R3 Factal design

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coffeeman
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:13 pm

R3 Factal design

Post by coffeeman » Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:56 am

what is the best way to make my Pc quiet.
I haven't ordered all the parts yet..

2500K i5 intel
gpu- radeon 6870
psu - 650 watt. (any psu to recommend for quiet sound?)

stock fans.. or should I use custom fans?

Cpu cooler? or the stock intel ok?

looking for ideas and advice for keeping the system cool, quiet.
thanks..

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by Abula » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:27 am

coffeeman wrote:what is the best way to make my Pc quiet. I haven't ordered all the parts yet..
Chose careful your components, go for parts that already known to be quiet, add the least amount of noisy parts, like fans, hdds, dont have open vents or places where noisy might get through.
coffeeman wrote:2500K i5 intel
gpu- radeon 6870
Great CPU, among the best offer atm for gaming and ocing, the gpu is decent mid end, some users have flashed their bios to allow lower rpm at idle. Search here for 6870s see what users have done with them. If not you can always get an after market cooler and strap 120mm low rpm fans.
coffeeman wrote:psu - 650 watt. (any psu to recommend for quiet sound?)
Seasonic X-750 $130 free shipping is at good price atm, it should be passive at idle, and very quiet under load.
coffeeman wrote:Cpu cooler? or the stock intel ok?
This is varies from each person, to me no, but for a lot is fine, my suggestion is to try it first see if you like it or not. You can always get an after market cooler later, a cheap one is Cooler Master Hyper 212 $20 or if you willing to spend a little more, Scythe Mugen 3 $49 comes with very decent PWM fan that can drop to 300rpm via BIOS/Software (depends on your mobo).
coffeeman wrote:stock fans.. or should I use custom fans?
Try the stock fans first, R3 has a fan controller that you can use to lower the rpm of the fans to your personal liking, and see if the performance of the fans is good enough for you, if not just add more fans.

Lsv
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:50 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by Lsv » Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:42 pm

Abula wrote:
coffeeman wrote:what is the best way to make my Pc quiet. I haven't ordered all the parts yet..
Chose careful your components, go for parts that already known to be quiet, add the least amount of noisy parts, like fans, hdds, dont have open vents or places where noisy might get through.
coffeeman wrote:2500K i5 intel
gpu- radeon 6870
Great CPU, among the best offer atm for gaming and ocing, the gpu is decent mid end, some users have flashed their bios to allow lower rpm at idle. Search here for 6870s see what users have done with them. If not you can always get an after market cooler and strap 120mm low rpm fans.
coffeeman wrote:psu - 650 watt. (any psu to recommend for quiet sound?)
Seasonic X-750 $130 free shipping is at good price atm, it should be passive at idle, and very quiet under load.
coffeeman wrote:Cpu cooler? or the stock intel ok?
This is varies from each person, to me no, but for a lot is fine, my suggestion is to try it first see if you like it or not. You can always get an after market cooler later, a cheap one is Cooler Master Hyper 212 $20 or if you willing to spend a little more, Scythe Mugen 3 $49 comes with very decent PWM fan that can drop to 300rpm via BIOS/Software (depends on your mobo).
coffeeman wrote:stock fans.. or should I use custom fans?
Try the stock fans first, R3 has a fan controller that you can use to lower the rpm of the fans to your personal liking, and see if the performance of the fans is good enough for you, if not just add more fans.
Well put, just a note on the stock Fractal Fans; I put old R3's fans in my brother in law's Antec 300 and I found they make this high pitched buzzing sound, it's not very loud and he doesn't care but for me it would be an issue. They sound as if the air itself is making noise at around 1khz by moving past part of the fan support. I prefer the lower tone of Scythe's, Noctua's and Bitfenix fans.

The R3, however, is an amazing case. It's very quiet and the stock fan controller is more than good enough, I've placed mine behind the back panel under the CD drives with a zip tie so I can pop open the back panel and raise/lower fan speeds without too much hassle. You can of course place the fan controller in an expansion slot as intended.

coffeeman
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:13 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by coffeeman » Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:59 am

Lsv wrote:
The R3, however, is an amazing case. It's very quiet and the stock fan controller is more than good enough, I've placed mine behind the back panel under the CD drives with a zip tie so I can pop open the back panel and raise/lower fan speeds without too much hassle. You can of course place the fan controller in an expansion slot as intended.
I see you have 4 fans in the case. where do you have the fans placed?

Lsv
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:50 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by Lsv » Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:43 am

coffeeman wrote:
Lsv wrote:
The R3, however, is an amazing case. It's very quiet and the stock fan controller is more than good enough, I've placed mine behind the back panel under the CD drives with a zip tie so I can pop open the back panel and raise/lower fan speeds without too much hassle. You can of course place the fan controller in an expansion slot as intended.
I see you have 4 fans in the case. where do you have the fans placed?
I have 2x intake at the front, 1x intake at the bottom and 1x exhaust at the rear, every other fan opening is closed off with the Fractal Moduvents.

All fans set to about 5% more voltage than required to start. Temps 40-45c idle, 65c load. Idle goes up to 45-50 if I turn the heat on so I may play around a bit since I made the build with the heat off. The loudest thing in there are the HDs which I can hear when I run large work operations/backups.

Image

coffeeman
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:13 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by coffeeman » Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:16 pm

any specific reason you went with the fan on the bottom and not on top?

also what is that monster shield on your mother board?

cheers..

Lsv
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:50 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by Lsv » Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:20 pm

coffeeman wrote:any specific reason you went with the fan on the bottom and not on top?

also what is that monster shield on your mother board?

cheers..
I went with fans at the front and bottom because the front has a sound dampened door (to block noise escaping) and the bottom is also to stop noise getting to my sitting position.

What do you mean by shield? The NH-D14?

Image

coffeeman
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:13 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by coffeeman » Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:13 pm

Lsv wrote:
coffeeman wrote:any specific reason you went with the fan on the bottom and not on top?

also what is that monster shield on your mother board?

cheers..
I went with fans at the front and bottom because the front has a sound dampened door (to block noise escaping) and the bottom is also to stop noise getting to my sitting position.

What do you mean by shield? The NH-D14?

Image
wow that cooler is a monster...
I guess it's very silent yeah?
is something that big really necessary? can I get something smaller which will work just as good you think?

the front fans are covered with a door, so you keep the door open when the pc is in use right?

Lsv
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:50 pm

Re: R3 Factal design

Post by Lsv » Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:54 pm

coffeeman wrote:
Lsv wrote:
coffeeman wrote:any specific reason you went with the fan on the bottom and not on top?

also what is that monster shield on your mother board?

cheers..
I went with fans at the front and bottom because the front has a sound dampened door (to block noise escaping) and the bottom is also to stop noise getting to my sitting position.

What do you mean by shield? The NH-D14?

Image
wow that cooler is a monster...
I guess it's very silent yeah?
is something that big really necessary? can I get something smaller which will work just as good you think?

the front fans are covered with a door, so you keep the door open when the pc is in use right?
It depends on the rest of the components, I use it because it's massive and very quiet so I can run the fans on it at very low speeds. It's probably overkill for something like an i3, or you could use it with just the included 140mm fan and not use the extra 120mm.

As for the case; the door stays closed but the case has vents along the front/sides for cooling. SPCR has a great review of the Fractal R3 available here; http://www.silentpcreview.com/fractal-r3

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