AM3 cpu cooler

[marksct]

Hi guys.

my new pc is great, and using the stock cooler on my x3 720 it is
near silent at idle.

however, under load the cpu fan is very loud, but the temps seem to be good:
30'c idle and 45 'c load

is this acceptable? seemed great to me.

however, what i would really like is a cpu cooler that delivers the same performance, but is also near silent under load, not just idle.

any recommendations?

thanks a lot

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would look at the Akasa Nero:

http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=2354

http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...=674&Itemid=27

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/763

http://www.pureoverclock.com/article699.html

It also has multiple mounting brackets from what I have read meaning it can re-used in the future if you move to a different socket.

It is not too expensive:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Akasa...-120mm-PWM-fan

[Jasp]

How much you after spending? something like this springs to mind http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Titan...66-K8-AM2-AM3) though personally i have no experiance with it.

[marksct]

thanks for those suggestions. The titan seems a little large for my case, so the
nero seems better (also cheaper) - but anything under about £35 is fine.

also, what is pwm? the nero has a pwm fan, but i dont really understand what this means...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

thanks for those suggestions. The titan seems a little large for my case, so the
nero seems better (also cheaper) - but anything under about £35 is fine.

also, what is pwm? the nero has a pwm fan, but i dont really understand what this means...

PWM means that the fan has variable speeds and does not run at one fixed speed.

[scaryjim]

To expand CAT's accurate but brief explanation:

PWM (Pulse-width Modulation) is a means to provide electronically controlled variable amounts of power (for fans, usually by modulating voltage). This is done (usually) by the motherboard monitoring the CPU temperature and slowing the fan down when the CPU is cool (and conversely speeding it up when the CPU gets hotter). Your existing stock cooler fan is almost certainly PWM controlled (PWM fans have a 4 pin connection to the motherboard, rather than 3).

If you go for a 3rd party cooler without PWM, it will be quieter at load, but may be louder at idle, as the fan will always run at full speed.

Your temps, BTW, look good to me. Anything under 50C is pretty reasonable at load.

One thought, before you splash out the extra money, is to have a look in your BIOS for fan control settings - you might be able to change the temperature at which your fan spins up to full speed, allowing you to run your PC quieter (but potentially slightly warmer). You could also try reducing the VCore (i.e. the Voltage your CPU runs at) which should reduce the amount of heat your CPU generates - although lowering the vcore can cause your system to become less stable...