Hi Richard, >It's a small world! >I too get annoyed about the noise levels from my PC, but couldn't find much >about quiet processor fans when I recently replaced mine. >Lo and behold, TheRegister (that website again!) has got an item about a new >fan-less NEC PC, with a link to a company that supplies gizmos to quieten >your current machine. Guess what: the website address is... www.quietpc.com >! >Obvious or what?
>Richard > >PS If you find a quiet fan, could you let me know about it? Cheers. Well, despite my previous bad pun, for which I have absolutely no remorse :-), I would still recommend the ThermalTake fans and the Volcano7/7+ for an excellent balance between cooling performance and noise. The fans being sold on the quietpc.com site are clocking in at about 22.5 dB, the Volcano fans start at about 27dB. Since they have variable speeds based on CPU temp they do get noisier if higher cooling levels are required but in my experience they spend most of their time at the slower fan speeds. Personally I am willing to put up with a slightly higher noise level if it means better cooling, particularly considering my passion for overclocking everything in sight :-) (Damn that toaster is FAST now!!) You can enhance the easy of cooling here through various methods, including using a copper shim between the proc and heatsink to increase the efficiency of heat dissipation. I would also tend to recommend a smart case fan that will again alter revs based on the ambient temp in the case. ThemarlTake does these as well. You may have gathered I am a bit of a fan of TT, this is because since using their kit I can actually put the case/cover on my PC without the temperature going through the roof! Believe me, when you overclock everything, that really is some feat!! Ideally of course I would tend to recommend the liquid cooling systems which effectively refridgerate your PC, often using a cooling pad mounted in the top of the case, since hot air rises :-) This means you only require a heatsink on the proc. This does have some associated noise, but very little. The MAJOR drawback of this type of cooling is cost, but if you really want to lose the sound of whirring fans totally and have a good few hundred �'s to spare... Steve.
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