Best quiet cpu fan replacement.

justaquestion

Hi folks,


I have a pc eight years old, going fine though the cpu heatsink fan is starting to get noisy especially when it runs faster when I am doing something such as a game.


I have taken it off and cleaned it, also taken as much dust as I can out of heatsink. Definitely the cpu fan as when I stop it, the hum goes away.


Its an asus M4A785TD-EVO motherboard with an AMD Phenom 11 X4 945 quad core cpu.


I wonder if I could get some advice on the best replacement fan to buy that will run a lot quieter. I would guess the fan has a diameter of 2 and a half inches or so, so probably pretty standard, though I would probably need a long enough power cable as power is near edge of motherboard.


Advice appreciated.
Many thanks.

forgotmyname

Bigger fans can run slower and move the same amount of air.

Fit a better cooler.

H100i will keep it nice and cool and run almost silently.

I run my fans at 600rpm, even running benchmarks it doesnt go over 45 degrees C

Neil_Jones

Its probable the bearings have gone on the fan. Any AM2/AM3 cooler will work. The stock coolers that come with processors tend to not be particularly quiet anyway.

The more impressive ones are quite big and often a PITA to install that sometimes requires taking the board out initially for a backplate, but the benefit is the fan itself is much larger.

On the other hand you should be able to get just a replacement fan, they just screw on as per the existing one, though they are usually smaller than a standard 80mm case fan, IIRC most AMD fans are 70mm.

that

make sure you get the airflow correct, not only of your fan but also inside your box.

System

QuietPC.com has a range of them. It lists the noise level in decibels and also lists the fan speed and airflow in cubic feet a minute, CFM.

Check the specs for the CFM for your existing fan and buy one from there with the same or higher airflow with the lowest dB level.

justaquestion

Thanks a lot very replies.


Well silly me!.... I didn't fit the heatsink bracket back correctly with the result today that the computer simply shut down while booting into windows.


The heatsink has come loose from the cpu, so lucky that it didn't get fried.


I have attached the heatsink bracket correctly and the cpu temperature is 36 when booting up using speedfan software to test it. I should really have put on thermal paste between cpu and speedsink but it took a chance, so far so good.


Is this usually a safety measure in windows if cpu gets too hot computer shuts down?


Thanks once again. Will take advice on a better cooler or fan.

-TangleFoot-

Tarambor wrote: »

QuietPC.com has a range of them. It lists the noise level in decibels and also lists the fan speed and airflow in cubic feet a minute, CFM.

They also sell a totally fanless cooler but according to the specs your CPU would be a little too much for it to handle - it's got a TDP of either 95W or 125W.

Incidentally, the fan on the stock cooler is allegedly 80mm to a side:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1051-page3.html
https://superuser.com/questions/100750/replacing-fan-on-stock-amd-am3-heatsink-with-a-quieter-one
https://www.quietpc.com/faq/27

https://www.quietpc.com/amx-coolers
https://www.quietpc.com/80mmfans

poppellerant

This is what I would get. Very good brand and silent. If your BIOS has such settings, set the fan profile to silent with this heatsink and never worry about temperatures again.

[Deleted User]

justaquestion wrote: »

I should really have put on thermal paste between cpu and speedsink but it took a chance, so far so good.

If you cleaned (correctly) the base when you first removed it, then you need to put fresh thermal paste back on (a really thin layer). You'll notice the difference when gaming for instance.

esuhl

justaquestion wrote: »

Is this usually a safety measure in windows if cpu gets too hot computer shuts down?

No -- it's a safety measure built-in to the CPU itself.


As far as I know, all mainstream CPUs have had a thermal cut-off feature for the past fifteen years or so.

S0litaire

My personal fave are Noctua fans and heat sinks.

The fans run silent even at high speed and are reasonably priced not fancy and their colour scheme sucks! lol

Check the AMD section of this guide. Look in the "AM(2),AM(3)" column for entries marked either 220w/125w and pick one you like (and can fit in your case!:D ) As your CPU is listed as either 95w or 125w ,so picking a min of 125w to be safe.

https://noctua.at/en/tdp-guide

I've got a https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9x65.html for my Media machine. The CPU in it is 65w and I picked a heatsink for a 95w CPU, so it should run silent unless it's under a huge load, even then the fan should be on low speed.