Core2duo with 8800gtx overclocked and very silent?

[niceandsmart]

Hi,

I'm building a new comp.
I will have the core 2 duo 6600 (I want to overclock to 3GHz), Evga 8800 gtx (not overclocked) and Asus P5B deluxe motherboard .
I will also need a new PSU which can support all of these.
I have the Antec 3500BQE case but may want to replace it with better/pretier one.

I want the computer to be super-silent as much as possible within reasonable price.

I'll appreciate recommendations for air & water cooling (the whole system) and for PSU and maybe a case too. I'll leave the price point to you guys, as I think you can estimate which amount should I spend on this.

I tought of:
A. Air cooling:
CPU: Thermaltake big typhoon.
Vga card: Thermaltake/Zalman solution
MB: built in solution.
PS: Corssair SU-620.

B. Water cooling: using XSPC passive aluminium reservoirs with danger-den pump.

C. Using external PSU: Magnum 600W

Thanks.

btw, Does anyone recommend the EVGA 680i or the PW5 deluxe instead?

 

[zagood]

The only available aftermarket cooling for that VGA card is a waterblock. No new air cooling yet. Not cheap.

http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_in...sCsid=e70b280b5a46c6e5a1bcb49a9a572521

I have the GTS, as far as stock cooling goes, the heatsink is pretty effective. Very quiet if you don't mind it idling around 60c (ouch) but you can fire up the fan through nTune.

For the motherboard, read through the motherboard section here. I'm using the DS3 but if I had the money I'd probably pick up the 680i.

EDIT: make sure you read through this thread for case information. The GTX is a huge card. http://maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.p...0&sid=fc2747fd34ac7bfbe22a01ed57a2c2fb

-z

 

[niceandsmart]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.
I didn't know that there is only one cooling kit for the GTX. I assume there will be more in the near future unless nvidia will replace the card's design.
I'll probably go with the p5B-deluxe as I don't want SLI (even in the future).

 

[chizow]

The stock cooler on my 8800GTS is very, very quiet. I was pretty amazed by how quiet it was actually, although the card gets incredibly hot. 80C idle, now at 85C under load. There's been a few cards announced with different coolers, EVGA has their ACS3 and there's a bunch of others on Newegg's site for GTXs with more expensive coolers with copper fittings. They were also more expensive, so not sure if its worth the premium. If the GTX uses the same fan as the GTS though, you shouldn't have any problems with the noise levels unless you have very sensitive hearing.

 

[Howard]

CPU: Scythe Ninja Plus/Thermalright Ultra-120 /w Yate Loon D12SL-12
VGA: Thermalright HR-03 (does not work with 8800GTX yet, it will in the future) /w Nexus 92mm or D12SL-12 (will require ghetto-rigging)
PSU: Corsair HX520W AKA CMPSU-520HX

You may want a fan controller, but I would just power the fans with the +5V lead.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: niceandsmart
Hi,

I'm building a new comp.
I will have the core 2 duo 6600 (I want to overclock to 3GHz), Evga 8800 gtx (not overclocked) and Asus P5B deluxe motherboard .
I will also need a new PSU which can support all of these.
I have the Antec 3500BQE case but may want to replace it with better/pretier one.

I want the computer to be super-silent as much as possible within reasonable price.

I'll appreciate recommendations for air & water cooling (the whole system) and for PSU and maybe a case too. I'll leave the price point to you guys, as I think you can estimate which amount should I spend on this.

I tought of:
A. Air cooling:
CPU: Thermaltake big typhoon.
Vga card: Thermaltake/Zalman solution
MB: built in solution.
PS: Corssair SU-620.

B. Water cooling: using XSPC passive aluminium reservoirs with danger-den pump.

C. Using external PSU: Magnum 600W

Thanks.

btw, Does anyone recommend the EVGA 680i or the PW5 deluxe instead?

Option A, is a great idea, but if you have the budget for water id go water.

Option B, is not such a great idea because you might mix metals, and that can lead to a very very bad outcome. Also passive systems wont perform as well as a custom system with really quiet fans.

Option C, i heard the magnum really really BLOWS. However you might want to ask howard. I heard its more of a 350W then a 600W, but i can be wrong on this statement.



I present Option D:

Get a custom kit at http://www.petrastechshop.com/ and try to install it inside your case. Put the fans on a fan controler, so you can control the speed when you need it.

Or get a Swiftech APEX220 H2O kit. Try to get the new apogee GT revision.

If you cant figure out how to mount the radiator inside, you can buy swiftech rad mounts, to mount it externally, or even mount it on top of your case.


Or i can piece a custom for you within your price range, but you should have some knowledge of watercooling otherwise your gonna miss the manuals the swiftech comes with.


Option D will give you the quietest noise / performance raito , unless u decide to go passive, which i am but i swear to you, its almost as expensive as h2o cooling.

Option D will also be the second most expensive next to that XPC/Zalman passive system.


And i have the asus striker extreme. Something is bugged with the bios and cmos keeps clearing each time i reset the power. Its going to be RMA's soon, however, my next board would be the evga 680. I hear thats a pretty badass board.

 

[sbuckler]

I have a Antec P180 with acoustipack sound insulation added. Modded the top as not using any of the top 3 5 1/4 inch bays so removed them to allow airflow in from there (I added a filter, and re-used the metal bits that were blocking the drive bays as sound deflectors by placing them in the free bays at an angle with sound insulation on). Replaced case fans with 4 * redwing 1400rpm ones (significantly quieter @ same revs as antec ones) mounted using rubber fan mounts. Antec neo HE 550 psu. Sythe infinity heatsync + S-flex 1600rpm fan. E6600 @ 3.2, 1.4 volts. 3 hd's (2 raptors). 7900GTO graphics o/c.
All fans plugged into the motherboard (asus P5W deluxe which can speed control all the fans) - used one fan splitter cable for this. All speed controlled to approx 800rpm using speedfan (obviously fan speed can go up if anything gets hot).

Took me a little effort but was worth it.

The system is very quiet when all fans spinning at full speed (only happens at startup). When speedfan kicks in and all fans run at about 800rpm it's near silent even playing games where everything is running flat out. Loudest thing in the system is my cd rom drive (which is a plextor so a good quality drive).

Temp of the cpu is 35-43 degrees. Obviously that could go down if I upped the fan speeds, or removed the air filters (which restrict airflow in quite a bit, but mean you hardly ever have to dust the inside).

 

[LintMan]

I'm putting together a very very similar system (the parts should arrive today!), so I think you're on the right track. Here's what I'm getting today (hopefully!):

C2D E6700
Asus P5B Deluxe
Xfx 8800GTX XXX (factory OC'd)
Zalman 9700LED
Silverstone TJ-09 case
Seasonic S12 650W
(plus a 3 hard disks 4 GB ram)

I think the Corsair PS you mention is made by Seasonic and should be very quiet.

I went with the Zalman 9700 because in the one detailed comparison I studied, the zalman seemed to arguably be the quietest for the amount of cooling it did. (ie: not the quietest or coolest overall, but good all-around).

I looked at a lot of cases before settling on the TJ09. I initially liked the Antec P180, but didn't want to have to remove a drive bay to fit the 8800GTX. The P190 is bigger, cooler, and interests me, but isn't available yet. I also asked here about the Lian-Li PC-101, which I seriously considered, but then Mr DSL in that thread convinced me that spending a fair bit more (+$120) for a case isn't necessarily unreasonable, and I like the TJ09's lack of a front door (I prefer no door) and better cooling. But I don't know how the TJ09 will be, noise-wise, with all that stuff in it.

Even if it all arrives today, it might be a day or two more before I'm up and running, but I'll try to report on the noise factor once it's up.

 

[niceandsmart]

Thank you all for your answers.

Lintman:
You are right. The Corsair is a modified Seasonic made for Corsair (Same as yours).
I now have a Zalman 7000 on the P4 and it did an excellent job (always on the lowest voltage!).
The TJ09 is a good case (a lot of good reviews) but I'm looking for a VERY pretty case if I'll replace mine (such as HTPC cases for example. The p180 is also nice.
I will have a least 2 HDs and I'm considering putting my scsi one as well (for the OS) also it vibrates too much even with the Antec BQE suspension (15K).
I did have problems with the heat of the SCSI drive in the past (with a HDs fan on low level!).

Howard: Thanks. I understand that the Scythe will work better than the Big Typhoon.
The 520 is a good advice which I didn't think of (I thought it isn't strong enough for full system with the 8800gtx).
Btw. Is agimorla right about the Magnum being truly a 350W psu?
My problem is that he Magnum is not available to me only by buying online.

aigomorla: Very informative, thanks.
I do have a budget for water cooling but I guess I have to figure out all the components and the final price (and it takes a lot of time...). I understand that your recommendation is the option D. It sounds like a good idea but as I understand it doesn't cover the whole system (which means HDs, MB, VGAs).
I've had problems with the HDs heating in the past (especially is the summer, it's HOT in here) so it's something I'm very concerned about.

BTW. I don't have a problem geting some components out such as the PSU, DVD-RW, SATA HDs and even the water cooling parts such as the reservoirs, pump, radiator (does it worth it?)

If I decide to go water cooling it will be for an ultra quiet system. This is a big question for me as there is also some budget that you say it's much too much for the benefit.

 

[aigomorla]

heh, first off you can watercool everything, but watercooling useless stuff like HD's would be added restrictions and therefore prove non benifical.

Second, Currently the watercooling loop on my QX has 1 GPU block, 1 CPU block. It has no NB block, because if you seen the ASUS striker, its almost impossible to take the heat pipes off, plus they do a excellent job silently. SAme with the EVGA board.

Hard drives, usually need 1 quient fan to blow air over it. I havent had any issues on my NAS that has the CM stacker mount. I have 120mm AF12 blowing air undervolted to 4 hd's. They never break 35C under heavy use.

All of Petra's kits come with a manual. Swiftech's kits come with a manual too. If you decide to get a petratech kit, i suggest you get the elite version, because the d-tek block will most likely cool a dual core better then the apogeeGT. the ApogeeGT is still up i nthe air for QUAD cores.

Lastly, i dont see how you can get quieter with air and have the same cooling properties of water. Its just not possible because physics dictates water has 10x more transfer then air. I mentioned b4, you cant bend physics, so its just not possible.

All you need is 120x2 radiator to cool gpu+cpu+nb provided your CPU block isnt an accelerator type, with 1 DDC-2 pump and 2 Yates on 3/4th power settings. Theres just noway AIR could come close.

I should warn you tho, the DDC-2's emite a high pitch winggg noise when u go up close to it. My D5's on my MediaCenter were quieter. However i hear the regular DDC's are also just as quiet.

Lastly i would post pics of my QX if i my board wasnt so flunky
Air cant Touch these temps PERIOD

Thats 30min orthos and RTHDRIBL. CPU doesnt break 28C on cores, and GPU doesnt go higher then 30C. And yes there both OC'd

Ambients were about 60F, but im guessing maybe a tad bit lower, more like 57-59F, but not too drastic. And yeah, my board temps are higher then core temps which is funny as hell.

 

[Zebo]

Very silent? What is that exactly? Like Very zero? Silent is silent it needs no modifier like sorta, kinda, very, absolutely, etc. and there is no way to get silent without extensive cost with that type of high-end hardware.

I'd start with a case like Zalmans TNN 500AF
http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=153&code=020

Next I'd buy as many Smartdrive 2002's as I needed and put lap top harddrives in them preferably, or some Samsung desktop drives so i couldnt hear the HDD's.

 

[paydirt]

I did a bunch o' research on cases and found this one that should be fairly quiet.

XCLIO A380 full tower case.

Image

It's a full tower case with two 250mm fans. The bigger the fan, the more air it can move at the same speed as a smaller fan. A 250mm fan can probably move 4x the air of a 120mm fan at the same speed, so it can operate at a quarter of the speed for the same CFM performance. The case also has a fan speed dial somewhere on it, so you can adjust your fan speed to get to a combo temperature/noise level that suits you.

 

[sbuckler]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Lastly, i dont see how you can get quieter with air and have the same cooling properties of water. Its just not possible because physics dictates water has 10x more transfer then air. I mentioned b4, you cant bend physics, so its just not possible.

All the water does is move the heat to somewhere else - to cool you need a radiator, which is exactly the same as a heatsync only it doesn't need to sit on the cpu. Obviously you can have larger radiators, and do things like put the radiator outside of the case for better airflow. However for a quiet build you don't want it outside the case as that is too noisy (case blocks much of the fan noise). Water cooling also adds a pump which is additional noise. Hence unless you have a truely huge case that can fit a monster radiator inside it then you are better off with a standard heatsync with 120mm fan on. It's also cheaper, and much easier to maintain and transport an air cooled setup.

Originally posted by: paydirt
It's a full tower case with two 250mm fans. The bigger the fan, the more air it can move at the same speed as a smaller fan.

The problem with case fans that get too large is the hole for the fan lets out all the noise - so a case with 2*250mm fans will let out much of the noise (from hd's cpu fans, gpu fans, etc) through the huge holes they make in the case. That case also has a transparent side panel, which blocks a lot less noise then a solid sound proofed side would.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: Howard
CPU: Scythe Ninja Plus/Thermalright Ultra-120 /w Yate Loon D12SL-12
VGA: Thermalright HR-03 (does not work with 8800GTX yet, it will in the future) /w Nexus 92mm or D12SL-12 (will require ghetto-rigging)
PSU: Corsair HX520W AKA CMPSU-520HX

You may want a fan controller, but I would just power the fans with the +5V lead.

Agreed. The Corsair HX520 is more than powerful enough for an 8800GTX and overclocked e6600. It is also one of the quietest power supplies you can buy.

Also, the Scythe Ninja is one of the quietest CPU coolers you can buy for the performance it gives.

If you are looking for a prettier/quieter case than the BQE then I'd recommend the Antec Solo. I moved from a 3700BQE to the Antec Solo and couldn't be happier. I am still amazed at how much nicer the Solo looks to the BQE. I couldn't be happier.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: sbuckler

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Lastly, i dont see how you can get quieter with air and have the same cooling properties of water. Its just not possible because physics dictates water has 10x more transfer then air. I mentioned b4, you cant bend physics, so its just not possible.

All the water does is move the heat to somewhere else - to cool you need a radiator, which is exactly the same as a heatsync only it doesn't need to sit on the cpu. Obviously you can have larger radiators, and do things like put the radiator outside of the case for better airflow. However for a quiet build you don't want it outside the case as that is too noisy (case blocks much of the fan noise). Water cooling also adds a pump which is additional noise. Hence unless you have a truely huge case that can fit a monster radiator inside it then you are better off with a standard heatsync with 120mm fan on. It's also cheaper, and much easier to maintain and transport an air cooled setup.

Originally posted by: paydirt
It's a full tower case with two 250mm fans. The bigger the fan, the more air it can move at the same speed as a smaller fan.

The problem with case fans that get too large is the hole for the fan lets out all the noise - so a case with 2*250mm fans will let out much of the noise (from hd's cpu fans, gpu fans, etc) through the huge holes they make in the case. That case also has a transparent side panel, which blocks a lot less noise then a solid sound proofed side would.

sorry when someone challanges me to a h2o i tend to get defensive so here is my counters on your statement. I hope you dont take offense.

1. you can mount the radiator inside. And downvolt yates. If you have a issue with noise on downvolted yates, then your better off going the passive route.

2. Your comparing the two, i stated water has 10x more transfer then air. A good radiator, can substantially drop more heat per surface area on water vs air. So dont compare the two, there not in the same catigory.

3. What pumps have you worked with? i stated the DDC-1 were virtually quiet, the D5's are also virtually quiet? Please dont compare fish hobby pumps outside to computer waterpumps. The only ones that i found to be noticible, and even then a high pitch hummmm... is the DDC-2. The D5 and DDC-1 or 2 will both work fine and wont make noticible noise.

4. When you say it requires a monster case, then how come swiftech has a P180 thats watercooled and intigrated? Not to mention extremely silent. True it uses a 120x1 radiator, but that will still outdue any AIR CPU+GPU combo on the market, so once again, please dont compare the two.


As i said op, unless you truely go passive, you cant get away with silence water can bring. It just isnt possible. I am currently working on building a PASSIVE nas, basically going to gut my H2O kit in there now, and play with Passive, but the parts are totalling to be MORE then a KIT at petratech.

Make sure you put the fans on a controler, 120x2 radiators arent hard to install in even a medium case, dremel is required however.

Anyhow if i sounded a bit agressive, sorry, but i kinda lose patience when someone makes claims about water which is completely false.


Lastly i have yet to find someone on AIR come close to my temps. Even Yoda, and neal were impressed with my loop. If you have ~250 to 300, to dump on cooling, water is definitely the route to go.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Anyhow if i sounded a bit agressive, sorry, but i kinda lose patience when someone makes claims about water which is completely false.

What study are you quoting the "10x" figure from?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Anyhow if i sounded a bit agressive, sorry, but i kinda lose patience when someone makes claims about water which is completely false.

What study are you quoting the "10x" figure from?

XS forums, under the watercooling sticky

Also Tomshardware states the same thing, under there watercooling kits lineup.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Anyhow if i sounded a bit agressive, sorry, but i kinda lose patience when someone makes claims about water which is completely false.

What study are you quoting the "10x" figure from?

XS forums, under the watercooling sticky

Also Tomshardware states the same thing, under there watercooling kits lineup.

I can't find the right thread in the XS forums, nor can I find the water-cooling kit lineup at Toms.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Anyhow if i sounded a bit agressive, sorry, but i kinda lose patience when someone makes claims about water which is completely false.

What study are you quoting the "10x" figure from?

XS forums, under the watercooling sticky

Also Tomshardware states the same thing, under there watercooling kits lineup.

I can't find the right thread in the XS forums, nor can I find the water-cooling kit lineup at Toms.

This is straight from wiki howard; i hope this is good enough.

Air (78%N+21%O+1%Ar) (1 atm) 0.024d - 0.0262a (0.025e) 273d-300a(293e)

Water 0.6de 293de 5×(Pure)10-6-(Sweet)10-3±1-(Sea)1 <3%(Na+Mg+Ca)


~ .026 vs .6 so in sense its more then 10x. But the numbers XS used was 10.

wiki link

 

[niceandsmart]

Reviewing your answers I updated my system as follows:
1. CPU: Core 2 duo 6600 (overclocked to 3.x Ghz)
2. Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS 800Mhz CL4.
2. MB:I tend towards the Evga 680i although I will never need SLI for sure (100$ more).
3. Case: I'll stay with the 3700BQE. Might update it in the future to a p190/p180 or an other HTPC case (must be pretty).
There is a problem with the BQE with it's HD cooling (bad air flow).
4. VGA: Evga 8800 GTX which I already bought (I might sell it and buy a 8800GTS instead).
5. Corsair 520 (I wanted the Magnum but can't get it in my country, only online, but I want customer service and 3 year warranty).
6. SATA HD will become eSATA in an external case, so will the DVD-RW.
6. Cooling:
a. MB: Built in solution.
b. CPU: Scyte ninja or water cooling solution (agimorla option D).
BTW I have no problem handling any custom kit even without any manual.
The Zalman 9700Led is also a good option thanks to LintMan.
c. VGA: built in, but if I'll go water I'll water cool it once it's available.

I can save the 100$ on the 680i and buy the p5B deluxe and "invest" the 250$ in water cooling. The answer that I didn't "get" (understand) yet is will it make my system quieter than with the Ninja and I still need to check how to fit it in my case.

The idea is not to spend money on needles stuff that won't add much.

I'll appreciate your opinion.

 

[Elfear]

I have built a system that is very close to yours (probably a ton of E6600 + 8800GTX combos out there) and I would say that if your main concern is with quiet and not so much getting every last bit of speed out of your parts than I would go with an aircooled solution. It will be cheaper and every bit as quiet IF you get the right parts.

I'd go with a Scythe Ninja hsf with the included Scythe fan. It is very quiet and cooling performance is up there with the best of them.

I'd use the stock 8800GTX cooler as it is fairly quiet.

I don't have any experience with the Antec 3700BQE but it looks like it should work ok. I have used the Antec Super Lanboy (modded with Yate Loon 120mm fans front and rear) and the Xclio A380 and both work very well. They are both super quiet, awesome airflow, and aren't too expensive. I have both cases up at my work and you have to get really close to the case to even hear if it's on or not.

For a motherboard I would go with the Intel D975XBX2. I poured through tons and tons of user experience over at Xtremesystems and the Intel board seems to have the least amount of issues while still providing good overclocking features. The Evga 680i board just seems to have too many issues at the moment and since you will be using an E6600 than a board with monster fsb capabilities isn't one of your priorities. I've been using the Intel board for 1-2 months now and it's super stable, no weird cold boot issues, good overclocker, straps work correctly, and mid-range price. It easily took my E6600 to 3.6GHz with low board voltages for 24/7 use and, with hardly any tweaking, was good up to 3.96GHz.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: niceandsmart
Reviewing your answers I updated my system as follows:
1. CPU: Core 2 duo 6600 (overclocked to 3.x Ghz)
2. Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS 800Mhz CL4.
2. MB:I tend towards the Evga 680i although I will never need SLI for sure (100$ more).
3. Case: I'll stay with the 3700BQE. Might update it in the future to a p190/p180 or an other HTPC case (must be pretty).
There is a problem with the BQE with it's HD cooling (bad air flow).
4. VGA: Evga 8800 GTX which I already bought (I might sell it and buy a 8800GTS instead).
5. Corsair 520 (I wanted the Magnum but can't get it in my country, only online, but I want customer service and 3 year warranty).
6. SATA HD will become eSATA in an external case, so will the DVD-RW.
6. Cooling:
a. MB: Built in solution.
b. CPU: Scyte ninja or water cooling solution (agimorla option D).
BTW I have no problem handling any custom kit even without any manual.
The Zalman 9700Led is also a good option thanks to LintMan.
c. VGA: built in, but if I'll go water I'll water cool it once it's available.

I can save the 100$ on the 680i and buy the p5B deluxe and "invest" the 250$ in water cooling. The answer that I didn't "get" (understand) yet is will it make my system quieter than with the Ninja and I still need to check how to fit it in my case.

The idea is not to spend money on needles stuff that won't add much.

I'll appreciate your opinion.

Hardware b4 cooling, is always my niche.

Get the EVGA 680i and stay with air cooling. You'll see less of a overclock wall this way.

 

[zagood]

Something else to consider...that PSU is a good one, isn't necessarily underpowered for the 8800GTX, but the fan is probably going to ramp up when you're gaming. Cooling noise doesn't make too much of a difference when you've got game audio turned up, but just wanted to point that out.

Just wanted to mention it since I started hearing it...I just started putting my new 8800GTS through its paces and I find that my PSU (SilverStone ST50EF) fan ramps up when gaming.

Anyway, I'm recommending that you go for the 620w corsair if you want to stay in that vein.

-z

 

[LintMan]

FYI: One thing to be aware of with the Evga 680i is that there are some caps underneath near the CPU that can get in the way of the bottom mounting brackets that some big heat sinks use. (Usually some small mods can make them fit, though.)

I don't know if the Ninja uses a bottom bracket, but the Zalman 9700 does.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: zagood
Something else to consider...that PSU is a good one, isn't necessarily underpowered for the 8800GTX, but the fan is probably going to ramp up when you're gaming. Cooling noise doesn't make too much of a difference when you've got game audio turned up, but just wanted to point that out.

Just wanted to mention it since I started hearing it...I just started putting my new 8800GTS through its paces and I find that my PSU (SilverStone ST50EF) fan ramps up when gaming.

Anyway, I'm recommending that you go for the 620w corsair if you want to stay in that vein.

-z

i heard the 520 is fine, as long as he doesnt go dual 8800GTX's I dont see a problem with this, however if you feel this statement is wrong, please link. Lately ive been proven wrong a lot of times in PSU questions.