Help me quiet down an old PC

[yiplong]

I am turning an older PC into a HTCP, the only problem is that it is too noise. There are 3 major sources of noise in the case, the PSU, GPU and CPU. The PSU and GPU has been taken care of, the only issue now is how to silence the CPU fan.
The CPU is a Athlon 3400+. I first replaced the stock fan with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106122
but it is still too noise.
I tried downvolting the CPU and running it without the fan (with just the heatsink) and it overheats. So now my next idea is to try and replace the fan on the heatsink with a quieter case fan.
I am thinking about getting the Nexus DF1209SL-3 92mm Case Fan:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835610005

My question is, will this fan fit on the Thermaltake heatsink?

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Since it looks like it's just screwed onto the heatsink in the standard place I would guess that it would work. I've done similar things in the past.

 

[pdxgfx]

I've been a big fan of Zalman coolers for a while now. The thing you might notice is that the fan you are trying to replace the stock fan with runs a bit louder than the one you're replacing. You could get this and replace it all Zalman cooler for a little quieter.

Another thing to look into is a Fan Controller, it might be a tad overkill for an HTPC but you could adjust to taste with one.

-PDX

 

[davcon]

2200 rpm is alot do you here woosh/air noise or motor/bearing noise
Here's a real quiet one
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=38011&vpn=SFF92A&manufacture=Scythe
another
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1164&subminorcatid=92
btw they have a USA site link from the main Canadian one

 

[yiplong]

Yeah, the Thermaltake fan that I currently have is quite noisy at 2200rpm. I should have known not to trust the manufacturer's 18db figure. They always lie. It is however quite a bit quieter than the AMD stock fan that I took out.

 

[tonkatuffmofo]

Can you fit a 120mm cooler? Your rpm will drop vis a vis size. Noctua's are good for this.

Alternatively run some probe software in the background, eg, asus pc probe.
keep the fan and cooler youve got and use the program to drop your fan speeds to an acceptable level while maintaining adequate temps.

What about your case fans? Once again, if you have enough headers on your mobo you can plug them in and control them also, or manually control them with a mechanicaly resistive switch.

 

[lothdk]

You should take a look at spcr and see what they rate as good quiet fans and heatsinks that would match your setup (case and CPU).

 

[yiplong]

Can you fit a 120mm cooler? Your rpm will drop vis a vis size. Noctua's are good for this.

Alternatively run some probe software in the background, eg, asus pc probe.
keep the fan and cooler youve got and use the program to drop your fan speeds to an acceptable level while maintaining adequate temps.

What about your case fans? Once again, if you have enough headers on your mobo you can plug them in and control them also, or manually control them with a mechanicaly resistive switch.

I have tried SpeedFan but it cannot control the fan speed. I will certainly give Asus PC Probe a try. Almost anything is easier and cheaper than replacing the fan itself. I am willing to even downvolt the thing if I have to.

Currently there is no case fan. I have a 120mm 1200rpm spare case fan sitting around, but the case only takes 80mm fans. I will see if I can mod the case to fix the fan.