You can minimize noise with oversized radiator area and low fan rpm along with good flow/noise ratio fans like noctuas notoriously good 120mm design. You can compensate in one area for another, i.e. by having such a gigantic radiator that fans are hardly needed. Quiet setups cost extra, for sure.

I heard a story about a DIY PC that did nothing but circulate water through the cpu cooler from a fish tank; the tank was big enough to dissipate heat through evaporation and other means, only occasionally needing a top off.

I actually mounted an automotive transmission cooler to the outside of my PC and made it part of the watercooling loop, because it was inexpensive and large. There are no fans on it, but it still reduces the work the standard pc cooling radiator with the fans on it needs to do.