Hello. After doing extensive research on my HTPC build and buying all the components I end up finding this forum. Oh well never too late. My problem has to do with the noise being produced by my new HTPC build. It's an Antec Three Hundred case with an ASRock motherboard, a Cooler Master 500, and an i3-2100. I will mostly be playing HD movies and TV, and online flash applications. There will be occasional video rendering as well.

After upgrading my previous Dell HTPC a year ago with a Cooler Master Vortex and a new case fan I was very pleased with the low noise footprint. But after putting together my new PC i'm thrown off by just how loud it is. The stock i3 cooler is very noisy at its highest RPMs, and the two case fans that come with the Antec are loud as hell at their highest settings as well.

SPCR what do you recommend I do first? What will cut down on the most noise without forcing me to spend too much more money? I've seen case fans sold relatively cheap, will a new pair of case fans cut this noise down or should I just go for a new cpu cooler fan? Lots of questions, hope someone can help.

The Antec fans should let you sent them to low with a cable they include which houses 2 or 3 resistors. You can then use the motherboards software to set the cpu fan to a low setting.

Are the fans on high all the time? Did you setup a nice intake/exhaust system using the fans in the case?

We'll need a bit more info.

Your setup uses very little power. So, very little heat is generated. Follow Lsv's advice.

If it's still noisy, take baby steps, try to find out where the noise is coming from.
- You could disconnect the top fan.
- You could replace the cpu cooler. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is pretty cheap @ $35.
- You could replace the rear 120mm tricool with the Antec Truequiet or a Scythe Slipstream