Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

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TudorBuda
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Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by TudorBuda » Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:57 am

Hey

As the title says, i want to have a very silent build with a ~20% oc.
I own the great Corsair Air 540, a great Prolimatech Genesis on the cpu with Noiseblockers Pro Pk 3 at ~800 rpm and recently, a 980 Ti Evga reference.
As a point of reference about noise, i modded the Corsair HG10 A1 to run without the original blower fan of my ex 290x, because even at idle, the blower was too loud. I also changed an OCZ 1350w psu with a Corsair AX1200i only because this one is dead silent.
Even if the 980 ti is much quieter than the 290x`s idle blower, it gets too hot for my taste and also, in full load, it`s loud.
I was thinking about Prolimatech Mk 26, because anyway, my Asus Z97 k Mb does not support SLI and if in the future i`ll need more gpu power for the VR, most likely i`ll change the gpu and i`ll put the mk 26 on the new one, rather than adding another 980 ti in sli.
I`m not a fan of "future proofing" anyway. I think it`s just a stupid excuse for "inv...WASTING" money for bragging rights in the geek world.

Back to the problem: could you recommend a better idea?
I also have a Corsair h110 lying around with no use. I was considering the Corsair HG10 N980 (when it will be available) but it seems much more complicated and my previous experience with 290x, hg10, H60 wasn`t a revelation. It most likely was something to make my life more complicated :) . After all that, the wind noise going through the dense radiator is louder than the one going through the prolimatech.

About the fans: on my previous build i had a Scythe Mugen, and an Accelero S1 with 4 Gentle Typhoons at 800 rpm. THAT was silence. GTs were mega silent under 1k rpm.
When i got the NB PK 3 after long research on the interwebs, i was dissapointed. I was even more dissapointed when i`ve got my first noctuas, with the h110, to the point that i simply cannot understand why people praise them so much.

Any recs on very quiet fans at ~500- 700 rpm? I ve read good things about the NB eLoop

PS: custom loop is out of the question. Way to expensive, unnecessary, maintenance, changing gpu blocks when you upgrade, etc.
Ty in advance for all the answers

xan_user
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by xan_user » Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:38 pm

WELCOME TO SPCR!
it gets too hot for my taste

what temps are you seeing at max load (and idle) ? GPU, and CPU too please.

computers don't care about your temperature taste... the only thing that really matters is keeping it under the OEM's spec'ed max operating temperature. modern cards will throttle themselves down before unsafe temps can do damage.

boost
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by boost » Sun Oct 25, 2015 11:56 pm

For AIO graphics cards cooling there's "the mod". It has already been discussed at SPCR. And a mounting bracket review of the NZXT G10 is also available.
AIO always have pump noise the MK-26 (or the Raijintek Morpheus) provide similar cooling without the pump noise.
I use Noctua fans and I'm not disappointed with them. Scythe Slipstreams are good as are beQuiet Silentwings and others.
NB eLoop fans need 2-3cm free space in front of them or they can create a humming noise. I don't think this is well known. I found the 120mm eLoop good in sound quality when it runs without anything interfereing with the airflow in front of it, but impractical for the same reason.

TudorBuda
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by TudorBuda » Mon Oct 26, 2015 2:58 am

xan_user wrote:WELCOME TO SPCR!
it gets too hot for my taste

what temps are you seeing at max load (and idle) ? GPU, and CPU too please.

computers don't care about your temperature taste... the only thing that really matters is keeping it under the OEM's spec'ed max operating temperature. modern cards will throttle themselves down before unsafe temps can do damage.
Thank you :)

With a custom fan curve, i get 84 c at 80% rpm, which is very loud. I know about throttle, of course. At max temp it doesn`t boost to 1390 mhz, it stays at 1190 mhz.
I know that computers don`t care about my taste, but i also know that i care about my taste, and since i`m the one in charge, i might as well satisfy my taste :D

At idle, gpu is at ~ 35 c. Cpu at 36. Cpu load ~50 c with fans at 800 rpm.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Oct 26, 2015 5:34 am

I always had the feeling Corsair's enclosures are not that great at cooling, though EVGA cards are not well known for their quietness.

BTW, I don't think you can have something really better just swapping the fans.

TudorBuda
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by TudorBuda » Mon Oct 26, 2015 10:06 am

This AIR 540 is a great overall case. Airflow is great with 2 140mm/3 120 intake and one 140 exhaust, with a possibility to place another 2 140 top. Also with a separate chamber for the PSU and cables, cable management is as easy as it gets. Only thing i miss is the solid feel/sturdiness of my ex case, TT Kandalf which was twice as heavy.
I guess that 140mm fans are by default much louder than the 120 mm, even tho my logic told me that it will be exactly the opposite. It seems that the sweet spot for fan silence is 120mm. Even if 140 mms have greater cfm, i think that efective cooling improvements are not worth the added noise. Haven`t done any research on solutions from custom loops manufacturers, but the cooling improvements on 280mm clc`s vs 240mm are negligible.

About the EVGA, this is my first one, but anyway, it`s the reference cooler, so i bet that the brand doesn`t anything to do with it. It`s a small blower fan,so 50% actually means 3000 rpm. Inevitably, that will be loud.

Very good input about the eLoops buzzing noise when facing a mesh. It wouldn`t be a problem on the MK-26 and the Genesis. Both of them can be fitted with either 120 and 140 mm. The case intake could also be fitted with 3x 120mm, but if the buzzing issue is real, eLoops won`t be an option there, but i`m sure there is one. I`m really thinking about switching back to 120 mm. Too bad that Scythe doesn`t make the GT s anymore.

About the AIO, i agree. After the previous experience with 290x/HG10/H60 i can say that only thing that`s interesting is having an exotic cooling. It`s not cooler than a MK 26 and it`s much more complicated, with rads, short hoses, pump that has to be powered, pump noise. Plus that if the pump fails, the gpu gets very hot very fast. I`m sure that the MK can cool the gpu even passively if you have good airflow. AIO on the gpu is worth it only if you run SLI/CF and the huge air coolers won`t fit.

About the mod, i`ve thought about the one where i keep the mid plate, original shroud, blower and led GTX sign, attaching the cooler on the gpu screwed in the pcb, and with the hoses getting out through the "window" before i saw it done. I would have done it if i wouldn`t have to file the midplate for the aio to fit without a shim, and thus voiding my warranty.

About the custom loop, if i will ever do it, i think it will only be with something like a MORA external radiator, but that will be only if i will ever be TOO relaxed and i`ll want to create some problems in my life :)

So, to sumarize, i think that the best solution in my case would be to sell the H110& Noctuas, buy the MK 26 and 4 120mm eLoops, to keep under 700 rpm via a Scythe Kaze fan controller. Another 3x120 mm other fans on the intake behind the dust filter and keep a 140 mm Noiseblocker Pk3 on exhaust, which will be my noisiest piece of hardware in my system.
Right?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Oct 26, 2015 3:20 pm

TudorBuda wrote:Right?

boost
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by boost » Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:51 am

TudorBuda wrote:So, to sumarize, i think that the best solution in my case would be to sell the H110& Noctuas, buy the MK 26 and 4 120mm eLoops, to keep under 700 rpm via a Scythe Kaze fan controller. Another 3x120 mm other fans on the intake behind the dust filter and keep a 140 mm Noiseblocker Pk3 on exhaust, which will be my noisiest piece of hardware in my system.
Right?
Do not use eLoops as intake fans! If anything is in front of them like a dust filter or even a grill they create a humming sound. You need 2-3 cm free space in front of them. It could work for an exhaust fan if the distance to the Genesis is big enough. It could work on the Mk-26 if there is no card in a slot below. It could work as a top blowing fan for the Genesis, but not the fan for the Genesis' tower part.
I would recommend beQuiet Silent Wings 2 instead, or maybe Noiseblocker M-12.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Oct 27, 2015 4:15 am

boost wrote:but not the fan for the Genesis' tower part

Why not, boost?

boost
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Re: Mild OC in total silence - i5 4690k & 980 Ti

Post by boost » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:29 am

quest_for_silence wrote:
boost wrote:but not the fan for the Genesis' tower part

Why not, boost?
I made that list from memory, I tried to install the Genesis six month age, but it wouldn't allow me to install a graphic card. I thought the tower fan was very close to the top blower part. After looking at some pictures again, there might actually be enough room for the eLoop to breath freely.

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