I5 passive or quiet CPU

Hey guys,

I recently updated my HTPC to an I5 setup, I upgraded from a dual core E8400 that I was using with a passive CPU cooler, I thought I could use it on the socket 1156 but no luck it's off by a few mm and won't fit, so right now I'm stuck with the Intel fan and it's way too noisy, computer is in the living room and is pretty much on 24/7.

So I need a new CPU cooler, I'm limited in size since it's an HTPC case, I can't fit the huge heatsinks of the passive coolers, I ideally I would like a passive one not too big or at list not to high, if it doesn't exists then the quietest cooler with a fan, price is not an issue I'll pay the price for it but I really need something quiet and not only when the PC idles but also on high CPU load, I use the PC to play high definition video, bluray, ect...

so any advice on what to buy?

Thanks a lot

You might have to stick with the stock fan for a while until the low-profile and quiet 1156 coolers come out - Lynnfield's only been out about a month and the few aftermarket coolers out there are high-performance towers.

what would be considered dangerous for an I5 processor in terms of temperature, right now it idles at ~48-52C° and on max load it goes up to ~85-87C°, knowing that the PC is idling 90% of the time and the remaining 10% is used to play HD video and this runs the CPU at 65-67C°.

Also the rest of the component, HDD and other sensor are quiet cool, since I have two fans extracting the hot air directly out of the case from passive CPU cooler, it's basically only the CPU running really hot, is that ok, acceptable or not ok.

Thanks

I know they are, the question is is it acceptable or does it becomes dangerous for hardware?