Need a quiet CPU cooler please

[raildogg]

Hey everyone, I've been using an AMD Athlon II X4 635 for the past 2 1/2 years and it has been great in every way except the noise of the heatsink. I recently installed a graphics card and I seem to notice the sound coming from my computer more. I'm not sure if its me or the sound has gone up a bit.

The stock cooler has always been a bit noisier than I'd prefer but I never felt like changing it until now.That is the only thing I don't like about it. Other than that, it is very good. The idle temperatures are between 16C-21C.

The one thing I would really prefer is to have a new cooler that does not require the removal of the motherboard to install. My case is a Cooler Master Elite 335 and I've broken some of the plastic hinges that hold the drives. I would rather just leave it the way it is.

I would appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[lehtv]

Hyper TX3 has simple push-pin installation but the stock fan is a bit noisy. Change it to one of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835226038 (constant rpm)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186034 (variable)

Are you sure it's not the recently installed graphics card that's making the noise..?

 

[raildogg]

Hyper TX3 has simple push-pin installation but the stock fan is a bit noisy. Change it to one of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835226038 (constant rpm)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186034 (variable)

Are you sure it's not the recently installed graphics card that's making the noise..?

I'll check out that link shortly. Appreciate that.

Yes, the noise has been coming from the case since I built it but now there is slightly more noise, or maybe its just me. One of the PCI tabs is empty because I punched the wrong ones out for the GPU. So maybe putting some tape over it will help a bit. Maybe this is the reason why I'm noticing slightly more noise.

I can hear the current. CPU heatsink over the entire room when it's quiet.

Will this cooler be similar in terms of cooling performance?

Thanks for that.

 

[lehtv]

Yes, a Hyper TX3 with a reduced speed fan will be as good or better than the stock cooler.

You can get any 92mm fan with a 3-pin connector and downvolt it using this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812311006. But RPM below 1000 may not be cool enough at load.

 

[raildogg]

lehtv, I am leaning towards the Arctic Cooling 9 fan along with the CM Hyper TX3. Not sure if the variable fan will be better for a balanced cooling/noise ratio.

Also, should I order Arctic Silver 5 or use the included thermal paste? It seems like many people order the AS 5 but I'm not sure if that would be much better than the included thermal paste. I would really like a quieter CPU cooler so I might order one of these soon.

Thank you.

 

[lehtv]

The included paste will be fine.

FWIW, AS5 is overrated, several other pastes are just as good or better e.g. Noctua NT-H1, Prolimatech PK-1, Thermalright Chill Factor 3.