Quiet Cooling

[vexion]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for opinions as to the best quiet CPU fans. I'm building a new gaming rig but noise has always been an issue with the system I have now. I don't want to water-cool, I don't have the expertise to pull it off.

I had a Freezer 7 Pro in mind. Anyone have any better insights, or a good suggestion? Thanks in advance!

 

[Conumdrum]

ThermalRight TRUE, very nice, but there are almost as good (by maybe 1-2C) ones that are quite a bit cheaper.

And WC isn't that hard once you do your homework and have $250+ to spend. It can be lots more hehe. And it is quieter if done right (meaning $$)

 

[dagger]

Read this:
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[Conumdrum]

Yep, Dagger is right. Read up on the link.

Quiet and overclocks is a +- situation. If you make a lot of heat, you need to pull it out. Thus noise.

Scyth slipstreams are highly rated, so is the cost. A popular one is Yate Loon fans. Cheap too!

You can't trust the manufacturers claims, you have to search forums for independant tests.

My two fav boards are OC forums and xtreme forums for detailed info, but there are many other forums that have real world input.

Try Goggle?

 

[calinkula]

I went with Scythe S-Flex fans. While not completely silent, they move enough air for me to OC and the computer doesn't sound like a wind tunnel.

 

[Superhal]

I think the freezer pro is outmatched by modern hdt designs.
http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=100223&enterthread=y

regarding noise, imho it's all about fan speed. the best way to control noise is with an external fan controller. the silenx extreme ixc-120ha2 and the Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer both come with one, but the sunbeamtech's is die cast metal and screws into a pci slot opening.

another option is hybrid peltier. the Coolit Pure doesn't use fans, so it should be the quietest. It's also cheaper than a WC kit at $125.

WC also uses fans.

 

[iluvgillgill]

i think before i can recommend some cooler for you,you need to list your spec and how far you plan to OC and most importantly what case is it in.

 

[vexion]

Right, sorry about that.

This is a very tentative build as it stands. I won't actually be purchasing or buying anything until after Thanksgiving. I don't need it now, and I'm looking to take full advantage of the whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing. So I understand full well that these parts may not be the final working pieces of the system, and that there may well be better cooling solutions for what I'm looking for by that time.

Either way, right now it looks like this:

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 ATX Mid-Tower
PSU: Corsair HX520
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q P45 - I'm still unsure about this. Still researching the best budget OC motherboards.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
RAM: 8 GB G.Skill DDR2-800 - Not sure if I should buy 4GB of 1066, given the 800-speed will throttle my CPU OC.
Video Card: Visiontek Radeon HD 4850
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
Optical Drive: Lite-On 20x DVD±R w/ Lightscribe

Purpose: I'm building this as a mid-range gaming rig that will allow me to play future games for years on a 22" monitor at 1600x1200. I'm intending to overclock the E8400, but I know that the 800-speed RAM limits the FSB (to something like a 3.6GHz overclock.) I'm willing to cut back on the processor overclock (maybe only to 3.3GHz or so) if I can save some system noise. My primary objective with this system is smooth gaming, but a close second is relative silence, because my current system is loud!

So, considering the use of a fan controller, what would be a good quiet CPU cooler which would still enable a safe, high overclock on the E8400?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Superhal]

i think the only way to futureproof yourself is to get water or hybrid-peltier. looking at today's air hsf designs, there's really no way to get more size (and thus cooling ability) into the case.