New cheap preferrably *quiet* HSF needed!

Hi

My CPU runs pretty hot - 53*C under load (AMD 2400XP) - im not all that worried (its an ok temp), but i would like to have the temp reduced a bit and the fan noise reduced.

My motherboard hasn't got bolt holes so the Zalman 7000 series fans will not fit and HS such as the SI-97 although quiet are resonably expensive and i dont like the idea of spending too much money now since i will probably upgrade my comp to a 939 rig with hole mounts in the summer (and then get a zalman )

Therefore i have two questions.

1) Can i replace the fan that sits on top of my heatsink with a new, quieter one? I have the akasa HSF - which i believe is the stock fan for the AMDs. (think it is 60mm)

2) Can anyone recommend a quiet and cheeeeeep HSF - i do not overclock at the moment so the CPU wont be overly stressed.

thanks, D.L

P.S - im in the UK so i would prefer the HSF etc to be in this country to avoid the hassle of shipping

just take off that 60mm fan and rig a 80mm or 92mm fan on it, that should drop temps and noise level...

blowers are also pretty quiet, I can put mine on full power and I can barely hear it.

bobmanfoo said:

just take off that 60mm fan and rig a 80mm or 92mm fan on it, that should drop temps and noise level...

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How would i do this? The fan mountings on the HS are for a 60mm fan - do i need to use one of those fan adapters? How would that affect the cooling of the CPU?

D.L

Just get an adapter. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-999-250&depa=1

you could get and adapter or use a little ingenuity and use whatever you have lying around, zipties, screws, bolts, or pull out the dremel....you get the point

I'd recommend Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2 TC.
+ cheapo (around $10-12)
+ VERY quiet
+ thermal control
+ easy to mod TC to manual / TC + manual (check hompage in my profile for step-by-step photos guide)
+ good performance after lapping
- thermal control
- to get good performance, it should rather be lapped

You should be able to get Zalman ripoffs too - they are cheap and not that much worse than 7000. Stock Athlon XP heatsinks are pretty bad - you can't do much with them. Hmm, in fact you can cut it and make mosfets / graphics card RAM cooler.
You can also do some searches in forum here, as not too long ago tehre were discussed some budget coolers. I think that there's some possibility that Freezer 64 can be modded to use Socket A mounting bracket, but I won't guarantee it.

Ven0m said:

I'd recommend Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2 TC.

Click to expand...

This was recommended to me on another forum. You lost me a bit with this line......

Ven0m said:

easy to mod TC to manual / TC + manual

Click to expand...

Do you just mean that the thermal control can be "bypassed" and i can fit a rheostat or something to control the fan myself - at 5V or something?? (they normally run at 12V right?)

Ven0m said:

You should be able to get Zalman ripoffs too

Click to expand...

lol - i had this conversation with you in another thread .....i contacted that Pentagram company - they wanted 20euros just for the shipping to the UK -- so that would make the fan more expensive than i would like.

AVG said:

Just get an adapter

Click to expand...

Are there any problems associated with using an adapter on my current heatsink to make it a 80mm from 60? I'm thinking more of problems with turbulence and then ineffiecient cooling.

Can anyone reccomend a fan suitable for this job?

btw - thanks for all the replies guys!

They normally run at 12V and have speed adjusted according to temperature. That works pretty well, but some poeple think that they don't need them so silent and preffer more performance instead.
Here's link to AC mod I performed.
It allows blend of thermal and manual control. With pot, you can increase speed. If you cut (ot put on switch) thermistor, along with that pot mod I presented, you get manual control only (but thermal + manual is ok I think). If you decide to lower speed even more (I dunno why, but you may want) - you put pot inline instead of in parallel.

I can't tell you what voltage on fan it gives, but it's a cheap and working method ($0.15 max). Still, even without mod this cooler is pretty good. For moderate OC you may need to mod it. You might use some additional controller, but I think that there is no need.

And Zalman ripoffs - in America they're avaible as PC Cooler, or something like that for almost no cash. Getting one from Poland would definietly hurt.

You can get some quiet 80mm fan, but quiet fans usually produce pretty low pressure and with adapter, you might have some problems. GlacialTech or AC fans would probably work, but with fan adapter, cost will exceed cost of new cooler.

ok - well i'm more than likely gona buy the Arctic Cooler in the next couple of weeks. I will see how it fares and then think about a mod such as yours. I looked up those PC Cooler heatsink fans, and decided against them since i think they are above the maximum weight suggested for my CPU/MOBO and since i move my comp around a fair bit i will give them a miss. I'll buy the real thing wen i get a new rig.

Thanks

D.L

No problem. PC Cooler seem to be identicial with Pentagram. I have 80CU version on my CPU... It came wtih some nice pads, to be more safe. Of course I had to remove them for lapping. These coolers weight "a bit", but I move computer a lot last weeks and I hadn't got problems. However I obey rule to have mobo horizontally with heatink sticking UP, while my comp is in car. If you're rather looking for OC than silence, these PC cooler might be better than AC.

I've never used one of those adapters but they are supposed to increase air pressure, and since 80mm fans are able to produce more cfm at lower rpm it would be very quiet compared to the 60mm fan.

My understanding is that static pressure is the same in whole adapter and fan area. Problem is that to push same amount of air through smaller profile, you need more pressure and you have only normal pressure that fan produces plus bigger fans usually give less prssure, so adapters reduce theoretical fan airflow a lot.

Still 80mm fan with adapter should be better than 60mm one without, but not that better to use it in my opinion. I haven't got much experience with fan adapters, but all I have tells me that they are evil.

If I'm wrong in some point here, it would be cool if someone corrected me.