Questions regarding cooling

[Allen]

Right, my new CPU is running a bit hot, but I have to admit I've disconnected the case fans coz I like it quiet. The fans I have are Coolermaster Neon LED 80mm Fan - Blue's and I have one in the front, one in the back creating a nce flow through (when on ). I want to try and get these to run a bit slower and a bit quieter (currently at 2500RPM and 25dB - which I find noisy compared to the rest of my system).

I was looking at getting a cheap Zalman Fan Mate and perhaps somehow splitting the output so it could control both fans at the same time. Is this possible to do?

Also, another consideration would be to replace the fans with quieter ones like Panaflo's (would they also be suitable for my HSF?).

Or I could get a controller for my spare 5" bay. Which one? I like the Akasa coz they have changeable fascia's, ideal as I'm gonna change case soon but don't know which one (P160 if I could afford it!). Also like the Zalman one.

Decisions, decisions. What do you guys use/suggest?

[blockers]

Why not just 5v or 7v the fans? it involves ripping the wires out of the molex, and swapping them over...

Or you could get liquid bearing fans, im sure they were £2-3 somewhere.

Guess you dont want to spend to much money?
Will

[Allen]

But the fans aren't powered by molex... and I don't really wanna mess about with the PSU cables. Where can you get liquid bearing fans for £2-3? Panaflo are about £9 each!

Yes I don't want to spend a fortune!

[Lee H]

I use the coolermaster Aero blower in my system ( 4 of these and 2 x normal 80 mm fans at the front of the case ) and these are fairly quiet but due to their design they take up a fair amount of space.

To see the aero blower fan, simply look @ the aero 7+ cpu cooler and imagine the fan on the top on its own

Lee

[Allen]

Yeah, I've seen the Aero case fans. Don't like them TBH... I'm not too fussed anymore about fancy looking, untill I have the money I'll go for practicality.

[shredisn@tdead]

I've got one of them Zalman fan controllers with the 4 knobs & 2 5V/12V switches. Yup it looks pretty but I don't like the fact that it doesn't have a mark on the knobs so you don't know how they're set - the lights go from dark to bright though which is pretty cool! Still guess I could take a permanent marker to it or try and make a notch with a Stanley knife...

Also got one of them Vantec Nexus controllers (not in the same PC ) which is cheaper and has markings on the knobs. Plus it came with leads so it can take either 3-pin fans or Molex, which I don't think the Zalman did. Lights don't dim on this one tho'
http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/...cat=427&page=2

I'd have liked that Akasa too but was too cheapskate at the time.