absolute quietest cooler for 3770K

[AustinInDallas]

Yes it should come with one. Found out that Nan's is selling the same cooler for the same price at Amazon as well, and it says in the title that a screwdriver is included.

http://www.amazon.com/Macho-BW-Suppo.../dp/B008YTUN38

Plus 11 shipping though

 

[g1981c]

i decided to record the noise of my PC using a studio microphone and share it with you folks.

here is the file:

https://www.box.com/s/haveri21sem3yokf5t90

it features the noise of 3 fans plus hard drive in my computer. i go around the computer and "listen" to the different fans using the mic. this is a cube case so the power supply and hard drive is on the right side, and the cpu is on the left side of the case. i start on the right side and at around 0.40 i move to the left side.

the first fan is the 120mm intake on enermax PSU, the second is the 80mm exhaust on enermax PSU and the third and last ( higher pitched ) fan is the intel CPU stock cooler. the hard drive chatter is most audible next to the power supply fans in this clip ... but i can turn this hard drive off when recording and just use SSD if needed.

to my surprise the CPU fan isn't much louder than the PSU fans ... i had trouble hearing the fans individually without using the mic because my head is too big to get close enough to the individual fans.

i kept the mic about 3 - 6 inches away from the fans ...

 

[g1981c]

i wanted to get a better sense for the character of the noise the CPU cooler makes, to figure out how much improvement i can get with a different fan.

it seems most of the noise from the CPU fan is "legitimate" noise caused by moving air, but also there is definitely an overtone that is due to the RPM of the fan that would hopefully go away with lower RPM fan.

never the less the fact that "legitimate" motion of air is a large component of the overall noise it means i have to go with a fan that would be doing less of the said air moving - namely a 92mm fan.

in other words i seem to need a fan that is both low rpm and small in size.

 

[AustinInDallas]

At some point moving it to a different room would be easier

 

[g1981c]

That's because

Which also means that if I said your suggestion was rational, that wouldn't have any effect on your decision either. You just get what you want to get, whether it makes sense or not

have you considered a career as a psychic ? i placed an order on this guy:

http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Silent-...ing+NH-U9B+SE2

i decided not to order any fans until i see how it works with the fans it comes with.

as always - i will keep you guys updated !

 

[g1981c]

At some point moving it to a different room would be easier

easier for whom - me, or the people in the other room ?

seriously though, i already have a computer in the other room so technically i would not need to move anything at all - i would only need to pull a firewire cable for the soundcard / audio interface.

but that's kinda like saying why do you want a car when you can just take the bus ?

one thing i did try was to run my firewire soundcard off my macbook pro, which is rather quiet - but for some reason it was very unstable - the sound would go out every 15 minutes or so. both systems were running windows 7 perhaps it was because the macbook has a different firewire chipset - but for whatever reason it didn't work.

but if your system was running on a stock intel cooler - wouldn't you want to upgrade it ?

 

[Ketchup]

You lost me when you mentioned running an open case, and in search of a quiet cooler. There are other noises that you are going to hear when you replace the cooler. You just can't hear them yet. Close your case. Your computer will run quieter and cooler. Unless that is now what you are looking for.

 

[g1981c]

You lost me when you mentioned running an open case, and in search of a quiet cooler. There are other noises that you are going to hear when you replace the cooler. You just can't hear them yet. Close your case. Your computer will run quieter and cooler. Unless that is now what you are looking for.

i probably should do that - close the case. but only if i can do so without installing case fans. but i think i could get away with that as it is a big aluminum case and less than 100W dissipated inside.

i probably should have closed the case BEFORE doing any upgrades ... but which is more fun eh ? i guess i never took the time to think about the case - my mind made the beeline for the shiny fanciness 🙂

damn you got me !

FORUM - 1
G1981C - 0

*hangs down head in shame*

*runs away with tail between the legs*

 

[Ketchup]

i probably should do that - close the case. but only if i can do so without installing case fans. but i think i could get away with that as it is a big aluminum case and less than 100W dissipated inside.

i probably should have closed the case BEFORE doing any upgrades ... but which is more fun eh ? i guess i never took the time to think about the case - my mind made the beeline for the shiny fanciness 🙂

I would recommend the slowest, biggest fan you can get for the back. I don't believe you'll hear it.

 

[AustinInDallas]

easier for whom - me, or the people in the other room ?



but if your system was running on a stock intel cooler - wouldn't you want to upgrade it ?

No reason to replace the stock cooler if you don't oc

 

[tracerbullet]

Might look at a Zalman Fan Mate or two or three, one per fan, even the CPU fan if needed. You'll be able to lower the fan RPM's to a speed just below audible. There are plenty of other methods for combatting noise but these are very simple, very effective and reasonably cheap.

Just wanted to mention these again. There's a lot of work described in this thread into getting the right fan, when all you really need to do is add one of these to each fan and it no longer matters. Turn the speed down to whatever is silent. You may find that's 700 / 800 RPM.

 

[g1981c]

No reason to replace the stock cooler if you don't oc

no comment ...

 

[g1981c]

Just wanted to mention these again. There's a lot of work described in this thread into getting the right fan, when all you really need to do is add one of these to each fan and it no longer matters. Turn the speed down to whatever is silent. You may find that's 700 / 800 RPM.

i have about a dozen of them already - they slow the fan down - but they don't do anything to lower the RPM at which the fan stalls, and they don't magically give the motherboard ability to control fan speed based on demand.

i picked those fanmates up back in the days when Noctua was just getting started and Panaflo was the way to go, but the Panaflo RPMs were quite high and they needed padding down.

but as i said many times i would rather have fan speed dynamically adjusted based on actual CPU temperature than have it fixed.

also if you throttle fans with the fanmate most fans will stall ( or will not start ) at RPMs much higher than 300 which the PWM Noctua says it will do all by itself.

so we're talking something like 600 rpm fixed, versus 300-1600 rpm dynamically adjustable based on load.

well that's the theory anyway. the proof of course is in the pudding. i have no confidence at all in what i'm doing - that's why i ordered from Amazon so i can return it in case what.

 

[Ketchup]

Do you have a motherboard in mind? That will affect the noise as well. Those Asus Sabertooth boards are pretty amazing, if they are in your budget. Very nice set of options, all available in Windows.

 

[Dice144]

My modded HAF case with the 230mm fan on top with my Radiators right underneath is dead silent. Had to ghetto red-neck mount it but it is silent. Before that had 2 120 fans on top pulling air thru.

 

[tracerbullet]

i have about a dozen of them already - they slow the fan down - but they don't do anything to lower the RPM at which the fan stalls, and they don't magically give the motherboard ability to control fan speed based on demand.

I still think you are overcomplicating things. My root suggestion is to simply set the fans at a "silent" speed and forget about them. W/ a decent cooler such as a 212 Evo, a decent 120mm fan such as a Noctua, and a fan mate to set it around 800RPM or so, you are done. You can hit full turbo speed on that 3770k and not need any more cooling than that. And it'll be silent, always.

No need for this speed adjustment nonsense, no idea why you seem so insistent on it. If you think that you'll have overheating issues with this method, at stock speeds, then I can see why you would be concerned. Thing is - you won't overheat. If you think it needs to spin at a slower speed than silent for some reason, then FYI it'll still sound the exact same - silent. If you just like overcomplicating things, have fun (and I'm not knocking you for it, I do the same thing).

 

[coffeejunkee]

I still think you are overcomplicating things. My root suggestion is to simply set the fans at a "silent" speed and forget about them. W/ a decent cooler such as a 212 Evo, a decent 120mm fan such as a Noctua, and a fan mate to set it around 800RPM or so, you are done. You can hit full turbo speed on that 3770k and not need any more cooling than that. And it'll be silent, always.

No need for this speed adjustment nonsense, no idea why you seem so insistent on it. If you think that you'll have overheating issues with this method, at stock speeds, then I can see why you would be concerned. Thing is - you won't overheat. If you think it needs to spin at a slower speed than silent for some reason, then FYI it'll still sound the exact same - silent. If you just like overcomplicating things, have fun (and I'm not knocking you for it, I do the same thing).

Not if you have an open case and want complete silence.

so regarding SpeedFan - somebody said i could use it to set fan speed to zero ... but could it be used to AUTOMATICALLY set speed to zero whenever lets say CPU temp was below 60C ?

if i could use software to automatically switch the cooler between active and passive modes that would be awesome - assuming the cooler could keep the CPU under 60C or so passively when not under heavy load.

?

Yes it can.

 

[tracerbullet]

Not if you have an open case and want complete silence.

What's your point? You'll only get "complete" silence without any fans at all, a totally different subject than what's been discussed here. If that's your suggestion, just say so.

If that's not your suggestion, what is? Do you think a fan bouncing around at various RPM's, limited to a high RPM that is below the threshold of being heard, is any different than just setting it at that same threshold and letting it run?

I dunno, worked for me. 4 Scythe Slipstream case fans, through a Bitfenix controller, set to run all of 'em at 700 RPM = dead silent. Can't hear 'em at all, even w/ the case open. Hooking them up to the motherboard wouldn't make them any more silent.

If that ain't enough, please feel free to make a suggestion w/ passive cooling.

 

[Ketchup]

What's your point? You'll only get "complete" silence without any fans at all, a totally different subject than what's been discussed here. If that's your suggestion, just say so.

If that's not your suggestion, what is? Do you think a fan bouncing around at various RPM's, limited to a high RPM that is below the threshold of being heard, is any different than just setting it at that same threshold and letting it run?

I dunno, worked for me. 4 Scythe Slipstream case fans, through a Bitfenix controller, set to run all of 'em at 700 RPM = dead silent. Can't hear 'em at all, even w/ the case open. Hooking them up to the motherboard wouldn't make them any more silent.

If that ain't enough, please feel free to make a suggestion w/ passive cooling.

It is my belief that no two people have the exact same definition of what is quiet, and what is silent. So, we all do our best to convey silence the best we can, but in the end, the result of silence is up to the builder.

 

[coffeejunkee]

What's your point? You'll only get "complete" silence without any fans at all, a totally different subject than what's been discussed here. If that's your suggestion, just say so.

If that's not your suggestion, what is? Do you think a fan bouncing around at various RPM's, limited to a high RPM that is below the threshold of being heard, is any different than just setting it at that same threshold and letting it run?

I dunno, worked for me. 4 Scythe Slipstream case fans, through a Bitfenix controller, set to run all of 'em at 700 RPM = dead silent. Can't hear 'em at all, even w/ the case open. Hooking them up to the motherboard wouldn't make them any more silent.

If that ain't enough, please feel free to make a suggestion w/ passive cooling.

Did you actually read the title of this thread? Or the thread itself for that matter? Keywords: absolute quietest, audio production, open case.

And yes, I recommended passive cpu cooling.

 

[g1981c]

Yes it can.

NOOOO ! ! ! you tell me this now ? when i'm already supposed to take delivery on 92MM noctua cooler today ? if somebody confirmed that i can use speedfan to keep the cooler in passive mode i would have gone with Macho HR02.

that said, it's Amazon, i can send it back ...

this will require a PWM fan, correct ?

one reason why i was not convinced by the passive HR02 option is that when i looked at a system they tested it in - it was about 2 inches from a case fan. so it was technically passive, but it had a 120mm fan right next to it. in my case there would be NO fans anywhere, which is different.

i guess i will have to see how quiet a 92mm noctua fan is - whether it is quiet enough ...

are there any resources you can point me to regarding using a cooler in passive mode with speedfan ?

 

[g1981c]

I dunno, worked for me. 4 Scythe Slipstream case fans, through a Bitfenix controller, set to run all of 'em at 700 RPM = dead silent. Can't hear 'em at all, even w/ the case open.

4 fans at 700 rpm and you can't hear them ? have you ever checked your hearing ? those fans would be making 10 - 15 decibels. humans are supposed to hear 0 decibels - that's where the number 0 on the decibel scale comes from - it's the threshold of hearing.

the scale doesn't end at zero - it goes to negative infinity, but nobody cares about anything below 0 because it's not audible. in practice the best Anechoic chambers achieve negative 10db or so. my microphone AKG C 414 XLS has electrical self-noise of 4 decibels so it would be able to record the sound of your fans if the whole setup was in an anechoic chamber. check out the WAV i posted - the first two fans on the recording are spinning at around 700 rpm.

saying any fan is "dead silent" unless it is not spinning is nonsense. you can say " i can't hear it " if you want, but it's not dead silent.

 

[g1981c]

It is my belief that no two people have the exact same definition of what is quiet, and what is silent. So, we all do our best to convey silence the best we can, but in the end, the result of silence is up to the builder.

yeah it is frustrating. i watched youtube "noise test" videos of noctua fans and all there was is silence - becuase those retarded monkeys used camera's built in microphone and tried to record the sound from 6 feet away. take a real mic and put it 6 inches from the fan - then turn up the gain to the max and see how silent it is. it will sound like a tornado.

i don't trust the the decibel numbers either - how do they measure levels like 12 decibels against a background noise of 20 or 30 decibels ? that's like measuring the speed of a snail while it is crawling on the roof of a corvette doing 100 mph. i want to see them showing the procedure for how they got those numbers.

i guess when i get the noctua i will have to record it from various distances and see at which distance it blends into the ambient noise. or maybe i should install speedfan and flip the fan on and off and see from what distance the difference is still audible in the recording. when i normally record the mic is about 5 feet away from computer - so it should not be audible from that distance - if it is, then maybe i will need to revisit passive Macho HR02 option - or just accept it as life - we'll see.

 

[Ketchup]

yeah it is frustrating. i watched youtube "noise test" videos of noctua fans and all there was is silence - becuase those retarded monkeys used camera's built in microphone and tried to record the sound from 6 feet away. take a real mic and put it 6 inches from the fan - then turn up the gain to the max and see how silent it is. it will sound like a tornado.

If you are looking for good recording, I think Sidewinder handles this more professionally.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/tecar.html

 

[g1981c]

If you are looking for good recording, I think Sidewinder handles this more professionally.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/tecar.html

hm, they don't have particularly quiet fans in there - but it does seem from their database that 92mm fan is likely to be significantly quieter than a 120mm fan. in fact it looks like going from 92mm to 120mm at same RPM adds about 5db, which is very significant.

of course passive will be quieter still.

which to me means i should either go with 92mm or with 120mm run passively.

unfortunately all the quality coolers are 120 or 140 mm today. the Noctua was the only 92mm non-toys-R-us quality cooler i could find at all, and the only reason it seems to exist is because the 120mm don't fit in some cases.

from that page, compare:

90mm sunon @ 2500 rpm: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/sidewindercomputers/26Sunon90mmKD1209PTB2.m3u

120mm sunon @ 2400 rpm: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/sidewindercomputers/15Sunon120x25mmKD1212PTB3.m3u

subjectivley the 120mm is twice as loud as 90mm at same RPM.