Silent CPU Fan LGA775

[THRobinson]

I have an old Core2Quad Q9450 that I have been using the past 2yrs for a media player and for that it works great, but was in a PC tower and power supply was loud so, decided to get a new case, the Silverstone Grandia GD09.

Problem is, I switched it over and it is LOUD!

Old case was solid metal, about 14yrs old and has housed probably 3 builds over the years. Plus, the board was mounted vertical, in the new case it's horizontal which may/not be a factor. In any case the Intel fan is crazy loud. I had another of the same stock fans and tried it, same deal. I unplugged the fan briefly and is indeed the source of 90% of the noise.

I don't need anything big with crazy cooling... the stock fan for the CPU has done just fine because not overclocked, not using onboard video card so no extra CPU power needed for that, and just playing video files.

Basically, looking for recommendations on a cheap VERY QUIET cpu fan that doesn't require me removing the motherboard to install because as nice as this case looks, it is horrible to build in compared to other cases I've used.

Any recommendations?

If not for the cost, I'd go this route and avoid the fan completely, but oddly, heatsinks without fans seem to cost even more!

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220055

(yup... .ca ... I'm in Canada so hoping newegg.ca or amazon.ca)

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

The CPU fan should throttle according to load.
You might find a "Quiet" setting in the BIOS to fix the noise problem.

 

[DigitalHamster]

What you seem to be saying here is that the CPU fans and other fans are always running at 100% speed.
I suggest going into the BIOS and changing the fan profiles to 'Silent' or 'Normal', not maximum performance.
This should make the computer much quieter when idling.

A software solution would be to install Speedfan and set custom fan curves. This software can be tricky to get to grips with but should support the fan controller on your motherboard because it has been around for a long time.
If you need help with Speedfan, I will be happy to try and help

 

[THRobinson]

Oh, it was a bit buried in there but found it and definitely cut that noise down a lot. Sadly case fans showed the RPM or IGNORE, no option to adjust those.

I may try SpeedFan because although quieter, it's still fairly loud. If I can make it quieter for free that would be idea because I plan to (probably in the Fall) upgrade to a core i3 system with onboard video because again, it's just for playing media, I don't need some massive multi-fan GPU or anything.

Part of the remaining noise I suspect is GPU... my old Asus GTX650Ti is installed. Though holding my ear to it I didn't detect very much noise.

Case fans are a pair of Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition 120mm, and new PSU the Corsair CX Series CX450M, which also seems fairly quiet. One factor I can't change is the case really... old case was well, old... solid steel case with a single 80mm fan at the back. It was solid and really kept the noise from escaping. This one, looks nice and fits on my shelf, but like most cases now, thin tin and lots of open vent/fan spaces.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Have you tried a different BIO's CPU/fan setting? or adding some foam inside your case?... an enclosure can act like a reflecting Freq amplifier. Also moving the computer/fan farther from your ears decreases the DB level by the square of the distance.

But Yes fans are a mechanical device that can wear out... or create annoying resonance and vibration from the plastic parts and blades spinning. But basically being able to slow the Fan speed operation down could be a solution too. What RPM is it running at VS CPU temperature?

1) Try a re-thermal paste job... Thermal paste will dry out over time and needs to be moist to work.
2) Get a More expensive, larger Copper Heatsink for the CPU, and the Fan will not have to work as hard... basically the fans are used to reduce the Copper/aluminum materials/costs. There are Fanless solutions used in the professional world... but it will involve copper $$$ and/or water.
3) Fill all those Case Openings and reflective metal flats and corners with some Low cost Foam and masking tape.
4) Remount all the Fans with a vibration "isolator"... I just use thin masking tape between my Fans and a resonant case.
5) Rewire your 12vdc 2-3 wire Case fans to a lower voltage... this helps a lot in an Audio work station. Though one Case Fan may not seem loud to you, more than one can start sounding like a choir. Running them at about 50% speed makes a Big difference.

 

[geofelt]

Your case specs say 138mm max cooler height.
Go to www.silentpcreview.com for good info on quiet components.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks

You will need a downdraft type cooler. those with 92mm fans will be noisy, but there should be a number with 120mm fans that will be quiet.

Then, any good cooler will likely need access to the back of the motherboard.
Even with pushpin mounts you should be able to look at the back of the motherboard to verify that all 4 pins are through and locked.

 

[Karadjgne]

The Raijintek Aidos is a 92mm cooler that can hold its own against the CM hyper212, so works very well for its size and will fit lga775 cpus. It's also pretty cheap and easily found in Canada, usually from NCIX.

Past experiences have proven that some M77 spray adhesive on some regular black 1/4" foam work best, not the tight/dense stuff, just the air filtration looking stuff. Because if it's multiple angles, soundwaves get lost on all the bounces vrs the dense stuff that'll end up reflecting the waves back out. Vibrations and it's resonant harmonics are a byproduct of soundwaves hitting solid surfaces and creating a drum basically, so vibration deadening does little, the sound is still there. Bouncing the sound waves around until they loose amplitude is more effective.

 

[THRobinson]

Well, I ended up (finally this weekend) installing a new fan. I went for a cheap Arctic Alpine 11 GT rev2, under $20 and easily 1/3 as loud as the old Intel stock fan I had.

Took a while to install because that case is just horrible to deal with, and I had a few other parts coming so wanted to do everything at once.

Also replaced the GPU with a fanless MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB card, which isn't as good as what I had, but for a media centre I see no difference at all. If I were gaming, ya, definitely a downgrade but, again, video files only.

Plus, grabbed a cheap KingDian 32GB SSD drive for $20CAD and decided to give OpenElec a try.

With the fanless GPU, much quieter CPU fan (Bios set to silent for it and case fans) and the SSD drive, it's much better now.