Replacing stock case fans in Lian Li PC-65

[Twitch22]

Hello all.

I have a 4 year old Lian Li PC-65. It's one of the "older" models, brushed aluminun w/clear side panel, no "blow hole" fan, (2) 80mm fans up front sucking in air with (1) 80mm fan in the back. My current temps with my rig are around 30-38 degrees on my E6600 with stock-Intel cooler and 38-46 degrees on my m/b's passive northbridge.

I want to replace all three case fans with fans that are quieter, perhaps more efficient. The current fans are made by "Adda"...whoever they are! 😕 They look to be held in place with plastic pins. Okay, now here come my questions:

1.) Do I simply "cut" these plastic pins to remove my current fans? Or do I need to remove them properly in order to use them to mount my new ones?

2.) I know 80mm fans have to spin fairly quickly to move enough air, but what manufacturers offer 80's that are fairly quiet? What should I be looking for?

I'm thinking of replacing the stock Intel-cooler as well with a Zalman 7700 or even FS-C77 unit. Guess I'm really looking to get as quiet as I can on air cooling...

Thanks for any tips or suggestions!

Twitch

 

[pkme2]

I've changed my fans on all my LLs to Yate Loons. From the 80mm to 120mm. I've also added 120mm to side intakes and top exhausts.

I cut my 120mm with a hole saw now. Before I used a template (off the Internet) and a RotoZip. I got those metal mesh filter screens and installed them on my rigs.

You know that when I turned off the front intake fans, my HDDs heated up by 10F. So common sense told me that fans situated like over the chipset and video card could help internal temps, so the side intake resulted. Since hot air rises, the next step was a 120mm top exhaust.
My results were very good IMO, but you can always do what you want.

 

[Twitch22]

Originally posted by: pkme2
I've changed my fans on all my LLs to Yate Loons. From the 80mm to 120mm. I've also added 120mm to side intakes and top exhausts.

I cut my 120mm with a hole saw now. Before I used a template (off the Internet) and a RotoZip. I got those metal mesh filter screens and installed them on my rigs.

You know that when I turned off the front intake fans, my HDDs heated up by 10F. So common sense told me that fans situated like over the chipset and video card could help internal temps, so the side intake resulted. Since hot air rises, the next step was a 120mm top exhaust.
My results were very good IMO, but you can always do what you want.

Nnnnooooo!!! I'm too much of a wuss to cut into my case! 😉

I don't think my current temps are bad at all; I'm not OC'ing anything. Mainly concerned with getting quieter fans than the ones I have. Also, one of the front fans is going bad...there is a faint clicking coming from it every so often.

I will do a search on the Yate Loon fans, though! Thanks...

Twitch

 

[bigpow]

>I have a 4 year old Lian Li PC-65.

4yo PC-6087B here 🙂

>1.) Do I simply "cut" these plastic pins to remove my current fans? Or do I need to remove them properly in order to use them to mount my new ones?

You don't have to cut those pins. Just insert a straightened paperclip to push the pins out and you'll be able to remove the plastic retainer.


>2.) I know 80mm fans have to spin fairly quickly to move enough air, but what manufacturers offer 80's that are fairly quiet? What should I be looking for?

I replaced all 4 ADDA fans with 4 Panaflo L1A fans - a lot quieter!

>I'm thinking of replacing the stock Intel-cooler as well with a Zalman 7700 or even FS-C77 unit. Guess I'm really looking to get as quiet as I can on air cooling...

Don't get Zalman if you want silent, get a Scythe Ninja Plus (it's very tight, but it'll fit in your case). I heard Freezer64 is also pretty good (and quiet).

You also need to replace your GPU HSF with something like Zalman Vf900
and replace the chipset cooler with passive cooler like Zalman Nb47

G'Luck!

Ooh, I've all those and I run them at 5V (at 12V, they're a tad too loud for me - but make no mistake, even at 12V they're a lot quieter than stock)

 

[tcG]

Just for the info-

My PC65B + Opteron 165 in case = 56C

Motherboard tray on desk without case (much quieter too) = 43C

Any 80mm's with decent airflow sound like airplanes... 120mm all the way. (open platform is the best... but thats beside the point 😛)