Cool, thanks for all the input guys. Haven't read into water coolers that much, but obviously knew there was a fan somewhere. So the pumps generate noise as well. Too much hassle for a minimal advantage, if not closer to zero.

The noctua I have on the i7 isn't too bad and probably manageable if there weren't holes on top of the case. Still it's the gpu first and foremost that yells through. I have the i7 that came out just before the ivy bridges, 950 I think. I think the price drop was to a half (from 600 to 300eur or something), but the new ivy ones started from that price range. Had I waited for a couple of months. Doh. Well that was few years ago. Still running quite smooth though.

The gpu doesn't get past 60c for me either when under stress. 24c at idle, which might explain some of the noise. Also my place is at 18 or so celcius, so it's relatively cooler, even in the summer.

At the moment, the noise from the power supply is nonexistent, probably due to being so far away. I get the idea that without decent airflow the fans compensate for it and you're not fixing the problem. I'll look into the cases and aftermarket coolers. I'm sure I'll be able to make a decent upgrade without breaking the bank. First I'll do a bit of inspecting. Maybe an external NAS for the HDD's to eliminate that issue and so on.

Hahaa, seems there wasn't a simple solution after all! Thought I'd just get a damp case and be done with it. Damn HD800, already after three dates she starts making me do stuff. Am I not good enough as I am?

Thanks again.

Yep - graphics cards are usually the noisiest components in the PC.  Unfortunately most of the stock or even third party coolers are still noisy, and nowhere near silent.  Either finding the most quiet third party cooler fitted graphics card or fitting an aftermarket cooler would be a major priority.

Before i did a closed case build, but case fans always add noise, and especially when using filters in front of intake fans, you can either have very low fan speed (and high case temps) or higher fans speeds with more noise.  Open can is better but not child or pet safe.  Closed case with no filters might work, but requires regular cleaning, and will still run hotter than open case.

Water cooling is typically wasted by the pump noise, at least with off the shelf pumps.  Like way more noise than air cooling.  For me I consider 10-12 dB quiet, and only the quietest Noctua's silent (rated like 7 dB or something).  Pumps are like 30+ dB.

NAS for the HDD's would be a good idea - SSD storage is still expensive.  Well all depends who much storage is needed I guess.

Which ones are the newer gen?
Is this Noctua NF-A15 of newer generation?

I ask because the older ones didn't quite shine in reviews.

Yup! NF-A14/15 and NF-S12A (not B). The older fans had motor noise but these are simply fantastic. I ditched my Thermalrights, Noiseblockers, and Be Quiets once they came out. Don't bother with the NF-F12 though, they suck.

Don't even start on how much I hate those review sites. The reviewer is either deaf, testing on a busy street, or both. The Bitfenix are complete garbage. They need to give me money to take them.

The NF-A15 have a whiny tone at 1000rpm+ so it's recommended to limit them and overkill with the heatsink. It shines at lower rpm with good cooling, no ticks, and can drop down to 300rpm.

Cool. Things are going forward! Got a two bay NAS (Zyxel NSA325v2) with two 3TB HDD's I got for rather cheap. A certain shop's getting closed down and they're getting rid of stuff for good prices. (Unopened still in the wraps HD800+CH800s for 660eur, that's about 750usd with the current dollar rate... Don't tell anyone  )

When I choose the dac and amp for the HD800, I begin tweaking with the computer. It's run well for almost 4 years, so maybe it's time to go Haswell... Little brother might be interested in upgrading his desktop, so he can pretty much have everything apart from the GPU and SSD.

Thanks for the heads up. Not in a rush and will definitely look Skylake up and wait for it.