What cooling do I need for this system with this case? The system would be the SoC Br...

Abula,

Does the Asus H97 have true PWM fan control for the case fans? I had heard the the 87 boards didn't really. Is that fixed for H97 and Z97 boards now?

Thanks,
Steve

That is a super useful link. Thanks so much.

Steve

Ok. So plugging those numbers into a calculator show I'd save $30 a year by using the lower power system as always on with the gaming build only on when gaming.

I'll do a little shopping to see how cheap I can build a such a system, but I'll guess it won't be worth it.

I have a thread in this forum about building a new gaming and media PC. It will probably have a Sky Lake core i5 processor, GTX 970 GPU, 500w platinum PSU, one SSD and one HD. If I were to make it my media streaming PC, I'd likely leave it on all the time. I used an online calculator, which estimate...

Thanks for the reply.

Did you recommend the MSI gaming GPUs over the Asus Strix ones because they are quieter?


Steve

About the case. I really do like the look of that Rosewill Legacy W1.

I read the MIni ITX review where the fans didn't control well. How hard would it be to quietly cool a GTX 970 and i5 not overclocked in that case, if I were to replace the 140mm fans with ones the motherboard could control?

Is the 6600K chip still the best bang for the buck if I don't plan on overclocking, or is the non-K variant better?Steve My psychic powers don't tell me what the final SKU specs and their pricing are. Crystal ball says wait until they are intro'd and reviewed. Then make a decision. :) Lol. Point ta...

Is the 6600K chip still the best bang for the buck if I don't plan on overclocking, or is the non-K variant better? I'll look in to the Noctua fans as well as the fast Noiseblocker fans, as I will want 1 exhaust in the back and probably will put two intakes up front, controlled by the motherboard. S...

I was shopping for my new build today, and while I don't think it fits my needs, I did see that the Rosewill Legacy W1, which was part of the first Mini ITX gaming build article on this site, is on sale at Newegg for $60, which seems like a good deal to me.

Just FYI

OK, so a single WD Red would be fine. I understand the 3TB version is quieter than the 4TB, so I'll probably get that, unless you think a 2.5" drive would make a big difference. Do I need 16GB of RAM, or is 8GB the right amount for this system? For case fans, it seems that the Scythe fans I was thin...

Regular DVDs, not BluRays.
I don't know whether I want them compressed. Would it make streaming them much harder if they are?

Fallout 4 is supposed to be released Nov 10th. Is it possible to have a Sky Lake system put together by then, do you think?