hello all! I have small query regarding the processor fan. You see, my computer is fairly new, around 1 year old and has all the top end parts. But of late my computer seems to be making too much noise, and i plan on reducing the noise. As it is getting very irritating. The main thing is, i want to know, if i do change my processor fan with some good one. How much noise reduction will there be? i.e zalman(i don't know many companies). Or if i do shift to liquid cooling, how much would i have to shell out to buy a full flesh kit?. All help will be appreciated
Quite a lot depends upon your kit too. For example if you're using P4's Skt478 with a Prescott CPU you'd be better of selling it for a cooler running and faster (per clock) NorthWood CPU. If you're running an Athlon the chances are good you could undervolt it and still retain full speed yet run cooler. If it's A64 you may not have Cool n Quiet enabled. All these options can make a difference and are totally free. So if you could post specific specs and whether you o/c or not we will be able to help more specifically. As 3XS says you may find a build up of dust is hampering cooling, this is esp evident with HSs. Another good and cheap option would be to buy an external fan controller which can adjust 2-4 fans between 5-12v or 7-12v which enables you to get the sweet spot between adequate cooling and noise levels for all your system's fans. If you buy a good HSF then it will be better than a stock retail or OEM unit but if shelling out the cash you want it to last so it's ideal to ensure it can handle a few different socket types. In terms of more expensive cooling such as water it does get pretty complex and expensive and given that all current sockets are likely to be superceeded next year it doesn't make much sense IMHO. I'd suggest trying out the free options first, then work your way up until your system satisfies you.
You don't say what processor you have, and whether or not you're running stock speed. Either way, go for a sink that takes at least an 80mm fan, there are plenty about now. Then if it's still too loud, you can voltage control it (Fanmate is cheap) or swap to a quieter fan. Most sinks with 60mm fans are noisy. For a cheap, very quiet HSF for stock speeds, I can recommend Arctic Cooling Silent 2TC or the equivalent version for your socket. For fast, hot, processors the Zalman 7000 or 7700 are more effective but noisier at 12V and may not suit your mobo.
Austin, thanks a lot for the clarification. At first I thought Watercooling would not be much of a hassle, but looking at your explanation i think i'll wait for some time. In the meantime i'll try to get it reduced. These are my specs: - CPU INTEL P4 3.0 Ghz/800 1mb cache box - MOTHERBOARD INTEL ORGINAL 865 PERL WITH SOUND DDR 333/266 - 400/533/800 (the computer has not bee OC in any manner, don't know how to do it yet ) If more specs are required, i would be more then glad to list. Cpemma, i was having a look at zalman 7000 the other day, looking at it price wise it seemed a bit too expensive. I was actually going for one of these but then stopped. The question once again arised how much noise will it reduce? If i do go for an external fan controller and get a few additional fans, wouldn't that just add up to the noise level, apart from increasing airflow
Ah the P4E 3.0ghz with 1MB cache uses the Prescott core and that runs hot esp on Skt478 (which is what your i865 mobo surely is). Your temps would be reduced and perf very slightly enhanced if you swapped it with a NorthWood P4C 3.0ghz with 512K cache. In terms of overclocking, underclocking or undervolting it all primarilly depends upon your BIOS and what options it provides. I'm not sure why DDR400 isn't listed as it should support it. Anyway it would be ideal if you could try lowering the voltage on the CPU (eg. -0.05v at a time) and monitor what effect it has on temps esp when placed under load. You need to make sure the CPU is stable with the reduced voltage so check it can run Prime95's Torture Test for at least 15min. You could reduce the speed of the CPU by reducing the FSB, if you don't have fine control in the BIOS you could simply drop down to 533FSB (making the CPU run at 2.0ghz). Voltage has more effect on temps though and won't effect the speed of your PC. If you buy a front panel fan controller you can control the noise-to-perf ratio of most if not all of your fans. You certainly shouldn't need to add more fans but could run 4 fans at near silent speed instead of 2 fans at full speed (for example). Running your CPU with a NW core, lower voltage or lower running speed will only drop temps so you need to reduce fan speeds (or use quieter fans) to actually lower noise levels. You may find a £15 fan controller is all you need with all of the above in mind but even if you end up changing the CPU HSF you then wouldn't need one sporting an inbuilt fan controller so would have more options. Depending upon your existing HSF you may even be able to fit a larger fan (eg 80mm) with a suitable adapter which should push more air and still run more quietly. There's plenty of options open to you but I'd start off with the cheapest options and see at what point it makes you happy.
Austin, thanks once again for ur detailed explanation. Well anyway, one of the cheapest solutions to me seems to be replacing the fan. If anyone has used Zalman 7000, i'd sure'ly like some feed back on that, so i can proceed further. As far as undervolting goes, i don't really want to take any sort of chances at this particular stage. I would rather stay on the safe side, i hope u understand what i mean . I mean the 4 fans seem perfectly logical . I certainly need to get the noise level down in one way or the other.
The processor fan is very often the noisiest in the as-bought system, so it's a good one to start on as there's likely to be an immediately noticeable reduction in noise. But you need to look at all the other fans and see how much they contribute. Easy way is to stop them in turn for a while and listen. A bit of stiff cardboard pushed in will do it safely, if the cardboard is shredded, that fan's likely too noisy. Case fan noise goes up with speed and power and airflow, so look for fans around 2000rpm, 100-120mA, 25cfm (in 80mm) and be prepared to get a controller, two under-volted fans pushing say 30cfm total really are quieter than a single similar fan pushing the same airflow. For a list of low-noise HSF to suit your socket and pocket, look here, many have been reviewed and you'l find further comments in the forum.
