Yeah I saw that too. Will the average "120mm case fans" work or do they have to be a different type because it's for a CPU cooler?
Or should I just get a different fan all together?

Mike

No, it looks like a standard size 120mm fan.  I have an older H80 cooler that uses smaller fans but they are "standard" size. 

120 mm "quiet" fans should work, just make sure it has the proper connector (that Corsair uses).  You may have to wait until you get the cooler so you can see what you actually need.

OK I'm shopping around for PSU's and would like some suggestions please.

I'm pretty sure that a 750W will be sufficient.
I do plan on running 3 monitors so I'll be adding a video card at some point.
I don't have any devices that rely on USB power, I have all gear plugged into it's own power supply.

My case has the PSU slot in the upper part of the case not lower as most. Not sure if that's a factor or not.
What I am looking for is low dba. without costing me 3 car payments.
If more info is needed please let me know.

Thanks.
Mike

  

Seasonic has a pretty good reputation. My system has an Seasonic 860 Platinum

The fan has yet to turn on, but I haven't stressed my system much yet.

Thanks Paul, that was the one I was looking at right before I came here and asked.


Mike

You can find reviews of many power supplies including test results and audio samples of how they sound over at silentpcreview.com.

Get as efficient a psu as you can (unless maybe you heat with oil, in which case electric heating might save you some money next winter).

Overall wattage rating of a psu is not necessarily meaningful, it's how those watts are distributed (to which rails/connectors). If you're not running  power-hungry gaming graphics cards (and you don't need power-hungry graphics for a DAW), you'd have no need for a psu which supplies lots of watts to graphics cards. 

You need to estimate your system power requirements (how many watts for cpu, for graphics card, for disk drives, etc.). Unless you are overclocking a socket 2011 cpu and  using powerful graphics card(s) and a lot of disk drives, 750 watts is probably way more than you would actually require.

And I agree that ime Seasonic power supplies have always been among the best.

Case -  http://www.quietpcusa.com/Gigabyte-Cupio-6140-Mid-Tower-Quiet-PC-Case-P558.aspx   
 
Mobo - http://www.microcenter.com/product/386359/GA-Z77X-UD5H_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Motherboard 
   
CPU -  http://www.microcenter.com/product/388575/Core_i7_3770K_35GHz_LGA_1155_Processor 
  
RAM - http://www.dexid.org/wiki/Crucial_BLE2CP8G3D1869DE1TX0 
  
CPU Cooling - http://www.microcenter.com/product/404943/Hydro_Series_H80i_Extreme_Performance_Liquid_CPU_Cooler 
  
OS - Windows Home Premium SP1 64Bit OEM - Went up to Pro so I can use 32GB RAM if I want.
   
And my grounding wrist strap.

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151120 

SSD - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006VCP9G6/?tag=extension-kb-20 

Changed case to - http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=prominent5_case_package.html 

HDD - ? Western Digital or Seagate 1TB. 

Leaning toward WD.

Any input?

Mike 

I don't see anything wrong with your choices, should be a beast :-)

Re your case, I like the lid on the top ports, I've been thinking of finding some rubber usb plugs to keep the dust and spilled coffee out of mine.

I personally don't like fans that exaust out the top as things always end up on top of my case.

My case is a Fractal Design Define XL which has a top fan,
but at a bit of an angle and it exhausts out the back, saving holes in the top.

The case is also sound dampened, much like this one. But it is Huge.

I went with 3 x 1TB WD Caviar Blacks which were surprisingly cheap.

A warning : prices fall so fast that you will regret the fact that as soon as you get your system put together
you'll wish you had waited a bit more.

Paul P

A warning : prices fall so fast that you will regret the fact that as soon as you get your system put together 
you'll wish you had waited a bit more.

Consider this when buying RAM.  It may work out cheaper to start with less (e.g. 8GB) and add more later if necessary.  I've only got 6GB and I still have not yet reached the stage where I need more.  The sticks that I originally purchased now only cost about half as much as they did previously.

Completed and running like a champ.  (Pats myself on back)
I'd like to thank you all for your help and advice.
And an extra THANK YOU to Chuckebaby for supplying me with his book and videos that started me on this build.

I was a little leary in the beginning with this being my first build.
I mean there is no such thing as tech support when you go this route but with the knowledge right here in these forums and a splash of Google here and there I'm confident this build is solid.

There is a certain gratification you get when you first fire it up and everything checks out fine and works.
I OC'd it slightly to 4.10GHz and my temps are hovering around 32-33c and pleasantly quiet.
Even with all 4 fans and the PSU running full speed I can still barely hear any noise.  
Not enough to effect any recording. 

I might just pick up another SSD or two and keep the HDD for storage. 

I'd like to run it through some stress tests so if anyone can recommend a good software or two that would be great. I've read about a few but was wondering if there is one that covers all or is it better to run 2 or 3 different ones just to compare or push different limits?  
Is Prime95 a decent one or should I run something else?  
Also, should I wait till all my software is installed or does that not matter? Also is there a reliable temperature program so that I can keep an eye on CPU and Core temps while running the tests? RealTemp, SpeedFan, HWMonitor, is one better than the others? 
Once again thanks to all that provided input.  
And Fireberd, it seems that somehow I ended up building pretty close to your one build.  
I didn't even notice till just now. I must have made some good choices.  
New specs in sig below.  

Mike  
why does the forum keep changing size and bold in mid sentence?