I need a good VERY cheap way to cool my pc.

[WhyDidYoujustdie]

I was considering useing an old AC unit. Even though they can cause condesation it won't happen with a PC. The pc is always warmer than the air so it should be fine. The only thing I'm worried about is the case. It's HUGE and could get cold enough for water to collect.

I've looked into liquid cooling but it's too d*** expensive. I need something cheap.

And OFC I've looked into mineral oil cooling. Way to expensive, not worth loss of warranties, and gets too hot too fast. (not to mention the prices of mineral oil)

I want a PC that is QUIET! My pc is Loud ATM and I will be upgrading it. I'll tell the specs just in case it helps.

Amd Athlon II x3 455 Rena 3.3GHz (hoping to unlock fourth core but I DO NOT intend to OC it.)

Radeon HD 6870 (hopefull) or 7770

8 Gigs of DDR3 1600 ram

I think my PSU is 750Watts


Please help me get a quiet (was going to put the actual AC outside my sliding door and attacht a tube to my PC) but effective way to cool. I like to play games ALOT (I'm not a FarmVille kiddie) and play for long stretches. 1-12 hours. (ofc with some breaks inbetween)

 

[JefferyD90]

Why? Honestly its not a overpowering PC, so its not going to get too hot... just put 2 fans in the case and it should be fine. If you buy good fans (maybe $8-$12 each if that) they will be quite. Also a after market CPU cooler ($25-$40) will help with the noise as well. I have a total of 8 fans (CPU, PSU, PCI fan, and 5 CoolMaster 80mm case fans) and mine isnt that bad, and everything is stock except the PCI fan I bought it seperatly but it was like $20 if that...

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

This is plenty quiet, even at max fan speed (to me, at least). Honestly, it's good enough that you could possibly even run it fanless, since you won't be OC'ing. COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

The only issue you might have with it is that it might not fit into your case because it's very tall (159mm).

It'll be MUCH quieter that the stock AMD fan though. Those might be the loudest stock fans on earth.

 

[WhyDidYoujustdie]

The reason I want it so quiet is because I will be recording gameplays on it. And my current setup you can hear the fan blasting.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

The reason I want it so quiet is because I will be recording gameplays on it. And my current setup you can hear the fan blasting.

Well, read my reply...

 

[bigcyco1]

Buy it problem solved http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[amuffin]

Just get a fan that is optimized for silence.

 

[raytseng]

you need to also mention what other components are causing noise.

Is it just the CPU cooler? then swap that out for the 212 (+ or evo) as mentioned. Evo should be slightly quieter.

In my system, which i did pick parts especially for quiet.

100% CPU on IB i5 (not oced)
the 212evo is quieter than my HDD spinning.
at 100% cpu, it runs about 35% fan speed and runs only 10degrees hotter than idle(45c).

Else, what else is noisy?
You may have just a bad situation where your case design did not have quiet in mind.
(my case happens to be nzxt H2)

Then you can either startover and get a new case system with quiet in mind; or try to work your way around it physically with sound insulation foam/blankets/plywood; of course leaving ducting for air

 

[JefferyD90]

The reason I want it so quiet is because I will be recording gameplays on it. And my current setup you can hear the fan blasting.

Go into your bios and change your Cool'n'Quite settings...
Then go into windows and turn your volume down on your mic. Problem solved.

 

[bryonhowley]

Nothing in your system is High end so as others have said get some quiet case fans and a quiet aftermarket heatsink fan for the CPU and you should be set

 

[photonboy]

As mentioned, you need to look at ALL the components:

- CPU HSF (heatsink + fan)
- case fans
- Power Supply fans
- Graphics card

*About fan noise:
Every 10dB increase is DOUBLE the noise. So 50dB is actually FOUR TIMES louder than 30dB.

Forget about attaching external hoses etc, if that actually worked well people would be doing it.

From what I see, you are buying a new graphics card but may have a budget for one or two case fans as well?

You have these options:
#1 - Just buy a new graphics card.
#2 - New graphics card AND replace your case fans (one front and one top-rear probably)
#3 - New graphics card AND a case with pre-installed case fans (Antec or similar).

Which fans:
If you swap out your own fans, I'd install one front and one rear (probably 12cm), probably front-bottom, and top-rear that have these general characteristics:
- 500 to 800RPM, NON-Variable, MOLEX connector (or with adapter to MOLEX), 16dB

*Other tips:
- if your case has poor cooling it might be best to replace it with a cheap Antec case with two installed fans

- POWER SUPPLIES are often very noisy if installed incorrectly. For example, if the PSU is at top never have the INTAKE on the INSIDE of the computer. It then sucks the hot CPU air into itself and the PSU fan has to spin up a lot.

- NEVER leave top or side mounts for fans open. Most case design is pretty poor in general, but when you leave a big hole in the computer the other fans often have to work harder to maintain the same air flow rate. It depends a lot on where the hole is though so I don't bother with the FRONT usually.

The IDEAL situation is to have the same amount of INTAKE as you do OUTTAKE. The INTAKE is often overlooked. Adding a fan to the FRONT is often far better than adding another fan to the rear. Again, it has to balance.

- there are THREE main components in cooling:
1) cooling the chip quickly (Heatsink or liquid cooling)
2) moving the heat AWAY from the chip (i.e. CPU FAN)
3) moving the case heat outside of the case (i.e. case fans)

- *Often a large part of the noise is from a single component, usually the GRAPHICS CARD FAN or CPU FAN.

- OVERCLOCKING. If you overclock, you often disable the CPU's power saving features. Therefore it will run hotter and dump more heat into the case.

 

[photonboy]

Graphics card:
You'll often pay just a small premium to get a MUCH quieter graphics card that uses non-reference cooling. It might cost as little as $20 to make a big difference in noise.

I found two cards, an HD7770 and an HD7850 that are on sale. The HD7850 is far better than the HD7770 but it comes down to BUDGET. Hopefully this is still accurate:

HD7770 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993
*there were SLIGHTLY cheaper HD7770's but Sapphire usually has very reliable, quiet products.

HD7850 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102998

You can easily check out the benchmarks yourself. Note that the HD7xxx series will perform slightly better going forward but if you find a GTX5xx or HD6xxx card that benchmarks significantly better for the same price, go for it.

Again, keep in mind the very CHEAPEST card in a series is likely to not only be the LOUDEST but quite possibly the least reliable. You are usually safe with Gigabyte, Asus, MSI and Sapphire Tech.

(the HD7xxx series such as the HD7770 is the only one in your price range using the new 28nm process for the GPU. It's much quieter. If you tack on a better cooler then it's quieter still.

I'm guessing the Sapphire Tech HD7770 might be the best card for you and your budget.

 

[photonboy]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_7770_Vapor-X/27.html

*Fan noise of Sapphire Tech HD7770.
(remember noise DOUBLES every 10dB increase)