I'm trying to quiet down my existing system on a severe budget. I've got an Athlon XP 1600+ not overclocked, currently cooled by what other review sites claimed to be quiet Volcano 6 cooler. (I suppose any fan is quiet compared to a Delta, but seriously...who are they kidding?)

Anyway, I'm considering a couple of replacement cooling options. I'm debating between getting an Artic Cooling Super Silent Pro TC, and an SVC GC68 cooler with the fan swapped out for either the NMB C3110KL-04W-B19 or the Panaflo FBA08A12L1A.

I have an Enermax EG365P-VE dual fan Power Supply, and my case is set up so that the 92mm intake fan (sucks air from the case into the PSU) is positioned directly above the cpu cooler. For this reason, I want the CPU fan to suck air from the CPU so that it'll work in the same direction as the PSU fan. I'm pretty sure the Super Silent Pro is already set up to do this, and I could mount the fan on the GC68 to do the same.

Does anyone know if the GC68 would provide decent enough cooling with the NMB fan sucking? This is my preferred set-up, as the HSF combo would cost me less than $8 from SVC. Is there any real reason to go with the Panaflo over the NMB in this situation? Or should I just stick with the Super Silent Pro in stock set-up?

Thanks in advance,

JW

Try mounting the 92mm fan on the outside of the Enermax, so it hangs above the heatsink. Depending on the measurements of your case, it should just clear whatever heatsink you put on the CPU. And, unless you're running tons of peripherals or a high-powered video card, pull the 80mm fan out of the Enermax. That's the technique I'm currently using on a Coppermine P3 1Ghz, using a Thermalright AX-7 and with the 92mm fan running at 5V. ( I keep thinking that I'm going to put pictures up of this setup, but I keep not doing it.) If you run the 92mm at 12V, I imagine that should keep your Athlon cool enough. Just make sure you keep all those damn wires from the Enermax bundled and out of the way.

If I understand you correctly, you're suggesting that i remove the fan from the heatsink, and instead rely on the 92mm fan which will now be mounted on the outside of my PSU to provide the airflow for both the PSU and the processor? Is this enough airflow? In my specific case, there would be a gap of about 2 cm between the top of the heatsink and the edge of the PSU mounted fan. I'm afraid that might cook my chip...

I'd really love to see some pics of your set up, just to get an idea of what to do with mine.