Need quiet cpu cooler for socket 1156

[SJMaye]

I am running an i7-860 with stock heat sink fan.  It is sort of loud.  You can easily hear it whirring as it goes up and down in speed.  I am looking for a quiet solution. 

I have read of slowing down the stock fan and purchasing new a heatsink and fan.  Can someone here offer some guidance?

[skirge01]

[quote=SJMaye]

I am running an i7-860 with stock heat sink fan.  It is sort of loud.  You can easily hear it whirring as it goes up and down in speed.  I am looking for a quiet solution. 

I have read of slowing down the stock fan and purchasing new a heatsink and fan.  Can someone here offer some guidance?

[/quote]

The quietest setups tend to be the tower heatsinks, like the Thermalright Ultra-120.  But, I don’t know what kind of case you’re putting this in, so it may not fit.

[Aaron Ledger]

You can control the fan using either motherboard BIOS settings (if your BIOS supports it) or a program like SpeedFan. The problem with this approach in your situation though is that if the fan is speeding up under load, it is necessary to cool the CPU down so preventing that from occurring with altered fan settings will potentially damage the CPU.

That means you really need to get a better cooler. I generally like tower style heat sinks with big fans since they can spin slowly and still keep the CPU cool. Depending on your case, there may be some size restrictions. Also, if going with a tower cooler, there is usually a backplate to sit against the motherboard to prevent flex and help support the large cooler. This means you either have to have a cutout access to the back of the motherboard or will need to remove it for installation.

There are other options too. You need to understand what your case can support and whether you want one with backplate or push-pin.

[SJMaye]

This is my case http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s21t.htm

There is plenty of room with the exception of the DVD drive almost directly above the cooler.

As for alternatives I would like to use the pins to avoid pulling out the motherboard to install backing plate.  Is it possible the OEM fan is just cheap and noisier than most?

[Aaron Ledger]

Check your dimensions and take a look at something Scythe Big Shuriken or Shuriken.

Yes, OEM HSF is small and thus noisier than many higher performance offerings. Due to heatsink construction, the fan must spin faster to reach an appropriate cooling level which causes more noise.

[SJMaye]

That one looks good.  I saw the review of a look alike posted in June here on MR.  I believe that will work for me.

 

I will check dims, but I feel certain it will work.

[SJMaye]

[quote=Aaron Ledger]

Check your dimensions and take a look at something Scythe Big Shuriken or Shuriken.

[/quote]

Appears the Scythe Big Shuriken will work.  I purchased one online.  Will report back with results an pics.

[SJMaye]

Back.  I received and now installed the new cpu cooler.  Happy to say it is dead silent.

Original Intel

[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/smaye/DSCN0375.jpg[/IMG]

 

New Scythe Big Shuriken

[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/smaye/DSCN0382.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/smaye/DSCN0383.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/smaye/DSCN0385.jpg[/IMG]

The only issues with the install are the plastic pins are difficult to reach under the radiator and fan. Also, the radiator fins extend over top of one of my ram sticks.  If I want to change or add ram I will need to remove this.

It is quiet though.  Very happy.  Thanks for the recommendation.

[Aaron Ledger]

It looks great. I am glad it worked out for you. It appears that you might still be able to remove and install memory w/o removing the cooler. You can put the stick in at an angle up to a point.

[Author]

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