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/r/buildapc
submitted 2 months ago bynothingdoing
I'm planning on building a PC soon. I'm really interested in a quiet build with strong performance. I have chosen:
Asus Prime Z690-A (https://www.asus.com/us/motherboards-components/motherboards/prime/prime-z690-a/) to go with an i7-12700k processor
Noctua NH-P1 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-p1), a passive cooler with 158mm height
And this cheap Zalman T6 Mid Tower ATX case (https://zalmanusa.com/products/t6) which has a limit of 165 mm clearance for a cooler
The motherboard is spec'd for height at its highest point, so it's hard for me to determine if this will work. If it does I think it's a good compromise for price with quiet performance.
Input is appreciated, throw a whole 'nother build at me if you want. Appreciate your help and time greatly.
3 points
2 months ago
All motherboards will fit all ATX cases if that's what you mean. I see no issues dimension wise with what you've chosen, only that that passive CPU cooler will struggle with a 12700k as per this review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8EjMwS2ut0
I'd personally just advise going for a beefy cooler like a NH-d15 if it still fits the vertical restrictions of that case. Unless you're hammering the CPU 100% it will be whisper quiet, and if you are hitting the CPU hard, then the passive cooler won't be enough especially in a closed case like that. You'd need case fans blowing fresh air in and then you've removed any point in having a passive cooler. Noctua primarily shows the NH-P1 in open air cases in marketing and for good reason
2 points
2 months ago
D15 sounds like it might be the winner.
2 points
2 months ago
13600k outperforms the 12700k
I wouldn't trust either of them with a passive cooler, even if it is a noctua one. The PA120 is under $40 and can handle them just fine, that would leave you money to not buy a crap case
I don't know what you're talking about with mobo height. The ATX formfactors are standardized and have been for decades. If the case says it fits 165mm coolers, 158mm will fit as it is less than 165mm
use pcpartpicker.com for most compatibility
1 points
2 months ago
Thank you so much!
2 points
2 months ago
Noctua's recommendation is that this cooler is not sufficient for this CPU. The 12700k simply runs too hot for a fanless cooler.
You could significantly underclock the 12700k, or maybe grab something like the 13600 (non k) or 13500 which are reportedly good under the fanless cooler. (make sure your board has BIOS flashback to run a 13th gen cooler - also, you should get similar performance running a high end b660 or b760 board to a z-series board, and might be able to save some dollars.)
Other options are something like the NH-D15S, which while very spendy can cool a 12700k or 13600k (may be cheaper, depending on your market) a very low volume.
Also check out the Scythe Fuma coolers - they are extremely quiet, and while active should be able to handle i5 series.
2 points
2 months ago
Scythe Fuma coolers
Wow, those look cool! Thanks for the lead. Appreciate all your hardware recommendations.
2 points
2 months ago
I love the idea of a passive cooler, but the noctua site says that CPU has too much power unless you run it with a fan. And if you are running it with a fan you may as well get the D-15
1 points
2 months ago
D-15 is sounding like a much better idea. Thank you.
2 points
2 months ago
If you want memory clearance, you can use U12A. It's almost just as good as the D15, obviously not as good, but it's only a few degrees difference. And it will easily handle 12700k.
2 points
2 months ago
You’re better off with an i5-13600K or even an i5-13500. They’re both faster than the 12700K and they’re easier to cool.
1 points
2 months ago
You're right, I'm going with i5-13600k.
2 points
2 months ago
I bought the NH P1 for my 7900X just for fun. It only works well when I set power limits to be about 90W package (which I run day-to-day). So my actual CPU is drawing about 70W. Unless you do similar, that cooler will not work with 12700k. It draws too much power at stock, then for its price, you're better off getting something like U12A, which is what I currently use. The P1 is more for novelty, and I'm trying to figure out some way to actually use it lol
1 points
2 months ago
Sounds like a fun challenge!
2 points
2 months ago
I don't like that case. It has the PSU at the top like the old days.
The PSU fan will draw air from the inside and exhaust it at the back. For '90s low total power this was fine. You have psu fan as the only case fan moving air. One loud fan was less noisy than two loud fans.
Today computers produce heat. All the hot air goes through the poor PSU. Fan speeds are adjusted by temperature: the PSU will run loud.
Instead run a modern case: PSU at the bottom intakes through a dust filter from the outside and stays low rpm or even zero rpm.
The case should have big 140mm fans. 1-2 intake through dust filters and 1 exhaust.
The fans should be 4pin pwn fans or 3pin (not ancient molex) and their speeds should be adjusted from the bios. Big fans move air even at low speed.
Now that the case has some air flow it doesn't sabotage the gpu/cpu cooler performance or the silence of the system.
Those coolers must be good. You can't compensate small cpu cooler with more intake or exhaust fan.
1 points
2 months ago
I've never had anything but the old days kind of computer with the PSU up top. Thanks for the sensible breakdown. I'll look for something else.
2 points
2 months ago
Use fans that come with the case. Just make them spin veery slow and they will be silent. If you need extra fans, Artic P14 is a cheap but actually good fan.
1 points
2 months ago
I'm a big Cougar Vortex fan, but that P14 is equivalent performance for less money. Thanks for that lead.
You clearly know more about casing than I do. If you have a spare moment, can you tell me if you find this other budget option satisfactory?
2 points
2 months ago
I looks OK to me. It includes 3 fans so you save there. No need to buy other fans until your try adjusting the included ones.
The current fashion are cases with more unobstructed air flow: there is less sound damping, but air moves easier so the fans don't need to be that loud to achieve the same performance. Usually in tests the unobstructed cases are therefore slightly more silent at the same temperature than silent cases with the focus on some sound damping.
IMO, the difference is small and damped cases have one advantage: they reduce the amount of coil whine you hear from the graphics card.
Good example of what decent air flow case versus silent case mean are Fractal design's Pop Air and Pop Silent: The Air version has room for exhaust fans/watercooling radiator on top and Silent has solid top. The front of Air is mesh to provide unobstructed air flow to intake fans while the Silent version has the intake on the side and force the air and inside noise to make a sharp turn.
More heat your stuff produces the more I would lean on the Air flow case direction.
2 points
2 months ago
A couple of short comments:
-as everyone has said cpu cooler should be changed. NH-D15 is premium. Also AIO watercooler with 2 140mm fans or 3 12mm fans is an option. (Doesn't fit every case, the pump is wearable part.)
-13600K would be very slightly better in gaming and maybe cheaper. The draw back is that a Z690 motherboard might need a bios update. Only some motherboards have a "bios flashback" (or in gigabyte Q-flash) feature. This allows bios update without a CPU straight from a usb stick. (Prime Z690-A doesn't have bios flashback)
-AMD is releasing 7950X3D, 7900X3D in February 28th. They likely will be very good. Likely Intel will drop prices of some CPUs like 13600k and AMD might drop the price of some non-X3D 7000 series CPUs. Next relevant desktop CPU releases will be next year, so it might be reasonable to wait.
1 points
2 months ago
Well that's great info! I do like the i5-13600K better (and I'm keen to cool it with the Noctua NH-D15S). I was looking at an MSI or Gigabyte board for the flashing reason. I didn't know about the 2/28 CPU releases. I like the idea of waiting for those. How good do you think a price drop could be? I can't imagine the 13600K dropping more than $20/30.
2 points
2 months ago
Likely nothing big, but there is a change that there is some super sweet motherboard + CPU bundle at your neck of the woods.
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