I would like to hear your opinions on choosing an 80mm fan for the SLK-800. At first, my initial choice was the Vantec's Tornado (80x80x38 84.1CFM) Fan but I've read on many webpages that this thing is VEEEEERY loud. I plan to overclock my Athlon XP 1700+ to 2600+ (I know that my processor is capable for this, TbredB .. etc) so my question is, do I need a fan as loud as the Tornado for this kind of overclocking? Or should I settle for a quiter fan that would still do the job all right? What should be the max dBA I should look for when looking at fans and what CFM should be enough for my SLK-800 to keep the CPU running cool?

P.S. Do I need to buy anything else besides the heatsing, fan, and arctic silver 3 (shim I believe they are called?)

I have a tornado, it is very loud but not unbearable. I also have a rheostat on it, which tones down the noise when I am checking email and what not. The thing puts out an insane amount of airflow, it really is incredible. If you can handle the noise or rig up a rheostat, get the tornado.

How unbearable the noise will be is a relative measure. Everybody's tolarable level will be different. If you look at Tom's heatsink review, they set the tolarable level around 40db. I had a Volcano 6cu+ and that was rated at 39db, I couldn't stand that. On the other hand someone might consider it quite. If your not sure what dba to get, get one of those variable rate fans. You can test which combination best suits you.

the thermal take smart fan 2 is variable speed (either automatically by a temp sensor or manually by a twist knob)
as heat increases, so will fan speed, so that's nice

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40DBa considered tolerable?

My god that's almost the loudness of normal conversation in a quiet room! That would drive me nuts. Any fan making that much noise would find itself in my junk box very quickly.





--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

This is the problem with relative measure. At what distance is the noise 40 dB? 6 inches? 1 foot? 1 meter? Do manufacturers all measure noise the same way?

I've used the so claimed 40 dBA, 60mm Delta and I couldn't stand it. In the other room, with the door closed, it was too loud.

Now I'm using a 39 dBA, YS Tech TMD fan and it's just at my threshold of tolerable and I'm only about 1 meter away from the computer.

Being a 70mm fan the YS Tech has a lower pitched, less annoying sound. It also seems to be about 1/3 as loud as the Delta. You definitely know it's turned on but I wouldn't say it's as loud as normal conversation.

As I say, it just tolerable. I want to move toward making my PC more of a home theater PC. It will have to be a lot quieter than it is now.


<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

I've talked extensively about quieting things down in other threads.

In essence my approach is to knock a little bit off the speed of the fans with a resistor... add 1mm self-stick vinyl linings to the case panels, pad the hard disk on vinyl tape, rubber mount fans, get rid of as many fans as you can, increase airflow through the case and sometimes I even do a mod to the fans themselves (taking the sharp points off the ones with curved blades really quiets them down).

The "industry standard" for DBa is to measure at one meter from the source. 1DBa is considered the threshold of normal hearing. 40DBa is about the level of a softely spoken conversation. "Talking over the television" chatter is at about 60DBa. An engine with no muffler hits about 100DBa...

But it isn't just a question loudness... the quality of sound matters too. Something that makes an annoying sound will appear louder than something making a neutral or pleasant sound, even though both measure the same on the instruments.

If you want to really have some fun with home theatre which --aside from gaming-- doesn't really need a lot of horsepower... consider a socket 370 board with a Via C3 chip and passive heatsink. Use a hard disk enclosure, stick a temperature controlled fan in the supply and the whole thing would be nearly silent. (I'm seriously considering this for my own use, btw.)



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

Only YOU can determine whats acceptable. Some people can live with tornado's... others (like me) cannot.

and with fans, speed = cooling = noise.
you have to achieve a balance right for you.

i have a big MCX-462 and a good solution for me is the TT smartfan2. temp controlled, its louder and better when the cpu is real hot on hot days.

<b><i>Poloticians and Nappies should be changed often... For much the same reason.</b></i>

1 meter? That's what I thought. I still wonder if some fan noise claims are accurate though. If I recall the "A" in dBA stands for A-weighting which means filters are used in the measuring equipment to approximate human hearing. I assume that if someone claims dBA in their specs then they must measure using A-weighting but must they measure at 1 meter or is this just a convention?

The sound from these little Delta fans is absurd. People usually describe them as sounding like hair dryers. That is an underestimation in my opinion. I doug up the specs and I discovered the manufacturer states 46 dBA, not 40. This explains part of the large difference between the Delta and the YS Tech TMD. The rest is definitely due to the irritation factor like you described.

Building a home theater only PC is pretty simple but building one that will also do gaming is my goal. Don't really have the room for two PCs.

I already knew about rubber mounts for disk drives and case fans but quieting these isn't yet an issue, not as long as I still have a loud CPU fan.

Anyway, I'm going to try the fan slowdown mod you suggested as a starting point. Later I'll add a more efficient heatsink. I'll play with different system speeds to find a compromise between cool and quiet enough for DVD playback and better performing during gaming.

I'm not a hard core gamer so I don't think I'll have hard time finding a balance.





<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

The "A" does mean that it's put through filters that approximate the human ear. The goal is to try to approximate how it will affect your hearing with long term exposure.

Interesting tidbit: you can suffer hearing damage from continuous sounds as quiet as 50DBa. Over time you lose hearing only to that sound and sounds very like it... hense the motorist who can't hear his own engine.

Lately I've been giving serious thought to making my keyboard the noisest part of my computer... the 1 ghz VIA C3 is very attractive, mid-sized passive heatsink, no case fans, thermal controlled power supply fan... should be right next door to silent. Stuff it into a micro-atx case with a dvd drive and good sound card and you got a nice little home theatre system... Me, I'm actually thinking about dumping my current machine in favour of it!

I get real tired of listening to fans...







--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

Hey, you gotta start somewhere. I would say nay to a Tornado, but at the same time, I would pass on a super quiet, low RPM Paspt. Here are my recommendations for cpu fans:
1) Y.S. Tech Adjustable (48.7cfm 39.5 db)
2) Sunon KD1208PTBX-6A (53cfm 40.5 db)
3) Panaflo FBA08A12H (39.6cfm 32 db)

Call me Caine.

Are you sure about this? The EPIA integrated C3 mobos all have active cooling from 800 Mhz and up. Only the mobo with the C3 600 has passive cooling.

<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 03/14/03 03:21 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Teq,

we have gotten pretty far off topic.

Pitsi,

I was considering the SLK800 but I feel at 500+ grams it's too heavy. The SK7, also from Thermalright, cools nearly as well. I think it's heavy too, something like 475 grams. The Spire Falcon Rock II/Speeze RaptorCool 1 reportedly cool similarly as the other heatsinks when using the same fans. (The included fan is the low CFM variety. Quiet at 25 dBA but limits cooling). Don't know the weight but being primarily aluminum with a copper insert it's probably much lighter. I can't find these in the USA.

I think I'm going to give the GlacialTech Igloo 2500 a try. Reportedly it's able to cool an XP2700+ using only a 25 dBA fan. It's all-copper and only weighs 280 grams. I plan to use a YS Tech TMD fan (36 cfm) and use some sort of speed control.

I'm ordering one from Newegg as I type this...

It was $15 USD shipping included.


<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

Well, I am still reading up on it... you could be right.


--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

The integrated mobos are the tiny ITX form factor. Maybe this has something to do with the cooling selections.

<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

Keep in mind that the SLK800 is above the hsf fan weight stipulated by AMD hence it is not approved.. IE.. there is a risk of this think pulling your soket right out... be gentle and for god sake don't shake your case around...

Also .. if you don't like noise use expanding foam inside your case... but make sure you have good airflow else your gonna bake your comp.

To err is human... to really screw things up you need a computer!