My first PC build in ten years, my current PC hardware is incompatible with the latest windows release. I’m aiming for quietness and reliability over power.
I’m quite excited to get my hands on some parts again. Let me know what you think! :D
No idea if the CPU fan is silent or what, but I’d be certain if you’re going to the effort for a be-quiet case.
Also I know it’s expensive to go higher, but I think that video card is going to be a big bottleneck on most games that came out after it was released. But if that’s not an issue, power to you.
I guess if your CPU will be bottlenecked by the GPU, it won’t be getting hot enough for much fan noise anyway. However the GPU fans might be loud if they’re working hard.
The CPU fan is 25.1dB at full speed, so hopefully almost silent at no load.
I’m extremely unlikely to be playing any modern games and will using the PC mostly for music and media, although I am starting to wonder if I should have just stuck with the mobo onboard graphics.
Modern is pretty relative when your GPU generation is 4 years old.
Plus it’s the lowest power of all of that gen.
I am curious how much better performance you’d get from only onboard graphics.
If you’re using hi-res monitors or multiple monitors, it’s probably good to not be using integrated graphics, I guess.
The 5600X doesn’t have onboard graphics. That would be the 5600G, which would have about the same graphics performance as the GTX 1630.
It’s relatively modern when my current graphics card is ten years old and also wasn’t close to top of the range back then 😅
I’m probably just going to use one 1080p monitor for now.
I think I should have made a post asking for recommendations of “semi silent” graphics card before I selected this one.
Ah no I meant “modern” games.
But yeah 10 year old games should be fine 😜
I wanted to propose a 7600X (which has an iGPU) to OP. Turns out even the GTX 1630 is roughly around 250% faster still :-/
So not really an option either.
I think you should cut some budget elsewhere to update that 1630 to something better if possible. Unless you’re not going for gaming…
I don’t really play games. If I do, I definitely won’t be bothered about playing them on the max settings.
I selected this graphics card based upon its 0db running mode. To be honest, the onboard graphics would probably have been enough for my usage, but I did want a graphics card just incase a game did take my fancy and to free up the CPU for music editing.
If you don’t want to do serious gaming, get a 5700G (the one with iGPU) instead of a 5600X (without iGPU) and skip the 1630 altogether. The 1630 is a waste of silicon and money.
Some other comment is saying to get a 850W PSU, I don’t agree with that. 750W is future proof even for top end GPUs, and if you don’t want to ever add a good GPU then you could survive on 400W or even less.
Thanks for the advice
I wanted to propose you a 7600X (as it has an iGPU), but even the GTX 1630 you selected is roughly 250% faster. So clearly not an option, even for 1080p.
Your build looks very reasonable, some improvements:
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Up your SSD from 1 TB to 2 TB, it doesn’t cost that much more and you’ll want the extra space (especially with Windows already taking up some of it)
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For optimal performance try and see if you can get 2x16 GB 3600 CL-16 memory. 3600 MHz is the XMP sweet spot for Zen2 CPUs. But only do this if the memory doesn’t add a lot of cost (I still regret going with 3200 MHz, but I also game a lot where it matters more). Don’t listen to anyone who says 32 GB RAM is overkill, I’ve run into issues with 16 GB several times before and that was years ago
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Maybe go for a 850W PSU if you ever decide to make a gaming rig out of it. 750W is more than decent for what you are planning, but with 850W you could even put in a RTX 4090 in the future if you suddenly get the urge. Again, only do this if you can get a similar quality for just a tiny premium in cost
For the things you are going to use your PC it will be quiet either way. But here’s a tip: Don’t use the default fan curves, they usually suck (like spinning up and down all the time). Even for my high-end gaming PC I use a manual speed. Fast enough that it cools well, but quiet enough that I can barely hear my PC (or not hear it at all if there is any background noise). So just tune your fans by ear, if either your CPU or GPU get too hot (but from what?) they’ll just throttle without issues.
Thank you for the advice. I wish I had made this post before I had started buying components!
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not sure why you’re getting so much RAM while at the same time getting such an out dated video card. just get a better AMD card if cost is a concern, there is no reason to build a new PC and use a bottom barrel GPU even if you’re not planning on gaming.
I was worried about getting a graphics card that sounded like a mini tornado and this is the only card I could find that had a 0dB running mode other than cards that had passive cooling only.
I looked at the noctua graphics card but I couldn’t justify the price.
The ram was relatively inexpensive compared to graphic cards so I didn’t mind overspecing a bit there.
I wanted to build a PC that would be a decent all rounder (except for not needing to play new a-list games), very quiet and to future proof me for a few more years.
GPU fans are generally very quiet. really only if you’re running a AAA brand new game at Ultra specs will you hear anything. I have an i7 12th gen processor, a 3080ti gpu and barely hear a peep from my computer unless I’m gaming, and even then it’s quieter than my airpurifier. Got 4 case fans in there on top of the built in 3 fans on the gpu. I think you are massively over estimating how loud computer cooling is, and also not taking into account the fact that the average background db level of your environment will likely drown out any minor sounds from your computer (according to google, the average for suburban areas is 45-50 db, so a fan putting out 1 to 2 is not gonna break through that).
Just suggesting that you can further future proof your machine by getting a better gpu to start. Just because it is more powerful doesn’t mean its gonna constantly be running fans at full speed. Honestly, having lesser resources would probably increase the likelihood of fans running more because they will be under higher load just due to them being less capable than more modern components. Regardless, even if your system is under heavy load whatever you’re doing (watching a movie, listening to music) is likely gonna drown out the mild whirr of some fans.
Anyway, hope you build a PC you’re happy with. I recommend at the very least adding some noise cancelling headphones to your build.
I was going for a quiet build as I want to record music in the same room, I also live in the countryside, the loudest thing here is often the bird song.
I know the graphics card is low end but if the max power draw is 50W then the max heat output is also 50W. You can see how a card that draws up to 350W is going to affect the build thermally.
I think the PC will do what I want it to do with little issue, but I have certainly learnt a lot in this thread today. I wish I had made it before I started buying components!
Do you have a budget you’re trying to stick to?
If you’re trying to future-proof your system, the GPU is a poor choice because it’s already an awful value now and poor performer now, you’ll definitely be disappointed with it in the future.
The CPU is arguably one of the top current choices for price/performance, but by going with AM4, you’re locked into that platform. You won’t be able to upgrade in the future without also replacing your motherboard and RAM at the same time. If the goal of future-proofing is important, AM5 and DDR5 are the way to go, but will cost more as they are the current generation rather than the previous one.
If you really want to keep the budget down, you’ll probably get the same performance with the integrated graphics in a 5600G as you would with the 1630, at the cost of slightly lower CPU performance, but you’ll only have one device to cool, so you could upgrade to a larger/quieter heatsink instead.
Thanks for the advice
