Guru second opinion on noise/cooling/etc.

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   Budget:

$3000-$3500

My current, 3yr-old setup is a Dell XPS H2C (liquid cooled) with dual nVidia GTX8800s, 3 monitors (24", 21", 19"), two small Raptor drives (one for boot) and a 500GB regular drive, Windows 7, 4GB of RAM (a.k.a 3Gb of usable RAM), no RAID. Paid $4k for it.

I'm a recovered gamer - that is, I don't even install games anymore since I play them obsessively and can't be trusted. I have my own design/development business, work about 70-80 hours a week, and am an insane multitasker. I do web design, print design, presentation design. Limited amt. of 3D work, no animation, no significant video editing worth mentioning, (though who knows what the next few years will bring?).  

I have a constant flow of projects large and small, and I almost never say no to a new project, an edit to an old project, a favor for a client, etc.  As a result, in any given hour on any given day, I have open simultaneously:  Photoshop, inDesign, Dreamweaver, Outlook, Powerpoint (2 or 3 presentations) Word (2 or three documents), Acrobat, Fireworks, Chrome, Firefox (multiple tabs each).  I'll be working on all of these things while on a conference call with yet another client. All day I scramble through a dozen parts of a dozen projects, furiously emailing/posting updates to whatever I'm working on, even while I'm getting lots of other emails from clients saying in effect "where's my stuff?" I’m always behind, and my system can never seem to move fast enough.  In the evening when the phone's not ringing, I might also risk Hulu Desktop in the corner of my third monitor. 

Hopefully this gives you a sense of the frantic energy and how insane it can make me when the computer takes 30 seconds to open a browser, or my cursor in Fireworks starts to lag while I'm designing and my supposedly water-cooled Dell is wheezing like a jet engine.

The look of the computer is not a concern for me (though who are we kidding - cool-looking is awesome, whether it’s a sports car or an electric toothbrush), but low noise is big on my list.

Based on feedback from DS tech support, my current config is:

Config# 624289

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Assassin Edition

Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish

Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish

Processor: Intel Core i7 2700K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core)

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z (Intel Z68 Chipset) (Features Intel Quick Sync Technology)

System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)

Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) 

Expansion Bay: - No Thanks

Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series)

Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks

Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)

Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks

Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs)

Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks

Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)

Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB (PhysX Tech) (Overclocked EVGA Edition)

Add-on Card: - No Thanks

Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio

Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: FrostChill Cooling System: CPU Only

H20 Tube Color:White Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)

Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans

Internal Lighting: - No Thanks

Enhancements: - No Thanks

Chassis Mods: - No Thanks

Noise Reduction: - No Thanks

LaserMark: - No Thanks

Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz

Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)

Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory

Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system

Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)

---------------

Among the very helpful/thoughtful changes that Lars at Digital Storm made (with his comments) are:

1) Upgrade to Intel Core i7 2700K 3.50 GHz - (The fastest processor ensures you will not experience slowdowns when multitasking Adobe Creative Suite programs or any other high-end software)

2) ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z (Intel Z68 Chipset) - (High-end motherboard with many features and highly upgradeable, great for overclocking and multitasking)

3) 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX  - (This ram is more stable than 2000Mhz RAM, and will still be able to handle extreme multitasking)

4) 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) - (Will be able to handle SLI video cards as well as having room for future upgrades)

5) I switched back to standard chassis fans, because the Zalman fans are actually smaller and won't work as well as the Assassin case fans.

6) Upgrade to Windows 7 Professional

8) I removed the Noise Suppression, since it is redundant with the Assassin case (which is our most silent case and has noise suppression already built into it).

-----------

All sounds good to me at this point, but I’m wondering about the cooling.  Is the Stage 3 FrostChill the way to go?  Is CPU-only cooling standard practice?  I read some comparisons on the FrostyTech website about the Noctua DH14 CPU cooler that make it seem like it’s really amazing. But that’s compared to other air cooling systems. I’ve also read lots of comments in researching these forums praising the Noctua DH14.  A few hundred dollars over is not my concern as much as a cool, quiet, responsive system that won’t make me feel like I’m killing it slowly by working it like a horse day in/day out.

Thanks in advance to anyone with an opinion.  Your contributions to us posters are generous and invaluable.

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daniel940 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27 Nov 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16	Quote Reply Topic: Guru second opinion on noise/cooling/etc. Posted: 27 Nov 2011 at 3:47pm
	Budget: $3000-$3500 My current, 3yr-old setup is a Dell XPS H2C (liquid cooled) with dual nVidia GTX8800s, 3 monitors (24", 21", 19"), two small Raptor drives (one for boot) and a 500GB regular drive, Windows 7, 4GB of RAM (a.k.a 3Gb of usable RAM), no RAID. Paid $4k for it. I'm a recovered gamer - that is, I don't even install games anymore since I play them obsessively and can't be trusted. I have my own design/development business, work about 70-80 hours a week, and am an insane multitasker. I do web design, print design, presentation design. Limited amt. of 3D work, no animation, no significant video editing worth mentioning, (though who knows what the next few years will bring?). I have a constant flow of projects large and small, and I almost never say no to a new project, an edit to an old project, a favor for a client, etc. As a result, in any given hour on any given day, I have open simultaneously: Photoshop, inDesign, Dreamweaver, Outlook, Powerpoint (2 or 3 presentations) Word (2 or three documents), Acrobat, Fireworks, Chrome, Firefox (multiple tabs each). I'll be working on all of these things while on a conference call with yet another client. All day I scramble through a dozen parts of a dozen projects, furiously emailing/posting updates to whatever I'm working on, even while I'm getting lots of other emails from clients saying in effect "where's my stuff?" I’m always behind, and my system can never seem to move fast enough. In the evening when the phone's not ringing, I might also risk Hulu Desktop in the corner of my third monitor. Hopefully this gives you a sense of the frantic energy and how insane it can make me when the computer takes 30 seconds to open a browser, or my cursor in Fireworks starts to lag while I'm designing and my supposedly water-cooled Dell is wheezing like a jet engine. The look of the computer is not a concern for me (though who are we kidding - cool-looking is awesome, whether it’s a sports car or an electric toothbrush), but low noise is big on my list. Based on feedback from DS tech support, my current config is: Config# 624289 Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Assassin Edition Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 2700K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z (Intel Z68 Chipset) (Features Intel Quick Sync Technology) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance) Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB (PhysX Tech) (Overclocked EVGA Edition) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: FrostChill Cooling System: CPU Only H20 Tube Color:White Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive) Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) --------------- Among the very helpful/thoughtful changes that Lars at Digital Storm made (with his comments) are: 1) Upgrade to Intel Core i7 2700K 3.50 GHz - (The fastest processor ensures you will not experience slowdowns when multitasking Adobe Creative Suite programs or any other high-end software) 2) ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z (Intel Z68 Chipset) - (High-end motherboard with many features and highly upgradeable, great for overclocking and multitasking) 3) 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX - (This ram is more stable than 2000Mhz RAM, and will still be able to handle extreme multitasking) 4) 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) - (Will be able to handle SLI video cards as well as having room for future upgrades) 5) I switched back to standard chassis fans, because the Zalman fans are actually smaller and won't work as well as the Assassin case fans. 6) Upgrade to Windows 7 Professional 8) I removed the Noise Suppression, since it is redundant with the Assassin case (which is our most silent case and has noise suppression already built into it). ----------- All sounds good to me at this point, but I’m wondering about the cooling. Is the Stage 3 FrostChill the way to go? Is CPU-only cooling standard practice? I read some comparisons on the FrostyTech website about the Noctua DH14 CPU cooler that make it seem like it’s really amazing. But that’s compared to other air cooling systems. I’ve also read lots of comments in researching these forums praising the Noctua DH14. A few hundred dollars over is not my concern as much as a cool, quiet, responsive system that won’t make me feel like I’m killing it slowly by working it like a horse day in/day out. Thanks in advance to anyone with an opinion. Your contributions to us posters are generous and invaluable.

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Nov 2011 at 5:37pm
	1. thats not correct, the 2700 is nothing but the 2600k with a .10Ghz raise in clock which means nothing. 2. watse of your money has nothing to offer you for your use. 3. you just need ds ram, what do you mean more stable? lol. the other comments were correct. before I can correct that build and give you your money's worth (cause right now its not), I need to know the res you gonna game at, you said you have 3 monitors, which one you gaming at? and what is its native res? I'll talk to you about cooling also, needs to change. if noise is an issue then you need to take a few things into account. a. 95% of our noise comes from gpu's fan when under load, no way to deal with that without putting them on lc. b. the lc systems here are loud due to the loud fan on rads, if you want a quiet lc system you need to let me know cause we need to custom build it, but I will talk about this later with you, first we need to know the res. Edited by DST4ME - 27 Nov 2011 at 5:40pm
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

daniel940 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27 Nov 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Nov 2011 at 8:25pm
	DST - thanks for the quick reply. I don't do any gaming at all, so that's not an issue. This is a computer used 95% for graphic design and heavy multitasking. I use the maximum res of each of my three monitors, which are 1280x1024(19"), 1600x1200(21") and 1920x1200(24"). I am curious about liquid cooling the GPUs based on what you mentioned. How would I configure that? Also, sorry to be a noob, but what are "rads", as in "the lc systems here are loud due to the loud fan on rads..."? Thanks in advance.

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Nov 2011 at 4:22am
	LC system uses water block on the part (cpu/gpu) and radiator/s (rad/s) with fans on them to get the heat exchange going. Ok if you are not gaming what in the name of god are you doing with sli 560? 2 things wrong here: 1. if the sli is given to run 3 monitors then why the 560, if you are not gaming a 520 is more than you need. 2. a single ati card can run all 3 monitors for you for much less then sli. Now to lc the gpu/s its gonna cost you extra $800 or something like that. I'm ready to config you a proper system, however I need to bring something to your attentions, which is the new platform that come out this month with the new highend 6 core cpu, for your work this is the best cpu IMHO, but this platform, cause its the highend and has more cores/power, costs more, I'm gonna do both p67/x79, you decide. X79, (could not pick 16GB ram for some reason, but ask DS for 16GB 1600MHz DS ram): Here you go Ticket# 624627 --- $2,641 (To see this build click here) Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core) Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 PRO (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme Performance (Does NOT fit on the regular EVGA X58 3X SLI) H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro or Deluxe Series Motherboard) Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty Ask DS specifically for this fan to be added to the top, so you endup with 4 x 200mm fans: haf 200mm non led fanAsk for vcore lower then 1.4 for your oc. p67/68 again issues with picking 16GB so the same as above ask for the same thing I mentioned for x79: Here you go Ticket# 624628 --- $2,158 (To see this build click here) Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO (Intel Z68 Chipset) (Features Intel Quick Sync Technology) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (64MB Cache) (Model: Black Edition) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme Performance (Does NOT fit on the regular EVGA X58 3X SLI) H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro or Deluxe Series Motherboard) Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty Ask DS specifically for this fan to be added to the top, so you endup with 4 x 200mm fans: haf 200mm non led fan Ask for vcore lower then 1.4 for your oc. now we can do those in lc system but first we need to add the lc that will take about $600 to $800 for the p67 and x79, then to make them quiet, we need to customize it taking a cost a little more higher. the 5770 can do upto 6 monitors with adapters, or 4 without as long as one of the 4 monitors has a display port connector, but that just info, you only have 3 monitors, so long story short, this card has 2 dvi, 1 hdmi, and 1 display port, so you can use the 2 div connectors and the 1 hdmi to connect your monitors. Edited by DST4ME - 28 Nov 2011 at 4:25am
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Guru second opinion on noise/cooling/etc.

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