Hello

On my XPSP3 host that I use for daily work + light development, I'd like to replace the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (Brisbane 65nm Technology) and the Corsair CX400W PSU for fanless devices.

I'll check the page on the fanless PSU's, but I was wondering if someone could recommend a CPU that's about the same speed as the AMD I'm using.

Ideally, it should also use an AM2 socket so I could keep the ASUSTeK M2N68-AM Plus motherboard, but it's OK if I also have to buy a new motherboard to go with the CPU.

FWIW, the host has two HDs, a DVD burner, and a PCI soundcard.

Thank you.

I see little point in going fanless with HDDs in the box. A large tower heatsink and slow fan on the CPU should be quiet enough. Lower the voltage and possible downclock a little bit if needed, if the motherboard allows it.

If you're looking to upgrade I would look at the cheapest Sandy Bridge setup (G530, DDR3 and a suitable motherboard) but Ivy Bridge is just around the corner so perhaps it would be better to wait a little while longer.

Because of the noise, the heat, or both?

What alternative is there? SSD?

Having a fanless PSU and fanless/very quiet CPU would already help make that thing very silent.



Thanks for the tip. This can wait. I'll read up on that CPU.

Because of the noise. A slow spinning fan on the CPU will not be heard over even a single quiet HDD, unless you suspend it and encapsulate it in some way.

Going completely fanless isn't necessary. I'm not suggesting you do away with the HDDs.

Coolermaster Hyper 212, Scythe Mugen 2/3, Thermalright Archon are some of the better value coolers off the top of my head, you can find others in the SPCR recommended heatsink list.

Then you have the Thermalright HR-02 which could cool your cpu passively though it`s not really necessary for the reasons Vicotnik highlighted. Indeed, even if you had no hard drives in your machine, chances are that a few low speed fans would still be inaudible against background ambient noise.

Thanks for the advice. I can hear a hum at night, when there's no ambient noise, although it's true that the two HD's are the (relatively) noisiest elements. I don't remember the brand + model of the heatsink/fan I'm using for the CPU:


The motherboard has a four-wire connector for the CPU fan, so I can't use the Zalman Fan Mate 2 that I had in my previous PC to lower the voltage -> spin -> noise.

I guess the solution is to keep only one HD (but a NAS would have to be kept on so that it can be used by the nightly backup job), suspend it, and find a way to lower the voltage for the CPU fan.