As CA_Steve says you'll probably not need a high-wattage PSU. The mentioned PSU's fit perfectly for your needs. If you have an unlimited budget then you could go for a completely passive or semi-passively cooled PSU. These will be a bit more quiet than the mentioned PSU's, but the G360 is very quiet...

First of all, you should check whether the GPU with the ASUS cooling system is quiet enough for you. Though the ASUS Geforce 680 DirectCU OC received the Editor's Choice Award. The ASUS Radeon 7870 DirectCU II, however didn't even get the recommended award. Here's a quote from the conclusion: "In 2D...

Why go passively? The fan can run virtually inaudibly while keeping safe temperatures. Isn't there room for the slim fan?

Well, the Scythe Mugen 3 goes for 50 USD. The fan is really good and can run inaudibly but according to some users here at SPCR the surface that touches the CPU is concave. That translates into a worse thermal performance. But this might be a bad sample. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is quite chea...

How about a small mATX case? LIke the Silverstone Temjin TJ-08E, the Silverstone Precision PS07, or perhaps the Antec NSK-3480?

The Scythe Samurai ZZ might be tall, but the length and width is very small. And it performs quite well.

Heatsink bases have a certain degree of variance; I'd try your Mugen before leaping into lapping. Our sample performed very well without lapping... and even if it isn't quite as good as ours, normal usage -- including extreme gaming -- is far less demanding than the Prime95 torture testing we run. ...

The Tesla PSU hasn't been tested at SPCR so don't be too sure that it's quiet. The are other LGA 1155 chipsets. Motherboards with some of these might be cheaper (take a look at the H77 for example). If you don't need to overclock, don't need to use Intel SRT, and don't need to run more than two GPU'...

For a MicroATX case unfortunately the Core 1000 is perhaps not so suitable given it's PSU and fan arrangement. The Arc Mini or Define Mini would be better but the Define is more expensive. Outside of that the Silverstone TJ-08 or TJ-08E would be good candidates. Silverstone is £90 so too expensive,...

ghia wrote:The stock Mugen 3 fan is superb. On my intel board it stays < 400 rpm on idle/moderate load. Obviously I can't hear it. One advice though: IT NEEDS A SERIOUS AMOUNT OF LAPPING.

What does "lapping" mean?

The fan on the Mugen is so quiet (with proper PWM control, but ASUS excels in this regard) that it's inaudible to hear. Personally, fans only becomes audible when they reach 500-700 rpm during nights with no trafic or anything noisy in the background. And I have to put to be closer to the computer t...

There are also many other great cases such as the Fractal Design R4, Fractal Design Mini (though, it's mATX), and Corsair Obisidian 550D, all of which have received the "recommended" award here at SPCR.

As long as the CPU is cool enough the quietest one would be best. Or would you recommend a cooler that is quieter and more expensive? If you don't intend to overclock the CPU then the Mugen 3 will easily do the trick. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO looks like a great cooler for £25 (amazon) - you ment...

However, if the R4 is anything like the R2 in SPCR's review , then the side will be much louder because there's no door or filter to guard it. I believe the much increased noise level when using the side fan wasn't because of the fan itself but rather the level of vibration that was caused by the s...

Is the workload when video editing very high? If not, you could do well with a cheaper CPU. If you don't use a dedicated GPU, the 400W will be more than enough. SSD: Any modern SSD perform virtually the same. So choose a reliable one, such as the Crucial M4, Samsung 830/840 or an Intel SSD. These ar...

A cheap & good PWM fan would be the Scythe Slipstream PWM fan. They are widely regarded as great fans here at SPCR. For an even cheaper PWM fan, Arctic Cooling makes some PWM fans. A user in this forum has had good experiences with those. I believe that the ASUS motherboard is also capable of contro...

Since the CPU dissipates only little heat there's no need to buy such a giantic CPU cooler as the Noctua. Smaller (and cheaper) coolers will easily do the job. Heck, my triple core AMD Athlon II x3 425 is cooled decently by a tiny Arctic Cooling Alpine Pro 64, and the TDP of the CPU is 95 W. I play ...

There's also the Seasonic G360 to consider, though I don't know if it has two PCIe plugs.

Since the Antec HCG line of PSU's are marketed for gamers, I don't expect it to be quiet. Why not look at the Seasonic G 360? It's very quiet, has good electrical performance, reliable and cheap. It also received the Editor's Choice award here at SPCR. The Ninja 3 is a bit outdated. You can find man...

Even a quiet case can't eliminate all the noise from your current CPU cooler and fans. So I'd advise you to change these components first. If your computer is still too loud, then you can consider buying a new case. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is a good cooler. The more expensive Scythe Mugen 3 ...

There's also the Corsair 550D, though I prefer the Fractal Design Define R4 over the Corsair. The hard drive you've chosen will most likely create a lot of noise caused by the vibration of the hard drive. You could either set up a DIY suspension system or you could buy an aftermarket suspension syst...

Since you're nost using a dedicated GPU, why not go for an mATX case in order to save space? I know that the P8Z77-V LE is on discount but your computer would be much more compact with say, a Fractal Design Define Mini. According to the SPCR review, the Gelid Tranquillo could perform better at that ...

I'd go for the second option because I'm a bit sceptical about the noise level of the included PSU in option 1. By going for option 2, you are guaranteed that the PSU won't be the noisiest component. And as Ralf Hutter says, an aftermarket cooler is one of the best and easiest steps to achieving a q...

Is there a reason to choose the Geforce 640 over the integrated GPU? Does the software perform much better with a dedicated GPU?

Besides that, things look really good. The most recent SPCR review of a bequiet! PSU was very favourable.

Have you considered what case to stuff all those components into?

The ASUS Radeon 7870 w/DirectCU II has been reviewed here at SPCR http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1305-page4.html The idle noise level was very good, but the noise level at load was absolutely unbearable. I assume that the noise level will only get worse as the 7950 dissipates more heat. SSD: A...

I'd also recommend the cases mentioned by CA_steve. And as he says, a quiet case can only dampen the overall noise by a tiny amount. The best way to accomplish a quiet built is by having quiet components.

How easy was it to assemble the parts in the system?

Besides one or two intake fans you could also add a slow spinning fan on the CPU cooler. The fan supplied with the Scythe Mugen 3 only spins at 300 rpm at its lowest speed. You'd be hard-pressed to sense such a low noise level.

What about PSU and CPU cooler?

The options mentioned by CA_steve are very nice. You can't go wrong with those.

Very nice, indeed. It's good to hear that the Radeon 7770 is silent to your ears. In general, I really appreciate your thought about your system and how loud the parts are.