A friend asked for the specs of my quiet (not silent) PC. I built this a couple years ago so I would expect that the prices have fallen. The goal of this build was not to build the fastest PC nor to build the best bang-for-your-buck PC, but to build a rig that is (for the most part) silent during regular productivity work but still capable of blowing fans and polygons during a PC gaming session. I named this PC "The Fridge" because the hulking case is black, obnoxiously large, and swings open from the front so that it looks like our refrigerator.
Short specs: Intel i7-6700K Skylake Quad Core 4.0 GHz / 16 GB RAM / 500 GB SSD / GeForce 1060
Detailed specifications follow.
Motherboard - 149.39 - Asus Z170-A ATX DDR4
CPU - 339.99 - Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake Quad Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 91W
CPU Accident Protection Plan - 19 - In case I screwed up the install
RAM - 82.99 - Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 1700)
Video Card - 459.99 - EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 HYBRID GAMING 08G-P4-6178-KR, 8GB GDDR5, LED All-In-One Watercooling DX12 OSD Support (PXOC)
Graphics card radiator fan - $38.90 - Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 120mm 2000RPM Case Fan
Sound Card - 0 - On board
Networking - 44.99 - Intel 7260HMWDTX1 PCIe x1 Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 for Desktop
Hard Drive - 137.99 - Samsung 850 EVO - 500 GB - M.2 SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-N5E500BW)
CD/DVD - 0 - External from Mac Mini
Case - 79.99 - Fractal Design Define R5 Titanium Silent ATX Midtower Computer Case
Power Supply - 149.99 - EVGA SuperNOVA 850 P2 220-P2-0850-X1 80+ PLATINUM 850W Fully Modular EVGA ECO Mode Includes FREE Power On Self Tester
CPU Cooling - 59.99 - Noctua NH-U12S 120x120x25 NF-F12 PWM) SSO2-Bearing (Self-stabilizing oil-pressure bearing) CPU Cooler
Additional Cooling - 5.99 - Arctic MX-2 (4g) Carbon-Based Thermal Compound, Non-Electricity Conductive, Non-Capacitive
OS - 129.99 - Windows 10 Home - Full Version (32 & 64 bit) / USB Flash Drive
Case fans - $52.44 - (2) Noctua NF-A14 PWM 140mm Case Fans
Removed the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Hybrid graphics card. Too loud.
Found a video card that reportedly does run fans until 60 degrees C: Asus Strix Gaming GeForce GTX 1060.
1070 or 1080 would be faster but also more expensive.
Other lessons learned:
The M.2 hard drive blocks my only eSATA port. If I want to use eSATA, I must either get a different motherboard or move to a slower SSD hard drive.
Or maybe I could add an expansion card that opens up eSATA options. This might be a better option - cheaper?
Update 2023-07-15:
Added 4TB SATA 2.5" SSD Samsung 870 EVO
Really nice that EVGA power supply came with power cable and Asus motherboard came with data cable. Long-lasting impression: when you buy good (and probably more expensive) parts, you have an easier life long-term.
