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quiet cpu and psu fan?
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:03 am
by ToxicBug
My girlfriend has a Dell Inspiron 531 (4400+ Athlon 64 X2) and I think that its fan speed is controlled by the motherboard. When I turn it on, its loud for a second and then it becomes really quiet, I can barely hear it. I was wondering if this sort of technology is available for my computer (2400+ Athlon XP), can I get a HSF and a special PSU that will somehow interact with the motherboard, or is this only possible on newer computers? Can I build a system myself that will be as quiet?
I have the Speedfan application, it can control the speed my HSF, but its automatic fan speed doesn't work.
Re: quiet cpu and psu fan?
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:06 am
by Dark Metal
If you want help I suggest you don't start your request with a blatant lie.
Re: quiet cpu and psu fan?
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:55 am
by Kills On Site
I'm sure it exists, but I just have a Vantec HSF and it has FanMate II, which is manual control, but I always keep it on max, its very quiet that way.
I have two Thermalright XP-90s, one is unused, that were for the Athlon XP series, your motherboard has to have the 4 holes near the CPU for the backing plate, so they don't work with every motherboard. Reason I have two is I accidentally ordered two and didn't return the second, and the first is available because my Athlon XP up and died. Now the Thermalright XP-90s were just heatsinks, pure copper, you have to put your own fan on, that could give you the control you need. Put an 80 mm on there and either your mb could control the speed, or you could put a heat sensitive fan on it. Otherwise I'm not sure how many Athlon XP HSFs are still out there.
Re: quiet cpu and psu fan?
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:11 am
by ToxicBug
The HSF I have is a Thermaltake Vulcano 9. It has a heat sensor, but I didn't put it since I'm not sure about how well it works. I just control the speed manually with a knob, its reasonably quiet, but even on the lowest setting its nowhere as quiet as the Dell.
My PSU makes most of the noise, is there any way to control its fan?
Re: quiet cpu and psu fan?
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:02 am
by Kills On Site
Well sound is caused by turbulance I believe, which can be directly related to fan speed, but also where the air is going. Try dusting your fan, heatsink. That may help a little, but not much. Overall I believe prebuilt computers like Dells tend to be quieter because they are manufactured to do the minimal required, which Dell can do because they know the entire setup of the box and monitor the heat in the system model before putting it on the market. The BYO market however has to have HSFs that can pull the job by themselves. If you really wanted to get quiet then get an Antec Sonata or P180 case, they are pretty amazing. You can throw the fans on the lowest setting and its a whisper barely, the Sonata I believe is quieter, but i always run the fans at max in my P180s, in the old Sonata it was at a much lower setting, but all Sonatas and P180s use 120 mm fans, which are quieter.
Essentially, i don't think there is much you can do without changing something and spending some money. You could try and insulate the case more, use some thin foam on the door, if you have an exhaust fan and it has the smaller hole grate that cheaper cases have, you can cut that out and then put some form of more areodynamic grate over it.