Try also to see if they have greens, maybe old stock in norway =)


Well this was something that should have been considered before buying the motherboard, there are options from all manufacturers with WIFI. Also its best to always have the PC conected via RJ45 to a wired network, faster, safer etc.

Now your options are add on cards, something cheap as long as you dont care about transfer speed would be something like TP-Link N150 Wireless PCI-Express Adapter (TL-WN781ND) or if you wifi is AC then looking into Rosewill RNX-AC1900PCE, there are other options out there evne PCIe adapters so you can fit an Intel WIFI if you wish, but its up to you.

If you can run CAT5/etc, do it. All of my PCs are wired. One less thing to worry about.

I didn't buy the motherboard yet, so I could change the build on this point. But I did consider this. From what I remember looking at it, wifi added quite a bit of cost to the motherboard. My experience has been that wifi gets old before the motherboard. I really don't think wifi on the motherboard is the way to go. IF I at some point needed excellent wifi, I'd like to have a solution that lets me move an antenna around. And I was thinking it would altogether be easier just to get a separate card that I could replace down the road when a new standard shows up.

That said. Y'all are probably right about using a cable instead. I bought all the equipment last year for cabling but never got around to it.

Seems like I need to get my drill out

Looks like Newegg has green.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6822236798

Cheap too. The 5TB looks tempting.

Hi, just checking in on whether you finished your build and if you're happy with it. Quiet enough? Considering a similarly-focused build and wondering if you'd do anything differently. Thanks!

Not yet. Still waiting for the CPU and the motherboard. I've got all the other parts - and the flue.

I'll update this post when I start the build.

So I've finally started the build! Been kind of busy here so have not had much time.

Turns out that the Thermalright fans did not come with screws. I had to order some that I am waiting for. (Just a heads up to others who might order the same fans).

A small update on the CPU. I could never get the i5 8400 here in Norway. Always on backorder. I got tired of waiting and ended up getting the i5 8600K from the US instead. Price worked out to be about the same, so I figured that would still be OK. Hopefully, it is.

I have a question though. Do I need a Case Fan Y Cable? My wife and I have a debate on whether or not we can use the CPU optional input to control the last case fan. (The motherboard is the Asus Prime Z370-A

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-Z370-A/

I thought I would upload a picture of two of the build, but I can't seem to get the picture to show.

Using the Asus CPU_OPT PWM header to synch exhaust fan(s) with the CPU cooler fan is standard practice among my gaming family members. The CPU_OPT header is like a Y cable in that it runs the PWM fan connected to it at the same PWM duty cycle as the CPU fan. However, unlike a Y cable you do get an independent RPM reading for a fan attached to CPU_OPT. I have also seen CPU_OPT used with a Y cable to sync a couple of fans to the CPU fan.

It looks like a smart way. My only concern is that the CPU fan generally is not from the same model of the exhaust fan.

It is not. The case fan that came with the Fractal Design C. The CPU cooler is the one that came on the Scyth Mugen.

What is the significance of the fans not being the same? If this is a problem, it seems I can either buy a Case Fan Y Cable OR I can just get another fan like the one on the Scyth Mugen.

The CPU_OPT header or a Y cable won't work as might be expected with the 3-pin voltage fan supplied with the Fractal C case. (It will just run at full speed all the time) So as you suggest the best option could be another Scythe Kaze Flex 120mm PWM like the one supplied with the CPU cooler. It has a nominal speed range of 300 to 1200 rpm so it should be possible, using the Asus BIOS fan control and/or the Asus Fan Xpert software, to achieve minimal idle speeds, probably low enough to be effectively silent.

Seems there are two versions of the fan.

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fa ... 0-pwm.html

Quiet version 300rpm - 800rpm
Regular version 300rpm - 1200rpm

Just get the regular version to match the CPU fan?

Yes, the regular 1200 rpm one would be a better choice as a direct match for the CPU fan.

Good stuff. Ordered the fans. They are taking their time getting here.

I encountered another problem. I only see one of the Samsung EVO 850 M2 SATA cards in the BIOS. After some research, I found this little piece of information on Asus website about M2 support. https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-Z370-A/

1 x M.2 Socket 3, , with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA mode & X4 PCIE mode)
1 x M.2 Socket 3, , with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIE mode only)

I guess that it's a problem that I have two M2 SATA drives. From what I read, even cheaper older Asus cards support both types.

Wondering what to do now. Sell one and get a 960 EVO M.2? Or get an adapter of some sort.

In other news - As you understand I've fired up the PC, and I have to say I am very pleased with how quiet it is. I still haven't installed Windows on it so it's just idling. Will be interesting to see how it does under heavier load. At idle I can't really hear it. I think it's the first I have ever fired up a desktop PC and not have it sound like an airplane. I am very pleased about this! I did not think this would be possible.

So a big thank you to the good people of silentpcreview!

Probably the best option. A possible choice is the Lycom DT-125 which is a PCIe 3.0x4 host board that does not require a driver. Available from here. It will need a PCIe slot, the x16_3 position on your board should do fine.

Well the 960 Evo is a native PCIe SSD, so it should work on both slots. Do you have any other satas connected? what i mean is some motherboards share some sata ports. If you have any other hdds unplug the cables and try to boot with both ssds and check the bios, and even if you dont see it on the bios, boot on windows and the open windows explorer right click MY PC then go into manage, then click on left DISK MANAGEMENT, sometimes m.2 dont get initialized on the boot but once windows boots up you can see it there.

If the above didn't work, try changing the ssds on PCIe m.2 slots, check the one that works if it works on the second slot, to discard either a defective m.2 slot, second try to also boot with the one that doesn't boot in the other m.2 to discard a defective ssd.

These are Samsung 850 Evo M2s which are a SATA drive. The reason why only one is being seen in the BIOS is because only one of the two M2 positions supports SATA, so it is a hardware limitation with the motherboard. Probably arises because SATA M2s are less common/popular than they were so Asus has reduced support for them. If it can be found a PCIe adapter card like the Lycom DT-125 will solve the problem. From my local hardware store in the UK it is in stock at £23.48, which is about $33 US, €27 or 260 Norwegian Krone. The Lycom can take both drives if necessary. There are single drive alternatives such as the Silverstone SST-ECM20 PCIe card which should be somewhat cheaper than the Lycom.

I miss read, I thought you bought 960s, but your right about the limitations on using 850s.

Thanks for the advice! I just ordered the Silverstone SST-ECM20 PCIe card. Hopefully, the quality is OK. I think it actually fits two M2 cards. One SATA and one PCI.

I had appreciated it would take either a SATA or PCIe drive but I had missed the 'simultaneously' part of the spec. So yes it is a two drive device.

So seems I am all set for 4 SSDs now

Benchmark Reviews did a review of the card. I'll put in a link below in case somebody is interested.

https://benchmarkreviews.com/32720/silv ... er-review/

Fortunately the current stock of these cards doesn't seem to have those sticky labels...

Great info here.

I too am on an ft-05 and loved it's positive air pressure. But now I realize it's too much airflow. I do have the air penetrators at the lowest possible speed. Though there is still some flow audible out the top that's always bugged me (when I put my ear right up against it lol) Yeah just nitpicking I suppose.

So now I'm very curious if a more open case is beneficial, considering I usually pick out quiet components.
CPU Wise I stick with 65W, GPU only a 970 strix here, but If I upgrade, it'd be something with a big quiet cooler as well (never oc'ing). During gaming, I suppose I wouldn't be bothered by the audible noise I would get if I go up close to the case. I assume it'd quickly dial down after gaming. In the end we're talking about a case that's placed under the desk. There's nothing but legs under the desk, but the it's not like the case is going on top of the desk and closer to my ears.

Can't decide between a meshify c or define c...
Is it merely a question of preference of more air with silencing material, or less airflow with an open case?
I feel I don't need that much airflow.

I have a problem I hope you can help me troubleshoot.

As you know I built two identical PCs. One for my wife and one for myself. My wife's PC behaves very well. I hardly ever hear it spin up its fans. Mine, on the other hand, spins up the whole time.

We both started playing Divinity Original sin 2 today and it became very clear that the PCs behaves quite differently. My fans are constantly running very loud, whereas her PC remains quite silent. Even with 3440x1440 on our new Dell aw3418dw 100hz.

I thought it was related to the CPU as my fans spin up just surfing the web as well. Yesterday I took out my cooler, and put new paste on the CPU, with no positive effect as far as I can tell.

Any ideas on how I should attack this problem next?

Thanks!

@Foggy

First thing you should do is compare temperatures between both pc under the same load.

1) If your are temps are the same on equal hardware under the same load then its setting up the fans, check you fan settings, check both bios and software fan control.

2) If your temps are not the same, then its probably cooling, maybe something is not correct like paste or airflow, or maybe one component is producing more heat increasing your inside temps.

3) could be the place the Computer is located, maybe it cant graph fresh air, i would probably swap both cpus and test it backward just to see is not the placement.

But be sure to check you both have the same truly, even display settings inside your games will increase or decrease the load on components, thus the fan ramping under the same conditions.

I wonder if something is wrong with some of our fans.

We started looking at this like you suggested Abula.

Messing around with this, my wives back fan stopped working. We changed it out for one of mine and that spun just fine. That made me think something was wrong with her fan. I tried her fan in my computer, and then it worked. We put everything back as it was (she got her own fan back), and then everything worked. As in all the fans spun up.

However, I noticed a bit later that my CPU fan was not working. It was listed as 0000 RPM in red in fan expert. 30 seconds later it started working again.

Question: Are the fans (chassis fans and the CPU fans) supposed to go to zero while the computer is on? Because mine seem to do that all the time. If the CPU fan and the back fan are faulty, I guess that would force the two front fans to spin up - a lot. And, furthermore, if the cut-out and then come back willy-nilly, that too would make a noise.

The fans are Scythe Kaze Flex 120 PWM.

It seems most odd to me. The Scythe Kaze Flex 120 PWM is one of those fans which should not stop regardless of how low a PWM % duty cycle it is set to, including 0%. This is confirmed by the Fan Xpert profile below from the review of the Scythe Mugen 5, which features the same fan, by Modders-Inc:



If this is an Asus board I would suggest a check on the BIOS fan control settings. If the exhaust fans are being plugged into Asus CPU-OPT PWM headers they should simply mirror the CPU fan settings. Is the minimum CPU fan speed setting in the BIOS set to 300+ rpm? Is the CPU fan header set to PWM rather than Auto or Voltage?

The graph you are showing is probably the PWM, in some cases the fans cant be stopped on PWM but they can be stopped undervolting, you should check the bios to see if its set to PWM or DC.

Based on the UEFI settings they can be.
I prefer to have all my fans running all the time and keep the alarm for zero rpm CPU fan active.

Thank you all for your answers.

Sorry for the late reply. Been busy all week with work.

This is an Asus motherboard. The fan is not hooked into CPU-OPT. It's hooked up to chassis fan 2.

I checked the BIOS and all the fans are set to minim 200 rpm. All the settings are Auto, so I have not chosen PWM or DC. Should I?

As you can see from the graph, it hit 0, before it went back up to 260 or so if I remember correctly. The number is not visible in the screenshot.

@Olle P: How do I find set an alarm to warn me if a fan shuts down?