I spend 12 to 14 hours a day in my office on any given weekday. My productivity on my PC is vital and as a result I’m not afraid to invest in good equipment. For the last several desktop workstations that I’ve used I’ve assembled the computer myself from various components. One of my challenges with this approach is the amount of noise produced. The DIY computer market is targeted at the 19 year old gamer who cares more about how many neon lights his computer has than how quiet it is.
As a software developer and power user I demand a very performant machine. I’m constantly running virtual machines, visual studio, graphics design applications, etc. I needed a PC that can deliver while also looking good and remaining silent (or near silent).
I don’t have a decibel meter at hand so I can’t give you empirical measurements on exactly how loud my old computer was. Anecdotally though it was enough to upset my wife because when she would call for my attention I wouldn’t hear her. It really had become a problem and the noise was impacting my mood and productivity.
I decided to set out on solving my noise challenges and spend as little money as possible while doing it. One of my main concerns was ensuring that I would continue to have 4 DVI ports that can uniquely configure each monitor. I’m a firm believer that the more screen real-estate you have the more productive you are. I’m on the fence about the value of the 4th monitor but I really do think that 3 is the minimum I could ever be happy with. I typically use the 4th display for my music app or I hook it up to my laptop when it is on my desk. In order to drive 4 separate displays however there aren’t many single card solutions available. In the past I’ve always had to have 2 separate video cards and I expected that would continue.
What I started with:
- i7-920 processor
- 12GB of Corsair DDR3 memory
- Crucial 256GB C300 SSD (6Gbs)
- Asus P6X58D Premium Motherboard
- 2 x Nvidia GTS 240 video cards (2 monitors on each)
- Antec Lanboy Air case
- Antec 850w power supply
The computer itself was actually fairly powerful. I reviewed benchmark sites and realized that the cost of upgrading to a Sandy Bridge i7 isn’t really justified given the minimal performance increase. I found this conclusion interesting given that I’ve had the i7-920 for over 2 years. Previously I had a general rule of thumb to replace my processor and supporting components every 2 – 3 years. I generally feel the pace of processor innovation has slowed. I decided that I would retain the motherboard, processor, memory, and hard drive. All of which would continue to work fine in my new silent PC. I will need to replace the case, CPU cooler, power supply, and video cards.
Looking at the above starting point the first and obvious place to start is the Antec Lanboy case. That thing is completely open and offers zero noise isolation. I bought it without thinking because it was on sale at Micro Center. In reality it was a very poor choice for my scenario.
When selecting a new case my primary criteria were:
- Clean looking and professional design - no cut outs, neon lights, plexiglass panels, giant fans, etc
- As small as possible – Even though I have a full size ATX board I don’t need water cooling, 15 hard drives, 4 fans, and 3 optical. I just want the ability to mount my SSD, one optical drive, and maybe an additional 3.5” SATA drive for backups.
- Either powder coated or aluminum - I don’t think the raw insides of a steel case look very good. I wanted a very high quality case and to me that meant attention to detail both on the inside and out.
- Quiet! - Ideally the case would have built in noise shielding or padding to help me on my mission
- Top mounted power supply – Given that I intended to use a fanless power supply I wanted the opening at the top of the case to allow for passive heat dissemination.
- Good cable management to allow for airflow and to keep everything organized
I spent a significant amount of time going over the reviews of a number of cases from Lian Li, Antec, Fractal Design, Thermaltake, etc. Cost wasn’t a significant concern although I couldn’t ignore it completely. I short listed the following cases:
Fractal Design Define XL Titanium Grey w/USB 3.0 – $149
 |
Pros:
Clean style Noise reduction built in Cable management
Cons:
Size (very large at 22.10" x 9.13" x 22.05" or 4,150 cu in.) Bottom mounted power supply Inside not powder coated
|
LIAN LI PC-90 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower – $199
|

|
Pros:
Aluminum body Lian Li (great reputation) Very professional looking
Cons:
Size (still large at 19.25" x 9.06" x 20.16" or 3,516 cu in.) Bottom mounted power supply No explicit noise insulation, large grate in front might allow sound to escape.
|
Antec Sonata Series SOLO II Black Steel – $129
|

|
Pros:
Top mounted power supply Fully powder coated inside and out Very professional looking Built-in noise absorption panels TrueQuiet fan included
Cons:
Size (still large at 18.5" x 8.1" x 17.3" or 2,592 cu in. but by far the best of the 3) I would prefer aluminum USB 3.0 header doesn’t work with my motherboard
|
Given the choices available it was a pretty easy decision to go with the Antec Sonata Solo II. I really wanted to find a Lian Li case that I would fall in love with. I just couldn’t find one that had everything important to me. The general state of computer cases bothers me in that so many of them are targeted to the gaming market. These high end professional cases are rare especially one that can accommodate a full size ATX motherboard.
With the biggest decision out of the way I still needed to get power supply, CPU fan, case fan, and most importantly video cards sorted.
I settled on the following components in addition to what I already had:
Product
|
Comments
|
Qty
|
Cost
|
| Antec Sonata Series SOLO II Black Steel |
See above |
1 |
$129.99 |
| PowerColor Go! Green HD 6750 passive cooled video card |
The most significant causes of noise in my current configuration was the fans on the GPU I wanted to find a DirectX 11 capable card that was also fanless. I have no need to play games but I also didn’t want to sacrifice significantly on video performance. This card was a good best of both worlds solution. |
2 |
$139.99 |
| Antec TrueQuiet 120mm case fans |
I was concerned about the heat in the case with the two fanless GPUs next to each other. I decided to put in these extra fans in the slots provided by the Antec Solo II. They are super quiet and controlled by my motherboard so the majority of the time they aren’t even running. |
2 |
$14.99 |
| Cooler Master V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP CPU Cooler |
This thing looks cheesy but it sits inside the case and isn’t visible. The cooler is massive but very effective and quiet. I went with it based on the many positive reviews. I’m not disappointed. My processor sits at around 50 degrees Celsius the majority of the time. |
1 |
$49.99 |
| Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3 460W Fanless power supply |
This is a great passive cooled powersupply. My only complaint was the packaging. Why the heck do I need a felt bag to carry it? I can’t imagine a case where I would want to do that. It seems like a waste and could have shaved a few dollars off the price. |
1 |
$109.99 |
| Total: |
|
|
$599.93 |
Summary:
So after all of that what did I end up with? A nearly silent PC with a WEI score of 7.3. The PC is pretty much completely silent. The only time I hear anything is when I’m running at very high CPU load and the fans kick up their RPM. I do have my CPU fan and all 3 case fans hooked up to my motherboard to allow it to control the speed. In the Asus bios you can choose a fan profile for each fan. All of mine are set to “silent”. Typically I’m running in the mid 50 degree Celsius range on the CPU and the low 70s on the GPU. I’m sure if I cranked up the fan speed a bit I could bring these down further but it hasn’t been enough of an issue to justify it.
WEI Score:

Real Temp:


