how do i determine how loud my CPU cooler is?

piydek · Post by **piydek** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:01 pm

the problem is: i need to hear my system without the fan on stock AMD heatsink (the new one, with 4 heatpipes and 80mm fan) to determine which noise comes from it.

i was planning to buy scythe mine for my x2 4600+ to get more silence, BUT i'm using the stock heatsink with q-fan and am really not able to tell which sound(s) come from my PSU(tagan easycon 580W) and which ones come from the CPU cooler.

so, i'd have to unplug the fan on the heatsink while the computer is running...but that's dangerous....so how can i test this?

also, how bad is it with these tower heatsinks that have fans blowing parallel to the motherboard that they don't blow onto capacitors and circuitry around the CPU socket? (my mobo is a8nsli premium)

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:10 pm

so, i'd have to unplug the fan on the heatsink while the computer is running...but that's dangerous....so how can i test this?

Stop the PSU fan with your finger for a couple of seconds, then you can find out which is making the most noise.

also, how bad is it with these tower heatsinks that have fans blowing parallel to the motherboard that they don't blow onto capacitors and circuitry around the CPU socket? (my mobo is a8nsli premium)

IIRC the VRMs on the A8NSLI Premium get pretty hot, so yes they do need some airflow.

piydek · Post by **piydek** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:23 pm

jaganath wrote:
so, i'd have to unplug the fan on the heatsink while the computer is running...but that's dangerous....so how can i test this?
Stop the PSU fan with your finger for a couple of seconds, then you can find out which is making the most noise.

also, how bad is it with these tower heatsinks that have fans blowing parallel to the motherboard that they don't blow onto capacitors and circuitry around the CPU socket? (my mobo is a8nsli premium)
IIRC the VRMs on the A8NSLI Premium get pretty hot, so yes they do need some airflow.

isn't applying physical force to stop the PSU fan a bad thing to do?

and...so you'd advise against going with a tower mine/ninja type cooler on this mobo?

ciz28 · Post by **ciz28** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:26 pm

You might want to check out this thread: viewtopic.php?t=4094

piydek · Post by **piydek** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:09 pm

ok, thank you, i checked out that thread and checked my cpu cooler and determined that next to the PSU sounds i can't tell if CPU's fan is even working or not - it seems SILENT compared to the PSU. (graphics card is zalman at 5V, so it's practically silent).

so, the PSU is the noisemaker in my system. it's 580W tagan, i should say again. does anyone know for a fact if seasonis s-12 600W is more silent than this PSU?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:31 am

does anyone know for a fact if seasonic s-12 600W is more silent than this PSU?

Can you please list your components; you may not need 600W. Considering the Seasonic S12 range has been the quietest fanned PSU ever since I found this site, I'd say there's a very strong chance it is quieter than the Tagan.

piydek · Post by **piydek** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:07 am

jaganath wrote:
does anyone know for a fact if seasonic s-12 600W is more silent than this PSU?
Can you please list your components; you may not need 600W. Considering the Seasonic S12 range has been the quietest fanned PSU ever since I found this site, I'd say there's a very strong chance it is quieter than the Tagan.

i'll buy a 8800gtx sometime in the future, next year perhaps, so i'll need something like that PSU for safety

other than that

a8nsli premium
x2 4600+
1 seagate barracuda 7200.9 (might add another one)
2GB patriot 2-3-2-5 ram
6800gs (for now)
1 dvd-rw
1 dvd-rom

zalman vf700cu
1 120mm exhaust fan
2 LEDs