case fans, cpu fans, 120mm, 80mm

[azntwboy]

Hi, 2 months ago, i posted a question about how to reduce fan noise. I took someone's advice and bought myself a vantec stealth fan at 21dba and 27cfm. I also bought 2 nmb fans at 15dba and 18cfm. I bought a 80 to 60mm adapter. I replaced my 60mm cpu fan with the vantec stealth and the adapter. The vantec stealth makes more noise than the nmb, but it cools my cpu a lot better than the nmb. with the vantec, my cpu is 55C while with the nmb, its 65C. I also bought a new psu from fortron-source, the 300w psu with the big 120mm fan in it, which runs at a slow speed and is barely audible. Overall, my computer is a lot quieter than it used to be, but im afraid that the temperature is too high. im now using nthe nmb fans as case fans, but they dont push enough air. should I go and buy 2 more vantec stealths to replace them?
would my case get a lot louder?
would replacing my 60mm aluminum heatsink with ah thermalright sk-7 or slk-800 or slk-900 help with the cpu cooling? which should i get? which would fit on my ecs l7vta motherboard which has no holes for screws? its running on a xp1600+.
I'm also thinking of assembling another computer, but i dont know whether or not to get a case that supports 120mm case fans. Should I? it would probably be running on a xp2400+ or above.
so far, the quietest 120mm fan that ive found is the 120mm vantec stealth at 28dba and 58cfm. i was thinking of getting 120mm fans for greater cooling, but 28dba is a lot louder than the 80mm at 21dba, and the 80mm is not completely quiet. I've found some cheap cases that support only 1 120mm fan that are only $25 with no psu, but the antec slk3700 supports one in the front and one in the back, but it has a psu and costs $73. I was thinking that the antec psu might be loud, and maybe I should buy the cheap case and get another one of those fortron-source psu with the big and quiet fan. are 120mm fans too loud?
I dont know, so confusing.
Or maybe i should just buy a cheap case that only uses 80mm fans?
someone please give me their opinion.
Thanks

 

[error_911]

those CPU temps are way too high in my opinion, WAAYYYY too high. you should definitely replace your heatsink, in my opinion with the best one available as it will allow you to keep low temps and low noise... the SLK900 would probably do the job best (though you might want to see if Swiftech's MCX462 is cheaper, as it would be an ideal solution as well).

as for cooling your case, the best way is, like you've understood, with bigger, slower turning fans, but here's the trick. You can get a 120mm fan with a good cfm rating below 20db if you hook it up to a fan controller ... i use Vantec's Nexus fan controller, but there a many available (also go by the name "rheobus").

<b>I have nothing better to say</b>

 

[azntwboy]

Which of the thermalrights dont need screws to mount? because my motherboard doesnt have mounting screws.

which case should i get for my next computer?
if im just going with 80mm case fans, id probably choose one of these:
EVERCASE E4252-AB
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-127-014
$21, $15 shipping

MAXTOP CSX-147K2F-GF-USB-GRAY
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-150-017
$28, $10 shipping

the evercase is screwless while the maxtop is not, but the maxtop has an additional blowhole on top. Would the case get too loud if I put a vantec stealth 80mm fan in every available opening?
Which is better?
theyre both about the same price (difference of $2), because the shipping for the evercase is $5 more while its price is $7 less.

If I were to get a case that supports a 120mm fan, i was thinking of getting the

ANTEC SOLUTION SERIES MODEL SLK3700AMB
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-129-122

It costs $73 and $15 shipping, but i found that Microcenter is selling it for $70, so if i pick it up from my local microcenter, i would only have to pay a $7 tax.
the antec case supports 2 120mm fans and comes with a 350w ps. its also screwless. it doesnt have any blowholes though. is that a problem?
will the 350w ps fans be really loud?
because the new fortron-source 300w psu that i bought is really quiet and i was thinking that if the antec350w is loud, i could just buy one of the 80mm cases and buy myself another fortron-source.

any recommendations?

 

[azntwboy]

what are some quiet cases?
i heard the antec sonata was really quiet, but i wouldnt buy it for $100.
are there any cheaper ones?

 

[error_911]

None of the thermalright heatsinks require mounting holes to be installed.

As for a case, I would probably go with the Antec - their powersupplies are good and pretty quiet (though not as quiet as the fortron, they're good) - the difference will realy shine through with the ability to put 120mm fans in the case instead of 80mm fans - thats where the difference in noise level will make up for the power supply and more (if you do find some nice quiet 120mm fans, or put some vantec stealths on a fan controller, or rig them up on the 7V line).

as for the heatsink, I know that it worth counting your pennies because they do end-up adding up, but i've never been able to find that heatsink for such a low price either, and the one you found is as good as it gets, so don't worry.

<b>I have nothing better to say</b>

 

[error_911]

basically, a quiet case will depend on the thickness of its panels... the more expensive the case, the thicker the panels (mind you, some lian-li cases come with sound dampening material installed in the case to start with)... also, you can always install an acoustical foam linner inside the case to dampen out some of the noise - personally, I use the foam that is usually put under wood-panel flooring, because its only about 1/8" thick (i put about 3 layers) and its a closed-cell foam which, in my opinion, dampens better. the best part - its cheap as f#ck.... but its still not as good as dynamat

<b>I have nothing better to say</b>

 

[azntwboy]

i went to microcenter and bought the antec slk3700amb case. i still need my motherboard and cpu though to see how it runs. ill post my motherboard question up in the motherboard section. im trying to decide between the epox EP-8RDA+, http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=13-123-191
Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1, http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=13-128-192
MSI K7N2 Delta-L, http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=13-130-419
i also posted another question in the cpu section about whether to get the 2600 or the 2500 xp.
thanks for the help.

 

[error_911]

kewl
between those mobos, I'd probably go for the Gigabyte, and then the Athlon 2600 (barton, thats why).

<b>I have nothing better to say</b>

 

[azntwboy]

oh, the 2600 doesnt have the barton, but the 2500 does. the problem is that the 2500 is 1.8ghz while the 2600 is 2.08ghz. from the tomshardware review, it looks like the 2500 is better than the 2600 for gaming, but the 2600 is better for cpu intensive stuff like 3dsmax. someone said i could overclock the 2500 easily to the 2600 speed, but i dont know how to overclock stuff. so i dont konw which to get. if im not going to overclock, i might as well get the 2600 since ill be doing some 3dsmax.

 

[error_911]

ohhh shoot, my mistake (now thats kinda embarassing).. umm, yeah, i've definitely seen the 2500 go past 2.0Ghz, and personally the 512kb L2 is what does it... and besides, overclocking is easy (especially if you simply up your FSB)... you can see how easy on the system you're on right now... just go into the BIOS (press "del" key during first boot screen) and then go into "frequency settings", and you'll see your CPU's FSB settings. All you need to do is push 'em up a couple of Mhz highger at a time till it doesn't boot, then restart the system, lower it to the speed it last worked at and test it-out, if you need to lower it again then do it till you've got something stable. Oh, and to calculate your speeds you go FSB x multiplyer... so like an Athlon 1600 is 133x10.5=~1400Mhz, and so on, so you can calculate what your overclock speed will be. Next you take into consideration the RAM you're using - since its speed is determined by the FSB as well, you've got to make sure that it can handle the speed you're givving the CPU, otherwise you need to throttle down the RAM's speed settings vs. FSB settings (there should be a setting right below where it says "SPD" and all, that allows you to go "CLK", which is FSB speed, or "CLK+33", which is FSB + 33Mhz, and so on)..

<b>I have nothing better to say</b>