On Fri, May 06, 2022 at 11:21:36AM -0400, Joe Hartley wrote:
On Fri, 6 May 2022 09:24:06 -0500 "Chris
Caudle" wrote:
I am interested in getting a computer quiet
enough for audio work,
but still powerful enough for video rendering as well.
Usually the second part means noisy fans. Has anyone on the list
used a water cooler system to move the heat out to a radiator that
can be cooled with larger slow turning fans? I don't want to invest
in a water cooling system only to find out after I get it that it
hums loudly from the water pump, or the radiator fans aren't actually
very quiet, or it makes gurgling or swooshing noises, etc.
No WC experience here, but I've built a silent PC. I got a Fractal
Design case, a Zalman CPU fan that at its low speed is absolutely
silent, and a fanless GPU card.
My CPU runs in the 40-50C range consistently and the GPU rarely goes
above 45C. I've been really happy with it for years now. I don't
think WC would have been any better.
^ This.
As you fear, some WC systems can be noisier/louder than air-cooled
systems.
Incidentally, if audio/video transcoding is part of your workflow, you
may find Intel's Quick Sync feature useful, especially if your CPU is a
new-ish model.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video
It seems to be even more energy-efficient than Nvidia's equivalent
(NVENC; NVDEC):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_NVENC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_NVDEC
QuietPC is a vendor of - and also a good guide to - quiet PC components:
https://www.quietpc.com/
(Not an endorsement, just a statement of fact. I have no relationship
with QuietPC.)
Sam