Stupid question about fans
Nov 3, 2005 at 5:37 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18
~AZ~

~AZ~

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I am thinking about quieting my PC and would like to know if it is as simple as replacing the fan on my CPU and in my power supply? I read a post where someone suggested replacing the fans in the power supply. I have stopped all my fans one by one and these are the ones that make noise. There are two fans in my power supply. Is it just a matter of opening the power supply and replacing the fans and taking the fan off the CPU and replacing it or am I missing something?
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 7:31 AM Post #3 of 18
Opening a power supply is not for the faint hearted (it and the monitor are the only bits of a PC that really could zap you seriously if you mess up), and for the price of a couple of decent fans you won't have to spend much extra to just flat out buy a new, quieter one. That's the route I'd take. Replacing the CPU cooler's fan can help, but again, it may be better to buy a new cooler entirely. I like Thermalright coolers.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 7:41 AM Post #4 of 18
I may opt to replace the power supply all together but the PS I have now is actually very good quality it is just a bit too loud. It has 2 80mm fans and I don't know if it makes a difference but it has a button on the back that you can press to adjust the fan speeds.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 8:49 AM Post #5 of 18
Yes you can replace all fans. I recommend you a visit to http://www.silentpcreview.com/, a site devoted to the silencing PC bussiness. I have learnt a lot there. I would get a new power supply (the seasonic seems the best) or you can swap fans (many mods available at http://www.silentpcreview.com/section4.html, fan swap at http://www.silentpcreview.com/article83-page1.html) The CPU fan can and must be swapped and/or undervolted as well (info at http://www.silentpcreview.com/module...icles&secid=13) or you can get a better heatsink+fan combo (info at http://www.silentpcreview.com/section10.html).
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 4:49 PM Post #7 of 18
I have done extensive overclocking and know quite a bit about fans. Of course I recommend watercooling if you really want to quiet things down.
Best quiet power supply: Seasonic. I use Enemax noisetaker, it's pretty good too, I think it's quieter than OCZ Powerstream which I have too.

For CPU, I recommend either SI-120, or Big Typhoon, with Panaflo fans. Those are pretty quiet.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 5:41 PM Post #9 of 18
OK after searching here and the other forums suggested I decided the best PSU for my budget is probably the Antec Smartpower 2 SP350. I can get one for $39. Now as for the CPU it is a Athlon XP 2200+ socket A...are my best options still the above listed? Thanks again for all the help.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 9:28 PM Post #11 of 18
az: that won't be very hard to deal with. I use a Thermalright ALX-700 on my XP 2500+, with a Vantec Stealth 80mm case fan as the fan. Close to inaudible. If you used a Panaflo 80mm case fan instead of the Vantec, it'd be even quieter. The good thing about modest CPUs is they just don't need a lot of cooling. IMHO you only need to go for real exotic coolers or watercooling if you have a real top-end CPU and graphics card which pump out gallons of heat. For more modest stuff you can get air cooling as near to silent as makes no difference.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 10:31 PM Post #12 of 18
Quote:

Originally Posted by JahJahBinks
I have done extensive overclocking and know quite a bit about fans. Of course I recommend watercooling if you really want to quiet things down.
Best quiet power supply: Seasonic. I use Enemax noisetaker, it's pretty good too, I think it's quieter than OCZ Powerstream which I have too.

For CPU, I recommend either SI-120, or Big Typhoon, with Panaflo fans. Those are pretty quiet.


I disagree, while water can be the quietest, most watercooling systems are not, that includes mine, and there are much more economical ways of quieting a PC. Their are a bunch of good heatsinks out for price/performance/size/noise, I think the Zalmon 7700 is best but, thermalrights are marginally better for cooling, there are some great offerings from thermaltake, people will hate on thermaltake because they tend to rip other peoples designs but they make good stuff. The Seasonic is not only a quiet power supply but it is one of the most stable.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 11:31 PM Post #14 of 18
zorander: It's not compatible with Socket A. And way, way overkill for this guy, I think. A decent 80mm heatsink with a low-rev 80mm fan is more than good enough for most people without being overly exotic.
 
Nov 3, 2005 at 11:33 PM Post #15 of 18
cole: btw, I hate Thermaltake (note for everyone else, always remember Thermalright and Thermaltake are two different companies...). Not because they rip off other people's designs, but because everything of theirs I've ever owned or seen has sucked.
 
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