CPU Coolers and Motherboard Compatibility

A few months back I built my first computer. Specs as follows:
Intel Core2Duo E6600
Asus P5N32SLI SE Deluxe
nVidia 7600GS (passively cooled)
1GB Corsair Value RAM
WD 250GB SATA (WD2500KS)
Akasa Mirage Case

The problem I'm having is that it's exceptionally loud. I have an Akasa AK 961 CPU cooler and two Akasa 120 MM Amber case fans, one in the front blowing air in to the case and one in the back blowing air out.

I'm fairly confident that most of the noise is coming from the CPU Cooler fan, if I turn this fan off (by using speedfan to turn it to 0) the noise level goes from rather loud to tolerably soft.

Typically I get temps of about 33-38 C (also from speedfan) with the CPU Cooler fan running at 50%. At 100% I get lower temps, but its just way too loud.

I was hoping to replace the cooler with one of the various zalman CNPS offerings, in particular the huge flower shaped types (ie. CNPS9500). I'm not sure if it'll fit onto my motherboard (asus p5n 32 sli se delux). Has anyone out there tried this?

Also is this the best cooler to get in terms of noise/cooling? Some of the noctua and scythe ones also look interesting, but I really don't know much of anything about cpu cooling.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Well, I've no experience of the Zalman coolers, but I have the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro which is good at cooling, relatively quiet and cheap as well.

If your case fans are noisy, you could get a vibration dampening kit..... I think Scan sell them, but if you can't find them let me know and I'll post you a link.

You can also get completely silent heatsinks such as the Scythe Ninja and Tuniq Tower. Your case is likely to be more of a problem than the motherboard though.

With the Mirage case, you could quite successfully get a Scythe offering to fit, so you should be able to get low temps & whisper quiet operation :)

Scythe Mine cools very well and is virtually silent. I also have a Mirage plus two 120mm Ambers and the rest of my system is very quiet with not a hint of vibration.
I think you have identified your problem, the cpu cooler.