quiet Ivy Bridge gaming rig

[Hubble128]

I've just completed assembly of an Ivy Bridge-based gaming rig using advice taken from forums here. Here are the specs:

Case: Antec P183 with two layers of Acoustipack insulation (courtesy EndPCNoise.com)
Case Cooling: 2 Nexus 120mm B&W Quiet Case Fans, one inside the middle drive cage, the other at the rear
PSU: SeaSonic X750 Gold
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3 1866Mhz 9-9-9-27 16GB (2x8GB)
CPU: Intel Ivy Bridge 3770K
CPU Cooling: Prolimatech Armageddon with one 120mm Nexus B&W Quiet Case Fan
Storage: Intel 520 Cherryville 240GB SSD
GFX: Zotac GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Limited Edition
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-207DBKS Blu-Ray Burner

Successfully booted up Friday night for the first time, and much to my surprise it works pretty well!

Here's a pic of the finished assembly:

The system is whisper quiet aside from the Zotac card, and even that isn't very loud, even under load. That was a tradeoff I was willing to make, because the Zotac seemed to be in a sweet spot for price and performance.

The Armageddon cooler was one of two coolers I found (the other one being the Thermalright Macho) that would allow enough room to use high-profile RAM in all four slots on my motherboard. I'm currently only using two sticks, but if I add two more identical ones, there will still be 5mm of clearance between the sticks and the cooler. The Armageddon was also 2mm shorter than the Macho, and although that wasn't a deciding factor, it was a good thing I chose the one I did, because I can barely close the case as is! The combination of the Armageddon's height and the two layers of insulation make it a pretty tight fit. Another 2mm and I might not have been able to close it at all.

This is the first system I've put together in years, so I was somewhat new to these kinds of giant HSF setups. I don't have experience with lots of different coolers, but I have to say the Armagddon was a breeze to assemble and install. Also, Prolimatech's support department - whom I contacted with some questions before purchasing - was outstanding, and very quick to respond.

I'm a little busy, but I hope to post back here soon with some benchmarks, framerates and reports on how quiet the machine stays under load. Thanks to everyone who helped out with advice in my older posts!

[karkee]

Hows the temp on prime95? or full load on the CPU?

[lizardlips]

Nice choices, good detail, beautiful, excellent 183.

[quest_for_silence]

The system is whisper quiet aside from the Zotac card, and even that isn't very loud, even under load. That was a tradeoff I was willing to make, because the Zotac seemed to be in a sweet spot for price and performance.

You may try to lower its noise by lowering the minimum fan speed with Fermi BIOS Editor.
Even Rivatuner/MSI Afterburner/EVGA Precision could help with custom fan curves (but can lower the factory minimum speed).

The combination of the Armageddon's height and the two layers of insulation make it a pretty tight fit. Another 2mm and I might not have been able to close it at all.

If you mind and if they fit, a pair of similarly speedy Scythe Slipstream 140 would more probably that not serve you better than the excellent Nexus. This is my experience with the Armageddon, but obviously it's not mandatory.