PC for the room ?

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:57 am

Hello,

in july I will have my PC in my room, so if I would like to have it really really quiet.

I was thinking of the following :
ONE CHOICE :

Case : http://nofencomputer.com/kor_/products/CS-80.php
Cooler : http://nofencomputer.com/kor_/products/CR-95C.php
Power : a platinium one, like Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550W Power Supply reviewed http://www.silentpcreview.com/Kingwin_L ... um_LZP-550
MB : need two NIC, HD-Audio SPDIF, one PCI-E (for a DVB-S2 card), Displayport
CPU : Ivy Bridge with HD 4000, maybe 3770k
GFX : builtin from the CPU
RAM : at least 8Gb
HD : quiet (no ssd) with at least 2*3 Gb
DVD-writer : one with region free and as silent as possible.

OTHER CHOICE :
Case : http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6792 CoolerMaster Cosmos II
Cooler : http://www.thermalright.com/products/in ... data&id=95 Thernalright HR-02
Power : http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_retail.jsp Seasonic X-400(SS-400FL Active PFC)
MB : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_ ... /P9X79_WS/ Asus P9X79 or ???
CPU : Intel 3770k
GFX : builtin from the CPU
RAM : 4x4Gb at least
HD : quiet a few (no ssd) with at least 2*3 Gb
DVD-writer : one with region free and as silent as possible, maybe choosen from http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php

Any thought about those configurations ?
Last edited by gregoire.favre on Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

Falkon
Posts: 115
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:59 pm
Location: Canada

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by Falkon » Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:15 pm

I don't where you're located or where you would purchase that case and CPU HSF, but I think that you could do better for the same or less money.
Recommended Cases
Recommended Heatsinks

Ivy Bridge with the HD 4000 GPU is a good choice. They should be out shortly.

I would be inclined to use something like the Seasonic X-560 for your application over a Kingwin LZP-550. Simply because it's effectively silent at low load (fan doesn't spin) and it costs a fair bit less as well.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:12 pm

Are they any fanless cases/heatsink in those URL ?

The case isn't out yet, I plan to buy it from http://www.pc-cooling.de who import into germany.

Thank for your suggestions, specially as the Seasonic are much easyer to found for me :-)

boost
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:29 am
Location: de_DE

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by boost » Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:23 am

gregoire.favre wrote:MB : need two NIC, HD-Audio SPDIF, one PCI-E (for a DVB-S2 card), Displayport
P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3 for ~200€.
MSI Z68A-GD80 for ~180€, optical SP
gregoire.favre wrote:CPU : Ivy Bridge with HD 4000, maybe 3770k
/DIF only.
Z77 will come out in 3-4 weeks, which boards have exactly what ports won't be clear before then. But the succesors to the boards mentioned should have similar connectivity (and price, dual lan is expensive).
gregoire.favre wrote:CPU : Ivy Bridge with HD 4000, maybe 3770k
i5-3570K has no multithreading and 6MB cache but an unlocked multiplier, too.
gregoire.favre wrote:DVD-writer : one with region free and as silent as possible.
Not without modified firmware. You should google for the firmware page, wherever it resides no, haven#t checked in ages.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:39 am

How silent my second choice could be ?

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

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by Abula » Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:33 am

gregoire.favre wrote: Case : http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6792 CoolerMaster Cosmos II
Personally i dont like fanless cases specially for a stong cpu like you are planning, one case fan makes a big difference allowing hot air to exit the case. Since you want a lot of hdds, i would consider Antec P280 (6hdd slots), Corsair 550D (6hdds), Fractal Design Define R3 (8hdds slots), or the Fractal Design Define Mini (6hdds slots also micro ATX factor in case you want something slightly smaller) over the Cosmos II, check SPCR review of it, Cooler Master Cosmos II: Ultra Tower Case. I would test the stock fans first, but some good aftermarket case fans are, Nexus BASIC 120mm, Scythe Slip Stream 120mm x 25mm Fan - 800 RPM (SY1225SL12L) and Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe M12-S1 120mmx25mm Ultra Silent Fan - 750 RPM - below 6 dBA
gregoire.favre wrote:Cooler : http://www.thermalright.com/products/in ... data&id=95 Thernalright HR-02
Go for the macho version, much cheaper and comes with good fan already, Thermalright HR-02 Macho, but cross check the compatibility with the motherboard you finally decide before purchasing.
gregoire.favre wrote:Power : http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_retail.jsp Seasonic X-400(SS-400FL Active PFC)
I like a lot my X400, so that would be my choice, another good option is the KINGWIN STR-500 500W, here some reviews in case you are interested,
SPCR Fanless PSUs: Kingwin Stryker STR-500 & Silverstone ST50NF
JonnyGuru Reviews - Kingwin Stryker Fanless 500W
HardOCP Kingwin Stryker STR500 Power Supply Review
gregoire.favre wrote:MB : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_ ... /P9X79_WS/ Asus P9X79 or ???
CPU : Intel 3770khttp://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php
In here idk what you are doing with the PC, but if you want the 3770K for the HD4000, there are other options, even dual cores that will come with it, or if you don't need hyperthreading or the extra cache, go with the 3750K and save $100, but for all this CPUs you will need an 1155 ivy bridge compatible motherboard so wait a moth wait to see H77, Z77, etc.
gregoire.favre wrote:HD : quiet a few (no ssd) with at least 2*3 Gbhttp://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php
Personally i dont like to have a lot of hdds on my PCs, i prefer to have a server for storage seperate, but its fine as long as chose not so noisy hdds, not that many 3tb have been tested, i would probably go with what has been tested by SPCR like Seagate Barracuda 3TB: 1TB Platter Behemoth, but i would encorage you to rethink about the ssd, even a 64gb for OS will make a big difference on noise and response, i no longer consider building my pcs without one, Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are imo the best SSDs performance/price/reliability, and if you go the route of ssd + hdds for storage you can go into quieter hdds like Western Digital Green Caviars, New high areal density 2-and-3 TB Greens from WD.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:21 am

Wouah :-)

Thank you for the answer.

One reason for my "choice" of the cosmos II is the SPCR review :-) Which seems to indicate it producing less noise than the others, and I enjoy it look.
I'll certainly go for the HR-02 Macho as soon as my mb will be "out", which will be one 1155.
In my country it seems hard to find Kingwin so I'll probably stay with the Seasonic.
I am a LSF (Linux From Scratch) user who compil everything I use myself with my own choosen options, so more cores are always used.
Now I have 3 2Gb green HD in my P180 (first rev) which are travelling to "new" case, so will probably be my two externals usb (2*2.5Gb).
I have tested an SSD for a time and didn't see any visible enhancement in my system, all I use everyday are in RAM, I compil in RAM, etc so I really don't understand what could be achieved with a ssd (my BIOS take age to "boot" and then the system less than 10 seconds so at best I could save 10 seconds for a system I normally suspend, not sure of any "real" gain).

Do you think I could already order the case and the PSU or there are some reasons to wait ?

Thanks again !

boost
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:29 am
Location: de_DE

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by boost » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:36 pm

The Coolermaster Cosmos II is definitely huge, It's too tall to fit under a normal desk. I have a Lian Li V2100 which is smaller and still doesn't fit under my desk. I moved the PC to a Lian Li PC-05. The new case is much smaller and still holds the main board 3 HDDs, two optical drives and the PSU. If you want silence you should not buy the case that has room for the most stuff. You should consider what you really need and plan the build and it's cooling accordingly. I didn't in my big case it ended up louder than it needed to be. The new case has one fan for CPU and graphic card and one in the PSU.
Did you consider the original Antec Solo Case?
It has great decoupling for the hard drives and you might be able too cool it with two fans. The included back fan on the lowest setting to suck in cool air from outside the case towards the CPU cooler and a fan in the PSU above the CPU to get hot air out. I have build a system like that, with an older Intel E8400 quad core CPU, works like a charm and is near inaudible.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Sun Mar 11, 2012 3:04 pm

I didn't consider the Antec Solo (II) so I read some review and now I am :-)

My actual P180 is much too noisy (mostly because one fan change) but I can certainly do something with a new Antec.

Thanks for the tips.

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

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by Abula » Sun Mar 11, 2012 3:41 pm

gregoire.favre wrote:I didn't consider the Antec Solo (II) so I read some review and now I am :-)

My actual P180 is much too noisy (mostly because one fan change) but I can certainly do something with a new Antec.

Thanks for the tips.
I didnt suggest the Solo II out of you wanting a lot of mechanical hdds, but the solo II can hold 3 on grommets or 2 suppended, if this is enough for you i think its a good choice, it even has a seperate slot for the ssd, in case down the road you change your mind about ssds, i do see a massive difference not only in booting but opening apps and multitasking, but its up to each needs. If you want to get some idea, i build my HTPC on it (check sig for pics), even used a X400 on that build. I would go with Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe M12-S1 120mmx25mm Ultra Silent Fan - 750 RPM - below 6 dBA if you go with frontal fans, kinda hard to get rubber grommets on the front took me a good 2 hours to manage it, while M12-S1 come with rubber edges so you can use standard metal screws, and probably since you are from Germany you can get them pretty easily.

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by ces » Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:28 pm

boost wrote:The Coolermaster Cosmos II is definitely huge, It's too tall to fit under a normal desk.
I used to own an early model Coolermaster Cosmos II. They are not only big but they are just too dang heavy. There is no good reason to own one that I can think of.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:29 pm

The height available below my desk is just a little bit more than 71cm which should be enough for a COSMOS II : tremendous.
I think I will choose this one afterall :-)

Case : http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6792 CoolerMaster Cosmos II
Cooler : http://www.thermalright.com/products/in ... data&id=95 Thernalright HR-02
Power : http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_retail.jsp Seasonic X-400(SS-400FL Active PFC)

I wonder if an Super Flower SF-550P14PE, 550Watt, 80Plus Platinum which cost slightly less and has more sata ports would be as good, it seems to be the same as the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550W but easy to found in my country and at good price.

MB : wait and see
CPU : Intel 3770k
GFX : builtin from the CPU
RAM : 4x4Gb at least
HD : quiet a few (no ssd) with at least 2*3 Gb
DVD-writer : one with region free and as silent as possible, maybe choosen from http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:00 am

I have done some looking... and I found out another case which seems really nice for me :

Case Silverstone TJ-04E : http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=325 which would allow my to put my 8 "old" sata HD in :-)
Mainboard Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H WIFI : http://www.gigabyte.com/products/produc ... id=4167#sp
PSU Seasonic X-400(SS-400FL Active PFC) http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_retail.jsp
CPU cooler Corsair H100 : http://www.corsair.com/cpu-cooling-kits ... ooler.html
DVD burner : my "old one" :-)
RAM : no real idea yet.

I don't really know what should be done with such a setup to have it almost silent ?

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:43 am

I have ordered those components :

Case : Bitfenix's Shinobi XL already damped with King mod's damping
Mainboard : Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H WIFI
Hotswap's bays : Lian Li's EX-H34SX (All Black)

I hope the motherboard will be able to control the fans of the case, and maybe the fan from the hotswap bay ?

PSU : Seasonic X-400(SS-400FL Active PFC)
RAM : G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-1600C9Q-32GXM (8Gx4)

DVD burner : my "old one" (black) :-)
Harddiscs : all my old ones (8).

Now I don't know how to choose the CPU cooler for the upcoming i3770k ?
I could go with a closed watercooling solution like the Corsair H100 but I only seek silence and not performance.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:17 am

Anyone got an idea on how to be sure of the compatibility of the Thermalright's HR-02 Macho with the rest of my setup (mostly the RAM) ?

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:43 am

I haven't seen any Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H reviews yet that show the clearance dimensions around the CPU....and the manual for the mobo doesn't list them either.

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:55 am

I also did look into the manual and found out the lack of mensuration of the different component of the card :-(

They are some other CPU cooler which I found interesting too :

Noctua's ND-D14
be quiet!'s DARK ROCK ADVANCEDC1
Coolermaster's TPC 812XS (I live in Europa)
Nofan's CR-95C or even better Nofan's CR-95C Copper

But it very hard to choose this part... if the ram fit I'm pretty sure I will be happy with any of those.

Thank for having taking the time to look after my issue and your answer :-)

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:08 pm

Well, the obvious solution is to just wait a bit and measure the clearance on the mobo when it arrives. :)

gregoire.favre
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:17 pm

Re: PC for the room ?

Post by gregoire.favre » Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:48 am

After looking at lots of review I ordered Prolimatech's Super Mega CPU Cooler which has no RAM issue :)

Now time to choose which fan to put on it :)

Post Reply