Thanks all for your quick and helpful replies!
CA_Steve wrote:
Hi. I'd advise taking a systematic approach rather than just replacing the stock cooler (and it does need to be replaced). You have a live mic in the same room as the PC, so your silencing needs are as demanding as it gets. Once you replace the CPU cooler, you'll find the PSU fan is loud, then the case fans, then hard drive seek noise is audible (not to mention - is the gpu fanned?).
Nope, was a budget silent card.
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Don't know why you have the GPU card unless you are using monitors with greater resolution than 1080p. The motherboard should be able to drive two 1080p monitors. Delete the GPU card and get rid of some watts/heat.
It happened because of some connector/cabling issues with my TV and monitors, and now I continue with it for the sake of simplicity..

I will check right now to see if I can wire them up so that I don't need the extGPU.
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How much money do you want to spend on this?
Well, I would like this to be as silent as it can get, but I guess I'll have to put an upper limit to it. I could probably upgrade incrementally, like you suggested. For now, lets say around $200? Over the next six months, maybe another $300 would be justifiable.

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What ambient (room) temps do you see in the warmest weather?
My room is air-con'd, and I'm usually comfortable with it at 22-24 C.
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What are you using for storage drives?
2 500G Barracudas in software RAID 1. My audio drives are external, though - a 500G Maxtor, a 1 TB Seagate, and a 2 TB WD. They are placed out of the way and don't contribute too much to noise. My main problem is the constant mechanical hum from the cabinet.
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---cut reco about case, PSU, and cooler ---
That's a great jumping-off point for me. A cursory search online showed only the Antec 183 available here. I found the Cooler Master Silencio 550 online for a decent price, and I see it has good reviews. I will look for the Antec Solo II as well, I have multiple recommendations for it.
@kuzzia, Abula: Thank you for your inputs. Again, Scythe products don't seem to be available locally, but I can have a friend bring the Mugen 3 down from the US in December. I will also read about the Panther, it looks good. Any recommendations for the fan?
So for now:- I will change the cabinet - prefs are Antec Solo II, Antec 183, CM Silencio 550 in that order.
- If necessary, replace PSU as well.
- Change the CPU cooler to either a Panther or a Scythe Mugen 3.
A correction: In my OP, I had said i7 2700, I actually have the 2600. Pretty much the same apparently, apart from the 100 MHz clock difference.