# Want tips on silent SLI 4K gaming build



## Camaxide (Oct 15, 2016)

So I've built quite a lot of builds through the years, and this time I want to make a computer for the living room / home cinema - that will run games in 4K. Since it will be in the living room and on at all times, I want it to be dead quiet while not gaming and quiet when gaming.

So to start off, these are the components I currently have in mind:

*CPU: *Intel Core i7-7700K (estimated available in January) 4.2 GHz (4.5 GHz Boost)
*CPU Cooler:* Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT
*MB:* Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7
*GPU:* 2x Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti (hopefully also available around January) Currently on my list is 2x Palit GeForce GTX 1080's - but they under-perform a little at 4K in Ultra.
*RAM:* 32GB - Really any low CAS low profile sticks - like 4x8 GB HyperX Savage DDR4 2400 MHz
*SSD:* Samsung 850 EVO 1 TB - might be combined with Samsung 950 Pro 512 GB M.2
*HDD: *I want to avoid mechanical drive.. but since I use Shadowplay recording 24/7 I might have to go with one..
*Case:* SilverStone Fortress FT05 Black (No window version)
*PSU:* Corsair HX850i
*Optical: *Asus Blu-Ray Writer SBW-06D2X-U (external so I can plug only if I really need it)


So, I picked the 7700K because I want fast cores more than I want many - since many programs and games I run seem to favor and be limited to core speed rather than more cores.
Motherboard is up for vote, I thought this one looks good for the build - it's important to me to be able to set up fan profiles for all fans as I want to set very low speeds when idle, and a curve that allows silent operation also during load.
GPU needs to be able to handle games at 4K at ok settings alone (to ensure I can turn off SLI in games that does not handle it well) and also to run SLI where it works well to be able to run 4K Ultra at 60 FPS. GPU needs to be silent when idle and not noisy during load.
RAM I think is not that brand important, as long as its low cas and low profile I'm happy.
SSD is the way I want to go with everything as it does not produce any noise. but since I record my game play with Nvidia Shadowplay at all times I would likely be better off having a single quiet HDD in there - ideas on this is very welcome. I've been thinking about installing a single SSD only for Shadowplay so it can wear and tear and simply get exchanged if it fails - without stalling the rest of the installation - but that seem a bit over the top..
Case is chosen as it seem to be the only solution that lets two cards in SLI operate without the bottom card cooking the top card. I've never ran SLI and want input on the case.. Is there other ways to make sure the top card is not warmer than the bottom one - I know fans can just ramp up, but as I want a silent build, it makes sense to ensure all fans work as slow as possible also during load. My problem with the FT05 is that it's much smaller than I'd like - I have plenty of room for the PC and would love a full tower with much space for both SSD's and cable management - while FT05 is built to make a small footprint. I have however not found any properly sized new cases for the job that has the vertical setup. Ideas are welcome bot horizontal and vertical.
PSU is chosen as I have a good experience with Corsair - but any PSU that are able to run fan-less when idle and silent when load (and also have modular cables and a good power rating and good wattage) is a good choice.
And for Optical I don't want one since it makes too much noise - but I want an external one for emergency. I'd like if that emergency optical would be able to run 4K Blu-ray movies (if there is any difference there).
Any tips on these parts, or really on anything related to building a 4K Gaming PC for SLI is welcome. Keep in mind the PC will be located visible in the living room - and run on 5.2 surround on a TV-set. For cases a black slick case without leds (or leds that can be turned off) is a good go - as I don't want it to look like Christmas decoration..


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## Darkleoco (Oct 15, 2016)

Would definitely say to consider mid-high end watercooling if you are looking for quiet while gaming. Running SLI with two top-end cards is going to throw a lot of heat in your case and even great airflow won't necessarily be enough to keep noise and heat down. Also a little more information would be helpful such as how close you are to your PC as silent from across the room and silent with it sitting next to you are two very different things.


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## Camaxide (Oct 15, 2016)

Water cooling won't do as the pump will always run, and not be silent even when idle, so far the research I've done on the matter suggests that water-cooling will never be as quiet as a carefully done air-cooling at least - but all input is welcome on that  - since the computer will be on also when doing delicate music listening, a pump sound won't be so good during idle - I hope to be able to do the load without ramping fans up to 'too noisy'. 
I looked at this guide for the air-cooling setup: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1445-page5.html Now, the 1080's run at 180W over the 148W  of the 970's in that test - so the 1080Ti's will certainly bring more heat to the table - but with 23db load at 1m - there should be some headroom. Also - 30db from good fans and 30db from a pump is noticed quiet differently - a smooth non-whining air-sound will be less easy to pick up notice to than pumps and water.

As for distance the computer will be in a corner in front of you, next to the right-hand front speaker (distance 2,5 - 3,0 meters) - as it's a corner noise certain noise might be boosted, but this is the free spot as the speaker can't go in the corner.


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## the54thvoid (Oct 15, 2016)

A Laing D5 pump is pretty damn quiet. Vibration is taken care of with a rubber mount. I use a D5 with my 3930k and 980ti kingpin at 1500mhz. Fan rpm is 700rpm over 2 x 360 rads. 
I guarantee my set up (which is overkill) is quieter than any air cooled equivalent. 
Also, 2 x 1080ti in a closed case will be noisier for sure.


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## Camaxide (Oct 15, 2016)

Thanks, I will look into some reviews on the D5 - and how uniform any noise is on this.
I also just figured I'll swap on my current list the CM Hyper 212 EVO with Cryorig H7 Universal as it goes lower on noise in idle.


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## BiggieShady (Oct 15, 2016)

Quietness is so relative, you make your system "silent" and your ears and brain adapt and adjust for new baseline for background noise ... and suddenly the quiet build is not so quiet anymore by perception bias alone.
I realized more important is "quality" of the noise, achieving muffled more white-noise-like hum without any annoying higher pitched brazing sounds ... then drown it in with the speakers volume


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## Camaxide (Oct 15, 2016)

Yeah, this is why I want to avoid water-cooling as when it makes noise, it's a much worse noise than fans with a good sound profile runs equally high (but if air isnt able to do it without ramping speeds up a lot then water may be more quiet under load).
It is more important for me that the system is pretty much dead silent at idle, then very silent during load. if the living room is being used for reading a book, or listening to say Enya at low volume - then you really don't want to realize a computer is running in the room at all. While if I blow stuff up in a tank in BF1 - then a tiny bit of noise won't make a huge difference.


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## FR@NK (Oct 15, 2016)

When I did my home theater setup, I ran HDMI through the wall and moved the computer into a closet. I hate background noise when I'm watching movies. For gaming I use a headset so cant really hear anything else.


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## Camaxide (Oct 16, 2016)

Good idea Frank, but the other side of the wall is our bedroom, more specifically my girlfriends wardrobe - so I think that's not the right solution for my 'case'  'pun intended'


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## FR@NK (Oct 16, 2016)

Yea just sharing my experience I understand it wont work for most people.

It wont be easy to get a silent 4k gaming system especially if you dont wanna water cool it.


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## Camaxide (Oct 16, 2016)

I know it's not an easy mission, but that's why I look for some tips here 
I'd really prefer it to be on air - which is why I've looked at the vertical placement of the cards - as it allows all air to move up - and not past one card. However I guess that method might work best with the Founders Edition cooling method, but might work less smooth with the custom cooling cards.. And I will certainly go with a good 3rd party cooler version of the cards.. I see many cards today actually turn off the fans when idle, which is what I want  Also I guess a motherboard which allows for more spacing between the two GPU's are a good idea.


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## blobster21 (Oct 16, 2016)

I would suggest the use of a zalman front panel fan controller such as this one :


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## Camaxide (Oct 16, 2016)

Thanks blobster21  I hope to be able to do that job with software, to avoid having to walk off around the table and into the living room corner to turn fan-knobs.
Keyboard, Mouse etc. should be all wireless for this build. But fan control is very important. I guess for software control I need to ensure I have a motherboard with lots of fan headers able to control speed. What is required for this? Does most motherboards today support plenty of that? or is there a few enthusiast boards only?


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## R00kie (Oct 16, 2016)

If you want to control the fans with software, I would suggest getting an NZXT HUE+, that will control all the fans, and if you want to bling the PC out later on, the RGB LED strips. As for the pump noise, I hear nothing out of my SPC 60 from EK, even on full throttle. Mind you, this pump wont be enough for your whole setup, but the D5's from them would be silent as heck as well.


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## slozomby (Oct 16, 2016)

I think there are 6 fan headers on my asus z170 boards.

there are several pwm splitters out there ( besides just a Y cable) , if all the fans can be running the same speeds.


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## Camaxide (Oct 16, 2016)

When I check the NZXT Hue+ site I don't see anything about fan speeds, only about color control?
I see it use CAM which I already have installed for info feedback - so I'm a tiny bit familiar with the software there at least. It would mean I can also control fan speeds from my phone etc.? or at least read info from them..
I think case-fans can run on same speed - at least same type fans


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## R00kie (Oct 16, 2016)

Camaxide said:


> When I check the NZXT Hue+ site I don't see anything about fan speeds, only about color control?
> I see it use CAM which I already have installed for info feedback - so I'm a tiny bit familiar with the software there at least. It would mean I can also control fan speeds from my phone etc.? or at least read info from them..
> I think case-fans can run on same speed - at least same type fans


Ah, sorry, I was thinking about the GRID+, my bad.


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## Camaxide (Oct 16, 2016)

ah thanks, yes that looks more right


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## mstenholm (Oct 16, 2016)

Camaxide said:


> Thanks, I will look into some reviews on the D5 - and how uniform any noise is on this.
> I also just figured I'll swap on my current list the CM Hyper 212 EVO with Cryorig H7 Universal as it goes lower on noise in idle.


+1 for D5 being near silent.


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## trog100 (Oct 17, 2016)

complete silence when under heavy load is not possible on a high end sli machine.. some things just are.. 

my own machine is near silent most of the time but not when gaming.. the gpu fans speed up and can be heard.. and even water cooling needs fans and a pump for f-ck sake.. it aint magic.. 

trog


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## Camaxide (Oct 17, 2016)

No, of course I don't look for dead silence during full load  I look for dead silence at idle (2 meters from the case) and as quiet as possible during load.
I know water cools more, but for now the goal is to set up a very good air-cooled computer that will manage the task.
Any info or tips on specific cases and or fans that are well known to do supreme cooling while silent is welcome for that.
I also don't look to replace the GPU fan's I will look for a third party card that does well (as far as such a GPU goes) while case and CPU fan's will all be replaced if the stock case fans are not top notch for cooling/silence.


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## trog100 (Oct 17, 2016)

case side fans work well.. they blow room temp air directly onto the graphics cards.. the cooler you can keeps the cards the quieter things will be..

my system pretty much relies on them.. front fans are kind of redundant unless there is a load of spinning disks to keep cool..

trog

ps.. two "heaters" in a not ideal case.. it does rely on the unseen side fans.. they directly feed cool air to both the cards and top flow cpu cooler..


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## Camaxide (Oct 17, 2016)

Side fans might be a good thing if I go with a standard horizontal case.
For vertical setup I'd have intake under - and outtake on top. but 98% of the cases on the market are not vertical..
I will likely not have any optical or HDD (maybe one) and so I could also have plenty of intake from the front.
as I understand many large fans running slow is the way to go?

ps: what cards are those? for the 1080's I looked at so far I have liked the Palit ones - do they turn off their fans entirely when idle?


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## D007 (Oct 17, 2016)

Heat hasn't been the problem with my 1080.. ACX 3.0 heat levels are awesome..
Just make sure it's aftermarket cooling, the standard sucks..
Going two TI's? I have one recommendation.. Ship it to me when you're done building it..lol


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## thebluebumblebee (Oct 18, 2016)

Case: Corsair 600Q
HSF: (why are you trying to use entry level?) Noctua NH-D15S or Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT


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## trog100 (Oct 18, 2016)

Camaxide said:


> Side fans might be a good thing if I go with a standard horizontal case.
> For vertical setup I'd have intake under - and outtake on top. but 98% of the cases on the market are not vertical..
> I will likely not have any optical or HDD (maybe one) and so I could also have plenty of intake from the front.
> as I understand many large fans running slow is the way to go?
> ...



i have a couple of normal front fans.. they are controlled from the front panel so is the top rear fan which is unseen in the pic.. i leave them running very slowly because the red leds look pretty.. but on or off they make very little difference to the card and cpu temps or overall cooling.. its the side fans that literally do all the work.. its not about case airflow more about directing the cooler air where its needed.. where its needed is pretty obvious when the pic is looked at.. he he

the 980 TI palet fans do turn off when idle.. i have mine set to come on at 40 C.. they only come on when gaming.. in an ideal world i would have all the fans off when browsing and the like.. its not noise but dust with me.. but its not that easy to arrange so i settle for them running slowly unless under heavy load.. the system is near silent unless its gaming.. all the fans crank up enough to be heard then.. not overly loud but they can be heard..

filters  kill air flow which is why i dont use them..

trog


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## Camaxide (Oct 18, 2016)

Yikes thanks *thebluebumblebee*, that's a awesome tip  I made a spreadsheet with only the CPU coolers I've thought of yet, and then these new ones - and it seem those two smokes both my old CM Hyper 212 Evo as well as the Cryorig H7. While the H7 Uni seem very good on the noise - it does not perform as well on the temp. I have now replaced with Le Gran Macho on my list, as the fan on the Noctura had a really.. bad color imo. even if I might not show off my interior 

ah *trog100* I've also thought of skipping the dust filters for better airflow, then clean the case like I always did before dist filters became the norm. About the dust (keeping a positive air pressure) that makes total sense - however, without filters dust comes in either if the fans run or not.. I would think that with filters - I would only need to keep the intake fans on for minimum airflow to keep dust out, but if the dust come in through the intake then it should not matter so much? or does the airflow ensure the dust does not settle, and just flow throughout the case? You sound to have quiet a similar setup to what I intend.


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## trog100 (Oct 18, 2016)

dust filters kill airflow big time.. which means in essence you need more fans running faster to compensate relative to having no dust filters and a none restricted airflow..

i think they restrict airflow by at least 75%.. do the math.. he he

dust settles on my side fan blades and directly where they blow.. i take the case side off and clean the blades every so often with a brush and blower.. dust does not blow through the case it will settle somewhere..

all this positive negative pressure stuff is nonsense.. if air flows through the case as it has to it will carry dust in with it.. filters will keep out most of the dust but will need much more fan power and noise to overcome the huge airflow restrictions they impose..

if you have a relative dust free environment and want silence filters are best avoided.. its not that much trouble to give the internals a good blow out every two or three months..

the rules are simple.. blow the cooler room temp air where its needed.. that way you need less air flow than just blasting it randomly though the case which seems the common practice..

the snag with an sli set up is the top card fans picks up air that is already warmed up by the bottom card.. with hot running cards you can see a 20 C difference between top and bottom card.. the side fans dont entirely stop the bottom card feeding hot air to the top card but  they do lessen the effect as much as possible..

with a top blow cpu cooler like i have the upper case side fan feeds cool air directly to the cpu cooler.. with normal side flow coolers they run in a pocket of hot air created by both the graphics cards..

i did need to put some thought into cooling my own system.. i tried a few variations before ending up where i did.. i am just passing on my conclusions.. he he

trog

ps.. set up custom fan profiles.. over-cool the bottom card.. the cooler the bottom card runs the cooler the top card will run.. the temp of the bottom card does directly effect the temp of the top card.. run the fans more aggressively on the bottom card.. oddly enough this will keep the top card cooler..


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## thebluebumblebee (Oct 18, 2016)

trog100 said:


> filters kill air flow


You know what really kills airflow and cooling?  Dust.  IMHO, it's much better to stop the dirt outside of the case as much as possible, because it's very easy to miss blowing out an area.  Killed a video card that way.


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## jboydgolfer (Oct 18, 2016)

thebluebumblebee said:


> You know what really kills airflow and cooling?  Dust.  IMHO, it's much better to stop the dirt outside of the case as much as possible, because it's very easy to miss blowing out an area.  Killed a video card that way.




That makes me feel like i should rethink my new sandbox build


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## Grings (Oct 18, 2016)

If you are waiting for the 7700k chips to come out i would also wait on the z270 boards rather than getting a z170

and imo, fan controllers are unnecessary nowadays, good new boards will allow control over everything


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## thebluebumblebee (Oct 18, 2016)

Grings said:


> and imo, fan controllers are unnecessary nowadays, good new boards will allow control over everything


And many of the better cases come with a fan hub.


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## Camaxide (Oct 18, 2016)

About the upper card always getting way hotter - this is the core reason I've been looking at vertical cabinets - as they allow the cards to stack next to each other rather than on top of each other - thus not heating each other much at all as long as the air gets to vent out on top. There seem to not be many of those cases on the market however - and the current "best" one I found seem way too cramped for my liking.


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## Camaxide (Oct 18, 2016)

Grings said:


> If you are waiting for the 7700k chips to come out i would also wait on the z270 boards rather than getting a z170
> 
> and imo, fan controllers are unnecessary nowadays, good new boards will allow control over everything



I will have to see. 1080Ti is the most important, and if 7700 is also out at the same time its a bonus (or if its very close) - but if it seem to be a gap between them I'd likely build rather than wait. But it would make sense to also go then for the new z


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## Camaxide (Oct 18, 2016)

thebluebumblebee said:


> You know what really kills airflow and cooling?  Dust.  IMHO, it's much better to stop the dirt outside of the case as much as possible, because it's very easy to miss blowing out an area.  Killed a video card that way.



I've built many computers - and only the last one had dust filters, and I never had any components dying on me - I just made sure to clean the case well and often - so it should 'usually' work fine. I'll do some more research on filter vs none - as silence is important for my new build


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## trog100 (Oct 19, 2016)

filters need cleaning pretty often.. i would think "not so clean filters" would cause more cooling problems than no filters.. 

most desktop computers dont need that good an airflow which is the main reason people dont notice just how much filters restrict it.. 

trog


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## phanbuey (Oct 19, 2016)

thebluebumblebee said:


> You know what really kills airflow and cooling?  Dust.  IMHO, it's much better to stop the dirt outside of the case as much as possible, because it's very easy to miss blowing out an area.  Killed a video card that way.



not sure about this.  dust will need to be cleaned from the components but dust filtering will impact airflow, and you will need to compensate with higher static pressure fans or more surface area.  SILENT builds = more cooling surface area.  Maximize surface area and case size, and you will get the silence you are looking for.  If you are trully looking for silence then a double wide case with one side dedicated to a silent loop with dual 3x140mm rads would be ideal.

Gigantic heat pipe coolers work best, an extra space between the cards in SLI would be good too.


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## Camaxide (Oct 19, 2016)

phanbuey said:


> If you are trully looking for silence then a double wide case with one side dedicated to a silent loop with dual 3x140mm rads would be ideal.



By loop you refer to water-loop? does this approach with double width also apply to air cooling?


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## phanbuey (Oct 19, 2016)

Camaxide said:


> By loop you refer to water-loop? does this approach with double width also apply to air cooling?



yes to water cooling - the double width allows you to put in additional radiators which increases your surface area of cooling, and to do so as intakes (which is MUCH better than using exhaust radiators) - since you can put your radiators anywhere then run a tube to the component.  

The approach to air cooling is to have the biggest/best heat pipe coolers you can get, and space them out as much as possible from other components that generate heat.  If you do this, you shouldn't have to run your fans over 1000-1100 RPM, which most people would consider 'silent'.


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## Camaxide (Oct 22, 2016)

yeah. this is why I'd like to have a quite large case (I don't have any real restriction in space requirement) which is why I feel the SilverStone Fortress is a bit cramped/small for my liking - even if its vertical orientation seem superior for cooling SLI setups.
1000-1100 RPM noted


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## Camaxide (Mar 12, 2017)

Trog100: what does your case side look like from the outside?

With both z270 and 1080ti out I'm re-opening this thread as I plan to build very soon.

I'm going dual 1080Ti custom coolers, and will do 7700k and z270.

I swapped the fortress case with Phanteks Evolv Atx Tg edition for looks, but re-reading here sugests I'd have to consider replacing that pretty tempered glass side and get a case with fan(s) on the side?

Any new thoughts are welcome. But I'm certain I don't want to go water


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## EarthDog (Mar 13, 2017)

Dont put on a custom cooler, if that is what you meant. Wait for the cards with custom sooling to come out. 

I wouldn't worry about a side fan... you will be fine. Front/Sides = intake, Top/Rear = Exhaust.

EDIT: That case though.. not exactly a candidate for great airflow honestly... You are going to have 500W of things to cool there in that case with 1.5 intake fans. Replacing the glass to downgrade to plexi just for a fan, may have to happen, honestly... shame a proper case for the hardware wasn't bought  anyway.


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## trog100 (Mar 13, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Dont put on a custom cooler, if that is what you meant. Wait for the cards with custom sooling to come out.
> 
> I wouldn't worry about a side fan... you will be fine. Front/Sides = intake, Top/Rear = Exhaust.
> 
> EDIT: That case though.. not exactly a candidate for great airflow honestly... You are going to have 500W of things to cool there in that case with 1.5 intake fans. Replacing the glass to downgrade to plexi just for a fan, may have to happen, honestly... shame a proper case for the hardware wasn't bought  anyway.


 
my sli system would not be fine without the side fans.. it would be fine without the front fans but the side fans are essential.. but my system is a little over full of stuff..

my front intake and upper rear exhaust fans are manually controlled and can be turned off completely.. on or off it dosnt make a deal of difference to the temps the cards and cpu run at.. i leave them running at their just on and slowest setting because the front ones have some red leds and look pretty..

i dont mind a little fan noise when gaming but like a silent machine the rest of the time.. i knew heat would be a problem when i installed my pair of over size palit 980TI cards and it was..

i believe in blowing cool air where it does the most good.. in this case the side fans effectively do this.. they directly feed the card fans and my top flow cpu cooler.. front fans might have been good back in the days when people had loads of hot spinning disks that needed cooling but not now..

i recon a large case with an aio water cooled cpu that pulls its air from the front of the case is the best set up for sli.. maybe even a water cooled top card which does the same thing..

all i am gonna say is its not as simple as good airflow or pushing more air through a case.. its more about where the fans that have to cool the hot bits get their cooling air from.. in a perfect world they should all pull their air directly from outside the case and not inside it.. in fact there should not be a case as such..

a case used to contain and hide the ugly bits.. now the ugly bits aint so ugly maybe an open framework "case" is the way to go.. he he

trog


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## Mussels (Mar 13, 2017)

Minus the SLI, you've basically asked for my system.

Tips:

1. PSU and GPU(s) with fan off at idle make a huge difference.
2. Low speed fans outright - dont waste your time with fan controllers, just get fans that are silent from the start. Many fans rattle or make noises when speed is lowered. I run Fractal R3 silent fans undervolted to 7v - even the 20db 'silent' is loud by my standards.
3. No mechanical drives, unless you use something like these, so a button push turns it off (mech drives wake up almost randomly, and the noise/lag spikes annoys me)
4. A case with good noise dampening and low obstruction to the fans. I love my fractal R5 and removed the HDD bays, so the fans having no blockages reduces noise even further.
5. AIO water cooling is fine as most pumps are very quiet, and that kind of noise is easily absorbed by the case.


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## Camaxide (Mar 13, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Dont put on a custom cooler, if that is what you meant. Wait for the cards with custom sooling to come out.
> 
> I wouldn't worry about a side fan... you will be fine. Front/Sides = intake, Top/Rear = Exhaust.
> 
> EDIT: That case though.. not exactly a candidate for great airflow honestly... You are going to have 500W of things to cool there in that case with 1.5 intake fans. Replacing the glass to downgrade to plexi just for a fan, may have to happen, honestly... shame a proper case for the hardware wasn't bought  anyway.



Ah no, I'm waiting for the board partners to release their boards  I'll pick whichever has the lowest noise while gaming, and which also turns of the fans completely when idle.



Mussels said:


> Minus the SLI, you've basically asked for my system.
> 
> Tips:
> 
> ...



yeah both PSU and GPU's are to only use heatsinks when idle. For fans I'm currently looking to find whatever fans are performing the best while also being silent. Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 2000 140mm IP67 PWM seem good so far.
I will also only use SSD, 1: because it's silent 2: because I will have this computer located pretty much next to one of the subwoofers.
For water I won't be using any of that - I've been considering it for some time, but landed on going all air.


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## Camaxide (Mar 13, 2017)

Current list updated:

*CPU: *Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2 GHz (4.5 GHz Boost)
*CPU Cooler:* Noctua NH-U14S or Scythe Fuma (if I'll have a case-window I'll not chose a Noctua...)
*MB:* A Z270 motherboard that allows me to run 16x+8x SLI while also using a M.2 drive (and should also have Wi-Fi) Anyone know such a board?
*GPU:* 2x Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti (I'll check tests and go with cards that stop the fans when idle, and runs "quiet" when gaming. - must be maximum 2-slot to leave 1 slot between the cards for cooling.
*RAM:* 32GB - Really any low CAS low profile sticks - like 4x8 GB HyperX Savage DDR4 2400 MHz
*SSD:* Samsung 960 EVO NVMe 500GB/1TB
*SSD2: *Samsung 850 EVO 1TB/2TB
*SSD3: *Crucial MX300 1TB or SanDisk Ultra II 960GB (For Shadowplay)
*Case:* One that looks good (not plastic looks) and has good airflow with side-fan. (I aimed for Phanteks Evolv ATX Tempered Glass Edition until I found I'd be good with a sidefan for the SLI)
*CaseFans:* NF-P14s Redux 1500 (These seem good on testing, any better/more silent fans that performs equalent is welcome)
*PSU:* Corsair HX850i
*Optical: *Asus Blu-Ray Writer SBW-06D2X-U (external so I can plug it only if I really need it)


So, I picked the 7700K because I want fast cores more than I want many - since many programs and games I run seem to favor and be limited to core speed rather than more cores.
Motherboard is up for vote, I wish to run the GPU's in 16x-8x config while also running one SSD in M.2 slot.
I tought much about water, but have settled on having all air cooling.
RAM I think is not that brand important, as long as its low cas and low profile I'm happy.
SSD is the way I want to go with everything as it does not produce any noise. I will run OS on one drive, games/programs on a second drive, and finally use the third SSD for Shadowplay recording only - wear and tear.
Case should not look cheap and plastic.. and it needs good airflow - I will not use any optical drives or HDD's so I can have full airflow from the front. I also wish for a side-fan opening to help cool the SLI-setup.
PSU is chosen as I have a good experience with Corsair - but any PSU that are able to run fan-less when idle and silent when load (and also have modular cables and a good power rating and good wattage) is a good choice.
And for Optical I don't want one since it makes too much noise - but I want an external one for emergency. I'd like if that emergency optical would be able to run 4K Blu-ray movies (if there is any difference there).
Any tips on these parts, or really on anything related to building a 4K Gaming PC for SLI is welcome. Keep in mind the PC will be located visible in the living room. Led's are ok as long as they can be turned off (I mean led-strips and other bling).


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## FireFox (Mar 13, 2017)

Camaxide said:


> So, I picked the 7700K because I want fast cores


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## Grings (Mar 13, 2017)

I would rather get the normal version of the phanteks case anyway, i dont get why some manufacturers use tempered glass for the 'back' side panel

You either have all your messy cables showing, or plumb them in all anally neat, then spend hours taking it all apart to dust it once a month, far too much effort for me


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## phanbuey (Mar 13, 2017)

This sounds odd, but for a truly silent SLI build I would watercool just the cards on a triple rad, push pull with some 800-900RPM fans, and get a nice huge CPU cooler or like an AIO dualie up top.

I feel like the 1080Ti's will start screaming fanwise when SLI'd and you really don't need elaborate cooling on the 7700.


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## EarthDog (Mar 13, 2017)

phanbuey said:


> This sounds odd, but for a truly silent SLI build I would watercool just the cards on a triple rad, push pull with some 800-900RPM fans, and get a nice huge CPU cooler.


that would work... just not as sell as it could.

First, that isn't really enough radiator to cool 450W (stock). A general rule of thumb is 100W /120mm of rad. So running 'under' radded and really slow fans, your temps will be closer to air kind of defeating one of the purposes of water cooling to me.

Now... 4x120 and slower fans with a lower fpu rad... now you are talking.


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## phanbuey (Mar 13, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> that would work... just not as sell as it could.
> 
> First, that isn't really enough radiator to cool 450W (stock). A general rule of thumb is 100W /120mm of rad. So running 'under' radded and really slow fans, your temps will be closer to air kind of defeating one of the purposes of water cooling to me.
> 
> Now... 4x120 and slower fans with a lower flight rad... now you are talking.



I don't see a way for it to stay quiet with the 1080TIs in sli without some form of water...  The custom configurations don't push enough air out of the case, and will just turn the case into a convection oven - the side fan might help, but will be louder.

The blowers are just crap. 

If you go single card it's a lot easier, but SLI... I think water.


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## EarthDog (Mar 13, 2017)

Oh.. I agree! In SLI, clearly the best case is water. But if we are going that route, might as well get all the benefits he wants.. lower temps and quiet by being properly radded.

Yeah, no way in hell the blower will be quiet, specifically in SLI.


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## Camaxide (Mar 13, 2017)

Sure, during load water will run more quiet than air, but many cards turn off fans completely when idle, and water cant beat that. Also air cooling is less maintenance which is among the reasons I skipped it all together. Even a closed maintanence-free system will get annoyed after some years.

That the system makes some sound during playing is ok.


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## EarthDog (Mar 13, 2017)

Good luck keeping the top card's fan off in SLI. 

But you make a good point regardless. Overall though, even if it's 4 120mm fans on a rad... they can be turned down to nearly inaudible levels at idle and even at load.

Anyway...If it's loud on load, then it isn't quiet, . But, this is of course for the OP to decide. But, overall, a water loop with the right rads and fans can be pretty quiet in any situation.


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## phanbuey (Mar 14, 2017)

Camaxide said:


> Sure, during load water will run more quiet than air, but many cards turn off fans completely when idle, and water cant beat that. Also air cooling is less maintenance which is among the reasons I skipped it all together. Even a closed maintanence-free system will get annoyed after some years.
> 
> That the system makes some sound during playing is ok.



Agreed the maintenance and resale are pains.


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## Dippyskoodlez (Mar 14, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> that would work... just not as sell as it could.
> 
> First, that isn't really enough radiator to cool 450W (stock). A general rule of thumb is 100W /120mm of rad. So running 'under' radded and really slow fans, your temps will be closer to air kind of defeating one of the purposes of water cooling to me.
> 
> Now... 4x120 and slower fans with a lower fpu rad... now you are talking.



A single 120 is plenty for a single GPU. I cool my 5820k and dual 980Ti's on a 360+2x120 without issue and have capacity to spare. Temperatures are ~60C peak with a light overclock on everything. The only real issue is physical space for it all.



Camaxide said:


> Sure, during load water will run more quiet than air, but many cards turn off fans completely when idle, and water cant beat that. Also air cooling is less maintenance which is among the reasons I skipped it all together. Even a closed maintanence-free system will get annoyed after some years.
> 
> That the system makes some sound during playing is OK.



Fan curve your radiator fans to off below temperature thresholds. Why can water not beat this? You can use universally larger fans for all cooling via water and reduce noise substantially easier than any air cooling setup.


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## Camaxide (Mar 14, 2017)

fans off, but pump still on?
Anyway, I found a motherboard that claims to have dual 16x SLI support by adding another controller on the motherboard.. does this add any latency to the SLI? I'm not able to find any info on this anywhere..
http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z270X-Gaming-9-rev-10#kf
Another bonus of such a board is that there is another free slot between the GPU's there maxing out the 80cm which is the longest HB bridge length - this allows for better airflow between the cards.

edit: I read the PLX adds some latency to the setup, and might not be benefitial after all.. however - I'd love that extra spacing.. anyone know of a card with 80mm between the two PCI slots which can run 16x8x?


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## Dippyskoodlez (Mar 14, 2017)

Camaxide said:


> fans off, but pump still on?
> Anyway, I found a motherboard that claims to have dual 16x SLI support by adding another controller on the motherboard.. does this add any latency to the SLI? I'm not able to find any info on this anywhere..
> http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z270X-Gaming-9-rev-10#kf
> Another bonus of such a board is that there is another free slot between the GPU's there maxing out the 80cm which is the longest HB bridge length - this allows for better airflow between the cards.



Use a quiet pump? Pumps don't make much noise at all, if any.


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## Camaxide (Mar 14, 2017)

I can't seem to find any info or tests/benchmarks comparing x16/x8 with x8/x8 SLI setups - does it make any difference when one card does x8 anyway?


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## EarthDog (Mar 14, 2017)

Nothing you need to worry about... 1%. It is what it is unless you buy a board with a PLX chip on it and can run 16/16... but there is increased latency when using a PLX so.......................... just don't worry about it. 

60 posts in.. figured we'd have a build log by now... don't get lost in the minutia man.


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## Camaxide (Mar 14, 2017)

ah, I just woke this post up from the dead a couple of days ago - as a lot had changed with z270 and 1080ti's coming around 
I'm just trying to 'land' the build at this point 
Been looking for a good looking case with side-fan and two ssd locations and realized today that motherboards with one more spacing does excist - so some last minute things.


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## Camaxide (Mar 14, 2017)

trog100 said:


> the 980 TI palet fans do turn off when idle.. i have mine set to come on at 40 C.. they only come on when gaming.. in an ideal world i would have all the fans off when browsing and the like.. its not noise but dust with me.. but its not that easy to arrange so i settle for them running slowly unless under heavy load.. the system is near silent unless its gaming.. all the fans crank up enough to be heard then.. not overly loud but they can be heard..
> 
> trog





EarthDog said:


> Good luck keeping the top card's fan off in SLI.



Should not be a problem, there is no need for either of the cards to produce loads of heat when idle..

trog even seem to have one slot less spacing than normal I believe?

Earlier in the posts I was told about the NZXT Grid+. is there any other good ways to set up software-control over the fans? will most high-end motherboards actually have software for it when connected straight to the motherboard if 4-pin PWM fans?


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## EarthDog (Mar 14, 2017)

Bottom card warms top card with nary a space between them.. it may kick on automatically requiring a profile change.


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## Camaxide (Mar 14, 2017)

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/7bsJ7P got me re-thinking the must-have for side panel along with https://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/8.
Now I clearly see that a side fan is good for the SLI, and also the no-side+no-bottom makes for a none-optimal situation it still seem like others are running this with 1080's and having both cards idle just fine even when running 40 degrees before fans go on (default is 60). So maybe I can still go with a good looking case. I really had a hard time finding any decend case with side fans.. it seem it's not what most make..


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## trog100 (Mar 15, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Bottom card warms top card with nary a space between them.. it may kick on automatically requiring a profile change.



by default my palit fans come on at about 30 C.. bad because its the temp the cards idle at.. one of them (the top one) was constantly kicking in and out.. i raised the temps the fans come on at to 40 C to stop this..

my sli set up did require clever fan profiles.. the bottom card does cook the top card.. the back plate of the bottom card does in effect become the ambient temp for the top card.. with a normal fan profile this would be at 75 C.. the poor old top card sucks its air from just above the 75 C hot plate..

the secret is to over cool the bottom card.. the large palit cards have good cooling.. my bottom cards fan profile is set to run flat out at around 50 C.. the top one is set to run flat out at around 75 C..

basically the top card runs at least 20 C hotter than the bottom card.. this cant really be altered with cards like mine.. this is even with the side fans directly cooling the cards..

but by keeping the bottom card at 55 C the top card runs at 75 C.. odd but its all down to over cooling the bottom card even though its the top card that has the heat problems..

sli did cause me cooling problems.. but solving them taught me a few lessons.. 

trog

ps.. i did run a pair of 970 cards in sli mode before the 980 TI cards.. those had no cooling problems.. but the big 980 TI cards did..

now the half decent single 1080TI card is here i would just go for a single card set up.. some time in the future i may do this.. it a not priority though..


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## Camaxide (Mar 15, 2017)

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/geforce-gtx-1080-2-way-sli-review,5.html

This shows the same.  Tdp of the 1080ti is 30 lower than the 980ti's but 40 higher than 1070's so i expect below 50 degrees in idle


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## EarthDog (Mar 15, 2017)

Temps dont have much to do with tdp...

Let me put it another way... which is hotter, a lighter with a single yellow flame, or a bonfire with yellow flames? The answer...both the same temp, but clearly the bonfire has more energy. Similar concept here bud.


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## phanbuey (Mar 15, 2017)

You could always get a silverstone FT, or one of the cases that has the cards facing up.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008J0ZOF4/?tag=tec06d-20


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## Camaxide (Mar 15, 2017)

Hehe, and that closes the loop - I actually started out planing to build inside a Silverstone FT05 - but crampines and bad looks took me away from it. the 02 is larger, but also lacks all new tech like ssd mounts etc.
I still believe the card orientation would be good though


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