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Recommend me a silent CPU cooler

VistiVisti Registered User regular
edited November 2009 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
So guys, I'm really sick of my desktop computer. It's loud as all hell. I bought it used a couple of years ago and the guy installed a ginormous Thermal Take on the CPU that just is loud as balls. So I decided I want it swapped for something actually designed for silence, because the CPU is not overclocked at all and it's running pretty cool right now, rarely hitting full load.

As far as I can tell from the motherboard specifications, I have a socket type 754. That's what I use to determine compatability, right? I've got lost of room on the board there, so size shouldn't matter and as I mentioned before, quiet is key.

Suggest me something!

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Visti on

Posts

  • Perfectly CromulentPerfectly Cromulent Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    http://www.silentpcreview.com/ is a site with a lot of good information about silent/quiet cooling components. That might be a good place to start.

    Are you certain that the CPU fan is the noisiest component in your PC? You may replace the CPU cooler and find that you have noisy fans elsewhere too.

    Perfectly Cromulent on
  • VistiVisti Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I'm pretty sure it's the noisiest by far and I'm actually not looking for completely silent operation.. Just.. more silent that this.

    Visti on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I use a Core Contact Freezer and at the lowest level (and a fair bit up from it) it's inaudible over the sound of the fans of my P182 set to low, even with the case open. It's one of those huge (tall) heatsinks, so keep that in mind. I paid $30 for it last year so it's fairly cheap as well.

    Here is a site with HS/F reviews. They include cooling and noise output in the reviews so you can take a look through those. They also have a top heatsinks list sorted by cooling and quietness.

    Barrakketh on
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  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Arctic cooling have a good reputation.

    I had one of their HSFs on one of my old machines, and later another on the graphics card and they were incredibly quiet.

    japan on
  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Can you just turn down the fan speed on your current setup?

    lowlylowlycook on
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  • VistiVisti Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I tried, but apparently not. The tried and true method for doing it is doing nothing at all, which leads me to think that this might mean that fan's speed is non-adjustable, which I've read can happen.

    Visti on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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