Best Silent cooler for Q9450

[armdt]

Hi,
actually I've a AC Xtreme Rev2 for my Q9450 but I need something more quiet.
I don't need low temperatures and I don't Overclock, so I just need an ultra silent CPU Cooler.
My cabinet is Fractal R2 and my motherboard is ASUS P5Q-Deluxe
Thanks

[ame]

Hi,
actually I've a AC Xtreme Rev2 for my Q9450 but I need something more quiet.
I don't need low temperatures and I don't Overclock, so I just need an ultra silent CPU Cooler.
My cabinet is Fractal R2 and my motherboard is ASUS P5Q-Deluxe
Thanks

Yup the main problem with AC Xtreme is that it sucks.

Check out this article and the score table at the bottom

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks


Anything 8.5 and up is a good choice. Some come with quiet fans (Mugen2, Noctua U12P) others you may want to add a decent fan to go with (Termalright, Coolermaster 212+...)

[SebRad]

Hi, if the Q9540 is anything like my Q9400 in cooling requirements then it’s easy to cool, even over-clocked! It seems to be a cooler chip than the E6600 I had before.
I suggest a CoolerMaster Hyper TX3. This is an unspectacular 92mm fan tower cooler, it has 3 direct touch heat-pipes and seems to be quite effective the couple builds I’ve used it in. The stock PWM (need for your Asus board to control it) fan isn’t bad at all and can be slowed down to (IICR) ~600rpm at which point it’s very quiet and still plenty cooling for idling CPU. It’s also cheap and widely available.
I’ve also used a very similar heatsink, the Xigmatech S963 to good effect, now on my old E6600. The stock fan won’t go below ~1100rpm and isn’t quiet at that speed. Swapped with an Arctic Cooling F9 PWM and now idles ~600rpm dead quietly and barely needs to speed up even under heavy CPU load!
Regards, Seb