Back to a desktop

For the first time in nearly a decade, I have myself an actual desktop PC. I've always loved small-form-factor machines, and when this one came up on reddit for a very aggressive price, I had to pick it up. It's running an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 on an Asus ROG Strix B450-I Gaming motherboard, 16 GB G.Skill DDR4-3200 RAM (with RGB lighting because we must RGB all the things), EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 XC Ultra, Noctua NH-L9 AM4 CPU cooler, Noctua 92mm NF-A9 case fan, and Corsair SF600 Platinum PSU. The case is a Geeek A50, which got a bit damaged in shipping. A replacement is on the way so I can swap out the broken parts.

It took a good long while to get the fans tuned, but I think I found a good balance between noise and thermals. Unfortunately, the GPU suffers from a bit of coil whine when under a gaming load. It's not really noticeable with headphones on, so I'm only going to try a single swap. If the new one isn't any better, I'll keep the existing card.

 

When your replacement comes in, do you mind posting some pics of the internals? I'd love to see how things are laid out inside the case in comparison to my Cougar QBX case.

 

That's a cool looking case. I've been eyeing a Ryzen system for over a year now, but can't justify the upgrade yet. I'd spent a couple of years with only a laptop because I was bouncing around the country all the time. It's always refreshing to get back to your desktop, no matter how nice a laptop you're rocking.

 

So I got the replacement A50 case a while ago, but when I got to tearing down the broken one, I quickly realized that building it would be way over my head. So I elected to go with the Fractal Design Define Nano S. I'll need some longer ATX and EPS power cables to properly rout them behind the case (I consider this more a fault of the PSU). One thing I don't like are the front USB ports because they sit on the top, rather than the front. This was easily solved with a USB hub that I was planning on getting anyway. Otherwise, the case is pretty great, and I'm loving how quiet everything is, especially compared to my old DTR laptop.

 

I've also been only on laptops for some years but I've been thinking of a desktop build lately. Price-wise, if I build one with all the higher end parts I'd like, I wouldn't save much. Besides killing portability, noise is also a very important factor in my decision and at the time I switched to laptops, all desktops were way more loud compared to good gaming notebooks. Is this still the case? How quiet can you get with the new PSUs (but still capable of running top end GPUs)?

 

The last desktop PC I owned was from around 2010. It was pretty high-end for the time with a Core i7 940 and a pair of GeForce GTX 280s in SLI and was also very loud. The laptop I bought afterward was much quieter despite having a first-gen i7 CPU and an AMD Radeon Mobility GPU.

Today, though, the opposite is true. My desktop is an order magnitude quieter than the notebook it replaced. There are only a couple of laptops that I would consider to be "quiet" that have a reasonable amount of power. On one hand, you have thin and light gaming notebooks than can sound like a hair dryer under load. On the other are bulky desktop replacements that require beefy, yet still somewhat noisy, cooling solutions. If you have a cooling pad, that's another source of racket.

My PSU is a Corsair SF600 that's rated at 80 Plus Platinum, and I can't hear it. My CPU cooler uses a Noctua fan that's designed for quiet operation. The fans on my EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra are barely audible even under load, and the stock fans that came with the Fractal Design Define Nano are similarly hushed. I am extremely impressed with how quiet this machine is. Yes, it's far bulkier than the one pictured in the first post of this thread, but I really don't care.

 

That's good to hear. When the next time for upgrade comes, I will probably think about this option a little harder.
For now I just bought an Asus G703GX. It's pretty much as portable as a small desktop, with 2 ( two) powerbricks.
I've always loved their laptop cooling solution and my current G751JY (980m), under load is still bearable, albeit most of the time I've got my headphones on. Hope the new one won't disappoint.

 

Best way to rid yourself of noise on a desktop is to water cool it The system in my sig is quiet.

 

Coil whine should get a RMA from them if under warranty. That's what it's there for if that is a manufacture defect.

 

There appears to be some debate about whether the source is the coils or MOSFETs, but regardless, it seems that the noise is the rule, rather than the exception. There are dozens of threads spread out across tech sites, manufacturer forums, and reddit talking about it, and it's an equal opportunity thing, affecting all classes of 2XXX cards. Further, the second RTX 2060 I bought had the noise, and I just acquired an RTX 2070 FE that does it as well, albeit not as nearly as loudly. With the 2070, it only happens at really high frame rates in graphically intensive games like Doom 2016, and I don't even hear it if I have headphones on. I don't really feel like playing around with new PSUs either, especially since the one I've got is rated 80-plus Platinum.

Anywho, here's what I've rebuilt with the Fractal Nano S and RTX 2070.

 

Very nice! What made you decide to go RTX 2070 over the 2060?

 

Mostly because I could.

 

Hi, and hope you enjoy your new rig.

 

Nice and clean.

 

You keep your desktop in your kitchen?

 

I am thinking about getting back into desktop machines too. I use my notebook connected to my touchscreen monitor. I want to start playing some games and my notebook does not do well with games. I am thinking of building a fully loaded liquid cooled system for S & G's!

 

It's an office area next to the kitchen.

 

Powerful desktop combined with lightweight ultrabook is a killer combo.

 

Yeah I joined the club. When I got a cheap Dell 13" Inspiron for class work few years ago, I never used the 17" behemouth ever again off the desk. The Dell took over all my couch/bed lounging and use with my media/music/movie system.

And on the plus side, the fan noise on desktop is so much more tolerable. The low humming can easily be drowned out. The high pitched scream of the 17" behemouths fan can be heard over my bookshelf speakers or my closed A990Z headphones, nevermind my open K712... Good grief.

Also I no longer having ghosting issues using the Corsair Rapidfire. I used to really like the Clevo stock keyboard, but after using the rapidfire, eh...