Quieter P4 cooling recommendations

[Jumpem]

I got a Dragon478 from newegg. My 1.8A @ 2.4 temps were 55C with the intel cooler and came down to about 46C with the Dragon478. However, the 6500rpm fan is TOO LOUD. I am thinking of wasting a ton of money on an Alpha 8942 with a 80mm to 120mm fan adapter. Then get a 120m fan that's around 30-32 decibels. Does this sound like a good plan, or do you guys recommend something else? I want decent cooling without the droning while I'm trying to get some work done. Thanks!

 

[Acts837]

I have the 1.6A with stock Intel HS running a Zalman Fan Mate. The Zalman takes the whine out (drops fan from 3200 rpm to 2000 rpm) but I can still hear the thing! Here are some solutions I am toying with:

1) Take my fan out of the stock plastic brackets, epoxy a 80mm to 60mm adapter and mount a Vantec Stealth 80mm fan (20 dBa @ 27 CFM). $25

2) I hate to even say this- Buy the Thermaltake "new" Dragon like yours that comes with the speed controller. $22

3) Getting the Alpha 8942 (like you state) and mounting a Vantec on it.

Anybody else have suggestions?

 

[Jumpem]

Acts 837, my Dragon478 has the speed controller. On low it barely keeps pace with the intel cooler, and on high and medium it's just irritating. My main problem is that I have to write research papers and programs using this machine so I need something that'll allow me to do that easily. I'm thinking of just the alpha with a ~30cfm fan.

 

[GCS]

Here is my solution which ends up being VERY QUIET and yet VERY EFFICIENT!

1. Alpha 8942 with AS3 currently available at several places
2. 120mm to 80mm Adapter - Only PLYCON AFAIK
3. Panaflo L1A 120mm Fan with a fan grill!


Bolt that fan on good because it will vibrate the snot out of your Alpha if you don't.

I am running a P4 1.6A@2.4+ and under full load she runs about 47 degrees C. She is really quiet especially when the case cover is on. I have actually removed all other fans from my Lian PC71 leaving just the Enermax Whisper Power supply fans and the 120mm mounted to Alpha going and I am very happy with the results.

Hope this helps. Its not a super cheap solution but it keeps things COOL and QUIET!!

Greg

 

[Jumpem]

That was what i was thinking GCS. I'm not sure on the panaflo fan though since it doesn't have rpm monitoring. How hard is it to remove the original plastic heatsink bracket on the motherboard? Is the alpha easy to install or ?

 

[KenAF]

The rpm monitoring causes additional noise in many cases, anyway.

All you need is the PAL8492 with the 21dB Panaflo L1A 80mm fan. That's what I use and my temps are 30 degrees idle at 2130MHz. It produces about 50% less noise than the stock Intel heatsink.

 

[Acts837]

Have an idea brewing-
1) I am going to take the Intel Stock Fan out of the bracket and cut it out.
2) I am going to epoxy (or JB Weld) a 80mm to 60mm adapter to that.
3) I am going to sand it smooth and take off all the buggers.
4) I have a new Panaflo L1A that I will mount on top.
5) Mount the new set-up in the original stock bracket and see how quiet/cool my rig gets.

What did you decide Jumpem?

 

[Jumpem]

Acts837, since I'll have this setup for at least a couple years, I'm going with the Alpha 8942 with a 120mm Panaflo L1A.