Can I Swap My Stock CPU Fan With A Quieter One?

[Ornery]

Thanks to my moronic decision to build a box, instead of buying a Dell or AMD hot deal, I now have a wondrous noise box whirring right behind me. It's using an Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939 and the stock HS/fan. It looks like an 80mm fan on top, and it's plugged into a GA-K8NF-9 nForce4 mobo using the "Cool and Quiet technology" :roll:

Is it just me, or does $30.00 for a HS/fan seem ridiculous? I'm NOT overclocking, so I don't see why I can't just swap the fan, instead of the whole combo. I found a supposedly quiet one for $11.00. Not sure how the air flow compares to the stock fan, or if it will even fit right.

If that doesn't look like it will work, what will for a decent price?

 

[Budman]

last i checked stock A64 sinks used a 70mm fan not 80mm.

And no there's not reason why you just cant use an other fan but that might void your AMD warranty.

 

[Ornery]

Thanks for the heads-up on the 70mm spec. That throws a wrench in the works, though. For that price, I may as well buy the whole assembly for 1/3 more. The quiet would probably be worth it, but there's GOT to be a cheaper way!

 

[Nohr]

You may be able to macgyver on an 80mm fan with a couple large twist ties if you're really desperate..

 

[Ornery]

About to pull the trigger on this...

 

[The Pentium Guy]

^-- Pretty good, but seriously for $10 more the Zalman is worth it IMO. I got my 7700AlCu for 33 at amazon (and then on top of THAT they had a $30 rebate, so i got it for 3). I'm sure you can get a 7000AlCu (the smaller version) for cheaper than 33 at Amazon

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
^-- Pretty good, but seriously for $10 more the Zalman is worth it IMO. I got my 7700AlCu for 33 at amazon (and then on top of THAT they had a $30 rebate, so i got it for 3). I'm sure you can get a 7000AlCu (the smaller version) for cheaper than 33 at Amazon

I have the 7700AlCu on that same Gigabyte board. Fits like a charm, and cools the hot passively cooled heatsink nicely.

 

[qbackin]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
^-- Pretty good, but seriously for $10 more the Zalman is worth it IMO. I got my 7700AlCu for 33 at amazon (and then on top of THAT they had a $30 rebate, so i got it for 3). I'm sure you can get a 7000AlCu (the smaller version) for cheaper than 33 at Amazon

Ditto, I have a Zalman on my 3000+ Winnie with the fanmate turned al the way up It is hardly audible.
Cheiftec Dragon with 4 80mm fans, a Zalman, and Sli cards...Right next to me on the desk and I can hardly hear it.

 

[Ornery]

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Between the special heatsink paste, lower price, oh, and the blue LED :roll:, this one got the nod. I've already got a couple Zalman speed controls if needed, but I doubt it will be.

 

[mechBgon]

Want a really affordable suggestion? Plug your stock fan into a 7-volt adapter. If you can hold your horses until Friday~Saturday, I'll mail you one tomorrow at no charge. Your CPU temps will probably jump 5C-8C, but I wouldn't get too concerned about that if you're not OC'ing it and have normal room temps and case ventilation.

edit: ooops, I wasn't quick enough. Plus if you have Zalman fan controllers already, you already have this option.

 

[Ornery]

It's already on its way, and I've already got Zalman speed controllers, which are infinitly adjustable. I'd rather have the speed controlled by the temp of the CPU, if at all possible. I assume that's what "Cool and Quiet technology" is supposed to do.

Thanks loads for the offer, though! :thumbsup:

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: Ornery
I assume that's what "Cool and Quiet technology" is supposed to do.

I'm afraid that no it does not,cool & quiet only reduces the multiplier & drops down the voltage when your cpu is idling.

As for fan controls those are controlled by the motherboard but not all boards support that option.

 

[Ornery]

I see. That's the reason I went for the nForce chipset. I thought the "Cool & Quiet" stuff was supported by it, and know first hand how quiet the result can be, because of the Pavilions we own with that combo. The user guide for our mobo says:

• CPU Smart FAN Control
  
  Disabled: Disable this function.
  
  Enabled: Enable CPU Smart Fan control function. (Default value)
  • 
    a. When the CPU temperature is higher than 60 degrees Celsius, CPU fan
    will run at full speed.
    
    b. The speed of CPU fan will increase linearly depend on the temperature if
    the temperature is more than 50 degree and less than 59 degree.
    
    c. When the CPU temperature is lower than 50 degrees Celsius, CPU fan will
    run at the lowest speed.

Well, I'm glad it works either way. I know damn well HP doesn't put $30.00 HS/fans in their systems. Matter of fact, the one in mine looks no different than the stock unit. Anyway, I hope to hell this thing will be quiet in a couple days!

 

[furballi]

The noise could be coming from the case fan, PSU fan(s), or NF4 chipset fan. A well-designed case should be whisper quiet...a lot more quiet than a DELL 8400.

 

[Ornery]

There is no case fan, and the PS fan is a whisper quiet Zalman ZM300B-APS 300W Power Supply. The graphics card does have a noisy fan, but I added a Zalman speed control to it. Nope, it's the friggin' stock fan making all the noise, and the speed of it is already reduced by the mobo's speed control. Pathetic that HP can slap together a machine that's so much quieter, for so much less money...