Noise...

[Packin]

I have an Enermax PSU along with the P4 stock HSF and these are supposed to be fairly quiet right? Well my setup is very loud, a dull roar. Is the PSU causing this problem, or the HSF? I've narrowed it down to those two componets. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

[CoBRaXT]

Originally posted by: Packin
I have an Enermax PSU along with the P4 stock HSF and these are supposed to be fairly quiet right? Well my setup is very loud, a dull roar. Is the PSU causing this problem, or the HSF? I've narrowed it down to those two componets. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

Most likely it would be your HSF since PSU's generally tend to be fairly quiet.
Open your case and make sure the fan(s) are tightly screwed down and nothing is touching them
(such as wires that may be causing the noise)

 

[Packin]

Ok, I'll try tightening the fan down and check if there are any wires around, but I don't think that's the problem. It just sounds like the fans are really loud -- no clicking, or vibration or anything like that. If the HSF is the problem then I would be best off getting a Panaflo fan for it right? Or is something else more likely to be quieter? Thanks again.

 

[Ness]

Unfortunately, on the HSF, I would recommend just dealing with the sound, depending on your processor. They are usually loud because they do a load of work to get that CPU cool.

If you REALLY need to replace it because it's that bad, then you need to get a heatsink that rocks to make up for the less cooling power the fan will do. You'll also want to get a fan that is silent because of the constuction behind it, not because it runs at a lower RPM. Fans that run at a lower RPM are silent, but that's because they don't do nearly as much as a fan running at full speed.

 

[toant103]

Originally posted by: Packin
I have an Enermax PSU along with the P4 stock HSF and these are supposed to be fairly quiet right? Well my setup is very loud, a dull roar. Is the PSU causing this problem, or the HSF? I've narrowed it down to those two componets. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

try to slow down your hsf with your finger

 

[whovous]

I just replaced my P4's stock HSF with an all copper Zalman 7000. I cut the fan speed from 2750 to about 1380, and the temps are exactly the same. The box is so much more quiet that the first time I booted it with this setup, I was sure I had broken something.

Prior to this change, I removed the stock HSF from my GeForce 3 and replaced it with a passive Zalman 17. Tiny fans on video cards are very fast and produced their sound at especially annoying frequencies. And before that I moved everything in an Antec Sonata. My rig is not silent, but it is no longer annoying, and it idles around 35C.

 

[Packin]

So anyone think I would be OK if I just stuck a Panaflo on my P4 1.8A? The Zalman costs a bit much for me right now. Maybe another reccomendation of a fan that would be nice? Or a combo heatsink and fan that doesn't cost too much. Thanks.

EDIT: I OC only occasionally when I want to run a new game on full graphics, but I do do it.

 

[whovous]

I do not think heat is nearly as big an issue for Intel devices as it is for AMD chips. How hot does your 1.8 get when you overclock it? How hot is too hot? WIthout answers to these two questions, it is really hard to say what a slower fan might do, but my guess is that the Panaflo will both quiet things down considerably and still keep your P4 within its safe operating range.

The other thing you can do is make the current fan run more slowly by reducing the voltage it receives. Slower equals quieter. My vote would be for the Panaflo, on the idea that quality beats kludges every time. Of course, I am the guy who spent way too much on a Zalman 7000 just to silence a machine with no heat issues at all, so I guess I am not the one to suggest the cheapest way of dealing with this problem. I justify it by telling myself that the Zalman will go in my next machine as well. Sometimes I almost believe myself, too...