New Slade, nice and (now) quiet!

[I have edited my review a bit since bprat22 identified the cause of the noise issue I was having.]

So I received my Slade on Thursday.  Specs:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Corsair Obsidian 550D
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 4930K 3.4GHz
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1866MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro
Power Supply: 850W Corsair RM
Optical Drive: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (500GB Samsung 840 EVO)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (2TB Western Digital - Black Edition)
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB (EVGA Superclocked ACX Cooler Edition)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 120mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (High-Performance Edition)
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package Stage 1 (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds Only)
CPU Boost: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)

It's a nice system, well assembled and very fast.  The only bad thing at first glance was that the bottom two clips that hold the front door on were broken.  Fortunately there is a replacement set in the accessories box, so I was able to replace that.

The assembly of the system is top notch.  Opened up, it is very clean and professional; all of the cables are routed behind the motherboard tray, accessible with the right side case panel removed.  They're not just stuffed back there either, all nicely routed.  None of the hardware is custom colored, but most of it is black including the motherboard so it looks very slick.

Performance wise, this machine is very nice.  I am upgrading from an i7 920 with a GTX 670, 6GB RAM, and a 2TB drive (with no SSD) so the speed bump is very noticeable.  No issues at all with setup or stability.  I'm finally able to play Skyrim with an ENB and still get 60FPS, so there's no doubt about the performance.

One of the reasons I purchased a Slade was that I want a PC that is as quiet as reasonably possible given the performance level I am after.  I was initially disappointed to discover that the Slade was actually louder than the machine it is replacing; there was a noise that sounded like a small fan running at high RPMs, but I couldn't identify the source.  The culprit turned out to be one of the two fans in the TUF Armor on the Asus Sabertooth motherboard.  I was able to adjust the fan speed using Asus' Thermal Radar app, and now my machine is as quiet as advertised.

All in all, I am completely satisfied with this PC, with Digital Storm's service, and with the friendly and helpful folks in the DS forums.


Edited by Setitimer - 12 Apr 2014 at 10:36am

You nailed it.  The "assistant fan" is the culprit; that is the little fan in the TUF armor at the top left, next to the RAM slots and the I/O area.  I couldn't see it before since it is completely hidden by the CPU cooler and rear exhaust fan; the only way to see it is to look through the top of the case.

I downloaded ASUS Thermal Radar and put that fan on "user" setting and gave it a more reasonable profile: linked to the DRAM-AB sensor, 50% RPM up to 40C then a straight line increase to 100% at 75C and above.  It is much quieter now.

Interestingly, the PCH fan seems almost completely silent, it's just the one at the top left that is annoying.

Thanks a ton for your advice.

Setitimer,

Thank you for writing up your review!

I'm glad that you were able to replace the two clips on the front door, shipping must have caused them to break. If you need any spare parts, please feel free to contact our team so we can help you.

Those small fans on the ASUS motherboards can definitely get a little annoying. You hit the nail on the head, that's exactly what we recommend to our customers. Slowing the fan down takes care of the issue and you should have no problem with thermals either.

Other than that, hope you're enjoying the PC!

Post some pics when you get a chance so we can feature it!