Small Form Factor Req Replacement Fan on Epia Mobo

Just got at Epia SP13000, and its brill for my mediaPC only problem is the fan on the mobo is the only fan in the system and its still too loud.

Its a fan by Arkura(?) I think its rated at around 25dba and does about 6.5cfm.

Im looking for something a lot better.

I was thinking the SilenX 40mm fan which if 5cfm at 14dba.

Are there any better ones? My case could handle a 40x40x25 sized fan instead of the 10mm ones.

The case gets quite warm (Silverstone LC06) but there are no other fan brackets inside so I cant drop the cfm to much.

Any suggestions appreciated (if you can also point in me in the direction of where to acquire as well that'll be excellent)

 

THe silent X ones are overated. There more like 20db.

Have you tried running the system with no fans because 40mm fans rearly don't do much.

 

No,

Im not really going to try anything like that yet, the mobo is less than a week old.

I'll see if I can find a better fan then than the SilenX

 

On my MII 12000, I switched to a Zalman NB heatsink on the CPU & chassis mounted a small slot-cooler
type fan voltmodded to 7V. It can't be heard over the HDD.

 

You may be able to get away with just using a zalman cooler with some AS5 but if not a revved down 40 or 60mm fan will make it a lot quieter.

 

I wouldnt mind getting a 60mm fan, If I can mount it onto the heatsink.

The only way to get a 80mm fan would be to hot glue one onto the case above the CPU heatsink as the LC06 case has holes cut in the same position.

Any suggestions on good fans?

 

maybe a passive zalman cooler

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=9#p2303

 

Thanks but even on their site they only rate the zalman upto the 1Ghz chip. Mine is 1.3 plus as I said earlier the board is less than a week old so although Im happy to swap the fan over, Im not about to remove the heatsink.

Maybe in a couple of months time once I'm bored with it.

 

you know you want too

 

If you have the room, a quiet 60mm fan with an adaptor would be good. But I'd recommend SilenX fans.

 

I have the room to just squeeze in a 60mm, so thats a preferred option.

Cant find adapters though from 40mm to 60mm. Know anywhere in the UK?

 

I run a Epia 800 with just a zalman northbridge cooler and it runs fine.

 

Thats probably because your processor is like 500mhz lower spec to the one on the SP.

As for positive news I've come across this on a german site

http://www.extrasilent.de/product_info.php?products_id=126&osCsid=8e7c7789b018226b1df3022df0ff23a1

Which would be perfect, but obviously the site is in german so no idea if they ship to the UK.

Anyone know of this product being available over here?

 

It's just a fan adaptor and a fan, they're available on lots of Uk sites AFAIK, check the extreme cooling links.

It looks like they rate the zalman cooler with up to a 1GHz chip run only passively. If you can squeeze a 5V modded 60mm fan it hould run no problems. Adding AS5 will improve temps further and grill cutting/reducing will make it a little quieter and more efficient.

 

Its a slighty different fan adapter as the actual 40mm fan whole is off centre. As most EPIA boards have the CPU at the edge of the board this means using a 60mm fan you can have the extra length having over the motherboard just in case your mobo is to the side of your case.

Ive managed to find normal 40mm to 60mm adaptors but none with the this off centre cut. Will try the adaptor this evening to see if it fits in the case.

Would take piccies to show if I can work out who/where can host them.

As for grills there wont be any. as its inside the case and its the only fan in there.

 

How did it go?

Hi!

I have the same set-up as you and live in the UK too. I find the SP13000 hot and loud... Did you manage to replace the fan with a more efficient one in the end?

Thanks in advance,
Hervé.

 

make your own adaptor out of some layers of plexi

 

Found it!

Found an adapter at http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/ in the end, so I bought a 60 mm Silenx fan from them too (I prefered the acoustifan, but they did not have it in 60 mm). They say 12dB for 13 CFM, let's see!

 

In the end I used the SilenX 8Db 60mm fan and didnt use the fan adapter, as it vibrated too much. Instead I used some double sided sticky sponge tape thing that came for sticking the remote control on my creative speakers.

This stuck the fan onto the heatsink and there are zero vibrations. The only way I know its on is my pressing my ear against the case.