Help: CPU Heatsink & Fan Recommendation

[chluu]

Hello:

Can anyone give me some recommendations on a quiet heatsink and fan for my AMD Athlon XP1600 CPU. I am currently using a Thermaltake Volcano 6 Cu+ with a fan spinning at 7000RPMs. It keeps the CPU cool at 40C at idle. However, it's much too loud for my taste. I've been used to Intel processors with small fans and this one is outrageous. Even in my other Intel PC which has two case fans and a CPU fan, it's ultra quiet. Are we doomed with these loud fans when using AMD processors? Would a CPU fan spinning at 4500 rpm be quieter and would be sufficient to cool down the CPU?

Many thanks,
Claude

 

[uraniborg]

Hey,

Noise and proper cooling go hand in hand. there are a number of tricks you can do to quiet down your computer. one way is to go with a heat sink that takes a larger fan, like a 80mm (most take 60mm). these fans can run at a lower RPM, and hence be quieter, while delivering the same cfm (airflow). if you have a 60mm hs/fan already, you can retrofit your heat sink to take a 80mm fan using a 80-60 fan adapter (available at many overclocking websites). you can also try to reduce the vibration that is transferred from the fan to the heat sink, making excessive noise. rubber washers help, and i saw someone who got rid of screws and used blobs of silicone to adhere the fan to the heatsink, using pencils as stand offs until the stuff hardened. i am trying this right now (the silicone is drying).

you could always buy a lower RPM fan, but this will increase the heat of your CPU. i hear that Papbts fans are very quiet.

hope this helps,

<b>uraniborg
<font color=purple>"Brilliant thinkers have often met violent opposition from mediocre minds."

 

[camieabz]

<A HREF="http://www.quietpc.com/cpucooling.php" target="_new">Here</A> are a couple of options.

Uraniborg is right. You should try to have the whole case geared to channel cool air in and hot air out.

Perhaps a couple of case fans may be in order. This link has many quiet cooling options.

Try to ensure equal amounts of intake and exhaust to allow proper airflow. Try to create an environment where the cool air is channeled in at or near the bottom of the case and the hot air is exhausted at or near the top.

This <A HREF="http://www.pctweaker.co.uk/articles/case_mod/hx08_mods.htm" target="_new">link</A> may give an idea of possibilities.

😎 <b><font color=blue>The Cisco Kid</font color=blue></b> 😎