Silent, But Deadly: Build Your Own Gaming-Ready 0 dB PC

[virgult]

Why didn't they use the Radeon 7750 in the first place? Sapphire sells a brilliant passive version of all the mid-level AMD cards

 

[virgult]

Moreover, since we're talking about a Trinity APU, I'd have preferred the older Sapphire Radeon 6670 Ultimate (passive) to achieve hybrid crossfire with the A10. I'd be very curious to see how this setup fares against a GTX 650.

 

[smeezekitty]

Some of the intel CPUs built for low power like a i3-3220 would run cooler then just use something like a passive 7750 for graphics.

AMD CPUs tend to run HOT and thus are not so good for passive operation.

 

[NoCaDrummer]

"0 dB"
Does anyone here realize that the decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear? It is a ratio of a measured quantity to a reference quantity.
That means that there IS a possibility of negative dB numbers. However, virtually any indoor environment (home, office) is far noisier than "zero dB" (which is defined as a sound pressure level of .0002 microbars), generally because of lighting, appliances, HVAC, traffic, outdoor wind noises, animals, etc.

 

[computertech82]

This is far more a media or office machine, NOT a gaming machine. Even my VERY AGING x2 4000+ and ati 5730 will stomp some of these builds, simply by my video card. Would not be surprised if these 2 core cpus ran similar to mine. Not enough for hd. (my screen is 1680x1080).
I would be interested in a REAL gaming machine being quiet as possible. (i5 3750 at least, similar or better video card like mine, even just a single card-probably what most have/use ). hd monitor.

 

[shipandcarry]

"Thermals shouldn't be a problem so long as your air conditioner is working in the middle of summer." which means it isn't really silent as it requires an active (and expensive) cooling system. How would this system fare in the middle of the summer without an air conditioner ? It would definitely throttle down, probably with frequent freezes and possibly with hardware failures.

 

[FormatC]

It works with an ambient temperature of 25-27°C with stressing the GPU and CPU part at the same time. It works also up to 30°C in normal gaming situations. More is not possible but who has 30°C in his rooms? Ok, I'm living in Europe...

 

[g-unit1111]

I'd love to see Tom's take an existing build and turn it into a completely silent PC and show that procedure and how it's done.

I'd be willing to volunteer with my 500R or Graphite 600T. 😀

 

[royalcrown]

It seems to me the law of diminishing returns applies here. A $20 Xigmatek Gaia and a 500RPM fan will be inaudible in a closed case, and be a lot easier to handle. A similar low-speed case fan will keep some air moving over the mobo's VRMs and through the PSU as well.

I have to agree with ONUS here, I think you need to listen to the varios fans on youtube though, it's not JUST how loud they are, it's the pich and frequiecy of the "loudness" as well, certain frequencys of noise are more annoying even when they are "quieter" so to speak. This is because human beings are more sensitive to higher sounds in general than lower ones. For me, a relatively loud airflow "whoosh" is far preferrable to a very quiet "whine" or "ticking" of some PWM fans.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CoolingTechnique

 

[peterf28]

i wanted to build a really silent PC --- but in the end guess what is the LOUDEST component ---

it is the MAINBOARD because when the cpu is under load the capacitors on the mainboard make a high pitch squaling noise -- not caused by moving part or air --- but caused by electricity !!!!! i'am really diassapointed

 

[smeezekitty]

i wanted to build a really silent PC --- but in the end guess what is the LOUDEST component ---

it is the MAINBOARD because when the cpu is under load the capacitors on the mainboard make a high pitch squaling noise -- not caused by moving part or air --- but caused by electricity !!!!! i'am really diassapointed

It is very true switching converters can make an audible whine in some cases.
This includes the PSU, CPU VRMs and GPU VRMs.

Some motherboards are worse then others and you may have gotten a bad one.

 

[royalcrown]

Get a really loud fan to cover up the vrm noise...problem solved 😉 hehe

 

[Brian Rogers]

Could you fit a 680gtx in that case?

 

[Brian Rogers]

So, would a full sized video card fit in this case? Such as an nVidia 680gtx?

 

[royalcrown]

It looks like you can fit it fine, it's got space in the center..

http://cdn.overclock.net/a/a8/a8f7211c_6249785498_fe5efbc6be_b.jpeg

http://www.overclock.net/t/1068487/silverstone-tj08-e-owners-club

 

[royalcrown]

"0 dB"
Does anyone here realize that the decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear? It is a ratio of a measured quantity to a reference quantity.
That means that there IS a possibility of negative dB numbers. However, virtually any indoor environment (home, office) is far noisier than "zero dB" (which is defined as a sound pressure level of .0002 microbars), generally because of lighting, appliances, HVAC, traffic, outdoor wind noises, animals, etc.

Yes and every 3 decibel increase represents a doubling of apparent power...

 

[royalcrown]

Brian, if you want to hear my 680's loudness and see it, I'll post it tomorrow. You'd be surprised how quiet the Asus ones are. Toms has a video of the 660 on here and this just as quiet because the cooler is ridiculously large.

I can't find the toms one, but look at the cooler, that is why the fans are so quiet.

oopsie: here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY5BRAuRRrI

 

[Brian Rogers]

Royalcrown, I have a 680gtx already. It's not that loud for me. I was just wondering if they would fit into this case that is being used in this quiet setup.

 

[royalcrown]

oh okay.

 

[peterf28]

i build silnet PC but the loudest component is now the mainboard ---- because the capacitors make a high squealing noise when under load --- it is not mechanical issue but the electricity itselft makes this sound

 

[06yfz450ridr]

This is far more a media or office machine, NOT a gaming machine. Even my VERY AGING x2 4000+ and ati 5730 will stomp some of these builds, simply by my video card. Would not be surprised if these 2 core cpus ran similar to mine. Not enough for hd. (my screen is 1680x1080).
I would be interested in a REAL gaming machine being quiet as possible. (i5 3750 at least, similar or better video card like mine, even just a single card-probably what most have/use ). hd monitor.

a real gaming cpu would fry using this cooler. esp amds cpus.

 

[smeezekitty]

This is far more a media or office machine, NOT a gaming machine. Even my VERY AGING x2 4000+ and ati 5730 will stomp some of these builds, simply by my video card. Would not be surprised if these 2 core cpus ran similar to mine. Not enough for hd. (my screen is 1680x1080).
I would be interested in a REAL gaming machine being quiet as possible. (i5 3750 at least, similar or better video card like mine, even just a single card-probably what most have/use ). hd monitor.

a real gaming cpu would fry using this cooler. esp amds cpus.

Yeah but it is a compromise for being fanless. It can still run older/lighter games without much issue.

 

[royalcrown]

I would say drivers make a difference too, I re installed windows last night and the fans are noisier on my 680 than with Nvidias driver. I could actually hear my video card with the case door open in front vs Nvidias driver. No big deal either way but just something to talk about when we speak of the "quietness" of stuff like fans.

 

[ericjohn004]

I think this was a great article. The main thing with this build was the noise. And low noise equals low heat. Personally I would have gone with a 55w core i5 or at least a 35w i3 and a passively cooled 7770 by sapphire, as this would have been a far more capable gaming/general computing machine, especially with the i5 quad core part. And you can't tell me that CPU cooler can't cool a 55w i5 if it can cool a 65w AMD APU. I don't even think you'd need a fan with the i5 and 7770.

I just think you could have built a far more powerful machine especially since money seemed to be no object in this article. I don't see a reason to go with the bear necessities as far as CPU/GPU are concerned with money being no object.

I liked the choice of case, SSD, cooler, MoBo, PSU, BluRay drive,(even though that model is 199.99, kinda expensive, don't you think?)IDK what RAM you used as you should have put some 1.35v Corsair, and you should have explained what RAM you did use. And I appreciated how much detail you had in this article too. It was very well thought out, and extremely professional, as I come to expect from Tom's. I also don't know why you used the 5400k instead of the 5500, as the 5500 is the better APU, especially on the GPU side of things. Maybe that would have been the perfect blend of performance and heat.

 

[mctylr]

we know that wasting power by buying too large of a power supply (and consequently not optimizing for efficiency

Um, No. That's the entire point of Active PFC (power factor correction). Which is the foundation of computer power supplies that bear EnergyStar ratings ("80 Plus", Silver, Gold, etc.), is that it adjusts its power factor so as to optimize circuit, so that when operating at a lower percentage of its total capacity it does remain efficient.