Best cooler/ do i need a new case?

[Hicks12]

Well im selling some old junk and should have money to spend on a new case if needed.

For the cooler it is going to be used on a..... e8400 on an asus p5n-d. I was looking at the arctic cooling but i decided i want a more silent pc. Any1 recommend a quiet cooler? but efficient, think my budget would be £20, possibly £25.

Now for the case, i have been looking for a new one but im not sure if i really need to. My case is a chieftec and i have no idea the model but heres so pics of the inside atm:
ALOT OF PHOTOS IF YOUR ON DIALUP-SORRY















Anyone know what case this is? and should i replace it? or is it big /cool enough? i have 2 fan at the front sucking air in, 1 on the side sucking out and 2 at the back sucking out too.

If i change case, recommendations ? i saw the cm 690 and that looked quite nice and cool, the p182 and antec 900 caught my eye, anyone know the cheapest place for them? Not trying to steal scans sales but perhaps i can get them to price match xD.

Thanks guys.

[NightshadowUK]

Not sure what model it is but it looks okay to me. One thing though, the side fan should definitely be blowing into the case.

Most modern cases fit 120mm fans which tend to be quieter so that's probably the only arguement I can think of for replacing it.

In terms of a £25 CPU HSF:

- Scythe Miné ~ £24.08

[Koolpc]

Nice cable management. lol

[Mithrandir]

Looks like a Chieftec BX-03BB

[Madafwo]

Nice cable management. lol

QFT...

Get something like the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro and spend the rest on some cable ties and cable tie bases, you will notice a lot of difference once the cable tidying has been done in terms of looks and possibly performance because the air flow will be improved because the cables are not blocking the entire case.

Then you dont have to get a new case either, the one you have may be old but as long as the fans aren't noisy and your PC isn't over heating then there is no need to upgrade.

[stroberaver]

Anyone know what case this is?

I'm not sure it matters. It's a Chieftec. My old Chieftec case (in use until just a couple of weeks ago) looks totally different from the outside, but appears to be identical on the inside.

I only changed mine because I wanted a much more silent case as the 80mm fans were making too much noise for my living room. But I'm not selling the Chieftec, they're great. Low tech, but friggin indestructible. I'll keep it until the ATX format is totally obsolete; it's ideal as a backup machine, home network file server, or suchlike.

So I'd say yes, the case is fine as long as you don't mind the noise created by the 80mm case fans.

[Webby]

If your looking to have a quiet computer overall I would say that replacing the case with one which has a couple (or 3) 120mm fans would make more difference than replacing the CPU cooler...

I would be looking at the P182 for a quiet case the cable management is good which helps with airflow so the fans can spin slower and consequently generate less noise. The chambered approach means that your PSU is pulling cool air to cool itself which means it will not use its fan as much either again less noise.

Quiet CPU cooler wise Scythe Ninja or Mine are both very good and quiet or a Thermalright Ultima 90 with a quiet 120mm fan (will probably cost a total of ~£27-35 depending on fan) will provide excellent cooling with a small footprint (compared to the Ninja).

[Hicks12]

yeh the p182 is £90 i believe and thats kinda stretching a bit over say £50. The side fan is the annoying part on my case, so loud and i think its a 90mm one. For cable management on my case, cable ties i can get them for free. ILl attempt to put them behind stuff but yeh xD. Are 90mm fans always noisy?

I would like it to be quiet, are there any mods available for this case to make it so i can have some 12cm fans instead of 8 or i think even 6 O.o

edit: i am thinking of replacing the 92mm case fan with either of these: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Or Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK Im slightly leaning more towards the Xigmatek one as its really quiet, any1 disagree with that?

[Webby]

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Quiet as a mouse

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Cunning plan to get more airflow with your existing fan mounts at 92mm anyway.

For 80mm mounts then these could be potentially used
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK With fan controller
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK Without fan controller

You would need to make sure that they will fit in your case though especially if the fan mounts right by the edge as they protrude past the screws.

The alternative is of course if you have the space to mount them then drill holes for 120mm or 92mm fans (screw holes are 105mm and 82mm centre to centre respectfully, 4mm hole) and cut a hole in the back of your case for the airflow.

If you fancy a quiet case a a more reasonable price then the Antec Solo is supposed to be quite good should cost about £50-60 (Linky) it has sound deadening side panels and hard drive dampers (you can even hang your drives in elastic slings ) only issue you might have is that it has 2x 92mm front fans and a single 120mm rear rather than the more conventional single 120mm fan front and back, but saying that 2 quiet low rpm 92mm fans would still be very quiet and probably will get you more airflow (and definitely over more components!). The Antec Sonata III has the same sound deadening but comes with 120mm fans front and rear but has a bundled (good quality) PSU which I guess you don't really need, but only costs £80 (Linky) but I would guess you maybe able to sell the PSU for £30+ it costs >£50 new and retail boxed (Linky).

[Hicks12]

thanks for the info there webby, i ordered my stuff just before looking here xD.

Heres what i decided to get:
Arctic cooling 7 Pro for the e8400
92mm Xigmatek fan Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
80mm cool master fan Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Just to replace the loudest 80mm fan i have in the case.

Saw a system blower and thought, why not. So i bought this one :Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK i needed something to bump the price to £20 originaly so i got that then it came to £19.97 O.o so yeh bought the other fans.
(no idea why they stock this ugly looking blower colour, the original black looks much nicer Untitled Document perhaps its just the picture that makes it look bad.)
Hopefully all goes well. Will have an attempt at cable management in a few and if that fails, sell my old warhammer xD(yes it sells pretty well) then buy a cm690 i think and then sell this chieftec for like £20 or so.

[Webby]

I have heard good things about the Xigmatek fans and that coolermaster should be fine as long as it lives up to its spec.

The blower may be a bit loud but you could always change it to run at 7v rather than 12v (providing it will start at 7v).

The CPU cooler should see you good, maybe not as quiet as some others like the Scythe NInja and Mine or the Thermlarights with quiet fans but not hurricane like either, and quite a bit cheaper.

[Hicks12]

yeh its much cheaper if you consider the mx1 paste comes with it, and i believe thats one of the top performers?. 25db isnt much though is it? i never understood what was loud and quiet, i think the cpu cooler is 30db but tbh, speaker go much louder and i tend to have music on so it should be silent.

You think the blower will do much?XD i never looked into them as i just needed something to bump the price .

[Thorsson]

Read this and you will understand dB: Noise in Computing: A Primer | silentpcreview.com

Basically <15dB is inaudible, and 10dB more is twice as loud. So 30dB is about 1.5 times as loud as 25dB, i.e. there's a noticeable difference.

Also I've seen numerous reviews where the independent reviewer has found that the real noise is considerably higher than that claimed by the manufacturer. This is born out by my own experience, e.g. my Sharkoon and Scythe are quieter than the Noctua which has a better spec.

[Hicks12]

thanks that makes it much easyier to understand the difference, from that i can assume having everything @ 25db would make it something like 30db, hardly a factor for me as i dont leave my computer running at night and so im normally near it doing something. So in practice i hope my pc is silent but efficient cooling. If not then i guess a new case shall suffice.

I moved the cables a bit and now i can see the ram O.o, theres about 5-10C cooler now too.

edit: how would i go about removing the thermal paste so i can put on my new cooler tomorrow? all my old builds i just used some tissue or cloth and thats it xD.
Also, some1 care to explain simply the push pin system as it was so pathetic in my experience, the manual said turn them clockwise or something and it seemed to mean the opposite. So basicly any1 care to say something like this: turn pins clockwise till Something shows outwards, then push in, or leave the pins in normal position and just push in. (its an arctic cooler remember)

[Hicks12]

well the fan and stuff came today, took me around 2mins to fit (easy instructions that say the right thing, unlike the ones intel/asus gave me). It does seem a bit louder then expected but doesnt really matter.