Questions about suitability of two different fans for quieting case:

[Illidan]

I've got a computer setup. Athlon 64 Winchester. It's way, way too loud. I've got super-quiet Panaflo's for intake and exhaust fans. The video card's an XFX 6600 GT with a 52 decibel fan (according to specs), cooler is stock A64 fan/heatsink @ 46 decibels. The motherboard is a K8n Neo4-F with a tiny and loud chipset fan.

So. I can't run Speedfan, Rivatuner, etc because I'm running on Linux, and I need to buy from zipzoomfly because everybody else'll charge me $30 for shipping (Alaska.)

Here's what ZZF has for VGA/chipset coolers:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductList.jsp?ThirdCategoryCode=010812&SortBy=A

It's *appearing* I could get one of these for the chipset fan, for $11:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=371030

Coolermaster CPU HSF, $17 or so: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370790

One of these, for the graphics card, if they get them back in stock:

NV Silencer 6
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=316400
$30

It totals up to $57 - higher then I'd like. VGA cooler is pretty expensive but I don't see any other quiet, cheap coolers on the site.

.. and mrgh. anyone know if these coolers will, for sure, fit, if they are quiet, and this setup looks like a buy?

 

[zagood]

Go for the Zalman vf700AlCu if you don't want to wait for the AC to come back in stock. It's as good if not better than the AC and easier to install correctly. Just need to make sure you've got good airflow through the case.

Can't really help on the northbridge (chipset) heatsink, I've always had stock passive heatsinks, so I don't know how effective changing from fan to fanless will be for you. I'm sure someone else can help on that.

As far as the CPU HSF, that Coolermaster really isn't the best choice. It'll probably be just about the same (maybe just a tad quieter) than stock. Unfortunately, looks like you're on a pretty tight budget.

Since you're trying to save money, I would say for the time being instead of spending $17 on a heatsink/fan combo that really won't change much, install a better fan on the stock heatsink.

-z

 

[Jhhnn]

As you're discovering, quiet isn't cheap.

I'd highly recommend spending a few $ more on this hsf-

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=316422

They actually are quiet...

And the zalman vidcooler recommended by zagood is really a better fit if you're going to use the zalman northbridge cooler- even then, you may have to trim the vidcooler and/or the chipcooler to get a fit... the zalman also helps with some airflow across the chipcooler...

Check the 220mm dimmension of the arctic cooling vidcard cooler against your mobo and proposed chipset cooler- you'll see what I mean...

 

[Illidan]

92mm fan looks great. I know that the larger the fan, lower the RPM, quieter the end result XD

as for the VGA coolers, I don't know how to trim / modify anything for a fit. Are there guides for that?

 

[RallyMaster]

Wait for Arctic Cooling's Alpine 64 to be released soon. It should be quieter than the Freezer 64 Pro but the Alpine's aluminum only and has no heatpipes. For video card, pick up a Silencer from svc.com and a Zalman sink from there as well.

http://www.svc.com/avc-nv6-r2.html NV Silencer 6
http://www.svc.com/zanoco.html Zalman passive NB cooler

 

[Painman]

OP, you should look at Sidewinder and see what they have. They use USPS Priority for all shipping. I just checked real quick to see how much it would be to send a water block to Anchorage - their system quoted me 6 bucks.

 

[Illidan]

From what I'm reading, it seems that the Zalman is very noise (one site lists it as 40 decibels, a reviewer at a different site said it was too noisy), and the Silencer won't fit?

Chipset and CPU cooler = $30 combined, seem pretty simple.

VGA cooler = $30 alone, problems galore. ><

 

[zagood]

The Zalman is much quieter than that. Trust me and 95% of the other people on this forum who own one.

-z

 

[Illidan]

.. actually, if I look closely at the motherboard / graphics card...

the end of the graphics card sits above the northbridge fan - or very near it.

I'm leery of my chances at actually putting a chipset cooler there.

.. and wondering if I *need* one. The graphics card simply seems to be BY FAR the loudest thing in the case - i'm going to power the machine on without it and see how loud it is.