Upgrading PC to go silent, need some help

[ChineseDogMeat]

Hi All,

First time poster and I need some help. I've been using my machine now for about a year and it works great for gaming, but now that I'm using it to study and do VM workshops I find the noise in a silent room REALLY bothers me.

I'm looking at the PSU, GPU and Mobo as the main culprits. What I have now:

EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI LGA 1366 Motherboard
Antec TPQ-850 850W SLI Certified Modular Active PSU
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3

What I'm looking for in parts:
1) Decently downing the noise level. I realize I'll probably never get it silent but as quiet as possible for studying
2) Hardware that matches or exceeds the performance of the GTX 275
3) PSU wattage. According to the Asus and Cooler Master calculators I need around 1,000 W for a Blu ray Drive, VGA (expandable to SLI), 3 Hard Drive system. Is this overkill?


What I've picked out so far - please let me know if I can improve on this. I did this just from a bit reading online and customer reviews so Im sure it might be able to be improved

GPU:
SAPPHIRE Toxic 100282-2GTXSR Radeon HD 5850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5

PSU:
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W

Mobo:
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard


Thanks all!!!

[MikeC]

I guess that's a small high speed fan on the NB of the EVGA E758-TR board? Nasty! No way to replace it a chunky heatsink?

For the video card, I'd suggest replacing the stock heatsink with a quiet aftermarket cooler -- from Arctic Cooling, Scythe. Check reviews on the main site under Cooling.

If you are using the stock Intel heatsink/fan, I suggest replacing that with one from the best of the SPCR recommended coolers -- again see main site under cooling.

As for the PSU, yeah that's total overkill for power requirements. More than double what's really needed. We cannot get even 500W on the AC line from any single GPU system. (That means under 450W on the DC output from the PSU). The CM Silent Pro 700 we reviewed was pretty quiet. No idea about the kilowatt model -- which you don't need. Check recommended PSUs on the main site.

Finally, welcome to spcr.

[ChineseDogMeat]

I guess that's a small high speed fan on the NB of the EVGA E758-TR board? Nasty! No way to replace it a chunky heatsink?

For the video card, I'd suggest replacing the stock heatsink with a quiet aftermarket cooler -- from Arctic Cooling, Scythe. Check reviews on the main site under Cooling.

If you are using the stock Intel heatsink/fan, I suggest replacing that with one from the best of the SPCR recommended coolers -- again see main site under cooling.

As for the PSU, yeah that's total overkill for power requirements. More than double what's really needed. We cannot get even 500W on the AC line from any single GPU system. (That means under 450W on the DC output from the PSU). The CM Silent Pro 700 we reviewed was pretty quiet. No idea about the kilowatt model -- which you don't need. Check recommended PSUs on the main site.

Finally, welcome to spcr.

Thanks! Yes, on the Mobo, the small chipset fan is the culprit that's noisy. As far as replacing the Mobo or GPU parts with after market cooling solutions, I'm not sure how that would even do as the GTX seems to be a sealed enclosure, and the Mobo chipset seems to be a custom tailored spot made just for that fan.

As far as the CPU, I've got an after market Cooler Master heatsink which has quieted it down pretty well.

I thought so on the PSU. I'll take a look at that model and do a comparison.

Thanks again

[Plekto]

The basic "silent" design goes like this:

Quiet as possible power supply and low power as practical CPU(check compatibility lists to see if a newer better CPU with a smaller die will work - often the newer ones will run as fast but generate 20-30W less heat. \

Video card - http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/p ... 2_&mID=108

Keep your current card - get a big passive cooler *and* the fan module.
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/vga/0 ... etail.html
This may or may not fit your card, but that's the idea - run the fans at 7V and it should be a very low humming sound. EDIT - the reason you need the fan is that without upward airflow, the memory heatsinks quick;y get too hot and while most cards can handle 50-75C temps, they are not going to last very long doing it(year or two, tops). 35-40C will mean a nearly infinite life by comparison.

Quieter, more efficient fans. I think Scythe makes some of the best for the money.

Consider laptop drives. They are nearly silent while running. This also represents a HUGE power savings.

Remove intake fan. Put hard drive(s) in upper and lower slot in hard drive chassis/assembly. Leave the center slot free and remove the cover for it. This will be your new "intake" - the increased pressure will cool the air and the heat from the drives will return it to about room temp. Optimally, you will have one slow fan on the "passive" video card, one exhaust fan, and one in the power supply.

*note* - the trick with no fan on the CPU cooler is a case with a completely closed side and a duct running from the back of the (large as practical) heatsink. It should be U shaped with the bottom half of the sides and bottom open - The idea is to duct the air through the heat sink but also *some* from the motherboard below the heat sink. Some heat sinks make this easy, though. Mine is only about 1.5 inches from the rear fan, so it's a small bent piece of plastic. I've also see people use a hollowed-out 120mm fan as an extender to get the fan closer to the CPU cooler.

My entire system with three drives, a video card, a burner, and a dual-core CPU(plus sound card and other stuff) works perfectly with a 450W PSU. But it is a 85%+ efficient model that cost about $100. A cheap no-name PSU would probably need to be 600W to equal it.

edit: yes, it is as quiet as an Apple

[frenchie]

this kind of evga cooler is one of the worse chipset cooler ever, and a pain in the back end to mod. I'd get another board ; 3 way sli will never be quiet anyways with those kinds of GPUs.
Other than that, the other posters have given you all the good ideas !!