Advice for noiseless high end desktop system

[gnu123]

I need some advice for choosing my new system. Here are the requirements and use cases:

1. The system needs to be really quiet (it should be in my living room) at least it should be as quiet as a good laptop - that's why I am asking in this forum. I am thinking of a system which is cooled (almost) passive
2. I don't want to build the system by my own and it should be available in Germany.
3. Max. price limit: 1500 Euro
4. The system should run under linux, i.e. everything should be compatible with linux (good closed source drivers like in the case of nvidia would be ok).
5. Main use of the system: Generating and compiling large LaTeX documents, surfing in the internet. Often to view (HD-)movies, partially to cut videos. Often I do compile linux programs by myself, sometimes I do (small) scientific simulations. Rarely I like to play (simple) games, not high end games (I don't know if I will become more demanding in this point in the future, so the system should have some reserves).
6. I want the system to be very very responsive (so I want an SSD, in particular a Samsung 840 pro).
7. I want a stable system.
8. I don't like to buy new computers so the required system life-time is 5years+
9. I am afraid of overheating the CPU while compiling for hours when the system is cooled only passive.

By googling around I discovered silentmaxx (in german) here is a possible config:

- Power Supply: Silentmaxx fanless 500 II
- Case: silentmaxxr-st-11r-pro
- Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H (or Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H)
- CPU: i7-4770k (Haswell)
- Cooling: Silentmaxx Twin Block
- RAM: 2x8GB Kingston Hyper DDR3-1600
- video card: integrated (intel HD 4600)
- Samsung SSD 840 pro (256 GB)
- Second HDD with 2TB (Seagate) (I am not sure if I need this, since I have all large data on an NAS)
- Sound: onBoard
- LG-GH-24NS DVD

Price: 1346 Euro

What do you think about this configuration?

In particular I am not sure about:

- the CPU/GPU combi:

Here it is perhaps a better option to go with the Ivy-Bridge i7-3770K because it has less thermal dissipation or even with the i7-3770S. However then the video card is even worse so I should get a dedicated card, the cheapest one on silentmaxx would be the GeForce 640 GT (seems also the only option if I want to go with Ivy bridge). Using Haswell I could choose the internal graphics, the GeForce 640 GT or even a GTX 670 (but which may be too expensive).

If I take i7-3770S together with a separate GPU, the thermal dissipation of the CPU drops but the seperate GPU will rise the overall thermal dissipation of the whole system, so I am not sure if this works with passive cooling.

- the Twin-Block:

Silentmaxx offers the Twin-Block with and without an additional fan. The fan is supposed to be only used if the CPU reaches a temperature limit.

So what do you think is the best option for my use case for a very quiet PC without being afraid of overheating it? Would be great if you could suggest a silentmaxx configuration or another system from another shop (but it must be available from Germany).

[edh]

Are you absolutely against building the system yourself? This does make the task harder as you will not be able to pick every component to be the most suitable. Also if you buy any system then you should expect to do modifications to make it quieter. For example undervolting the CPU can have massive rewards by reducing power consumption and heat output.

Going passive does not make a huge amount of sense when you have a hard disk in the system. A quiet 120mm fan will be quieter than the hard disk so running a few fans may be better. If you can move to SSD only then passive becomes worth considering.

[boost]

Do not put a hard dive in your system if you want absolute silence.

Here are two ideas for silent systems:
Small and passive:
It's easy to build small noiseless system in a heatpipe case like the Streacom FC8 Evo. The case only has room for a single 2.5" drive (SSD), a slim Slot in optical drive and a low profile card. You could add a 3.5" drive, but I would strongly recomend against it. There are two fans in my system running at 500RPM (which I can't hear, btw) and the loudest thing are the 2,5" hard drives.
Simple System some assembly required comes to 910€+S&H.
Intel Core i5-4670, Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB, Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB,
TEAC BD-C26SS-A Slim Slot-In, ASUS H87I-Plus, Streacom FC8S Evo silber, Streacom Nano150 PSU
You could get a similar system prebuilt from ichbinleise.de where it'll cost around 1350€.
Bigger expandable with silent air cooling:
It gets more difficult when you add a graphics card above 640 because of the card's power draw, That requires a bigger (non-Pico PSU) PSU and that requires a bigger case. In a normal size case it's fairly easy to cool any component very silently with slow running fans, if you use large aftermarket heatsink(s). I can't hear two good fans (Thermalright TY-150 and Scythe slipstream) at 500RPM. I do hear the hard drives, though. If you only use a SSD you shouldn't hear a thing.
For a tower I would keep:Intel Core i5-4670, Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB, Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB
swap case, PSU, optical drive and mainboard for: ASUS H87-Pro, LG Electronics BH16NS40, Fractal Design Define R4, Sea Sonic G-Series G-450
add avery silent CPU cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Macho and it all comes to 870€ + S&H.
You can configure this system at hardwareversand.de for ~940.

[Pappnaas]

The case is catastrophic. Not to recommend. Way overpriced and not enough airflow. Same goes for the PSU. Outdated and not really reliable, i remember people on hwluxx reporting problems with this PSU.

So PSU is simple, go SeaSonic or Superflower. Case is more difficult, but you should take a good look at that Nofan-Stuff. The CPU cooler is not bad, but if i would dish out major money, i'd buy Prolimatech's Megahalems + slow spinning fans or Nofan.

Regarding the not do it yourself-thing, depending on where you live in Germany i might have a solution to this (someone i personally know runs a PC Business and would probably charge a small fee for assembling).

And, finally the usual question: Are you really making so much use of pure CPU power that a 2500K is not cutting it for you?

[Abula]

The case is catastrophic. Not to recommend. Way overpriced and not enough airflow. Same goes for the PSU. Outdated and not really reliable, i remember people on hwluxx reporting problems with this PSU.

So PSU is simple, go SeaSonic or Superflower. Case is more difficult, but you should take a good look at that Nofan-Stuff. The CPU cooler is not bad, but if i would dish out major money, i'd buy Prolimatech's Megahalems + slow spinning fans or Nofan.

The PSU seems like another rebrand of Superflower 500W (aka rosewill silentnight 500 and kingwin striker 500), but maybe just the looks, idk if the internals is the same.

[Pappnaas]

The PSU used to be a Nightjar/Etasis-Clone, but has been tested with a few electircal shortcomings back then. I don't know if they changed the modell.

[gnu123]

- Yes I really want a high end CPU at least something comparable to i7-3770S.
- I don't have the time to build a system by myself (though it would be very interesting for me) and I want to be sure that someone did it who knows what he does (and actually I also want to have support)
- I don't really need a HDD a 256 GB SSD should be enough (large data goes to my NAS). (Silentmaxx recommended to use a second HDD (additionlly to the SSD) which could be turned on and off by a switch manually if I need it which seems to be a nice option.)
- Why is the case so bad? Are there any reviews which show this? What's about the other silentmaxx case, the ITA 2767?
- I am a bit confused about the PSU, @Pappnaas points me to use Superflower, but the silentmaxx passive PSU seems to be actually the same (i.e. this one: http://www.super-flower.de/index.php?id=107). What's about the other non-passive silentmaxx PSU's?
- Concerning the noise, take my Dell Latitude E6400 as a reference this is already a bit to noisy to me. But if the Desktop is more quiet than that it should be ok. I am not sure if I could get this with fans, so my ideas was to go to a completely passive system.

- I also found this site, where one can configure a passive system with an i7-3370S: http://www.mifcom.de/product/763/49/75/ ... assiv.html

They use as case an: Xigmatek - Asgard Pro, one can choose between several ASUS and Gigabyte Mainboards and a video card up to GeForce GT 640 passive, I can also choose the Samsung 840 pro I want. As PSU they use: FSP Aurum Xilenser (400 or 500 W) and as CPU-Cooler the Thermalright Macho HR-02.

What do you think, is this a better option than the passive Silentmaxx system above? Why or why not?

- I have also found this site: http://www.deltatronic.de/de/leise-pc/d ... lentium-i5 but if I configure something comparable to my initial silentmaxx config, it seems to be more expensive, are there any reasons to take a closer look to deltatronic?

PS: Here is a nice chart about the silentmaxx Twin-Block passive (in german but it should be self-explanatory):

http://www.planet3dnow.de/vbulletin/sho ... tent_start

This shows that it should be possible to cool a CPU with 90 TDP in a proper way. However it doesn't show the effect of the silentmaxx case and the effect of a possible video card.

[Pappnaas]

Regarding PSU: If they changed away from the old models to a superflower, i haven't noticed and my info could have been outdated.

Mifcom has a way more intresting system to offer:

http://www.mifcom.de/product/1138/74/mi ... assiv.html

I do not know this shop and have no experience regarding their QoS.