Ultra Quiet CPU Fan

Passenger

My CPU fan is pretty noisey and I want a quiet CPU fan that can handle it and not make much noise when I'm recording as it can be a little annoying hearing the loud hum while I'm listening to or recording music.

I was thinking about this Zalman

Any recommendations?

optiplexgx270

Was looking at that a while back for my dell 8400 only thing putting me off was for the dell you have to do some drilling etc. But after a little research is seems to be the best choice for low noise fans.

Dundhoone

I'd have to recommend this:

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_2681.html

Also available in intel flavour. Its very quiet.

sionnach

if you really want it to be as quiet as possible go for a scythe ninja or thermalright xp120 with a quiet 120mm fan on it

Drapper

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312473

this is what you want !!!

Chad ghostal

i have the zalman you were thinking of getting,
and i'd recommend it,
you can manually adjust the speed/noise levels
and it keeps the cpu and all surrounding h/w cool

it can be silent or fairly noisey (by my standards) for high cpu load apps

it's a bit of bitch to install (not sure about all motherboards, but i had to take the mobo back plate off) but you'd get over that..

and also the manual cpu speed controller is gammy.. but that's only a small thing
overall it's a very nice/powerfull cooler

DemonOfTheFall

The Zalman 9500 doesnt seem very quiet, going by the reviews I've read. Sure, it's quiet, but nowhere near silent.

Scythe Ninja / Thermalright XP-120 with a Yate Loon 120mm fan. Yer only man...

conzy

The was arctic cooling freezer 64 pro was voted THE best cooler out of around 30 in Custom PC recently.

I have one its completely silent and has really good MX1 TIM pre-applied

Its also very cheap at around 30 euro, mine was 19 euro during the OcUk sale;)

sionnach

conzymaher wrote:

The was arctic cooling freezer 64 pro was voted THE best cooler out of around 30 in Custom PC recently.

I have one its completely silent and has really good MX1 TIM pre-applied

Its also very cheap at around 30 euro, mine was 19 euro during the OcUk sale;)

It's a cooler for overclockers, not for somebody who wants a quiet pc. It's noisy. You'd need to undervolt the fan to get it quiet and from the reviews i've read its cooling performance suffers significantly with lower fan speeds. The ninja and the xp120 are quiet coolers, the freezer isn't.

conzy

What are Arctic cooling renowned for??

Quiet coolers, look at the data sheet:

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=80&disc=

I have it, its silent, just like every other arctic cooling product.

And the zalmans dont cool to well at 5v

sionnach

They're not reknowned for quiet coolers, they're renknowned for good coolers for people who don't mind a bit of noise.

Here are some stats from silentpcreview.com about the freezer pro. When unvervolted to almost match the quietness of the Ninja with a nexus, the cpu is a whole 10°C hotter. At full 12v speed it's far noisier than the ninja.

Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro

24dBA loadtemp:50°C

Scythe Ninja, Nexus 120

23dBA loadtemp:40°C

You can't argue with that difference. An audiophile would never stick a freezer 64 pro in his pc.

The freezer is very far from silent and far from quiet.

conzy

The freezer 64 pro is silent, I have it, I specifically built my PC from quiet components and i have a NV silencer on the way for my 7800gt.

I am not lying:D and decibel is not an accurate measurement of noise, the stock amd cooler is quiet, the freezer 64 pro is silent.

The only noise it makes is moving air at the very highest setting, and i can run it at around 70% @2.8ghz

DemonOfTheFall

I think we have different standards for noise if you think the AMD stock cooler is quiet. At night time I can hear that POS downstairs.

Noones saying that you're lying, just that SPCR are basically the infallible gods of quiet PC hardware reviews. They have much stricter standards than most users have and they use professional grade gear and occasionaly anechoic chambers for their testing. For me at least, their word on a topic related to noise is final.

conzy

Passenger, the freezer 64 pro is silent and you will not hear it in a closed PC case, its 24 euro.

If you want to spend 65 euro on a thermalright XP-120 and a suitable fan because its a few decibles quieter, go ahead;)

sionnach

Conzy, no offence, but if you can call a stock heatsink and fan quiet, you are completely unqualified to talk about quiet components. dBA not an accurate measurement of noise? w t f? <conzymaher>: Fahrenheit isn't an accurate measure of temperature. Browse silentpcreview.com articles for a while if you want to learn some actual silent computing knowledge.

unkel

conzymaher wrote:

the freezer 64 pro is silent and you will not hear it in a closed PC case

You might not hear it because of your ultra load NB HSF

But I do agree with you. At €24 it is good value for money compared to the competition. Some people really annoyed by noise would happily spend more money to get their system a few decibels quieter though...

conzy

Decibel is a measurement of "sound preassure" two 25db noises will not sound as loud as each other depending on the tone of the noise.

Sone is an accurate measurement of noise:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/phon.html

And i know the stock HSF is far from silent, but it isnt loud either and it is 2.4sones

The freezer 64 pro is 0.8sones;)

Passenger

conzymaher wrote:

Passenger, the freezer 64 pro is silent and you will not hear it in a closed PC case, its 24 euro.

If you want to spend 65 euro on a thermalright XP-120 and a suitable fan because its a few decibles quieter, go ahead;)

sionnach wrote:

They're not reknowned for quiet coolers, they're renknowned for good coolers for people who don't mind a bit of noise.

Here are some stats from silentpcreview.com about the freezer pro. When unvervolted to almost match the quietness of the Ninja with a nexus, the cpu is a whole 10°C hotter. At full 12v speed it's far noisier than the ninja.

Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro

24dBA loadtemp:50°C

Scythe Ninja, Nexus 120

23dBA loadtemp:40°C

You can't argue with that difference. An audiophile would never stick a freezer 64 pro in his pc.

The freezer is very far from silent and far from quiet.

I didn't expect such a debate on CPU Cooling but cheers for the input guys. Where is the best place to check out and purchase these two CPU Fans?

Is there a major installation procedure for these two? I don'y want to be taking out the motherboard and mucking about inside the Case too much.

Cheers.

conzy

Well the freezer 64 pro is ideal, as it uses the same mounting mechanism as the stock cooler, so you wont need to take out your motherboard,

You will have to clean the old Thermal paste from the CPU with some acetone, or white spirits if you have nothing better.

The freezer 64 pro can also rotate to avoid clearence problems,

If you have an intel processer you will need to get the freezer 7 pro, which is the same a the freezer 64 pro but with Intel mounting kit.

www.overclockers.co.uk have the best price for it but you will have to pay delivery.

If you want to get the thermalright XP-120 you will have to buy a good 120mm fan that is silent, and these are expensive.

You can get the freezer 64 pro delivered for less than the price of a XP-120 and a fan;)

DemonOfTheFall

conzymaher wrote:

Decibel is a measurement of "sound preassure" two 25db noises will not sound as loud as each other depending on the tone of the noise.

Sone is an accurate measurement of noise:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/phon.html

This link doesn't do anything to prove your point at all. It just says that the sone and the Decibel are two different measures of the amount of sound/noise/sound pressure.

Just because they use different scales doesn't mean that they're both not accurate.

If the decibel Adapted scale didn't take tone into account it would be a *less* accurate measure of the noise level created by a given component because human hearing hears different tones differently. It's called the *adapted* scale because it has been weighted to provide a more accurate noise measurement than if it wasn't adapted.

TBH, I think that the figures at SPCR speak for themselves. The Freezer just can't keep up with the big boys when you're talking about proper silence.

BopNiblets

Get a Zalman if you never want to see your mobo again!

(note, I'm joking, I don't actually have or ever had a Zalman, but you have to admit, they're fecking massive)

I have an Akasa AK862, it's good, compared to the AMD stock.

art

I just bought a Zalman and yes they are ****ing huge. No idea they were that big!

conzy

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

TBH, I think that the figures at SPCR speak for themselves. The Freezer just can't keep up with the big boys when you're talking about proper silence.

Look at this review, the freezer 64 pro is almost identical to a Xp-120 in cooling performance and noise

http://www.systemcooling.com/arcticcooling_64pro-07.html

I think these figures speak for themselves. The Freezer CAN keep up with the big boys:D

The freezer also comes with probably the best TIM available, MX-1

unkel

conzymaher wrote:

The Freezer CAN keep up with the big boys

Not quite. Don't push it mate. It's good value for money but it's not right up there at all

Cooling performance is very good at standard fan voltage, but too loud. When fan is slowed to a quiet level, cooling performance is disportionately poor because fins are spaced too tightly

If you're into very quiet PCs, you should not buy it.

Kintarō Hattori

I've used and sell all types of coolers and if your stuck for a few bob the Arctic Cooing models represent great value for money. I have very fond memories of my Copper Silent 2L, but to be honest the Zalman coolers (I had a CNPS-7700 led I think it was), are excellent pieces of kit. I think the XP-120 with a good fan has to be the winner though. Just savage.

Passenger

Ok what CPU fan should I buy. I've had a few suggestions there and a few arguments but it doesn't clarify which quiet CPU fan I should buy. And Where I should buy it.

Can somebody recommend a really quiet fan that is easy to install. It seems to be between the Arctic Cooling and the XP-120 as the Zalman didn't seem to encourage praise.

DemonOfTheFall

Did you ever say what processor you had ? Can't see you mentioning it anywhere.

Passenger

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

Did you ever say what processor you had ? Can't see you mentioning it anywhere.

AMD Athlon 64

conzy

If you want Great cooling/ great price get a Freezer 64 from www.overclockers.co.uk

If you want silenter than silent:rolleyes: get a XP-120 and a silent fan from OCuk

unkel

conzymaher wrote:

If you want silenter than silent:rolleyes:

LOL just be glad you're not a slave to all things quiet like some of us

There are only two silent CPU cooling solutions for modern PCs I know of:

1. Zalman TNN range of fanless heatsink solutions
2. Zalman Reserator

Everything else makes noise. Noise, noise, go away! :mad: :eek: *gets gun*

DemonOfTheFall

conzymaher wrote:

If you want silenter than silent:rolleyes: get a XP-120 and a silent fan from OCuk

There's no need to be snarky and condescending because somebody has different standards than you.

It's a forum. It's for expressing opinions. Sometimes they differ. Deal with it.

Passenger

The Zalmans have the reputation though. Especially when it comes to silent CPU 's.

optiplexgx270

Well if you get round to it let me know how you get on as i have a dell 8400 also that runs a little loud to my ears... I read about all this "leaf blower" stuff and so i removed the heatsink while it was running for like 30-60 sec while the pc was idle doing nout and boy can the delta fan blow when it wants to up the hoover noise levels.

I'm guessing you read the thread about fitting the zalman to the 8400?

Passenger

On the ThermalRight XP-120 where is the fan? And how loud, Db, is it?

What do you think of the Akasa AK-920 EVO 120

conzy

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

There's no need to be snarky and condescending because somebody has different standards than you.

It's a forum. It's for expressing opinions. Sometimes they differ. Deal with it.

I was joking:D

All I am saying is the Freezer 64 pro is silent, and If some review site says the Xp-120 is technically 4db quieter, I dont think its worth the extra 40 euro:o

And @ Passenger, The XP-120 doesnt include a fan, you will have to find a silent 120mm fan to put on it,

Explosive_Cornflake

With the XP 120 you need to get your own fan. I'm running it with an undervolted vantec stealth. I did run it passively at stock speed (2.8 Northwood), but i had a 92mm papst extracting near enough it. Have to say i love it.

Passenger

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

With the XP 120 you need to get your own fan. I'm running it with an undervolted vantec stealth. I did run it passively at stock speed (2.8 Northwood), but i had a 92mm papst extracting near enough it. Have to say i love it.

Ok. Thanks for that but I'm considering the Akasa I mentioned. 120mm twin ball bearing amber fan for acoustic experience, 15 dB(A).. Can't beat that.

DemonOfTheFall

Those Akaska Amber fans are pretty damn quiet.

Dont believe manufacturers saying things like "15 dB(A)" though. They almost all lie.

Try to find info on whatever fan it is that you're considering on www.silentpcreview.com , or on their forums. Most of the manufacturers lie, some of them very blatantly.

conzy

Yup, like the Vantec "stealth", I got one and i had to undervolt it to make it bareable, and a fart would move air than an undervolted stealth:D

Explosive_Cornflake

I know vantecs aren't great, but i don't need much airflow, computer is happily ticking along at 60% speed on cpu, and 5v on all case fans. Riva tuner has it down to 36% on the video. It gets turned up when i'm playing games, for general use it is sufficent. Only reason i have the stealths is was ordering a PSU from overclockers and that's all they had at the time.

unkel

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

Dont believe manufacturers saying things like "15 dB(A)" though. They almost all lie.

Absolutely. 15 dB(A) is only possible when the fan is....

.... disconnected

conzy

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

I know vantecs aren't great, but i don't need much airflow, computer is happily ticking along at 60% speed on cpu, and 5v on all case fans. Riva tuner has it down to 36% on the video. It gets turned up when i'm playing games, for general use it is sufficent. Only reason i have the stealths is was ordering a PSU from overclockers and that's all they had at the time.

Yeah i ordered it from OCuk aswell, it was the only quiet fan they had that doesnt cost an arm and a leg.

Is rivatuner good?

The NV silencer is running at 100% 24/7 and i want to turn it down a bit

nadir

I got the big zalman one, and it fit perfectly inside my silverstone micro atx case, big fan, but its quiet, and I even ran it for a day with the fan plugged out by accident, didn't even complain. the shuttle temps are 32 , and the cpu 33.
Hottest thing in it is the gpu at 45.

L31mr0d

Ok, the heated debate continues.

I need a recommendation on a fan for my CPU (AMD 64 3700+), bought a fan controller for the 4 main fans in my case (2x80mm Intake fans, 1x80mm side intake fan, 1x92mm Exhaust) there is also a 120mm fan on my enemax liberty psu but its not audible at stock voltage as my case is under my desk.

When all the fans are turned down to low voltage with the fan controller, they can't be heard, except for the CPU fan. So i'd like to get a fan that will allow me to overclock the CPU but that is also more silent than the stock AMD fan and heatsink. I hear a lot of things about the Zalmans, but are they that good at handling a lot of overclocking. I want to be able to maintain temps of 45-50'c at full load

Oh and to get in on the debate, sones should be the accurate way of measuring sound for fans, as decibels don't take into account the way the ear might hear them. 2 23db fans could have 2 very different audible levels, depending on their tone and pitch.

conzy

Freezer 64 pro gets my vote as always:D

Im at 2.95ghz and max load temps are 40 degrees........

L31mr0d

Do you know if Peats do them? Don't really want to pay shipping for one fan

DemonOfTheFall

Peats generally have a decent stock of Artic Cooling kit, at good enough prices too.

conzy

Your 6800ultra might come with a decent cooler, if its the reference cooler, you will need to get a NV silencer;)