Silent CPU Fans?

[NarN]

Hi all

I recently purchased a new TB 900Mhz KT7A-Raid system. And it is very noisy. Since I'm a coder it should be as quiet as possible or else I can't concentrate.

I have found the noisy part: the CPU fan. It is a Motor-One Ball Bearing 60*60 going 4300 RPM. And in the sheets it says that it produces 34 dBA.

What are good QUIET coolers?

Thanks

NarN

PS: I don't tend to overclock.

--
NarN - Ruling the world

 

[Guest]

The Noise Control Silverado is VERY quiet and still pretty good, but also very expemsive...

 

[worsie]

If you are not in to overclocking, and your CPU temperature is on a healthy level at the moment (below 40°C) you can try to run your fan at 7 volts. Just hook up the ground to the +5V of a molex (4-wire connector) and the plus to the +12V. 12-5=7V. If your heatsink has a sufficient capacity this will pose no problems, and your CPU temperature will only go up a few degrees. This will cause a drop in RPM, and with that also in noise.

 

[Guest]

Those who know, Do all 60mm fans have the same mounting template? Plycon.com has a 28db Sanyo fan someone else was talking about and If so can't he just replace the fan without removing the sink as long as he doesn't apply pressure? He bought not built his system so he probably doesn't know what kind of compound was used and I, not having to deal with possible stickypad cleanup, hard clips, core distruction,remounting, rewiring, etc. would go this way if possible. Bad Idea?

<b><i>"Bad advice is expensive, Good advice is priceless"

 

[mbaha]

Ya you can buy a new fan and put it on there. Sound like a good idea.
mbaha

"Work is the curse of the drinking class"

 

[Guest]

I've been doing a workaround w/ the Sanyo Denki, and a bunch of other fans, and all have analogous mounting layouts. Since the heatsink is held on by a mounting clip/clamp/etc., it's a simple matter of removing the screws holding the fan, and mounting the new one.

Do, however, take note of the directional arrow on the side of the fan. You can either have it blowing air into the heatsink, or drawing air away.

Phamcomputer.com has a fan that is even quieter than the Sanyo, but remember: the quieter you go, generally the less cooling effect you get; the louder the fan, the greater the cooling in general (lower RPM = less cfm [cubic feet per minute] ; faster RPM = more cfm).

The other thing is that a fan w/higher RPMs will sound louder than one w/lower RPM, even if they have similar dBA ratings since higher freqs. sound subjectively louder. Good luck.

 

[NarN]

Thanks guys!

Worsie: I'm going to try connecting my current fan to the 5+ voltage.

Is there a website describing this? Cause I'm not a very handy.



--
NarN - Ruling the world

 

[Guest]

What is a good noise level? Eg, What dBa do you consider to be noisy? Because i had the superORB hunk of crap and it was like 55dBA and i hated it... mainly coz it ended up crushing my cpu, but that's another matter...

Now i wanna go with this new one... from ThermoSonic that looks good and it 35dBA which is considerably less... Any ideas? (Thermosonic.com.tw is the site for the new fan)

<b><font color=blue>Note to self: Never buy <i>anything</i> without checking with <font color=red>Tom</font color=red> first...

 

[ejsmith2]

There's a good chance your fan won't spin up at 5V. My delta will, but none of my other fans will turn over 50rpm. If you let the fan spin up at 12V (or even 7V), they will operate at 5V.

 

[worsie]

Narn,

I'll post a drawing of it tonight (I'm at work at the moment) to explain what I mean.

 

[worsie]

ejsmith2,

Most fans can operate in a range of voltages, especially the more expensive ones (because they have better built motors), commonly from approx.6 Volts to 15 volts (no guarantee though, check manufaturer specifications).
Every fan I own has worked on 7V so far. 5V sometimes is a problem yes.
I don't get what you mean with:

If you let the fan spin up at 12V (or even 7V), they will operate at 5V.

If you open up a fan you will find there is no resistor inside that has the capacity to reduce the 12V by that much (not to mention the heat it would generate), and next to that, the voltage spec of the fan motor is usually clearly specified on a sticker on the fan. So either I'm misinterpreting you, or you are making a mistake IMHO .

 

[NarN]

I found some stats about my cooler on the web:

Motor-one Ball Bearing fan
34 m3/h
4300 rpm
12 V DC
34 dBA

And that is very loud!

I found a molex radial fin that produces 25 dBA!!! That's about half as loud!


--
NarN - Ruling the world

 

[ejsmith2]

I put a 'center-off' switch on my case fans (actually, 3 switches total). I let the fans spin up to 12volts, then turn them down to 7 volts with a flick of a switch. I can just as easily turn them down to 5 volts instead, but the 7volts is quiet enough.
With all the fans running at max, I can get another 5mhz on my gpu/ram though.

 

[worsie]

Ok. I misread I can follow you now.

 

[NarN]

worsie?

Coudl you post a detailed description on how to lower te fan voltage?

Thanks

NarN

--
NarN - Ruling the world

 

[Guest]

I've tried a few coolers on my KT7A-RAID / 1ghz system... It came with a CoolerMaster, which did alright, switched to The Core (and found out what LOUD really meant, and have decided on the ThermalTake Volcano II. The volcano keeps it very cool, and is essentially silent.... not just quiet, but SILENT. I had the case open this weekend, and the system wasn't much louder than it is normally.

 

[worsie]

Don't know if you check your mailadres regularly, but you've got mail

 

[NarN]

Hehe, I know, It's my hotmail address and I don't check that very often. But thanks, I'm going to try it this weekend.

--
NarN - Ruling the world