Hello Ari
I finally got my budget build up and running this weekend. The parts that I bought are mainly the ones that you suggested in the October build, except for the below:
SSD - 512GB Intel SSD6 M.2 PCIe
PSU - Corsair CX 450M
Case - Thermaltake Versa H18 Tempered Glass, which was on discount on Amazon. If I'm not mistaken, you suggested it once in the monthly builds.
One thing I'm unhappy about is the stock Intel CPU fan which is really loud even when idle. Initially I thought it was the rear case fan, but when I disconnected it from the motherboard, I found the culprit. I've modified the setting to Silent in the UEFI, but even that I found the noise to be unbearable. I'm not sure if the Thermaltake case is accentuating the noise because there are lots of space inside. The reason why I'm saying that is I used the same stock Intel CPU fan of an i3-6100 in a Silverstone RVZ02 for my HTPC and I can barely hear it.
What would be your recommendation? Should I get a quieter CPU cooler instead?
Thanks
Glad to hear your new build is working out for you! There have been a lot of changes in the case, SSD, and power supply markets over the past few months, which is why those three products are different this month that last month or the month before, but yes, your SSD, PSU, and case are all great picks.
I agree, however, that the stock Intel fan is not great. It's free, but that's about the only thing it has going for it. I know you're using an
Intel Core i5-9400F, which pushes that cooler to its max, so I'd suggest an upgrade to a tower cooler. Your Core i3-6100 was a dual-core, the 9400F is a six-core, hence the difference in noise levels.
Now one consideration in terms of cooler choice is height, as your
Thermaltake H18 case can only fit coolers up to 155mm tall. My recommendation for a cooler that will be significantly quieter than the Intel cooler and actually fit in your case is the Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B, which is available from
Amazon.aa for CAN$85. Just click on "available from these sellers" and choose Scythe. Another nice option is the compact Noctua NH-U9S, which is
CAN$75 on Amazon.ca. Definitely not as powerful as the Scythe, but equally quiet and easier to install. It's a good match for the Core i5-9400F, but if you ever wanted to upgrade to an eight-core processor, you'd probably want a new cooler.