How loud is the OEM fan on P4 CPU's?

I'd like to know how loud the OEM fan that comes with the retail P4 CPU are in dB's.

Are there more quiet ones than the OEM and may be even more effective in cooling?

I was thinking of the P4 2.66ghz

I think the stock hsf is around 32db, you can always get the Zalman 6500 if you want a quieter hsf and it cools better too.

i had my intel HSF on my 2.8 for the first half hour so i could start putting together the WC.

You cannot hear it at medium setting. I enver got it into the high setting.

Like Johnny Knoxville said, the zalmann stuff is generally quiet and performs well for what it is.

are zalmans top quality? Are they expensive?

The stock HSF ain't noisy at all.

Can't really hear mine at all! The PSU fans are the ones i hear.

Has anyone scraped off the black peel off wax stuff and applied other compounds such as arctic silver III?

I'll overclock just a little bit, if at all and wanted something that is more quiet than OEM and cools better.

Here are the HSF's I had in mind:
Alpah pal8492
Zalman 6500
Swiftec MCX-4000

+80mm Panaflow fan.....39CFM/32dB --> is this a good balance between airflow vs. noise?

I have done that on a P4 423 heatsink, and added AS3. However, you should scrape it off with either rubbing alcohol or something plastic, as a metal blade will scratch the base of the heatsink (I learned the hard way). Also, you should lap the base of the heatsink to improve heat transfer.

For the heatsinks, Id recommend either the MCX-4000 or the Vantec Aeroflow P4, found in the Heatsink Rankings. The Panaflo is a really good fan, IMHO better than the TMD used on those mentioned heatsinks. The Alpha would be a good low-cost alternative, if that is an issue.

you'll struggle to remove the black pad with alcohol.

mainly because it is a piece of foil coated in that black stuff.
get a thin blade of some sort and lift one corner, then peel it back with your fingers.
the foil is only stuck to the hsf on two sides.

then use alcohol to remove anything that is left behind. (black stuff, glue etc)

I thought I read that suggestion somewhere...oops

Guess it was for the residue

Just make the sure the blade is plastic, not metal

a metal blade will be safe to use, if you're careful.
you only need to use it on the edges where the TIM is glued down. (two sides)
if you do scratch the heatsink under the edge of the TIM, you shouldn't cause any problems as the TIM is larger than the cpu.
so unless you go mad and go hacking into the TIM, you should be right with a thin metal blade.

if you're a bit lacking in the common sense department, then use plastic. lol

or if you plan on lapping the base anyway, any small scratches will easily be removed.

Or if you lack skills in dexterity, use plastic. I slipped

Also, lapping is made much easier with no scratches.

Please define "lapping".

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lapping is when you sand the base of the heatsink and/or the cpu die.

some people have the notion that it must be lapped to a mirror finish. this is not necessary. as long as the base is smooth and flat it will work just as well.

there should be a guide on the OC.com front page somewhere.

Calavera said:

Has anyone scraped off the black peel off wax stuff and applied other compounds such as arctic silver III?

I'll overclock just a little bit, if at all and wanted something that is more quiet than OEM and cools better.

Here are the HSF's I had in mind:
Alpah pal8492
Zalman 6500
Swiftec MCX-4000

+80mm Panaflow fan.....39CFM/32dB --> is this a good balance between airflow vs. noise?

Click to expand...

The stock thermal interface material is a high quality bergequist setup. It is a very soft aluminum sheet coated with a good thermal compound. It works. You can scrape or peal it off and clean the residue with alcohol. I found the stock material to be amazingly good, with niether standard white thermal silicon grease nor AS3 making much difference. As long as the thing hasn't been removed and installed a bunch of times (the black coating tends to stick to the mated part) I woudn't worry about it. You have to remember the retail cooler's retention mechanism produces extreme clamping force, minimizing the effect of different thermal interface materials.

The stock P4 retail heatsinks use sanyo densei fans of 60-70mm running at most 2700 rpm. They are virtually silent Any roughly 40cfm 80mm fan will be louder. To compete with the noise level of the stock heatsink you would have to use something like the vatec stealth fan, wich moves so little air that temperatures will be just as high or higher than the stock unit. It's hard to beat the retail cooler for quiet, and it generally holds up better under overclocking than you would think.

Personally I bought a Thermalright AX478, and dropped 5C compared to my retail cooler. But even this level of performance requires a 37cfm fan, which is louder than the stock units. As mentioned backing off to a truly quiet fan would bring temps right back up to the level of the stock cooler, if not higher. Aftermarket heatsinks will outperform the stock unit badly when fitted with a louder fan, but when a fan as quiet as the stock one is fitted do well to equal the retail heatsink and fan.