[SOLVED] How loud (in dB) should my PC's fans be?

[Muhamwave]

I'm looking into buying a PC. A main component of a PC is its cooling. A common factor associated with these fans are its noise level (shown in dB). What dB should I be looking for?

 

[kanewolf]

Loudness is one aspect, but frequency of the noise is the other. A 30db low frequency noise might be tolerable, but if it is higher frequency it might be annoying.
List the case and any other cooling components you have.

 

[Bearmann]

I wouldn't look for a certain decibel level. I would list your case and components and budget and ask here for recommendations as to which fans and how many.

 

[Muhamwave]

Here is the build with the components. It's still a work in progress. My budget is around AU$2500.

 

[kanewolf]

If quiet is a consideration, get an air cooler rather than a liquid cooler.

An MX500 M.2 SSD is not an NVMe. It is SATA. It will perform just like a 2.5 inch, but costs more.

 

[Muhamwave]

If quiet is a consideration, get an air cooler rather than a liquid cooler.

An MX500 M.2 SSD is not an NVMe. It is SATA. It will perform just like a 2.5 inch, but costs more.

What NVMe SSD's do you recommend within my budget? My purpose for this PC is gaming, social media and internet browsing (YouTube and Reddit).

 

[kanewolf]

What NVMe SSD's do you recommend within my budget? My purpose for this PC is gaming, social media and internet browsing (YouTube and Reddit).

The HP EX900 are a great value -- Tom's has a best SSD list for other options -- https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891.html

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Here some tweaks including a better CPU, quieter cooler, and better SSD listed above.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor | $358.00 @ Shopping Express
CPU Cooler | Deepcool - GAMMAXX 400 74.34 CFM CPU Cooler | $35.00 @ Mwave Australia
Motherboard | Asus - PRIME B450M-A Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $122.00 @ Austin Computers
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $175.00 @ Shopping Express
Storage | HP - EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $249.70 @ Newegg Australia
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $80.00 @ Austin Computers
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card | $439.31 @ Amazon Australia
Case | Fractal Design - Focus G Mini (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $79.00 @ IJK
Power Supply | SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $118.00 @ Skycomp Technology
Optical Drive | LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer | $74.07 @ Amazon Australia
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit |-
Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link - TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter | $17.00 @ Device Deal
Case Fan | be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 120 51.4 CFM 120mm Fan | $15.00 @ PCCaseGear
Case Fan | Corsair - LL140 RGB LED (TwoFans With Lighting Node PRO) 51.5 CFM 140mm Fans | $99.00 @ Austin Computers
Monitor | Asus - VP228H 21.5" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor | $147.00 @ Skycomp Technology
Keyboard | Corsair - K68 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard | $155.00 @ PCCaseGear
Mouse | Corsair - M65 PRO RGB FPS Wired Optical Mouse | $70.40 @ Newegg Australia
Headphones | Corsair - HS60 Surround (Black) 7.1 Channel Headset | $78.44 @ Amazon Australia
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2311.92
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-07 23:10 AEST+1000 |
The gamaxx cooler is a little better than the hyper 212 and it cost less. I believe it has a lower tone and lower percived noise level from memory.
Ryzen 7 2700 has 2 more cores and is a good deal right not.
You dont need an nvme, but if it fits in budget it's recommended.

 

[Bearmann]

I prefer air coolers and if you use an 240 AIO in the top of the case you may not be able to fit a rear fan. You would have to make your top AIO the exhaust, but that is OK. Here it is mentioned on the focus G, not the focus G mini.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWzYYLSNd1k


remixislandmusic has a nice build above, but if you are overclocking I would get a a nice, quiet Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B air cooler. The pure wings 2 is a good choice for a quiet fan.

 

[Muhamwave]

Here some tweaks including a better CPU, quieter cooler, and better SSD listed above.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor | $358.00 @ Shopping Express
CPU Cooler | Deepcool - GAMMAXX 400 74.34 CFM CPU Cooler | $35.00 @ Mwave Australia
Motherboard | Asus - PRIME B450M-A Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $122.00 @ Austin Computers
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $175.00 @ Shopping Express
Storage | HP - EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $249.70 @ Newegg Australia
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $80.00 @ Austin Computers
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card | $439.31 @ Amazon Australia
Case | Fractal Design - Focus G Mini (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $79.00 @ IJK
Power Supply | SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $118.00 @ Skycomp Technology
Optical Drive | LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer | $74.07 @ Amazon Australia
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit |-
Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link - TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter | $17.00 @ Device Deal
Case Fan | be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 120 51.4 CFM 120mm Fan | $15.00 @ PCCaseGear
Case Fan | Corsair - LL140 RGB LED (TwoFans With Lighting Node PRO) 51.5 CFM 140mm Fans | $99.00 @ Austin Computers
Monitor | Asus - VP228H 21.5" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor | $147.00 @ Skycomp Technology
Keyboard | Corsair - K68 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard | $155.00 @ PCCaseGear
Mouse | Corsair - M65 PRO RGB FPS Wired Optical Mouse | $70.40 @ Newegg Australia
Headphones | Corsair - HS60 Surround (Black) 7.1 Channel Headset | $78.44 @ Amazon Australia
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2311.92
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-07 23:10 AEST+1000 |
The gamaxx cooler is a little better than the hyper 212 and it cost less. I believe it has a lower tone and lower percived noise level from memory.
Ryzen 7 2700 has 2 more cores and is a good deal right not.
You dont need an nvme, but if it fits in budget it's recommended.

Thanks! This build is definitely in my budget and even the slightest improvements mean a lot!

 

[Muhamwave]

I prefer air coolers and if you use an 240 AIO in the top of the case you may not be able to fit a rear fan. You would have to make your top AIO the exhaust, but that is OK. Here it is mentioned on the focus G, not the focus G mini.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWzYYLSNd1k


remixislandmusic has a nice build above, but if you are overclocking I would get a a nice, quiet Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B air cooler. The pure wings 2 is a good choice for a quiet fan.

Yeah, someone else mentioned how the liquid cpu cooler would have to be an exhaust. I am not overclocking so I'll stick to remixislandmusic's build. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Bearmann]

Oh, remixislandmusic did the bulk of the work here. You should move your best answer to his post

 

[NightHawkRMX]

😀

 

[Karadjgne]

Just to throw in my 2¢, about noise levels, a bunch of bad info being flung around. Aios as such are not louder than air coolers, in fact many times just the opposite. Those biased opinions are entirely based on the old Corsair aios that used miserable fans that were loud, so aios got that reputation. It's a bunch of BS.

The ML240L is a very quiet cooler, the fans at max only hit 30db and on that cpu will never hit max without stress test. The cooler itself is superior to even the Mugen in ability, further reducing the ramping affect that happens to smaller aircoolers.

Simply put, you are looking at a 250w+ aio vs a 150-170w aircooler and there's a huge difference there. Set on silent mode, you'll probably never hear the ML's fans spin up.

You absolutely do not need a rear exhaust fan in any case with top mount fans with the exception of using a directed flow tower aircooler. Heat rises, hot air rises, it doesn't particularly like going 90° sideways when it can go straight up and out. The rear exhaust is a dinosaur idea leftover from old AT cases with solid tops. It's only still included in modern cases because of towers which will not mount vertically since they impede on the top pcie gpu position.

So loosing out on using a rear exhaust because of top mount aio isn't a consideration, it works just as well, if not better, as is.

I ran a nzxt X61 280mm aio as only exhaust for years, on a i7-3770k at 4.9GHz OC, and miss the silence since I 'moved up' to a cryorig R1 Ultimate that's audibly louder at a current 4.6GHz OC.

Everybody totes on AIO's and aircoolers being basically the same thing, just cooling in a different way. They aren't. Aios do not, cannot and will not respond to instant temp changes by the cpu and shouldn't have to, the way aircoolers need to. It take a massive amount of energy to raise that coolant even 1°C and that doesn't happen anywhere close to instantly like aircooling does. Stick a pan on a burner and see how long it takes for the water to get warm. Under liquid cooling, it doesn't matter what the exact temp of the cpu is, the cpu doesn't care if it's 45°or 65° it runs the same and doesn't affect temps of anything else to any degree. Not enough energy is changed. Watching cpu temps jump from idle to 55 means nothing. A constant 55 under gaming loads doesn't mean anything either, you aren't getting better or worse performance than a big air cooler getting 52°. As long as the aio can maintain temps under 70 under any conditions, it's working, regardless of what benchmarks claim.

You don't need NVMe drives for gaming. Waste of money. NVMe are only of any real use for large file transfers, in the range of 10Gb+. Games use small files, a few Kb or Mb at a time. Even boot times are next to useless as a measure. Regardless of actual speed, there's still a certain amount of info that's gotta be processed, that takes time. You shave a few seconds off boot at best. Otherwise the speeds attainable from Sata3 or NVMe are roughly the same, you still wait on the cpu.