Upgrade/rebuild time, looking for relatively quiet and best bang for the buck

[Ime]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

- Gaming mostly. Been playing Guild Wars 2, but also been buying a lot of different games from Steam during their holiday sale event. More interested in keeping the system relatively quiet (low speed fans) than OC'ing.


2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

- Budget is about $800 to $1,000. Looking for "best bang for the buck" and "relatively quiet" parts. No jet engines, please! My wife will kill me.


3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

- USA


4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

- Prefer Newegg and Amazon.


5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

- No preference, "best bang for the buck" rule applies here as well.


6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

XFX Pro650W (assuming it's powerful enough) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817207014
a 256GB SSD drive for OS/Games
a 1TB HDD for storage
a LG DVD Burner (not much of a burner, more of a streamer/VoD kinda guy)
I have a 6950 1GB, not sure if it's still up to snuff. Willing to buy new Nvidia/AMD card whichever is best price/performance wise.


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

- Default speeds, want to keep fan speeds low so I don't get jet engine noises. My wife uses a laptop in the same 10x10 room as me, so I gotta keep her happy!


8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

- 1080p, also run a second 1080p monitor for chrome, steam friend's list, vent/mumble status/etc when online gaming.


9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

- This month.


X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

- I've got an upgrade license of Windows 7 Home Premium that came with my old CyberPower system. I was planning on transfering it to my new computer when I dispose of my old CyberPower system during the build. I'm assuming that's legal? If not, then I'll have to buy Win7/Win8 again I suppose. I want everything properly licensed.


I've been watching the "Mid-Systems Builder Thread", but I've noticed that the prices/in stock have changed. Like the 7970 is now $400 instead of $360. Don't want to buy things blindly and find out later I could have purchased X and gotten a better deal!

 

[lehtv]

You can have a moderately OC'd system with decent temperatures and low noise, and for a gaming setup at your budget I would definitely recommend OC'ing.

6950 1GB isn't slow, it will handle most games alright on 1080p. But your budget can easily take an upgrade.

CPU i5-3570K $205 AP
Mobo Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H $135 AR
- Good match for XFX 650W - SLI/Crossfire compatible.
Cooler Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro $35
- 300-1350RPM, very quiet, moderate OC'er. Set to silent mode in the BIOS.
RAM 2x4GB Samsung DDR3-1600 1.35V $40
GPU Sapphire 7950 3GB $280 AR or Gigabyte GTX 670 $370
- 7950 is a better OC'er, it can do +25-30% on stock volts; but it will make more noise when OC'd. You can lower load noise at stock clocks with either card by adjusting the fan profile with MSI Afterburner.
SSD Reuse $0
HDD Reuse $0
DVD Reuse $0
PSU Reuse $0
Case Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl $100 + Scythe Kaze Maru 2 $14 (1200RPM 140mm)
- Put the stock fans to the front and the Scythe to the rear slot. Install all fans to the integrated fan controller, set it to the lowest speed, and forget. Picked the Scythe since it's quiet and has very low starting voltage which allows for easy use with voltage controllers.

Total = $809 AR or $899 AR, depending on GPU. Plus shipping from FrozenCPU (cooler and fan).

 

[Ime]

Thanks for the great suggestions, Lehtv! I do have some questions though.

CPU - Great idea, I keep hearing nothing but great things about the i5-3570K series.

Mobo - I'll be honest I'm never going to use crossfire or sli. In that case would this still be a good choice, or would I be better off getting a non-sli mobo?

Cooler - I've used an Arctic Feezer 7 Pro in the past, and it was plenty quiet for my needs. Sounds like the Arctic Freezer 13 Pro would be a good upgrade to that!

RAM - Any reason I shouldn't go 16GB if my budget allows?

GPU - How much better is the 7970 vs the 7950, price/performance wise? If it was something like 25% faster than I'd consider it, otherwise your suggestion of a 7950 3GB to replace my 6950 1GB sounds like a solid plan.

Case - I'm not sure if I need a "silent" case. I use an old NZXT case now and simply replaced the stock 120mm fans with lower RPM 120mm fans and replaced the stock CPU fan with an Artic Freezer 7 pro, which was good enough to make the wife happy. The 6950 1GB came with dual fans that were quiet enough. I think I'd prefer a mid-tower case that was roomy on the inside, but I don't need sound-proofing. I apologize if I gave the impression I needed a silent solution. Just need to keep the fan speeds below "jet engine" and the wife will be happy.

 

[Torn Mind]

Perhaps you can tell us what exactly is your current fan setup. If the noise is coming from the GPU fan, well, changing out the other fans won't help much. You'll need a case with better airflow to further bring down the GPU temps. And yeah, lehtv's specific case suggestion sounds real good.

 

[Ime]

Perhaps you can tell us what exactly is your current fan setup. If the noise is coming from the GPU fan, well, changing out the other fans won't help much. You'll need a case with better airflow to further bring down the GPU temps. And yeah, lehtv's specific case suggestion sounds real good.

My current system is quiet enough right now. Here are the fans in my current system:

3 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185005

and for my CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

I have a dual-fan XFX 6950 1GB GPU, the newegg link shows the wrong card, so I won't link it.

My current case is actually quiet enough now. I suppose I could reuse it, but it's kind of old (USB 2.0 front ports, power supply mounted on top instead of the bottom). I'm looking for a roomy mid-tower case, I can always replace the fans.

I'll go do some digging on Newegg today, and see what I can find for cases/mobos. I like everything else I see here. I'll post back when I get some ideas and have you guys tell me if they are any good or not. Thanks for the suggestions so far!

 

[Torn Mind]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006644%2040000007&IsNodeId=1&Description=silent%20case&name=Computer%20Cases&Order=BESTMATCH

15 "silent" cases for you to look at.

This seems to be the cheapest on there.

 

[Ime]

Thanks for the guidance so far! Here's what I came up with:

CPU - i5-3570k $220
GPU - Sapphire 7950 3GB $300
RAM - Samsung 8GB 1600 x2 (16GB ram total) $80
CPU Cooler - ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 $30
Case - Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed $90
SSD - Reused 256GB SSD $0
HDD - Reused 1TB HDD $0
Power Supply - Reused XFX Core Edition PRO650W $0

I decided I wanted a windowed mid-tower case with a bottom mounted power supply and front USB 3.0 ports. The Corsair case seems to fit the bill nicely. It also looks pretty roomy on the inside, and has lots of fan mounts (great for putting in low rpm fans). I took a look at the Cougar case as well, and in my opinion the Corsair looks cleaner and less crowded on the inside.

I went with a smaller CPU cooler because I was worried the larger one would interfere with any side window case fans I might put in, if this fear is unfounded I'll happily go with Arctic Freezer 13 Pro, instead. What do you guys think?

A friend has told me good things about ASRock motherboards as far as price/performance goes. I'm looking at either the ASRock Z77 Pro3 or the ASRock Z77 Pro4 at the moment. Is the only difference between these boards the number of ports? If so the Pro3 has enough ports for me.

I definitely need more input on the mobo and the CPU cooler. I think I got the rest covered, but if anyone sees anything I'm missing please let me know!

 

[lehtv]

Mobo - I'll be honest I'm never going to use crossfire or sli. In that case would this still be a good choice, or would I be better off getting a non-sli mobo?

Typically, SLI/Crossfire compatible boards also have other advantages compared to single GPU boards, the most important one perhaps being the number of CPU phases. This is important for overclocking. I'd estimate that 4 CPU phases which you'll find on single GPU boards are enough for a 4.2-4.4GHz long-term overclock. For a bigger OC to last a long time without the phases wearing out, it'd be a good idea to have at least 6, preferably 8 phases, just to be safe.

However the Freezer 13 Pro isn't really a high end cooler, you won't be overclocking with it more than what 4 phases allow. You can save a good amount of money by going with the entry-level Asrock Z77 Pro3. Combo savings with i5-3570K, the gift card for the CPU is still valid: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...&SID=u00000687

RAM - Any reason I shouldn't go 16GB if my budget allows?

It simply isn't needed for gaming, you'd be wasting $30 on it.

GPU - How much better is the 7970 vs the 7950, price/performance wise? If it was something like 25% faster than I'd consider it, otherwise your suggestion of a 7950 3GB to replace my 6950 1GB sounds like a solid plan.

7970 isn't worth it over 7950, especially if you overclock. It's usually about 10-15% faster but factory overclocks vary. 7950 typically overclocks by 25% to 35%, making it nearly as fast as a 7970 GHz edition.

If you don't overclock, the Gigabyte GTX 670 a good option.

Case - I'm not sure if I need a "silent" case. I use an old NZXT case now and simply replaced the stock 120mm fans with lower RPM 120mm fans and replaced the stock CPU fan with an Artic Freezer 7 pro, which was good enough to make the wife happy. The 6950 1GB came with dual fans that were quiet enough. I think I'd prefer a mid-tower case that was roomy on the inside, but I don't need sound-proofing. I apologize if I gave the impression I needed a silent solution. Just need to keep the fan speeds below "jet engine" and the wife will be happy.

You'll pretty much need a case designed specifically for quiet operation if you actually want quiet operation. And if it's the wife asking, better be safe than sorry :awe:.

Almost no regular case, especially below the price level of the R4, has an integrated fan controller, and often the included fans are fairly audible - enough to be downright annoying to anyone who cares about quiet operation. With many a lower end case you'd have to pay for replacement fans and/or a fan controller to quiet it down, and in the end it wouldn't really be any better value than the R4.

Besides being very quiet, the R4 is an awesome case all-around and will last you across many builds. I see no reason to cheap out here, and it is better than 300R. Just get it, you'll love it. If you want the windowed version, it's only $5 more: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=75046&vpn=FD-CA-DEF-R4-TI-W&manufacture=Fractal Design

If you still really want to cheap out, get the 300R non-window. It's $50 AR AP at the moment, the windowed version isn't even remotely worth it.

I went with a smaller CPU cooler because I was worried the larger one would interfere with any side window case fans I might put in, if this fear is unfounded I'll happily go with Arctic Freezer 13 Pro, instead. What do you guys think?

You will never need a side fan for a single GPU setup.

If you want to avoid the shipping cost from FrozenCPU, get the 13 Pro from Amazon and reuse one of your S-Flex fans for the new case.

 

[DSF]

I'm not a big fan of windowed cases at all, but I will say this.

It's the OP's computer, and if seeing the guts when he looks at it will make him smile a little bit every time, maybe the windowed case is worth it for him when it isn't for you or me.

That said, I do agree that the R4 is within the budget and significantly better for someone who's trying to keep the system quiet, so if he's going to get a windowed case I'd make it the R4.

 

[mfenn]

I second the 300R non-windowed plus move over your S-Flex idea. The fans you have are really quite good and you can get some nice noise improvements by swapping out the default Corsair fans.

Save one of the S-Flex's to mount on a Hyper 212+ heatsink (remove the stock fan) and you'll have a very quiet system overall.