Silent gaming rig - any success in 2015?

[anb]

what if... since every component chosen except for GPU is passively cooled, there is no need in a closed case? Since the case can be either opened completely, or having just a honeycomb structure - it should help a lot with convection without case fans.

[Remilia]

It's an interesting try, but I think there would be issues during load for CPU and the open design is definitely going to make the gpu more audible when the fan has to spin. Just my thought. You can try it though.

[anb]

definetly will be doing that. I think if it is already proven possible to run such setup on THIS hardware, it will be even better and quiter with i5 and 960 or even 970, though not asus for sure.
Linus ftw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXZrWqCT7R0

[Deleted]

Yeah, you're really unlikely to get a completely silent rig. You can get "below the hearing range of human hearing", though, which is sub-10db, but you'll be going for serious kudos if you can pass the test in the Linus video.

[Sturmbringe]

I would just like to add that there are computer cases focused on "extreme sound suppression" such as my own Coolermaster Cosmos RC-1000:

The Cosmos 1000 from Cooler Master has an acoustical performance that reminds you of the quiet of space. Extreme sound suppression was a primary focus of the design. All four of the fans are 120mm to move the most air with the least noise. The two fans on the top blow air out through a louvered duct and the intake fan is on the bottoms and pulls air up through a filter. The side panels are covered in a sound deadening material.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119138

Closeup of sound dampening material:



I have been using the same case since 2008 when I built my original Intel Core 2 gaming rig and I am very happy with it. I am not sure if CM actually still produces cases focused on "sound suppression". Maybe you should check that out yourself.

My case is pretty good at making my rig inaudible for light gaming, but when I switch the case fans to max gear for heavy gaming, of course I can hear the fans working, but still this sound is dwarfed by the game's sounds and music, so I'd say that CM did a pretty good job with this case in sound suppression.

Additional tips for inaudible computing:

-Use med TDP CPU and med TDP GPU.
-Install quality case fans that focus on being quiet when working at max revs.
-Use a big SSD to house your games and WD green HDD's for storage.
-Get a quality aircooler or watercooling system.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

-Use a big SSD to house your games and WD green HDD's for storage.

Better: SSDs in the computer, HDDs in a different room in a NAS

[Remilia]

Better: SSDs in the computer, HDDs in a different room in a NAS

Or just no HDDs at all, >.>

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Or just no HDDs at all, >.>

Not rich enough to have terabytes of SSD storage

Putting the HDDs in a different room is enough to enjoy the benefits of All The Terabytes without spending All The Money and without All The Noise

[Deleted]

Not rich enough to have terabytes of SSD storage

Putting the HDDs in a different room is enough to enjoy the benefits of All The Terabytes without spending All The Money and without All The Noise

Or moving the whole computer to another room, that solves everything in fairness.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Or moving the whole computer to another room, that solves everything in fairness.

Terminal server!

[Remilia]

I can't imagine the wires coming in and out of the room. It's already a gigantic mess, >.>

[anb]

ok, replaced the MSI 560 with cheap-ass 760 ASUS DU2 and it seems to handle noise a lot better than previous one - 1500rpm while mainaining 80C under stress load. Not bad, thats what i had with MSI at idle. BUt on the worse side - the coild whine in 760 seems to be actually louder than on 560 and louder than the fans, lol. I heard that it can change depending on PSU. Had anyone tested such case?

[anb]

Picked up Asus 970.... just to return it back to the store - the coil whine is still there and actually louder than any fan in the system, and even hdd.

This is just silly - what is the point gathering premium quiet components all just to be destroyed by expensive yet very loud "0 db" GPU? Is there actually powerful cards without coil whine? so far i can't find any.
Asus is just full of marketing crap, super alloy power my ass.

[Remilia]

You can try MSI Gaming. I believe it also has a semi-passive fan.

[anb]

every 970 gpu that i've seen recorded on youtube has noticeable coil whine. Every recent gpu i've tested personally had it too - msi 560, asus 760, asus 970. I've even changed psu to Seasonic 520 Fanless - you can't go more high end than that. I suspect that people telling their gpu doesn't whine simply can't hear it or don't bother to notice, after all it is an individual perception.

[Remilia]

Yeah, it's going to go down to the individual. I noticed an annoying electrical whining thing from the Corsair K70 I had and yet my brother / parents notice nothing.
Electrical noise is a lot harder to tone down than mechanical noises. As of now none of my equipment has coil whine that I can find even putting my head next to them. I wish it didn't come down to trial and error.