Quiet / Powerful build to replace 2013 Mac Pro - how does my parts list look?

I previously had a iTrashCan (i.e. 2013 Mac Pro) as my main rig, and while it was powerful and quiet, I felt limited by the lack of internal expansion and the cost of upgrading. So I sold it. To replace it, I'd like to build a Hack and stick to about a $1500 USD budget. My two primary goals are silence (or as reasonably close as I can get) and computing power. I'm aware that the two goals are somewhat at odds to an extent, but I'm hoping to find the right balance between the two, with the goal of silence probably being a bit more important than power. So I'm willing to make some tradeoff of power in order achieve quiet/silent. I do a lot of audio and video work, so having a quiet/silent machine is something I need to have in mind from the outset.

Here's my parts list so far:

• Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD7-TH (I won't necessarily need Thunderbolt right off the bat, but it seems wise for me to include it since all Macs ship with them and some pro audio gear is now shipping with that capability. I could go with another board that doesn't have TB, but I don't know if the savings are enough to bother skipping it. I could be convinced, likely...)
• CPU - i7 4960s (this is one tradeoff I'm thinking might be worthwhile in the power/cooling/noise area. Lower wattage needs on the "S" variant may make cooling easier. Looks like this CPU should still benchmark pretty favorably against my old Mac Pro)
• RAM - Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (Might go with 32GB if prices work out at time of purchase)
• GPU - GIGABYTE GV-N75TOC-2GI G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB (I may delay my GPU purchase initially...I don't have a good sense of what card I should go with, but this one seems like a nice mix of power and cost. I didn't see any passively-cooled GPUs in the compatibility list, so if there's a better low/mid range card that I should be looking at, let me know)
• PSU - Corsair RM Series 650 Watt (Probably a good bit more capacity than I need for this build, but it appears to get good reviews from a silence standpoint. If there are other quiet PSU's with lower current needs out there, I'd likely be willing to consider them).
• Case - Fractal Design Define R5 (From all accounts, this case seems to get great reviews for build quality and attention to details that will reduce sound transmission. The Define "S" looks interesting, but I think I want to keep the option for an Optical drive, and this one also has more slots for 2.5 and 3.5" drives.
• Boot drive - Samsung 850 Pro 512GB (I have considered looking into a PCIe or M.2 boot SSD for more speed, but the standard 2.5" form factor seems like the safest choice for this system, and I haven't read enough "success stories" with booting from those alternate methods to be comfortable going that route.)
• CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (I want to stick with air-cooling, as I am not an experienced builder, and want to avoid the cost and what I perceive to be hassle of water cooling)
• Case Fan (or 2 or 3) - Noctua 140mm Premium Quiet Quality Case Cooling Fan NF-A14 FLX (I think the Design R5 case comes with a fan or two, but I'll add a couple of these Noctua fans as needed to find the right balance of airflow and temps.
• Optical drive - Pioneer BDR-209DBK (I may wait to add this, as I have a couple of externals that can work for the time being)

Total cost for the above parts is just under $1400. So I have a little wiggle room if I need to switch out some parts. I already have a bunch of storage drives and other peripherals that I'll use with the machine.

Anything stick out as ripe for replacement? Any tradeoffs that I'm proposing that I should reconsider? Any other considerations that I haven't thought of?

Thanks!

If you can live without thunderbolt the Z97X-UD3H is a similar board that can do everything
you'll need for less money. I've got one paired with an I5-4690K non-overclocked and it breezes
through everything. Highly recommend it. I'm using it in the Fractal R4 with sound dampening.
It's not completely silent but I am using 3 of the Fractal 140 mm fans in it for cooling instead
of the more expensive Noctuas. You listed your CPU choice as the I7-4960s but I'd guess you
really meant the I7-4790s. If you get a Z97 motherboard why not get the K version ? They're
really very power efficient for such capable CPUs. Then you've always got the extra horsepower
if it's ever needed. Think you'll be quite happy with your new build. Also the significant savings
that building your own rig brings.

Thanks for your thoughts, trs96.

Yup, I meant the i7 4790s. Must have transposed some numbers after my many hours of looking at different parts. I had considered the K variant, but in the end, decided that the 20 fewer watts of power draw would be one sacrifice I'd be willing to make if it gave me a better chance at a quiet/silent rig. If I find that I simply don't have enough power, I'll consider a swap for the K and maybe overclock a bit. Or just wait for the next generation of processors and do an upgrade to whatever the next K version is.

On the motherboard, I had considered the Z97X-UD3H, but in the end decided the Thunderbolt possibility was worth the extra $50 or so for a little future-proofing.

Glad to hear of your positive experience with your build...the R4 looks like a great case, and I probably would have gone with that instead of the R5 if the savings would have been worth it. I think it looks like only an additional $10 or so to get the R5. All the reviews I read said to go with the R5 unless I could find an R4 at a significant discount.

I did end up "cheaping out" on the SSD. Decided to go with the regular EVO vs. the Pro. Saved about $100 in the process (Newegg on eBay had a good deal), and I don't think performance will suffer too much. I figure if I have a good experience getting everything up and running, I might look into a PCIe or M.2 SSD in 6 months or so, and that extra $100 can go towards one of those.

I went ahead and ordered most of my parts. Got all the "must-haves"...case, cpu, mobo, psu, ram, ssd, cpu cooler, and spent just over $1000. Should be able to stay around $1300 once I add a GPU, optical drive, and maybe a couple of Noctua fans (and other odds and ends, as needed).

I had really good luck on both the buying and selling end of my Mac Pro. Bought it for a very good price, and actually ended up selling it 8 months later for more than I paid! That doesn't happen very often in the computer world that you can buy a computer, use it for 8 months and then sell it for more than you paid. The fact that its looking like it's possible to build such a capable computer for under half of what my Mac Pro cost is something I'm very excited about.

Thanks for all your thoughts!

Hello Muddyrivers

I found this thred about a quiet/powerful Hack, as I´ve just got into the idea of building myself a computer for my music studio instead of buying a new Mac Pro. Both because I think it is fun/interesting, and to save a buck. I have a couple of friends running Hack´s in music studios with great success, and as I am moving into a new studio this summer, I decided to give it a go myself. I think my need for a setup is close to yours, though my need for graphics is not that heavy, even as I more and more often receive videos of dance/performances that I´ve been asked to do music to. I would however prefer 32 gb ram.

If you dont mind, and as I´m new to this, could I ask you something:

- what OS are you planning to run on your Hack? I´ve been using Mountain Lion 10.8.5 for the past couple of years, and as this is running extremely smoothly on my system, I feel a bit worry about upgrading.. However, there might be stuff with Maverics/Yosemite that could be useful no doubt, do you have any views on this?

- you mention both CPU cooler and case fan in your post, is this something that usually ships with the cpu / case, or will it have to be bought individually?

- cables for connecting everything (motherboard, hard drive, etc) is usually included, right?


sorry for my newbie questions, but any feedback would be appreciated.

I'm new to this as well! Been reading the site and others for several years on and off. Finally had the right opportunity to try it. So I'm still learning myself!

I'm going to run 10.10.4 for now. I figure it has reached the point of stability on which I can base my main work machine on. When making a big move like this, I like to try and "get current" with whatever the most recent stable OS is. I think you'd be fine with 10.10 as long as any important software you run is compatible with it. You should be fine if you're already on 10.8, but never hurts to just verify that your software will run OK with it. This goes for any non-hackintosh Macs as well!

CPUs all need some sort of cooling device in order to function. As far as I know, all Intel CPU's come with a basic CPU cooler, which is a combo heatsink and fan. For many folks, they should work just fine. If you're going to be overclocking or running your Hack full throttle much of the time, you may wish to upgrade to a more efficient/powerful CPU cooler. In my case, I'm thinking the CPU cooler I have ordered may also give me the benefit of quiet/silent behavior when my computer is under load.

All cases will have fans...some come installed with them. My case, the Fractal R5 has 2 nice quiet fans installed. I may end up replacing them with larger fans that should be even more quiet. But if you're not super concerned, you could start with the stock fans and upgrade to something quieter if needed.

Depending on the combo of parts you get, many of the cables you need will come included. If you're not in a hurry, order the basics, see what comes, and just order anything else you need at that point.

Most of my parts came today, so I'm starting the build/install process tonight. Will post back once things are up and running.

wow cool man, thanks for your reply! Im really looking forward building this thing.
I just got home from a tour, and will start ordering parts myself first thing on monday, hehe.

keep me posted man!


Øystein

In terms of how noisy/quiet this machine is, I bought the CPU cooler, but haven't even bothered to install it yet, the machine is very quiet even with the stock cooler! Right now I have just 2 3.5" SATA drives, an optical and an SSD installed in the case, and I will occasionally hear some faint clicking from one of the hard drives. Otherwise, it is very quiet. I'm guessing that once I add in a couple other hard drives and possibly a GPU, things could heat up inside, possibly requiring more/better cooling, which could affect the noise. But for now, I am quite pleased. I haven't really done any CPU-intensive activities, but should get some of those this week. Will be interesting to see how it performs under load.

I've also just now added a GPU to the build...the CPU graphics were fine for most things, but some of the pro apps I use really need a dedicated GPU. So I found a Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X (GV-R928XOC-3GD) 3 GB card on eBay for about $170 shipped, and just installed it. I'm getting 105 fps in Cinebench, which seems pretty decent. I'm guessing this card will work pretty well for FCP X! It looks to benchmark quite favorably against even the fastest 2013 Mac Pro GPU.

In terms of installing it, I needed to turn off the built in graphics in BIOS, and then I was able to just hook up the new card and after a few restarts, it came up. No drivers needed. Never having had installed a GPU or other PCIe card, I didn't realize that both power connectors were needed, so I had some issues at first only plugging in one of them.