Seeking advice from current owners of X51 and Aurora

Hi all. I have an Area 51 from 2009 (details in my sig/profile) which is starting to be a bit annoying. Firstly it sounds like a jet engine in my room at all times, even when idle. I've used speedfan but doesn't really help much. My wife has banned it in the living room where I used to have it (I had a long DVI and audio cable going to the TV so I could easily toggle between playing on my 30" monitor next to the couch or gaming on the big TV). Now it's in my office upstairs. I've seriously been considering replacing some fans with a liquid cooling solution or something. The other issue is the ATI 5970 just can't push the 2560x1600 resolution at high detail on the latest games. With BioShock Infinite I had to turn down my settings to medium and still got some lag. I'm to the point where I think I just want another system for downstairs, so I can leave this Area 51 upstairs (it's also our main server with tons of media). I did add a 5870 in crossfire, but it really didn't help. I know I can replace these cards with something more modern but I'm considering buying another system.   So, I'm seeking advice on anyone with an X51 or Aurora 6. My main concern is sound. I'd assume the X51 would be louder than the Aurora because of the liquid cooling, but I've seen posts where people say it is still loud. Can anyone point to any videos or help put this in perspective? How loud are these compared to an Xbox 360/PS3? I fully expect to hear when a high-end system is running, but I shouldn't have to shout to someone in the same room.    I'm leaning towards the Aurora because I *really* don't want to have to upgrade/add video cards for a while, but they only offer 2nd gen Intel Core processors, would be nice to have more recent options. I would probably take my 30" monitor downstairs so I think the GTX 690 would be my goal. However, the X51 would be so much nicer in the living room (wife won't complain as much). I'm just concerned that the X51 would run loud/hot, and the limited upgradability and only GTX 670 has me concerned. According to Tom's Hardware the GTX 670 is on par with the ATI 5970 I have:  http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html   So as I can see it, here are my initial thoughts:   X51:   Pros: Small, sleek form, light, 4th gen Intel (probably doesn't matter too much, but nice), slightly cheaper (don't really care about that)   Cons: limited space for upgrade, loud/hot?, limited to GTX 670   Aurora:   Pros: GTX 690, room for plenty of upgrades, liquid cooling   Cons: larger (for my use case), heavier (but not freaken 70 lbs like my Area51!), more expensive, older gen CPUs   Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated. I'm also pricing out building my own silent PC, but I'm getting old don't mind spending more on an Alienware.   Thanks.

Couple of thoughts for you.  First of the Area-51 system.  Do you by chance have the latest version of Alienware command center installed on the system?  For Area-51 I'm looking and that version is 2.8.9.0.  If not then upgrade to it to see if it helps the fan noise.

Command Center for Area-51 does have fan speed monitoring and control options.  What fan does it say is at 100%? Because to sound like a jet engine there must be a fan at MAX and that should not be happening at IDLE.  As I recall there's a PCIe Cage fan at the front aligned with the video cards can't really see it and one on top that cools the liquid cooling radiator.  There are also blower fans on the opposite side of the chassis to cool the HDD compartment.  Also if you run an app like HWMONITOR it will tell you temps and fan RPMs.

In the front bottom part of your Area-51 is a small board called the Master IO.  It controls your vents on top, fan speeds, and lighting zones.  Fans at full speed can also mean loss of communication between command center and the MIO board.  Sometimes techs like to do a full power down.  shutdown.  pull the power cord.  Wait 30-60 secs.  Press the power button a few times to make sure all power is drained from the system and plug it in again then power back on.

Now the new system question:

Rank these in order of priority to you.

Price, size/weight, noise level, future expansion, CPU/GPU Tech

From what you've mentioned so far it sounds like this...

(1) noise level (2)  CPU/GPU Tech (3) future expansion (4) size/weight (5) Price

This sounds like an argument for an Aurora system.  Aurora systems yes are very quiet due to their liquid cooling.  If they aren't then they need to be looked at.  Yes, X51 with GTX670 at FULL POWER can get a little loud due to the video card fan on the GTX670 spinning up to high speeds.  

X51 is a very open chassis with lots of venting which helps for cooling but allows more sound to escape the chassis.  Aurora is larger and more closed which helps muffle the GTX670s sound. As for performance I run Bioshock Infinite on an X51 R2 with GTX670 at high settings and 5760 x 1080 resolution with no issues.  As for CPU tech many public sources are pointing to IVB-E CPUs coming.  As SNB-E 2nd Gen and IVB-E 3rd GEN CPUs are pin to pin compatible an upgrade path is expected.

Hope this helps with your decision. :-)