How loud in your CPU Cooling Fan?

[SpAwN]

I'm looking for a quiet CPU Cooling fan. I'm running an AMD Athlon XP Barton 2500 with an Antec Reference CPU Cooler.

I can't stand the noise anymore! It sounds like I'm constantly running a vacume.

Any recommendations for a quite fan so my Mame cab doesn't sound like an oversized vacume cleaner?

Thanks.

[bionicbadger]

If you aren't overclocking, then look at a Zalman cooler.  Just check and make sure it will fit on your motherboard, some of em are pretty big.  But they are quiet.

Are you sure that the processor fan is the noise that is annoying you?  not a video card fan, or a case or power supply fan?

[SpAwN]

Are you sure that the processor fan is the noise that is annoying you?  not a video card fan, or a case or power supply fan?

Yea its the processor fan. I disconnected it and enjoyed the peace and quite until my mobo shutdown when my cpu was over 60C

[Cisco Kid]

Taisol K7 Heat Pipe Cooler --> 30db ... very quite

... unless you want to watercool which is fairly easy to do ... then your HD will be the noisiest thing inside your cabinet  

[TalkingOctopus]

HD will be the noisiest thing inside your cabinet  

Unless  you have one of the Sea Gate Berracuda's...those things are silent.  I have 2 60 gig SH cuda IV's.

[toilet]

Last week I finally replaced my stock CPU HS/F with a Vantec AeroFlow HS/F. My old one was so loud it was ridiculous. On hot days it would create a harmonic tone that I could hear out on the street, and I live in Boston. Anyhow, the Vantec's fan is Tip Magnetic, basically magnetically driven as opposed to a motor. It runs at 5600 RPM's and is quieter than my other one was off. Here's the newegg link if you're interested (page 2, couple down).

[Cisco Kid]

HD will be the noisiest thing inside your cabinet  

Unless  you have one of the Sea Gate Berracuda's...those things are silent.  I have 2 60 gig SH cuda IV's.

yup those are quite ... have 2x 30Gs myself ... really nice in a RAID 0 setup

my Fujitsu 18G 15,000rpm Ultra160 and 75G 10,000rpm Ultra160 on the other hand sound like a jet taking off upon startup ... but silent after they've spun up to speed.  

[Tiger-Heli]

I'm looking for a quiet CPU Cooling fan. I'm running an AMD Athlon XP Barton 2500 with an Antec Reference CPU Cooler.

I can't stand the noise anymore! It sounds like I'm constantly running a vacume.

Any recommendations for a quite fan so my Mame cab doesn't sound like an oversized vacume cleaner?

Thanks.

I haven't tried it personally, but this SPEEZE 5F263B1M3 from www.newegg.com
 http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=62&manufactory=1856&DEPA=1 sounds good to me.

I have found often it isn't the actual noise level as the pitch (i.e. a quieter fan at 6800 RPM may be more annoying than a louder one at 3400).  In any case, a 2500 RPM 80mm fan should be fairly quiet.

[Apollo]

Water cooling, do it, do it.

[SirPoonga]

water cooling with a peltier, do it do it!

[TalkingOctopus]

Another alternative is to connect a rheostat:
http://www.radioshack.com/searchplus.asp?type=ALL&find=rheostat&pagetype=toggle (a variable resistor found at radioshack)

This allows you to control fan speed.

Connect the rheostat to the wire that leads to the fan and then lower the rpm's acceptable level.

I did this on my main rig, (not arcade), and turned a screaming 60 mm delta fan into a purring kitten.  The cpu temperature only went up 3 C too.

[Cisco Kid]

now that would be funny to see phasechange cooling inside a MAME cabinet ... lmao ... just make sure you use R505 refrigerant  

[AlanS17]

Sounds like I'm in a server room... Oh wait... I'm in a server room... nevermind...

OH! My arcade machine... negligible noise...

(But then again, I'm used to sitting in a server room...)

[pointdablame]

haha the would be funny.  That would be one "cool" cabinet. I'm sorry for the pun, I couldn't help it.

I have a YS tech 72mm fan connected to a vantec fan controller. Keeps it nice and quiet, and my slk-7 keeps the chip pretty cool to begin with.

Watercooling is definitely worth it, but I can never bring myself to put liquid in my computer.

[Apollo]

Yeah it's a weird concept to come to grips with.

Liquid+computer=nooooooooooooo!

[cryptAWD]

Go with a Zalman 7000A, no doubt about it. This model finally fits Athlon processors (that A is important) and comes with a fan speed control so you can adjust the fan speed to match your noise/temperature requirements. This combo keeps my P4-2.4GHz cool while running 100% processor usage for hours on end, with the controller in the slowest setting! Best of all, you literally have to be on top of it to hear it. It is at least 10x quieter than the Vantec Aeroflow someone else mentioned. Trust me, I have them both. $40 isn't cheap, but when I first powered up my truly silent Home Theater PC, it was oh so worth it  

[Tailgunner]

I had a power supply failure awhile back, I splurged on the replacement and bought a Antec Truepower 430 watt PS. The Trupower PS monitors board/cpu temp, and adjusts fan(s) RPM accordingly. Made a huge difference, as long as I'm not stressing the system I don't hear the cooling fans at all.


Then again, you could put bigger speakers in your cab.

[emdkay]

Ahh peace and quiet.. I love this case.



Here's a great article on the antec sonata http://www.arstechnica.com/archive/news/1059543737.html