Upgrading old PC to be noiseless with Noctua

[Mr_Ghost]

My PC is roughly 5 years old and has stock cooler master chassis fans and stock Intel fans for its i5 4570.

I finally decided to try to upgrade its fans to be more quiet, and I'm thinking of going with the Noctua U12S for the CPU and a single NF-S12A PWM as the back exhaust. I've never built a PC, but to my understanding Noctua fans should be quite easy to mount, and there shouldn't be too many issues replacing the CPU cooler?

The Mobo is b85mg asus and should support 2 PWM fans.

Do you guys have any input as to whether this is a realistic way to upgrade my computer, and whether it will have its intended effect to make it effectively noiseless?

 

[Ken g6]

Replacing your stock Intel cooler will definitely help. Before you do anything else, though, I have two questions:

1. Do you have a discrete video card that you use a lot? Its fan noise may swamp any other fan changes.
2. What's your PSU? You might consider a quieter one or maybe even a fanless one.

 

[Mr_Ghost]

Replacing your stock Intel cooler will definitely help. Before you do anything else, though, I have two questions:

1. Do you have a discrete video card that you use a lot? Its fan noise may swamp any other fan changes.
2. What's your PSU? You might consider a quieter one or maybe even a fanless one.

I have a GTX 770, and my PSU isn't particularly effective either, it is a standard XFX bronze rated PSU.
I wouldn't say either are particularly loud though it's hard to hear over my CPU and chassis fans.

The purpose of the upgrade is to make it silent while I work on the computer during productivity tasks, so when the GPU spins up during gaming sessions I don't particularly care about noise in those moments.

I have considered getting a Corsair RM550X whenever I upgrade the whole computer, but considering those cost around $110 over here, which is more than getting those two Noctua fans combined, I don't know whether it's worth it at this moment.

 

[bfun_x1]

Making a PC silent is not easy or cheap but replacing that stock Intel cooler will go a long way to reducing noise. What I have noticed is that every time I remove one noisy component there is another slightly less noisy component that takes it place as the loudest part of the PC. You might discover that the GTX 770 is more annoying after the CPU cooler is swapped. Sometimes, a nice quiet case under your desk is the best option.

 

[Mr_Ghost]

What I have noticed is that every time I remove one noisy component there is another slightly less noisy component that takes it place as the loudest part of the PC.

Good point, though there isn't to my knowledge any way to replace the fans on the graphics card?
And what you mean by "quiet case"?

It may be worth noting that my wooden desk has a special compartment for the desktop so that it is covered by 1.5 cm of wood on all sides but the back which effectively reduces the noise levels by 50'ish percent

 

[bfun_x1]

I don't know how loud your 770 is but some cards will shut the fans completely off when they aren't under load. That pretty much makes them silent when you aren't gaming. You could replace the cooler but I wouldn't bother. It's probably best to see if it even bothers you after you swap the CPU cooler.

There are cases designed for sound dampening. They wont work miracles but they can help reduce noise. Fractal Design makes some good ones.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...e=quiet_computer_cases-_-11-352-064-_-Product