The (new) Official PC building thread!

in all honesty the only cpu hsf's I have experience with is the TR U120E and various zalmans. Russ and Sam have used the AC freezer 7 pro. Russ I know really likes them. not sure about Sam. I talked with a DFI rep that uses a vendetta on his DFI LP LT X38 mobo and he likes it. never asked him about how noisy it is.

unless the cpu hs fan is redicuosly loud, I have never noticed them. there was always something else or some other fan that was always louder. on my older pc (CM mystique, E6600, zalman CNPS9500) I could not hear the zalman 9500 over the fan on my X850XT GPU or chipsets fans. some say the 9500 is loud but I didn't think so. besides the cpu hsf is deep inside the pc and I wouldn't notice it anyway unless it was a screamer. I can hear the cpu hsf on this rig since it is a scythe 9 blade 110 cfm fan but it doesn't bother me. theres always other noise in the room/house. I might go back to the scythe SFF21F since it had ample airflow (around 68 cfm) and I couldn't hear it.

in regards to cases, all I have had is cooler masters and various antecs. no more antecs now though as cooler master has won me over. I do like my mystique although that pc is not being used at the moment.

 

If you want utter quiet and can afford it, get an Antec P182, rip the fans out and use nexus 120mm fans for all of them, and get an extra one to stick on a Thermalright Ultra 120 heatsink. If that's too much, get the NZXT Lexa Blackline, leave the fans as they are, and use perhaps an Ultima 90 with a Nexus 92mm fan.

For reference, the Scythe fan that Mort 'can't hear' is about 32dB in most cases. That's not to say Mort isn't telling the truth, I put up with a 40dB PC for years before noise started bothering me, but even the SFF21F isn't a quiet fan at anywhere near full speed, and it's far quieter than Zalman heatsinks.

Oh, and also, I used a Freezer 7 Pro, and it was irritatingly loud beyond 75% or so fan speed. 50% is where it became nice and quiet (below 25dB), but at that sort of speed my CPU reached 60C or so at load. My silent Ultra-120 with a fan runs below 45C.

 

the reason I recommend the scythe SFF21F is because it is the fan of choice for the reviews, moves sufficient air and is relatively quiet.

 

It's one of my favourite fans, and for most people's PCs I think it's the best fan you can buy. It wins the airflow to noise ratio of all the medium speed fans tested at SPCR. For the true silent PC, however, it's Nexus or nowt.

 

holy shit.....I'll be up all night.....excuse my language.

sammorris:
Isn't 45C a little high for the CPU alone??? And all that stuff about replacing the fans on the cases and the heatsinks. Isn't there a simpler way of doing things??? I don't need complete silence or anything, but I do want it to be quiet-ish.

Mort:
I'm gonna go with your Mystique case since it looks cool and reviews say its quiet. Good enough for me. The SFF21F is just a fan and I probably won't use it unless I do what sammorris said. SCZP-1000 looks good enough for me though. Frostytech.com gave it REALLY good reviews.

 

The simpler way, is to buy the case that comes with quiet fans pre-fitted, the NZXT Lexa Blackline. As for the CPU temp, 45C is regarded as 'good' for a processor at full load (these temps aren't idle). As for the Scythe fan it's pretty decent, but unless you use a fan controller, the PC isn't going to be very quiet.
You could of course settle for the good middleground and get the SFF21E instead of the SFF21F. That's a quiet fan that still pushes a good amount of air.


Off this topic, I decided to go hell for leather with silencing my main PC, see my latest blog entry for details.

 

But isnt the SFF21E just a fan by itself? What would I use it on? And do you mean use the fan controller on the SCZP-1000 that i wanted? Because frostytech says that the only thing quieter than it is a solid block of aluminum.
For the Lexa Blackline, your talking about this one right? I might actually get that now that I think about it and see the price. Thanks.

 

Lol I didn't mean only use the fan, I meant use it in place of the SFF21F if you're using an Ultra-120 heatsink.

For the case, yes I am. The stock cooling might not feel like it's doing much, but it gets the job done, and gets it done quietly as well.

 

Ok, well i guess I got the case down.
Just one more thing......After the TRU, what is your second choice for a hsf?? One that would not need me to buy another fan or anything (because I'm not sure how to mount it on to the heatsink)?

 

The heatsink comes with the instructions for attaching the fan - it's pretty easy to do, but a little fiddly.
Attaching a high-end CPU cooler is a much more complex task.

 

Isn't the TRU a high-end cooler and expensive??
I need something cheaper. I am also worried about the size of some coolers. Is the blackline big enough to support, say, a Tuniq Tower or a Thermaltake CL-P0114?

Can anybody suggest another hsf?? I heard yateloons are really good, but impossible to get.

 

Yate Loon make fans, not heatsinks.

The Thermalright Ultra coolers are cheaper than the Tuniqs where I've looked, and are better than the Thermaltakes. I use one in an NZXT Lexa, so I can confirm it fits.

 

This is really off topic, but do you know a good component to get at Best Buy that is around $110. I have gift cards and want to save a little money on this build. How is this WD Hard Drive for $100 (here)?

 

mrk44,

Not on top of it, on the desk in front of the computer. I'm crazy (just ask greensman LOL!!), but I'm not that crazy! LOL!! I have a standard 5 ft desk that's 30" deep and the computer can't sit too far back because of the drapes so I put my coffee cup right in front of the computer. There's only a space about 6" to put it in so a full door for me, is out.

I saw Mort81's post where he mentioned the AF7-Pro cooler. The Arctic Freezer 7 Pro is an excellent cooler. I think this thread goes a bit overboard when it comes to CPU cooling. My E6750 runs nice and cool overclocked from 2.66GHz to 3.55GHz and temperatures have never been an issue. Unless you plan on an extreme overclock, a Freezer 7 should be just fine. More often than not when the temps get too high, it has more to do with the ability of the case's ventilation than the ability of the CPU cooler!

For guys like Mort, NuckNFuts and anyone wanting to go with a real Extreme OC, I can see them, or for someone like Sam that wants a silent PC, but about 90% of the time you really don't need to spend that much money. It just isn't worth it or necessary! Before I catch all kinds of Hell, yes it will run cooler, but just to lower my idle temp from 27-29C idle and 53C max at full load with OCCT makes no sense to me at all. At max temps I'm still almost 20C below the point that throttling even kicks in at my max temp! I'm not going to do much improving on these temps!



It's been on constantly for the last 12 hours or so! Depending on the price at the time, I can get 2 to 3 Freezer 7 Pros for the cost of 1 TRUE. I can't even fit one in my case unless I remove the side cover fan, something I'm not willing to do. The TRUE is a great cooler if you need it, but overkill to me, if you don't! I've had "heaters" with both the 3.0 Prescot and a 3.2 Presler Dual core and have never needed more than a Zalman 9500 for the Prescot at 3.84GHz! The Presler, also at 3.84GHz had a Freezer 7 pro installed after the Zalman peed on my MB. I use the Freezer series for every build I do, including overclocks with no problems with temps!

As far as the case ventilation on the Lexa Blackline, it has very good airflow and I will add a Silverstone FM83 80mm fan to the top running at minimum speed, and if I need more airflow, I'll just turn up the control that comes with it that mounts in any case slot in the back of the computer. I also read all 78 reviews of the Blackline at Newegg and not one person complained about cooling problems with it! One guy did complain about the filters cutting down the airflow, but you'll have to ask Sam about that one!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

theonejrs:
I would go with the Artic Freezer 7 Pro, but I don't know if it's quiet, which is what I want in my hsf. Is it loud, or do you think i can live with its noise?
For my case, I decided to go with the CM Cosmos. I can get one for $99.99 and I read EVERYWHERE that it is one of the quietest cases you can get. All I have to do is replace the 120mm fans in the back with some better ones that have better airflow. Can you recommend any quiet ones?
Thanks.

The build I have come up with so far is EXTREMELY cheap. Comes up to less than $1100, w/ a P5E X38 AND Q9450, COSMOS Case, Dominator 2GB RAM, and other stuff. AMAZING!!!

 

mrk44,

It's very quiet. Much quieter than a Zalman 9500LED! The only time I ever hear it is when running OCCT, and you really have to listen for it. Replacement fans are cheap and it takes no tools and about a minute to change and you don't have to remove the cooler to change one!

Russ

 

Yeah, then I think I will get an arctic freezer 7 pro. I won't get the COSMOS 1000 and I'll switch back to the Lexa Blackline. I hope this turns out to be quiet.....

theonejrs and sammorris:You guys said me that I wouldn't need to change the case fans on the Lexa because they are already quiet with good airflow, right?. But the reviews say that they do not move much air. Do you think I should change them??

 

The Freezer 7 Pro takes 92mm fans, not 120. I'm still gonna say go with the Xigmatek cooler if you are on a Budget. It seriously much better than a Freezer 7 Pro, I know I've used two in the past. The Freezer 7 Pro is an excellent cooler, don't get me wrong, but the Xigmatek almost matches the Performance of a TRUE!

Russ, there is a big temp difference between running an OCed Dual core and an overclocked Quad Core. I guess since he is getting a Q9450 it will be less of a problem.

 

abuzar: If I get the Xigmatek, which fan should I use to replace the one it came with to make it quieter? And isn't it quite big?

 

mrk44,

I just dl'ed the manual for the P5E. it has 2 chassis fan headers on the mobo which can be controlled through Q-fan in the bios. you can set them at 60%, 70%, 80% or 90% or you can disable Q-fan and run them at 100%. no need for a fan controller for two fans anyway.