I have a coolermaster 212 heatsink. The fan is too loud. I want to attach a Noiseblocker M12-PS to it. Two questions:

1) Is this sufficient to cool an Intel 2500K or will performance suffer?

2) If sufficient, how do I mount the fan to the heatsink? I don't have any brackets.

Thanks.

1) Should be fine for cooling unless you like to overvolt your CPU a lot.
2) Why not use the fan clips that come with the cooler?

Thanks.

I didn't realize I could remove the clips from my existing fan. I thought they were permanent.

I'm still not 100% on using this fan. I've been doing research, but it's hard to figure out what the best cooling solution is.

That's actually where I learned about the Noiseblocker fans. I'm just not sure that a heatsink/fan combo like Venomous X or something like that might not be a better option.

Well, you already have the cooler in hand. I'd opt for a quiet fan to add to it rather than spending big $'s on a replacement. I guess I'm too cheap to spend $24-30 on a fan like the Noiseblocker. You might be able to find a Gentle Typhoon 120 - 12 or -13 still around for less. Focus on what give the lowest delta C in the 12-14dB range. Chances are other components (like a discrete GPU) will swamp out this noise. Heck, a Slipstream fixed at 600-800 rpm would probably work, or the PWM version if your mobo will let you dial it way down.