[dandrewk]

I am closing in on making my HTPC real quiet. Only hurdle left is the noisiest component - the P4 heatsink and fan.


The one I have is the stock Intel - smallish aluminum, makes a whiney noise with the fan.


My emphisis is on quiet. What is the quitest heat sink/fan I can get for a socket PGA 478 P4 2.53?

 

[Harry Azol]

take a look here.. www.silentpcreview.com

 

[dandrewk]

Seen it Harry, thanks. I am leaning towards Zalman, but wanted to see if anyone has had direct experience with replacing heat sinks.

 

[olyar15]

I have the Zalman ALCu 7000, the new one that looks like an orb. works quite well, very quiet when fan speed turned down to minimum speed. On a 2.4B P4, I get around 40 degrees C. in a case with system temps of around 34C

 

[dandrewk]

While on the subject of Zalmans (6500B), it looks like CompUSA has an identical one:

http://www.compusa.com/buildyourown/...p=BUILDYOUROWN


Anyone know if this "Quiet Max" is indeed Zalman?

 

[HK-Steve]

Save your money on the Zalman,


I have my P4 1.5 Ghz running with the stock P4 heatsink and fan.


To make it quiet, feed the fan 7 volts instead of the 12 that the motherboard outputs.


The easiest way is to connect the fan to the yellow and red wires on the power supply output cables, yellow +, red -, for the fan Red + and Black -.


Mine is so quiet now the only thing I hear now is the DVD when it's playing. I have had no change in the temp of the CPU either.


Try it before you buy anything, you won't be disappointed.


Cheers

Steve

 

[Phoner]

On SPCR there is some debate about whether feeding 7v to your fan could lead to damaging your PSU. I can't say I really understand it.


I personally switched to the Swiftech MCX4000B and installed a Panaflo fan on it. It works great even when I feed the Panaflo 5v to make it silent.


It does require some familiarity (or time) with a screwdriver and thermal paste to install the heatsink, and maybe some soldering to undervolt your fan.

 

[PretzelB]

I don't have experience with Intel coolers but lots with AMD coolers. The best advice is to make sure you have a cooler that uses at least an 80mm fan. Anything under 80mm is too loud.


To learn about a cheap way to do the 7 volt trick (and also a 5 volt trick) go to this link http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/5-7-adapter.html . It was very easy. I just made sure to use some electrical tape to clean up any exposed wires.


The link from CompUSA looks just like a Zalman cooler. CompUSA must have bought the right to repackage with their name on it. As long as it's rated to work with your cpu it should work fine.

 

[Rop]

My P4 2.53GHz has a Thermalright AX478 with a Panaflo FBA08A12L1A fan on it. Can't hear it run (and it runs cool, CPU is at 40C any time I've looked).


-Rob-

 

[Morbius]

Another candidate is the Thermaltake Spark 7:

http://www.thermaltake.com/products/spark/spark7.htm


The Spark 7 has a thermocouple that attaches to the large copper heatsink - the fan speed is controlled by the

temperature of the heatsink.

 

[Bandit64]

I've got the Zalman on my system right now. It runs pretty well on my 2.66. I use the default Zalman fan slowed to the minimum with the fan adjustment tool they include.


I also have a regular case fan(but even though it's not Panaflo, it's silent)and one Panaflo I haven't put in the case yet. I might buy one or two more Panaflo fans, since I want to remove the Zalman, and also cool the system better.

 

[vfrjim]

I kept the Retail HSF from the intel on my P4(2.0A) and changed it's voltage from 12v to 5v and it is virtually silent with no issues of overheating, max temp that I saw it running at was 53C, no stability issues and best of all it is FREE

 

[Harry Azol]

Quote:

Originally posted by vfrjim I kept the Retail HSF from the intel on my P4(2.0A) and changed it's voltage from 12v to 5v and it is virtually silent with no issues of overheating, max temp that I saw it running at was 53C, no stability issues and best of all it is FREE

Yeah, silentpcreview mentioned that the intel cooler @ 5v was very quiet, and performed well in their pentium 4 silent cooler round up

 

[idkruler]

Nothing can beat this: http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/cnps7000cu.htm

 

[vfrjim]

Quote:

Originally posted by Harry Azol Yeah, silentpcreview mentioned that the intel cooler @ 5v was very quiet, and performed well in their pentium 4 silent cooler round up

nice article, I knew it worked well for me, it just confirms it and I get to spend the extra $$$ on more important things

 

[dchang98]

Quote:

Originally posted by vfrjim I kept the Retail HSF from the intel on my P4(2.0A) and changed it's voltage from 12v to 5v and it is virtually silent with no issues of overheating, max temp that I saw it running at was 53C, no stability issues and best of all it is FREE

Sorry, but how do you change the voltage from 12v to 5v.

I didn't see a different connector on the board for the fan.

Do I change it in the BIOS?

I am still new to all this....

Thanks.

 

[kslim]

I use Zalman cu7000. It is indeed a very impressive HSF and well serves the purpose I bought it for(quietly cooling 1GHz overclocked machine). But for non-overclocked machine, stock heatsinkfan at 7 or 5 volt should do the job right, I belive. Zalman is a quality product but does costs $$.

 

[uk.steve]

If your not going to overclock then the 5v trick is pretty good, some PSU's like the Antec 430w truepower actually have special fan connectors which run at a lower voltage specifically for fans .


The Zalman 7000 is good, but the stock intel fan/heatsink is good also if your not going to overclock and perhaps want to try and under-volt it.

http://www.frostytech.com/articles.cfm is probably one of the best sites for reading about various heatsinks/fans. Its unbelievable the amount of reviews Ive read saying how x,y and z is such an amazing cooler when they fail to mention it sounds like a Boeing 747 about to take off. At least that site lets you download an mp3 of what your pc could sound like.

http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=1359 is the review of the Zalman 7000, if you look at http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=1359&page=4 you can download an mp3 of what it sounds like and there is also a chart which compares other coolers. Dont be fooled by Thermal Integrations Noise level, if you look at the next chart its the worse performer when at that speed, when its most effective it is one of the noisiest fans.


I had read on many sites how wonderful the Thermalright SLK-800 was, but listen to the sound it makes http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=1280&page=4 !!?

 

[jkaiser]

Only issue with lowering the voltage on the Fan is going too low may cause intermittent failure of the fan to start if the voltage is too low. There are 2 basic ways of quieting a fan. Slowing it down, using a bigger fan (reducing RPMs).


I have the Zalman all Copper Flower and stock Zalman fan. I am considering changing the fan to a 120 mm instead of the 92 so it cools the northbridge and VGA heatpipe cooler as well

 

[dchang98]

Quote:

Originally posted by uk.steve If your not going to overclock then the 5v trick is pretty good, some PSU's like the Antec 430w truepower actually have special fan connectors which run at a lower voltage specifically for fans .

Oh I see... Argh, I JUST bought the Nexus NX3000 PSU, looking at it, I don't think it comes with the special 5V fan connector.... Hopefully, I am wrong, when I receive it next week. If not, I will try to look for the connector somewhere and plug it in. THANKS!!!