I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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silenceorgtfo
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:39 pm
Location: Spain, Europe

I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by silenceorgtfo » Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:48 am

I want to make a new build, consisting of:

-3950x
-Noctua dh15 se
-Aorus Elite
-Gigabyte 2080 Super Gaming OC
-Corsair mx750 v2

Can you recommend me a case to go with it that improves on the Define r4? Does the r6 improve on it?

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by Abula » Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:00 am

silenceorgtfo wrote:Can you recommend me a case to go with it that improves on the Define r4? Does the r6 improve on it?
The R6 is a incremental improvement over the R4/5, it still follows the same basic principles, specially on the Define series where its a more closed/restricted enclosure.

There are different approaches that you can follow to try to end up with a quiet pc, one is to get a closed case and try to dampen the noise not having too many places where sound can get off, the downside is that air is harder to enter as well, so sometimes you need higher rpms to sustain similar cooling. Another approach is to get a more open case to have less restrictions and thus meaning you will need less rpms to provide the same cooling... both methods are valid and work out, personally i favor a more open design, but i have done it both ways. In a more open case, you do have to be very careful into chosing quiet components, well in both, but in the more open you place a noisy component and will have a bigger impact, so chose careful what you place inside.

My final recommendation is get the Asus STRIX, it will be quieter, sometimes Gigabyte does good gpu and sometimes they are noisy, Asus is not a saint either, the GTX970 were really bad imo, but their newer models are really good, something that i cant say about gigabyte current cards. The GPU is one of those things that its hard to deal with, you gotta go into great lengths with custom coolers that not many feel comfortable installing or voiding their warranty.... so if you can, strongly suggest you go with Asus Strix.

silenceorgtfo
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:39 pm
Location: Spain, Europe

Re: I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by silenceorgtfo » Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:43 am

Abula wrote:
silenceorgtfo wrote:Can you recommend me a case to go with it that improves on the Define r4? Does the r6 improve on it?
The R6 is a incremental improvement over the R4/5, it still follows the same basic principles, specially on the Define series where its a more closed/restricted enclosure.

There are different approaches that you can follow to try to end up with a quiet pc, one is to get a closed case and try to dampen the noise not having too many places where sound can get off, the downside is that air is harder to enter as well, so sometimes you need higher rpms to sustain similar cooling. Another approach is to get a more open case to have less restrictions and thus meaning you will need less rpms to provide the same cooling... both methods are valid and work out, personally i favor a more open design, but i have done it both ways. In a more open case, you do have to be very careful into chosing quiet components, well in both, but in the more open you place a noisy component and will have a bigger impact, so chose careful what you place inside.

My final recommendation is get the Asus STRIX, it will be quieter, sometimes Gigabyte does good gpu and sometimes they are noisy, Asus is not a saint either, the GTX970 were really bad imo, but their newer models are really good, something that i cant say about gigabyte current cards. The GPU is one of those things that its hard to deal with, you gotta go into great lengths with custom coolers that not many feel comfortable installing or voiding their warranty.... so if you can, strongly suggest you go with Asus Strix.
What I've read is that both Asus and Gigabyte GPU's have 0db on idle mode so since the GB is cheaper I will go for that one.

I like the anti-vibration measures that the fractal cases have and I like the minimalistic glassless design so I think I will stay with Fractal and buy an r6.

silenceorgtfo
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:39 pm
Location: Spain, Europe

Re: I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by silenceorgtfo » Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:51 am

Do you know what are the differences between these:

https://www.alternate.es/Fractal-Design ... ent=search

https://www.alternate.es/Fractal-Design ... ent=search

https://www.alternate.es/Fractal-Design ... ent=search

I don't get it, they seem like the same?

Then there's this:

https://www.alternate.es/Fractal-Design ... ent=search

I just want the one that's black with no windows.

lodestar
Posts: 1683
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:29 am
Location: UK

Re: I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by lodestar » Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:00 am

silenceorgtfo wrote:I just want the one that's black with no windows.
The first one on your list

https://www.alternate.es/Fractal-Design ... ent=search

is different from the others. Fractal call it the Black which means all black fans rather than the standard black frame/white fan blades scheme, and other parts of the case being black rather than white. You can see this if you look at the photos of this case and compare it to the others.

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by Abula » Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:28 am

silenceorgtfo wrote:What I've read is that both Asus and Gigabyte GPU's have 0db on idle mode so since the GB is cheaper I will go for that one.
Most of today GPUs have a 0 rpm idle mode, but even if they dont, its not a big deal as the rpm on idle will be at minimum, and very likely inaudible levels, the problem is load, where depending on the game you are likely to reach. In my Asus STRIX RTX2080ti i rarely reach above 1400rpms on quiet vbios, and usually i can sustain temps below 80C. So its up to you, and your research to check if the gigabyte is really quiet on load as the Strix is, or maybe you don't care noise on load, personally i do, even when i use headphones i use open type so i can still hear all my surrounding, and noise gets even more annoying for me.

khaakon
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:29 am
Location: Oslo, Norway

Re: I want to replace my good ol Define r4, what's better?

Post by khaakon » Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:18 am

Yes, not all games that require 3D acceleration with oomph are loud at all times ...

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