SPCR

Edit 1:
The picture I used was massive in terms of width, so I broke down the component selection in text.

After quite a while, i finally went and bought my new parts after being stuck with a fairly loud (but great performing) laptop and a old athlonx2 fileserver for almost 4 and 6 years respectively.
Now, I actually already have all the components, but am not sure if I need some final stuff to achieve a quiet computer.

The parts are chosen based on the many discussions I've had with other people and of course, the reviews and discussions here.
I got a complete antec p180 from someone for a mere 30 euros.

I don't particularly like the tricool fans included with them though, there is this slight hissing sound from the bearings up close. My plan was to use a nexus 120mm and 1200rpm slipstream i have lying around as a ducted top/rear exhaust on the thermalright macho.

Do i actually need a fan in front as an intake? I dont feel an low-rpm intake would work that well, due to the incredibly restrictive grill-mesh-plastic bars that are in front...


The gpu will come slightly later, due to being budget constrained as a student. It'll probably be an gainward 770 from a friend of mine, who's upgrading to a 970 or some other second-hand for 100-150 euros

The stuff I bought so far:

CPU - Intel I5 4790k
This builds primary purpose is going to be multimedia design and gaming, so an I5 is a straightforward decision for my coming 4 years as an undergraduate. Also, being a unlocked intel part, I can always get a nice overclock down the road.

HSF - Thermalright Macho hr-02
A nice and large heatsink with excellent low-airflow performance. Considering using the pair exhaust fans with a cardboard duct in tandem with its own ty-147 fan to achieve very low rpm cooling on a potentially overclocked cpu.

Case - P180
A spcr designed case. with a few mods, i suspect that is can still keep up with more modern designs. I am kinda wary about the incredibly restrictive front fan position, two grills and a tight mesh cant be good for low pressure/rpm fans, right? Also, the lower hdd cages means even more isolation in terms of noise and thermals compared to other silent cases. As of now, probably going for a negative pressure fan layout, with only a nexus 120mm and a 1200rpm slipstream as exhaust fans

Ram - 8 gb crucial low-profile, 1600mhz, 1.35V
Chose this particular set because is was pretty much the same price as other ram at the time. yet has tighter timings AND lower voltage. Depending on workload, I may be getting a second set soon-ish.

PSU - Corsair RM650
Has some excellent reviews out there, I generally like CWT designs and most importantly, its fan only spins up at 40% load or higher. This is important, because some noise during heavy workloads is ok imho, but it should be whisper quiet when picking its nose during idle.

Mobo - asus Z97C
mostly got this motherboard for its fanxpert implementation and above-average audio chip and audio-trace layout. also, M2 allows for potential ssd upgrades without sacrificing sata ports.

HDD - various 7.2K rpm hdds
Being a workstation oriented build, I need LOTS of space with fairly direct access to everything. Currently the count is 2 1tb seagate disks and one new 2tb toshiba disk

Where's the SSD?

lm wrote:Where's the SSD?

Good question. I'd ditch the Toshiba and buy a Crucial MX100 240GB and a WD 2TB Green (even get the HDD later if money is a concern).

Can you change any of your parts?

Good question. I'd ditch the Toshiba and buy a Crucial MX100 240GB and a WD 2TB Green (even get the HDD later if money is a concern).

Can you change any of your parts?

I guess the post was kinda vague, I wrote it in a hurry waiting for my train. I have already received the post in the picture, and returning them is possible, but is quite a hassle.
I know that a ssd is great to have, however, I opted for a HDD on purpose, because of my workstation needs.

I am currently doing bachelors on 'Game design and Production', and need massive amounts of space for the all the files for unity, maya, 3dsmax, houdini, vegas pro and unreal engine. This along my own hobby of video editing.

This disk will runs as a storage disk along with two 1TB disks that I use for the os, programs, Steam/battle.net games and the SVN working copies and documents for school assignments.

sagebeard wrote:Do i actually need a fan in front as an intake?

The VGA card in the P180 usually doesn't breath well: a typical arrangement among P180's owners is to get rid of the main chamber HDD cage and then mounting in its place a 120mm fan flush.