So my rig is still going strong 10 years later:
i7-6700K
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Liquid cooled)
Z170A GAMING M7 (MS-7976)

But it makes noise! I hate noise!

So I'm starting my journey to make a totally silent PC. Don't care at all about looks, but less light the better. And little to no effort in maintenance. Price really isn't an issue. I mostly just play League/SC2, but I like knowing that I COULD play anything on my I've picked up a little bit here and there about going silent:
1. Don't fall for the passive cooling meme. (Really wanted this too )
2. Go for low heat CPU. Looking like the best one is 7800X3D
3. GPU. Not sure at all what to do here. I don't if I should do liquid cooling again, as it does make noise, but others say it is quieter than any fan?
4. Mobo. Whatever's compatible?
5. You can't guaranteed avoid the "whine". Everything has a chance of having it, you just have to test and RMA. The noise I'm trying to avoid the most, as my current rig's is noticeable. Ugh.
6. RAM. Apparently DDR4 is better??? Probably going 64GB.
7. Case/fans. Anything from noctua/be quiet!
8. Monitor. I'm pretty happy with my 144hz, but I'm giving it away. I messed up last time and got a freesync monitor with a gsync card...
9. Storage. I'm gonna need 2TB main. Another 2TB as a secondary. And a 4TB external backup.
10. Just got a set of HD600 headphones. Guess I need a soundcard amp+dac thing to make it better though? I think I'm fine with me klipsitch 2.1 speakers.
11. Power. I like to go a little over, and not cheap out. I just worry about The Whine

Guessing it this would run me around 2-3k?

I'm also heavily considering doing this ON TOP of all the noise reduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8IYsQ6QVp8

Be gentle.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Dec 2 2024, 8:38 pm by ClansAreForGays.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($509.32 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 G2 LBC 91.58 CFM CPU Cooler ($160.44 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ProArt X870E-CREATOR WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($513.59 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6800 CL34 Memory ($235.39 @ Amazon)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($149.76 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($160.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial BX500 4 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($213.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus PRIME OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($631.29 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec P101 Silent ATX Mid Tower Case ($110.36 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power 13 1000 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($235.29 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: be quiet! Silent Wings 4 51.3 CFM 140 mm Fan ($25.57 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: be quiet! Silent Wings 4 51.3 CFM 140 mm Fan ($25.57 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: be quiet! Silent Wings 4 51.3 CFM 140 mm Fan ($25.57 @ Amazon)
Fan Controller: Noctua NA-FH1 Fan Controller ($37.34 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell Alienware AW2724DM 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor ($320.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: Cable Matters Aluminum USB 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps External Hard Drive Enclosure (USB C to SATA SSD/HDD) USB-C USB-A Cables - Thunderbolt 3 Port Compatible ($26.74 @ Amazon)
Custom: Zen DAC V3 - Desktop Digital Analog Converter ($245.03 @ Amazon)
Total: $3626.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-02 18:45 EST-0500


Over budget but this is a starting point and we'll discuss your options as we go here.

Yes, passive cooling is a meme once you go above a certain line of performance. If you want the ability to run anything/everything, you're going to have to deal with that. That said, SC2 and League are laughably easy things to run and if you don't NEED more than that we can actually downspec everything considerably and save you a lot of money, possibly even going into passive cooling territory. But we can explore that route if and when you say so, my mandate here is to try and design you a great machine and keep it quiet for now.

You are correct the 7800X3D is one of the most attractive processors on the market currently, however, the 9800X3D which is unobtanium right now is even better. Its a more advanced node (5nm vs 4nm), a newer architecture, and in theory will need less power to do the same work. If you can wait for the 9800X3D to be back in stock / a reasonable price, I would.

The second generation D15 LBC is perfect for quietly cooling either CPU, and is pretty much the top end of CPU coolers. There are other options, but for the noise conscious user, this is pretty much all you need to consider.

I don't know what the fuck you're talking about with "DDR4 is better" because its entirely unspecific as to how. DDR5 very obviously has advantages over DDR4 otherwise they would not have made it. Bandwidth, error correction, latest memory improvements, we can go all the way to talking about IC design if you want but I don't think you do. Spec'd for 64GB but if you want less you can get by with less. RAM is cheap, quick, and easy, much like your mom.

For mobo this is a bit of an overkill board but personally I am not touching a single NIC / single gigabit only board anymore. Its about to be 2025 and multigig connections are where we are. I have a 2Gbps down / 1Gbps up package from the wall with 5Gbps already available if I wanted it. So, for a multi-gig multi-nic board, this is what I'd recommend, you can go another way if you want to.

Storage:
WD SN850X Primary, P41 Platinum as Secondary, and the BX500 you can throw into the external enclosure I've selected to satisfy your requirements. Never buy a prebuilt/preassembled external, always put your own together. Its two pieces and you can control the quality of the drive you get.

GPU is a 4070 Super and is extreme overkill for SC2/LoL. It has enough power and video memory for the monitor I've selected (1440p), and can do pretty much whatever. Its a 3 fan model so you shouldn't need to run them hard to cool it and thus can keep it quiet. You can cut cost here by a few hundred bucks going lower if you want to.

Case:
This is the big choice for a build like this and so we went with Antec's P101 Silent. Very few cases on market today still have sound-treated panels and a cover door over the front mesh, but this one does. It also has enough mounts for us to replace the stock fans with 3x Silent Wings 4s on the fan controller I've selected so you can tune them at exactly the level you find acceptable for your room. 2 in, one out.

The Dark Power 13 is a well reviewed PSU that is at the near top of every PSU tier list I can find. It has more than enough power for this build, sports a large fan, and should be overkill for this task. We could shave dollars here too if you want to.

As much as the Alienware name has been besmirched by Dell, they still make one hell of a display with some of their larger ones being top dogs on the market. This one offers us 1440p, 165hz, HDR 600, and can do Free or G Sync without issue.

Finally, audio: The Zen Dac V3 is an excellent choice for someone who is getting into the audio game and has not yet expanded into dedicated amps/dacs and the like. While I personally despise Sennheisers, audio is very subjective, and to that end the Zen Dac is a very neutral and versatile solution that is priced well to suit your need. I had the Zen Dac V2 and used it for a couple of years until I was ready to step up to something better, and I enjoyed it very much.


As I've identified at several points, many areas of this build are overkill for your game titles but if you want that ability to run anything well, this has it.
If you want to sacrifice some of that to lower the cost, we can do that, just give the word and I'll step everything down a peg.
If you want to explore a passively cooled build, let me know and I will spec something that is as passive as possible while still being able to handle LoL/SC2 handily.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 3 2024, 12:00 am by Excalibur.

They're down to 4nm now?! Holy crap, last time I read up on the physics of it years ago, they were talking about 10nm maybe being the limit.
Hell yeah I'm definitely going to be waiting for that.
I heard (on /g/) DDR4 technically can have lower latency.
The only thing I'd like go cheaper on is the mobo, unless it will let me use both my cable + starlink internet additively somehow?
I'm also thinking I might just do 2-3 1080p monitors. Or 1 1080p plus that Alienware one.
Definitely want to analyze those storage picks, that PP link seems to have something else.

Awesome Ex, ty.

Yes, 4nm.
Latency is important but it is not all things at all times. Everything matters.
It wouldn't be additive but dual NICs can be useful for more advanced network setups.
Grab any cheap 1080p of the size you want with an IPS panel for side monitors.

The storages seem to be what I said: SN850X, P41 Platinum, and BX500.

Just a few notes / things to consider.

Yes, air cooling is the way to go for a quiet build. Water cooling can be quieter when you have to dissipate the heat of overclocked or overpowered machines, but always has *some* sound (pumps), whereas beefy air cooling becomes inaudible for more reasonable machines.

For any private person fusing 2 internet lines together so your PC sees them as one is not really feasible. For that you'd need a load balancer but that's way too complex and expensive. What you *could* do reasonably easily is using both at the same time for different applications. For example you could point steam / other downloader programs to the land line and have your browser or TV/streaming app use starlink.
However you don't need several NICs *on your mobo* for that. An extension card works as well and is usually pretty cheap and you can choose whatever speed you need. Alternatively get a switch.

Especially if you're not into heavy gaming you could get a (or multiple) 4K monitors. I have a 27" one and I'm pretty happy with it. The image clarity is fantastic. Everything just looks so much better, especially text.
Your GPU *will* have trouble rendering any current games with 3-digit fps though. For sc and the like this is not a concern, and current games often support DLSS which reduces rendering resolution and ai upscales it so the monitor can still run at its native resolution. The upscaling is fine-tuned to the games so it's barely noticeable. So best of both worlds really: Reduced resolution when necessary, sharpness everywhere else.

I also want to point out the good pick on the GPU. The model has enough performance to easily run current games, enough VRAM to run local AI models, but at the same time a reasonable TDP (and thus heat output) due to the efficient 4nm process.
Normally I'd recommend AMD for light gaming since you're not gonna need all the frills nVidia adds but AMDs do run hotter and thus noisier.
As Ex said you could put some things down a notch (2 or 3 on the mobo) but on the other hand if this PC is supposed to last as long as your last one, I wouldn't mind a little breathing room.

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Dec 3 2024, 9:46 pm by NudeRaider.

I think I will spec down on the mobo then. My internet tops out at 500mbps, but you're right I should future proof it to 2gbps. No 2nd nic. Don't need wifi on the board. I was also thinking we could spec down on secondary storage by making it sata. (which might make the mobo cheaper?)
About when do you think 9800X3D will be available again? I don't mind getting it from a reseller if they'll only be price gouging me ~$50.

But what do you guys think about that video I linked? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8IYsQ6QVp8

Very excited for this! Can't wait to have a game up on 1 screen, and chrome on another.

SATA storage is not cheaper than NVME storage generally speaking, SATA is becoming less and less a thing, and either way you don't want to buy a shit tier drive.

The 9800X3D will probably be readily available around MSRP come January/Feb.

I'm very familiar with the video, I think its cool, and if you wanna do it then do it.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700KF 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor ($203.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID ML240L RGB V2 65.59 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($96.51 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($209.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($113.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($113.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial BX500 4 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($234.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($589.99 @ Walmart)
Case: Fractal Design Define 7 ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.95 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.95 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.95 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus ROG Strix XG27AQV 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz Curved Monitor ($349.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $2326.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-03 19:53 EST-0500

IDK I was bored & just threw something together for you. $2300 +/- isn't bad for a whole setup. Went for the 12700KF despite the LGA 1700 socket being dead now. But the 12000 series was the last of the good Intel CPU's. (Personally I'd go for the 7800X3D but I hate paying that price) The 4070 Super at minimum will do great on whatever games you'll throw at it, although I'm not sure a 2x fan card will be the quietest - ASUS & MSI typically have greater coil whine with their cards. Threw in an AIO for the CPU, should help with the noise there.

I mainly went for a budget build here without really sacrificing much perfomance. Also I didn't go through it with a fine tooth comb to know if EVERYTHING is compatable, but I'm 90% sure.

Inferior build by pretty much every metric.

>Older lower performing cpu/architecture with higher TDP.
>Dead end older socket/platform.
>Disgusting CLC cooler with both fan and pump noise.
>Slower RAM with huge latency jump after the first timing.
>Worse primary/secondary SSDs.
>Gold cert PSU for less efficient management of heat/more fan.
>Disgusting curved monitor.



Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Dec 4 2024, 2:29 pm by Excalibur.

No idea tbh, but the principle is sound. (pun intended )


... except the price tbf.

I'd be interested where you'd cut corners to reach this price though. Might actually get a similar build some time next year.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($509.32 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 140 77.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($51.56 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($246.09 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($95.22 @ Amazon)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($150.87 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($160.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus DUAL EVO OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($641.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 3000D AIRFLOW ATX Mid Tower Case ($90.92 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power 13 850 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($213.89 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair RS140 95.5 CFM 140 mm Fans 2-Pack ($37.44 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell Alienware AW2724DM 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor ($316.71 @ Amazon)
Total: $2514.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-04 15:05 EST-0500

If I were trying to stay at around this performance level but was less concerned with absolute silence / more concerned w/price, this is the route I would take.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 4 2024, 8:27 pm by Excalibur.

cool thx

I think it's all good, but I'm too smitten by the thought of the 9800X3D to go for the 7 now, so I'm definitely doing that. I'm guessing it will require a different mobo, but I really don't need wifi on my mobo, or more than 1 nvme.

Wouldn't recommend swapping one of the SSDs with a SATA one. Or do you plan to get an nvme extension card?

Could also just grab a 4TB NVME and not do 2x2. Also any modern mobo is going to have 2 NVME minimum so its a moot point.

Back between 2010 and 2015 I was using a PC based on an industrial motherboard with an intergrated passively cooled Atom N270 as an home server.
It wasn't powerful, but it was dead quiet.

I actually run a Ryzen 7 5700X (65W TDP) cooled with a Noctua NH-P1 and 3 140mm Noctua fans on the case, it use a passively cooled PSU. With some quite agressive fans curves it run quiet enough, as long as I don't start a modern game.
The only drawback is that is dump around 60°C heat in the room, nice during winter, not during summer. 🥵

It would do that either way. All "cooling" does is lug heat around away from your components into the air of the room.
So very technically a hotter CPU means a cooler room, which means a bad cooling solution makes your room cooler.
But in practice since the heat capacities are so vastly different you're not gonna be able to measure a difference in room temp whether your cooling keeps the CPU/GPU cool or not.

To have a cooler room you don't need better cooling, but cooler components (lower TDP).

Exception: You're actually transporting the heat outside of your room.

I think you're right about just getting a single storage. Which 3TB would you recommend for that?
I'm just refreshing this page every day in the meantime https://www.amazon.com/AMD-9800X3D-16-Thread-Desktop-Processor/dp/B0DKFMSMYK

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yBC48d/western-digital-black-sn850x-4-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds400t2x0e
If you want to move to one NVME this is what I'd get. They don't do 3TB.

Any rumors on the cpu availibility?