Just built a PC

[marlborosmoker]

I just built a media centre PC and some light gaming, I'm fairly happy with the performance but have a couple of questions

Specs
Mobo: Asus MN28 + SPDIF out
Processor: AMD X2 3600+ Brisbane Stock heatsink
Ram: Lemel (generic?) 2x1gig
Maxtor 250gig SATA HDD
LG DVd-rw +/- SATA
ECS 7300gt
Antec tricool 120mm fan
Antec super cyclone PCI blower
Thermaltake tr2 430w PSU (I just found out this sucks and really can only pump out 300w but it works ok)

Now my main concern is nose generated and heat dissipation as well as a couple of performance mods/tweaks I could consider.

The tricool fan is quiet enough, and according to the Asus temp monitor the CPU is always at or around 25-30C and the vid cad never goes past 50-60C. (having always used onboard GFX is this too hot?)

Now noise is a my main complaint. Fans are quiet enough but the PSU and CPU heatsink/fan noise really P*** me off. Considering I can hear it from 3ft away

I was thnking of getting a Thermal take Golden Orb II or a Asus Silent Knight and a quiet PSU, particularly a topower fanless or a coolermaster igreen. What do you guys think? Will these make a difference?

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place.

 

[mkaibear]

Replace the motherboard fan with a Zalman fanless cooler - if the motherboard has a fan, anyway.

You should be able to run the 7300GT fanless - or at least fit a video card fan cooler which will be a lot quieter - go and have a look at quietpc.com and see what they have.

You will want to replace the stock heatsink with one that's as cool as possible - you are looking for quietness - basically any HSF which is rated for AM2 will do.

A quiet PSU will make a big difference too.

Why do you have a PCI blower?

 

[Onus]

Your temps are reasonable.
The Zalman fanless cooler he refers to is for your chipset (if it has a fan now), not your CPU. There are very quiet CPU fans available. I have a Zalman 7000Cu (7700Cu?) and I can hardly hear it, even though I keep it turned up all the way. I put a Zalman VF700Cu on my video card. It too is silent.
I have never used a PCI blower, but I've heard they are noisy. Your 120mm Tricool ought to be enough for that system, but if you want more airlflow and your case has a place for it, you can add an intake fan in the front.

 

[robmurphy]

Try speedfan. You can use it to control the speed of the fans connected to the motherboard. I am not sure what the PCI blower is connected to.

This would not help with the PSU fan, but short of replacing that there is not much that can be done about it.

Speedfan will let you specify the target, and warning temps for the different components, on my system this is the CPU core temp, and hard disk temp. You can set minimum and maximum speeds for the fans.

Speedfan is free to download and use. You can configure XP so it starts speedfan when XP loads up.

Rob Murphy.

 

[marlborosmoker]

The blower is there to maintain proper circulation (at least that's what I intend it to do, can't just have fans blowing air in willy nilly without giving the hot air a chance to escape). Theoretically at least. It's not actually that noisy at the lowest setting I use it at and is no louder than the 120mm fan at the mid setting which is acceptable to me. I don't think I need to cool the mobo as all my gauges say it's at 25C. The video card has a little stock heatsink/fan, but it's not noisy enough or pushed hard enough for me to consider doing any mods to it.

It's definitely the stock CPUfan/Heatsink and PSU. I just ordered a Zalman 7700 from the pcquiet site, but unfortunately they're out of the PSU I want.