Silent CPU cooling for a i3 3240 3.4Ghz cpu

Cooling Processors quietly

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jeremyMan88
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Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:10 am

Silent CPU cooling for a i3 3240 3.4Ghz cpu

Post by jeremyMan88 » Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:15 am

I wish to select a silent CPU cooler for an intel i3 3240 3.4Ghz CPU I bought.

My case is a "Fractal Design Define R4".

I wish to leave my computer on in my bedroom when I go to sleep, so silence is an important feature for me.

I will use the computer mainly for office work and surfing the web, not gaming or anything else that is especially demanding.

CA_Steve
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Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Silent CPU cooling for a i3 3240 3.4Ghz cpu

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:58 am

Welcome to SPCR.

Is the PC doing work overnight or is it just idling?

The Scythe Mugen 4 is a great cooler. On the low end, there is the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo. Plenty of others to choose from. :)

Abula
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Location: Guatemala

Re: Silent CPU cooling for a i3 3240 3.4Ghz cpu

Post by Abula » Sat Dec 21, 2013 9:11 am

I second CA_Steve advise, Scythe Mugen 4 $50 is a great cooler, with a pretty good fan already, as long as you motherboard can control it and drop it down should be inaudible.

If you want a truly silent CPU cooler and willing to spend $$$, the NoFan95C should be able to handle the i3 easily without adding any extra noise, recommended you still keep both case fans to help fresh air enter and hot air to exit, using the included R4 controller the 5V or 7V should be good enough with the cooler.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Silent CPU cooling for a i3 3240 3.4Ghz cpu

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:30 am

CA_Steve wrote:The Scythe Mugen 4 is a great cooler. On the low end, there is the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo. Plenty of others to choose from. :)


+1 for anything coming from Scythe (great stock fans); about the 212, I own it and it works well (to be fair, I've swapped the fan), but I also bought recently a CM Hyper 412S for just 24 bucks, and IME this latter is even better (slightly): so give a check to the relevant pricing.

edh
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Re: Silent CPU cooling for a i3 3240 3.4Ghz cpu

Post by edh » Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:55 am

jeremyMan88 wrote:I wish to leave my computer on in my bedroom when I go to sleep
To echo what CA_Steve asked what is your computer going to be doing? If it's running at 100% CPU load you'll find this a far more difficult/expensive thing to get quiet. The NoFan and a few others like the Thermalright HR-22 will cool this 55W CPU passively at full load but are expensive and have their compromises in terms of space, installation and risk of doing something crazy like snapping the motherboard due to their weight.

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