Quiet Gaming Rig

[xRenol]

I need recommendation for a quiet gaming rig.

Budget: $1.5K only for CPU

Thanks.

My initial list:
CPU & Mobo: i5-4750 + AsRock H87 Performance
CPU Cooler: Antec Kuhler H20
Ram: G.Skill RipJaws X 1866mhz 8GB (Prefer G.Skill or Kingston)
ODD: ASUS DVD Writer
SSD: SanDisk Ultra Plus 256GB
HDD: WD 1TB Blue
GPU: ASUS GTX660 / GTX760 (Prefer ASUS)
Case: Corsair 330R
PSU: Seasonic G Series 550W
OS: Not required

 

[mistersatki_]

ur quiet will depend on ur fan speed for ur gpu / cpu / case fans
i think the corsair wan got silencing effect iirc

seems not bad my fren also using

 

[xRenol]

ur quiet will depend on ur fan speed for ur gpu / cpu / case fans
i think the corsair wan got silencing effect iirc

seems not bad my fren also using

Do you mean the Corsair Obsidian Series® 550D?

 

[nipp0n]

Do you intend to oc?

 

[xRenol]

Do you intend to oc?

Probably in the future.

 

[nipp0n]

Probably in the future.

If you intend to oc, you will need to add more fans to cool the rig. And Antec liquid cooler is rather noisy when cooling.

If a quiet gaming rig is your main priority, I will suggest you go non oc rig.

 

[ASUS@SG]

Intel core i7 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V $ 557-3yrs
Ram: G.skill 1333mhz 4Gb x 2 $ 48
ODD: Asus DVD RW $30
HDD: Hitachi 500Gb $65 -3yrs
SSD: Plextor M5 Pro Sata3 $155
GPU: Asus HD7870 Direct Cu II $385 -3yrs
Case & PSU: Sharkoon MS140 USB3.0 + Andyson G Plus 450w $122
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bits $110

Total: $1472

Additional:
Cooling: Corsair H60 AIO Water-Cooling $107

Asus P8Z77-V Review*[Free Counter-Strike Go]
HOOT! Asus P8Z77-V Mainstream Review! [5.0Ghz!] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

"Get Asus AMD Graphic card and use 12.11 beta boost performance and
Free games : Far Cry 3 and 20% off for Medal of Honor: Warfighter games*"
AMD Release 12.11 Beta 7 [Never Settle] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

 

[nipp0n]

Intel core i7 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V $ 557-3yrs
Ram: G.skill 1333mhz 4Gb x 2 $ 48
ODD: Asus DVD RW $30
HDD: Hitachi 500Gb $65 -3yrs
SSD: Plextor M5 Pro Sata3 $155
GPU: Asus HD7870 Direct Cu II $385 -3yrs
Case & PSU: Sharkoon MS140 USB3.0 + Andyson G Plus 450w $122
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bits $110

Total: $1472

Additional:
Cooling: Corsair H60 AIO Water-Cooling $107

Asus P8Z77-V Review*[Free Counter-Strike Go]
HOOT! Asus P8Z77-V Mainstream Review! [5.0Ghz!] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

"Get Asus AMD Graphic card and use 12.11 beta boost performance and
Free games : Far Cry 3 and 20% off for Medal of Honor: Warfighter games*"
AMD Release 12.11 Beta 7 [Never Settle] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

Asus Z77 V is ATX form factor right? I don't think it can fit into Sharkoon MS140 mATX case.

Also, you got a typo. It's i5-3570k. Not i7.

 

[ASUS@SG]

Asus Z77 V is ATX form factor right? I don't think it can fit into Sharkoon MS140 mATX case.

oh i listed wrong casing corrected!

Intel core i7 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V $ 557-3yrs
Ram: G.skill 1333mhz 4Gb x 2 $ 48
ODD: Asus DVD RW $30
HDD: Hitachi 500Gb $65 -3yrs
SSD: Plextor M5 Pro Sata3 $155
GPU: Asus HD7870 Direct Cu II $385 -3yrs
Case & PSU: Xigmatek Asgard Pro USB 3.0 Side window + Andyson G Plus 450w $142
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bits $110

Total: $1494

Additional:
Cooling: Corsair H60 AIO Water-Cooling $107

Asus P8Z77-V Review*[Free Counter-Strike Go]
HOOT! Asus P8Z77-V Mainstream Review! [5.0Ghz!] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

"Get Asus AMD Graphic card and use 12.11 beta boost performance and
Free games : Far Cry 3 and 20% off for Medal of Honor: Warfighter games*"
AMD Release 12.11 Beta 7 [Never Settle] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

 

[xRenol]

oh i listed wrong casing corrected!

Intel core i7 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V $ 557-3yrs
Ram: G.skill 1333mhz 4Gb x 2 $ 48 - Can get 1600mhz?
ODD: Asus DVD RW $30 - Not required
HDD: Hitachi 500Gb $65 -3yrs - Not required
SSD: Plextor M5 Pro Sata3 $155 - This better than Intel 330 / Intel 520?
GPU: Asus HD7870 Direct Cu II $385 -3yrs - This generates more heat than GeForce right?
Case & PSU: Xigmatek Asgard Pro USB 3.0 Side window + Andyson G Plus 450w $142
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bits $110 - Not required

Total: $1494

Additional:
Cooling: Corsair H60 AIO Water-Cooling $107

Asus P8Z77-V Review*[Free Counter-Strike Go]
HOOT! Asus P8Z77-V Mainstream Review! [5.0Ghz!] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

"Get Asus AMD Graphic card and use 12.11 beta boost performance and
Free games : Far Cry 3 and 20% off for Medal of Honor: Warfighter games*"
AMD Release 12.11 Beta 7 [Never Settle] - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

Any chasis similar to Alienware X51?

 

[nipp0n]

Any chasis similar to Alienware X51?

Guess you miss out my points, just wanna let you know again.

If you intend to oc, you will need to add more fans to cool the rig which will generate more noise. And Antec liquid cooler is rather noisy when cooling.

If a quiet gaming rig is your main priority, I will suggest you go non oc rig.

To add on, oc is going to generate more heat, and you will need more space for ventilation. Also, going for such a slim chassis, will have problem mounting the CPU cooler. Furthermore, such a slim chassis + heat generates from oc and gpu, it's a pretty much sucidal set up.

 

[nipp0n]

Quiet non-OC rig
CPU & Mobo: i5-3470 & Asrock B75 Pro 3M @ $347
Ram: G.Skill 1600mhz 2x4GB @ $54
SSD: Plextor M5P 128GB @ $155
GPU: Powercolor 7950 PCS @ $409
Case: Fractal Design R4 @ $149
PSU: Seasonic X 550W @ $148

Total: $1262
Buy and build at PC Themes.

Fractal Design R4 is made with sound dampening material keep noise level to minimum. Seasonic X 550W noise and ripple level is also extremely low, it comes with 7 years warranty and if i'm not wrong, Seasonic X is a fully modular psu while M12 is semi modular.

AMD 7950 performance is much better than GTX660. However, the trade-off is that it runs slightly hotter than Asus GTX 660.

Powercolor 7950 PCS

Asus GTX 660

Overall performance chart after AMD Catalyst Update.

 

[nipp0n]

OC rig
CPU & Mobo: i5-3570k & Asrock Extreme 4 @ $475
CPU Cooler: Noctua DH-14 @ $133
Ram: G.Skill 1600mhz 2x4GB @ $54
SSD: Plextor M5P 128GB @ $155
GPU: Powercolor 7950 PCS @ $409
Case: Fractal Design R4 @ $149
PSU: Seasonic X 550W @ $148

Total: $1523
Buy and build at PC Themes.

 

[xRenol]

Quiet non-OC rig
CPU & Mobo: i5-3470 & Asrock B75 Pro 3M @ $347
Ram: G.Skill 1600mhz 2x4GB @ $54
SSD: Plextor M5P 128GB @ $155
GPU: Powercolor 7950 PCS @ $409
Case: Fractal Design R4 @ $149
PSU: Seasonic X 550W @ $148

Total: $1262
Buy and build at PC Themes.

Fractal Design R4 is made with sound dampening material keep noise level to minimum. Seasonic X 550W noise and ripple level is also extremely low, it comes with 7 years warranty and if i'm not wrong, Seasonic X is a fully modular psu while M12 is semi modular.

AMD 7950 performance is much better than GTX660. However, the trade-off is that it runs slightly hotter than Asus GTX 660.

Powercolor 7950 PCS

Asus GTX 660

Overall performance chart after AMD Catalyst Update.

OC rig
CPU & Mobo: i5-3570k & Asrock Extreme 4 @ $475
CPU Cooler: Noctua DH-14 @ $133
Ram: G.Skill 1600mhz 2x4GB @ $54
SSD: Plextor M5P 128GB @ $155
GPU: Powercolor 7950 PCS @ $409
Case: Fractal Design R4 @ $149
PSU: Seasonic X 550W @ $148

Total: $1523
Buy and build at PC Themes.

Thanks for your recommendation.

If possible, are you able to provide your inputs for the questions below so that I can also learn along the way.

1. Why do you recommend G.Skill rather then Kingston?
2. The G.Skill 1600mhz is Ripjaw-X, Ripjaw-Z or Sniper?
3. Is Intel 330/520 SSD good as I never used Plextor before?
4. Is Fractal Design Define R4 flimsy?

Thanks.

 

[nipp0n]

Thanks for your recommendation.

If possible, are you able to provide your inputs for the questions below so that I can also learn along the way.

1. Why do you recommend G.Skill rather then Kingston?
2. The G.Skill 1600mhz is Ripjaw-X, Ripjaw-Z or Sniper?
3. Is Intel 330/520 SSD good as I never used Plextor before?
4. Is Fractal Design Define R4 flimsy?

Thanks.

For your ram question, I recommended G.Skill value ram that uses black pcb which looks better compared to Kingston green pcb. Both are equally good but the black pcb will look better with the Mobo.

For SSD, I think both Intel 520 and Plextor M5P are equally good and come with 5 years warranty. Intel 330 comes with only 3 years warranty and performance is not as good as the first 2 I mentioned.

Fractal Design R4 is not flimsy.

 

[ASUS@SG]

Intel core i7 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V $ 557-3yrs
Ram: G.Skill RipJawZ 1600 Dual-channel 2x4GB $67
SSD: Plextor M5 Pro Sata3 $155 - Performance faster then Intel 330/550
GPU: Asus HD7870 Direct Cu II $385 -3yrs - AMD ZeroCore technology lower gpu temp and ASUS Direct CU II Cooling perform 20% cooler
Case & PSU: Xigmatek Asgard Pro USB 3.0 Side window + Andyson G Plus 450w $142

Total: $1306

Additional:
Cooling: Corsair H60 AIO Water-Cooling $107

Asus P8Z77-V Review*[Free Counter-Strike Go]
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/h...77-v-mainstream-review-[5-0ghz-]-3944253.html

Get Asus AMD Graphic card and use 12.11 beta boost performance and
Free games : Far Cry 3 and 20% off for Medal of Honor: Warfighter games
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/h...ease-12-11-beta-7-[never-settle]-3977916.html


AMD ZeroCore Power Technology
AMD ZeroCore Power Technology leverages AMD's leadership in notebook power efficiency to grant our desktop GPUs the ability to power down when your monitor is off, also known as the "long idle state."3

Click to enlarge This is great for those times when you've stepped away from your PC to take a call, watch TV, or pop down to the store. Furthermore, AMD ZeroCore Power allows additional GPUs in an AMD CrossFire™ technology configuration to shut off when they're not in use-even the fan stops spinning!
An AMD-exclusive technology, AMD ZeroCore Power ensures that unused or idle GPUs are as efficient as possible.

Even the most hardcore gamer with an AMD CrossFire™ multi-gpu configuration benefits from AMD ZeroCore Power. Unused or idle GPUs are shut down until needed to conserve power.

Why choose ASUS VGA Direct Cu II?
ASUS DirectCU-II is extreme Cooling, With 8mm nickel plated heat-pipes bending out from beneath the plastic shroud, DirectCU-II is designed to soak up every watt of heat from the GPU secured beneath it. Two low-profile 74mm fans drive air down through aluminum heatsink fins.

 

[ov2rey]

nipp0n & TS side note for you guys.


Powercolor used ref PCB same as AMD ref PCB design, unlike ASUS/MSI they used redesign PCB and added more layer and power phase, result more cooling/Lower temperature and lower power leakage.

nipp0n u taking other country weather to compare
SG country temp is around 30+degree. wonder how powercolor vga card handle the heat, when overclocking or max stressing? compare to MSI and ASUS.

if casing side panel do not have airflow for gpu? powercolor?

 

[xRenol]

Intel core i7 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V $ 557-3yrs
Ram: G.Skill RipJawZ 1600 Dual-channel 2x4GB $67
SSD: Plextor M5 Pro Sata3 $155 - Performance faster then Intel 330/550
GPU: Asus HD7870 Direct Cu II $385 -3yrs - AMD ZeroCore technology lower gpu temp and ASUS Direct CU II Cooling perform 20% cooler
Case & PSU: Xigmatek Asgard Pro USB 3.0 Side window + Andyson G Plus 450w $142

Total: $1306

Additional:
Cooling: Corsair H60 AIO Water-Cooling $107

Is Corsair H55 better than H60 according to Closing the Loop: Contained Liquid-Coolers from Corsair and NZXT Compared

 

[nipp0n]

Is Corsair H55 better than H60 according to Closing the Loop: Contained Liquid-Coolers from Corsair and NZXT Compared

Liquid CPU cooler will be quite noisy. Suggest you go for heat sink cooler.

 

[goenitz33]

Liquid CPU cooler will be quite noisy. Suggest you go for heat sink cooler.

Liquid Cooling is dependent on both the pump and fan used on the rad.

seriously the Antec Pump is quite ok, in fact i dont hear any noise from it.

the Antec Fan is also quite silent.

thus i would reckon it is the same for the Corsair.