What's the QUIETEST PIII Heatsink/Fan I can get?

[SpaceBoy]

I bought my PIII 500mhz (SECC2) from a buddy of mine and it came with one of those big 'ol Alpha Heatsinks and 2 YS Tech fans. This thing is LOUD.

I have no intentions of overclocking. 500mhz is perfectly fine with me.

So, I'm looking to buy a super quiet heatsink/fan available. Any suggestions?

Oh yea, I don't wanna spend more than $20 and remember, I need an SECC2 heatsink/fan.

[This message has been edited by SpaceBoy (edited 05-05-2001).]

[Toolbox]

Do you think you know someone who's overclocked his chip and changed his heatsink? You could get the old, original one for really cheap since he'll probably never use it again.

You could also trade the Alpha for a normal heatsink. I'm sure a lot of people here would jump at the opportunity.

[54regcab]

Do what I did and change the fan voltage from 12v to 5v
MUCH quieter although the CPU does run about 49c now vs the 39c it was with 12v
Forget overclocking with this setup though.

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[Todd a]

You can replace the two fans for quieter ones or even just one fan on the middle. The Alpha is a great heatsink, so I would keep it.
http://millisec.safeshopper.com/52/473.htm?345

This fan will run you less than $20 with the shipping an will generate about 20CFM (the fans you have generate 27CFM each), but only runs 28db. Your two YS-Tech will generate about 37db. This should run about 8 times quieter.

The voltage mod would work too, but you would need to draw from a 4 pin connector off the Power Supply if you are using a 3 pin connector off a header on the motherboard.

In theory you could run the fans in serries instead off parrallel. Just cut the black wire off the connector on the first fan and the red wire off the the second fan and tie them together. This will make the voltage run through both fans. This adds the resistances together and should cut the speed of the two fans in half. This would make the fans MUCH quieter.

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The COMPUTER is your FRIEND!
Happiness is manditory.

[This message has been edited by Todd a (edited 05-05-2001).]

[MadCat]

Do what Todd suggested. Ot of all the mods listed above, this is probably the easiest one since you only have to splice two wires together.

54regcab, I hate to tell you this but not every CPU fan will be able to start rotation at 5v, although most of them can operate at that voltage once they get going. Something to consider before you suggest this for everyone. Of all the fans in my system the CPU fan is the last one I'd want to have stall at a a cold boot.

As for the YS-Tech, well I know it can easily start up at 7v, so 6 should not be a problem.


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[This message has been edited by MadCat (edited 05-05-2001).]