Source for truly quiet CPU fan?

[stevech]

My server is an AMD2400 socket A. It's old enough that I can't seem to find a truly quiet CPU fan for it (15dBa I guess).

Also quiet 250W or more ATX power supply.

Any suggestions?

[GbrNole]

for power supply use a seasonic or a fortron if you're on a budget.

for cpu fan the arctic cooling solution for socket a is pretty quiet though you might prefer the zalman 7000 if your mobo will accept it.

[stanger89]

Antec Phantom and Zalman CNPS-7000 AlCu

[blade]

I've always been told the SI-97 was one of the best socket A coolers available and they can take a 92mm fan. With the right fan it could be fairly quiet. Never had one personally, I keep telling myself I'll order one someday.

[dagar]

It is a great cooler ... just do yourself a favor and get a Nexus fan for it

[aperry]

Another vote for the Zalman coolers here. I have one, and it makes almost no noise, very quiet.

[ben_95sl1]

quiet: I had the same decision last year; on a budget I bought a thermaltake silentboost socket a and replaced the not so "silent" fan with a quiet one, and paired it with a zalman fanmate to adjust the speed (in general, thermaltake is not good however). The other cheap option was an artic cooling one. I have a hot xp 2000 palomino and it works fine at 1100rpm.

The zalman wouldn't fit my motherboard, and the fancy thermalrights were too expensive for me.

BTW: if you are unaware, there are a few programs which significantly decrease non full load temps/power consumption on socket a athlons (similar to cool n quiet): I've been using s2kcontrol; decreased temps more then 10deg C for me when sage is running, which also decreased power consumption and heat so much that the power supply temp controlled cooling fan decreased 300rpm!

[mikesm]

The arctic cooling freezer series is my favorite. Quiet at full speed, and silent at 7V (great of you have BIOS control of fan speed based on CPU temps). And much cheaper than the SI-120's or the CNPS9500.

Thanks,
Mike

[Wakecrash]

AeroCool HT 101 with a 14db 80mm silenx

here is a link where some people posted suggestions
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11127

[stevech]

thanks! I have some reading to do. The motherboard is a klunky old ECS. I don't think the BIOS has fan speed control. The CPU fan is much louder than the PS fan at this point.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by stevech

I don't think the BIOS has fan speed control.

That's what a T-Balancer is for.

[hmca]

The Zalman 300W silent power supply is just that, silent. As is the Fortron models with the 120mm fan on top. My MOBO could not take the Zalman 7000 cpu cooler but the slightly smaller 6000 unit is very quiet too at the slowest speed.

[dbfresh23]

I am a tad crazy when it comes to quiet pcs and I'll have to agree with Stanger on this, for a non water cooled system the Zalman CNPS-7000 fans cannot be beat. For PS the Antec TruePower series are also very very quiet. I actually also replaced my chipset heatink/fans with oversized Zalman fanless heatsinks.

Basically for quiet cooling it's pretty hard to beat Zalman.

If you do go with the Zalman HS/FAN just MEASURE! They are Gigantic!

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

For PS the Antec TruePower series are also very very quiet.

The Antec Phantom 350 is better , and I'll go out on a limb but guess that the Fortron Source PSUs with 120mm fans are quieter than any of the Antec *Power series (which use 80mm fans).

[whobday]

The best resource for quiet computer related things is:

www.silentpcreview.com

[dbfresh23]

Originally Posted by stanger89

The Antec Phantom 350 is better , and I'll go out on a limb but guess that the Fortron Source PSUs with 120mm fans are quieter than any of the Antec *Power series (which use 80mm fans).

Actually I had read some reviews about the Phantom 350 (haven't tried one myself) and they weren't that impressive. I just don't think I'd trust a heatsink only on the psu, I also dislike the fact that it sticks out of the back of the case. I haven't used the Fortron PSUs but I do know my Antec True550s are basically inaudible, but that's also because they don't push too much are as the fans spin rather slowly - not sure of exact RPM.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

Actually I had read some reviews about the Phantom 350 (haven't tried one myself) and they weren't that impressive. I just don't think I'd trust a heatsink only on the psu, I also dislike the fact that it sticks out of the back of the case.

I think you're confusing it with another PSU, the Phantom doesn't hang out the back at all. But I do know it's run my P4 2.4 HTPC, and now is running my Athlon 64 3400 (2.4GHz) + Geforce 6800 (passive) HTPC with ease (and silently of course ).

FWIW, my T-Balancer is reporting 95.9F for the PSU, but by feeling the back, I'd guess that's rather high, it's cool to the touch under that load.

[dbfresh23]

ahh, you're right - was confusing it with the Thermaltake Silent PurePower Fanless

[stevech]

Zalman - I didn't see a fan/heat sink combo for Socket A.

Grrr. this PC stuff is obsoleted in 2 years.

[Diem]

I too use the fanless antec phantom 350. Great psu.
For CPU cooling use the Thermaltake Bigwater. It's a budget water cooling solution which works great. Silence wise, you'll be very happy.