CPU/Mobo Cheap (really cheap) CPU cooler for AM3 CPU

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ThaBurger

ThaBurger

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I plan to build a new rig soon and decided to re-purpose my old PC as a living room family browsing/multimedia rig. But to put it in the living room, I would need it to be very quiet.

The stock AMD cooler (branded AVC IIRC) is quite horrible as far as noise is concerned. So I need to buy a new cooler. But considering the purpose of the PC, I really don't want to spend much money.

I searched a bit and found three cheap coolers online -

Cooler Master AMD AM3 Cooler - Rs. 261
Deepcool GAMMA ARCHER - Rs. 410
Antec A20 - Rs. 600

Judging by the reviews I found, the first two are quite good for my requirements while the third one is noisy, but I couldn't find any specific evidence anywhere online that any of them work with my CPU. The fact that my CPU is a 125 W TDP variant (as opposed to 95 W) makes me a little concerned.

I'd appreciate it if you guys could suggest a cooler to buy. Of course, I'm definitely open to buying any other coolers available (preferably online).

Budget - around 500 bucks, lower is of course better ;)

Config -
  • CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945 (125 W TDP)
  • Motherboard: ASUS M4A78-EM/1394
Requirements and details -
  • Decent cooling (same level as that of the stock cooler would be more than enough)
  • Low noise level
  • I'll never overclock

CPU info:
T0vD33Y.png


Motherboard info:
2fr6HiG.png


Thanks a ton in advance
 
vivek.krishnan said:
Just wanted to ask - have you enabled CnQ and added a bit of oil in the fan ballbearings?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, Cool'n'Quiet is enabled. I also use ASUS EPU-4 Engine in Windows, which decreases the noise drastically, but it still isn't quiet enough.

The fan was very noisy from the very beginning. Maybe it became a little louder over time, but unless oiling the bearings makes the fan significantly quieter than it was when I bought it, it won't do. Also, I'm not sure if I can reach the ball bearings without risking breaking the fan (I've tried dismantling PC fans before and they seemed to be stuck tight with strong glue).

I'll open up the case later today and see if I can reach the bearings. Do you happen to have any suggestions for a suitable lubricant? I've read that grease and vegetable oil - the only lubricants I have immediate access to right now - are terrible choices for fast-moving parts.
 
Even WD40 works just fine as a lube but that wouldn't help much because the stock fans from AMD are a bit noisy and whiny.

If you have the budget, get a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ and run it fanless, provided you have sufficient ventilation inside your enclosure to get rid of the heat build-up. Even that Antec A20 looks good on paper but I haven't seen a professional review for this heatsink yet.
 
Stock AM3 cooler is useless for quiet PCs. Don't bother with lubricant. It won't help, the fan is a little screamer even when brand-new. In any case, you don't have to take a fan apart to lube it, just remove the sticker and there is a hole below it for lubricant. Be careful or you won't be able to get the sticker back on (not such a big deal for CPU cooler fans.

You're better off buying a new cooler.

Best quiet cooler on a budget: http://www.theitdepot.com/details-Deepcool 92mm Ultra Silent CPU Cooler (ICEEDGE400XT)_C10P14262.html

Best quiet cooler for Media Center cases: http://www.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/geminii-s.html Should be available in retail even though it's not listed on websites.

Both should roughly be similar prices.

If you're feeling lucky and miserly, you could also try simply removing the fan using the 4 clips and homebrew a solution using a plastic funnel and a nice quiet fan. Genuinely quiet coolers cost more because they're more expensive to make.
 
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Fan bearings these days are mostly sealed and not intended to be oiled.

Cheap + quiet will be very difficult, especially with a 125W TDP proc. Another thing you can try is using something like Speedfan to override the default fan speeds to a lower RPM. Run some intensive apps and gradually drop rpm to a point where peak temps stay below say 57C (max allowable temps for the X4 945 Rev. C2 are 62C).
 
Gannu said:
If you have the budget, get a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ and run it fanless, provided you have sufficient ventilation inside your enclosure to get rid of the heat build-up.
Click to expand...

cranky said:
Best quiet cooler on a budget: http://www.theitdepot.com/details-Deepcool 92mm Ultra Silent CPU Cooler (ICEEDGE400XT)_C10P14262.html

Best quiet cooler for Media Center cases: http://www.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/geminii-s.html Should be available in retail even though it's not listed on websites.

Both should roughly be similar prices.
Click to expand...
All three are definitely too expensive for my budget.

cranky said:
If you're feeling lucky and miserly, you could also try simply removing the fan using the 4 clips and homebrew a solution using a plastic funnel and a nice quiet fan.
Click to expand...

That does sound interesting, but I don't think it'll work out. It'll take far too much time, and I can't even be sure it'll work.

Crazy_Eddy said:
Another thing you can try is using something like Speedfan to override the default fan speeds to a lower RPM. Run some intensive apps and gradually drop rpm to a point where peak temps stay below say 57C (max allowable temps for the X4 945 Rev. C2 are 62C).
Click to expand...
I've done this a lot. Under high load, the cooler cannot keep the temperatures lower than 60 and remain quiet at the same time. In fact, if I reduce the fan speed enough to decrease the noise to an acceptable amount, the CPU runs at 45-50 C even on idle. And this is in my NZXT Tempest EVO with all six case fans running at full speed. I plan to use a micro-ATX case for this rig (with a couple of fans of course).

I'm surprised that decent coolers cost 2k+. Just in case you guys are overestimating my requirements - I don't need an extremely silent cooler. Just something that isn't annoying.

Do the coolers I listed in the OP have absolutely no chance at all? If one of them has at least a 50% chance of working, I'll go ahead and buy it.

Alternatively, can I keep the heat sink and buy a better fan? I wasn't able to find any tiny fans online, but perhaps I can find some locally?
 
Stock fan is 60mm right? Will be very hard to find something better locally. The Coolermaster and Deepcool you mentioned look like they'll be worse than the stock cooler. Deepcool even spec that cooler as supporting only upto a max of 95W TDP CPUs.

Why not sell off the X4 and downgrade to an X2?
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
The Coolermaster and Deepcool you mentioned look like they'll be worse than the stock cooler.
Click to expand...
Sigh. Should have known.

Crazy_Eddy said:
Why not sell off the X4 and downgrade to an X2?
Click to expand...
Nah, the X4 itself is pretty lousy. I don't want to go any (s)lower. There might be situations when I have to use the rig for other (possibly demanding) stuff.

Alright, I think I'll buy one of the coolers you guys suggested. Which of the three would perform the best while staying very quiet? (It's unlikely, but I might use it in an Ivy Bridge i5 set-up later)

Thanks for all the advice so far.
 
You'll find reviews on Frostytech for all three, the 212 will offer lowest temps whereas the Deepcool I linked to will be lowest noise. The GeminIIS makes sense if you don't have the space for a tower heatsink, or want to think about a media case.

My experience with Quiet products (fans, PSUs, GPUs, coolers and cases) is that there's quiet and there's noisy and there's nothing in between, sort of like little children. If you look at that site, anything below 40dB/idle is considered quiet and everything above that is loud.

Load noise shouldn't be more than about 50dB.This is because of the way the ear responds to noise, and the heavy influence of ambient noise on what we hear and how we perceive sound. For example a cooler that does 42dB at idle will be quiet-ish during the day but quite irritating at night.

None of the coolers you listed are worth the money unless your stock fan is busted or something. If you're looking at noise reduction, definitely not the way to go.

You can't replace the 60mm fan on the AVCs because the mount is not the standard 4-hole mount available on fans locally. One reason for the pathetic performance of the sink is the fin spacing, which is very tight and thus needs very high airflow. If you're not willing to funnel a large fan flow in there, you won't be able to gainfully mod the cooler. Fuggedaboutit.
 
cranky said:
You'll find reviews on Frostytech for all three, the 212 will offer lowest temps whereas the Deepcool I linked to will be lowest noise. The GeminIIS makes sense if you don't have the space for a tower heatsink, or want to think about a media case.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I definitely like the DeepCool cooler so far. Just to be sure, it can be used in something the size of, say, an NZXT Vulcan, right? I don't plan to use any of those super-thin HTPC cases, but I probably will use a micro ATX case.
 
Tower coolers will normally fit any cabinet as long as their fan is smaller or equal to the rear exhaust fan in an ATX-spec enclosure (micro included). You should check for cabinet clearances and most of the time side fans may need to be removed to accommodate tower coolers (not always). Your chosen case has a cooler clearance of 165mm, which should be enough for any tower cooler with fan <120mm. What is not clear is whether you will be able to fit the side 200mm fan after. Also it is a fully meshed design which means sound leakage will be extremely high - so choose your cooler wisely.

Top-down coolers will fit any case within minimum height specification.
 
The Vulcan was just a random example (although it does look great). But I'll keep what you said in mind.

I guess that answers all my questions. Thanks everyone for your inputs. I appreciate your help. If there are any comments or suggestions that you'd like to add, please feel free.
 
Try downloading Phenom MSR tweaker, and using it to reduce the voltage your CPU uses at each power state. Modify the power states so that the CPU runs at a decent speed at the lowest power settings...eg. instead of 800mhz, try getting it to run at 1200mhz at a slightly lower voltage.
Also, check and see if your CPU can run at max frequency at a lower voltage than the default.

Reducing the voltage will help in keeping it cooler, and increasing the frequency at the lowest settings will help it perform decently even with all power saving options enabled.

If you set the max frequency at say 75% of what it can currently hit, and can reduce voltages a bit, then you may just get by using your current cooler.[DOUBLEPOST=1373461483][/DOUBLEPOST]http://phenommsrtweake.sourceforge.net/
http://www.overclock.net/t/551259/phenommsrtweaker-guide-custom-cool-n-quiet-for-overclocks
 
ch@ts said:
Try downloading Phenom MSR tweaker, and using it to reduce the voltage your CPU uses at each power state.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I always wanted to try undervolting just for the heck of it. I don't have the time to do it right now, but I'll try it in a couple days and report back. I honestly don't think it'll help enough to keep me from buying one of those coolers though.
 
A 125 watter does not belong in the living room. It just doesn't. All your efforts are about putting lipstick on a pig*

For all the hardwork, you could get an old C2D from trade section of TE, whole system in the price of a decent CPU cooler for X4. Underclock if possible, but not necessary. So many sale threads are being closed, seemingly without a sale. Such an excellent architecture, sadly going to waste.

* X4 is great as a server in your basement, woken up using WakeOnLan when needed. NOT anywhere around the living room.

EDIT : At the same time, selling your X4 should fetch you more than what a C2D goes for. This is a very illiquid market, so there isn't much chance of fair prices, but that should be the general tendency.
 
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amitkher said:
For all the hardwork, you could get an old C2D from trade section of TE, whole system in the price of a decent CPU cooler for X4.
Click to expand...

I'm really not that serious about this PC. My initial plan was to give up and sell it if I couldn't find a decent cooler for 1k or so. But then I figured I could easily re-use any of the suggested coolers in other rigs or maybe sell it along with the old parts when I don't need it any more. So if I can re-use or sell it, the net amount of money I end up spending shouldn't be too high.

I did have a quick look at the trade section and I couldn't find any offers for a decent C2D CPU (let alone a CPU + motherboard + RAM combo, which I believe is what you meant when you said "whole system") for anywhere close to the price of a new cooler.

Selling my existing rig and buying a C2D might work, but is too much trouble for this. Besides, a C2D wouldn't match the performance of my Phenom II (won't matter for browsing, but I might use the PC for other stuff some times)

Thanks for your inputs though. Your idea might have worked out well if I planned to use the living room rig for a long time.
 
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