Quiet AM2 Heatsink/Fan

[FredGarvin]

I got a HTPC using a 45w AMD CPU. I'm just using the stock AMD heatsink. I was wondering if someone could recommend a better, more quiet one? I'd prefer someone on the smaller side. Thanks for any help.

[quest_for_silence]

You might go for the Scythe Big Shuriken: it's small and light and almost cheap.

However, it isn't the heatsink to has to be quiet, but it's how you manage it (with BIOS, or software, or a rheobus) to give you the silence (the Big Shuriken can cool your CPU at about 400rpm being virtually silent).

[FredGarvin]

Thanks Luca. I went through the BIOS. The cool and quiet mode was set to active, but I think the fan is just loud. I take a look at the Scythe. Thanks again.

[Fire-Flare]

I second the Big Shuriken, or a Scythe Ratesu if it will fit.

[quest_for_silence]

Thanks Luca. I went through the BIOS. The cool and quiet mode was set to active

I wasn't referring to the AMD C&Q feature: you have just to check if the BIOS has some settings to control the fans (speed and temperature, as the ASUS Q-Fan or the inferior Gigabyte Smart Fan), probably in the "Health Status" or "System Status" section, and - if in case - if you may properly set them (as already said, no heatsink/fan can be enough quiet when running at full speed, but - maybe - the Scythe Orochi, which weights around three pounds).

[Darth Santa Fe]

Since your CPU's power rating is only 45W, I think you can go with one of the inexpensive coolers from Arctic Cooling, like this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835186035 It's PWM controlled down to 500RPM, loses a lot of turbulence noise from the lack of a box frame, and only costs half as much as the Big Shuriken (which is intended more for 65-95W processors). It only cools as well as a stock heatsink, but its purpose is to be quiet.

[quest_for_silence]

Since your CPU's power rating is only 45W, I think you can go with one of the inexpensive coolers from Arctic Cooling, like this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835186035

Do you currently operate one of these?

[Darth Santa Fe]

No, I don't use one. I run an overclocked 95W quad-core, which is effectively cooled by a Zalman 9500 heatsink. But I recommended that Artic Cooling heatsink because I remember seeing SPCR often use the Intel version (Alpine 7) in earlier reviews, and because it's half the price of the Scythe. I believe SPCR used the similar model because it was quiet and cooled pretty much the same as a stock heatsink. Why pay double for a heatsink when you have a low power processor, and when the cheaper one is just as quiet?

I was just looking at the SPCR review for the Alpine 7 Pro, and their comment for lower fan speeds was "the noise was just barely distinguishable from the background noise." Their tests showed that it wasn't great for a high-power processor, but it should be perfectly good for a low-power one.

[quest_for_silence]

Why pay double for a heatsink when you have a low power processor, and when the cheaper one is just as quiet?

Because it's a mediocre cooler could be a sufficient reason? Moreover, I mean a key point for their different price is that the Scythe is also far less high than the AC.

At those inaudible levels the AC Pro showed a temperature rise of about 42°C: if that were the same rise with a 45W AMD (I don't think so, my 45W AMDs are cooler than my 65W Intels), due to a max temp of about 70-72°C, and giving a 22-23°C ambient (as for SPCR tests), the CPU should run at 64-65°C, 5-8°C from automatic shutdown.

If the OP never face an hot summer, maybe it might be still acceptable (but here my 45W AMDs change their idle temperature from about 30-31°C up to 42-46°C, when cooled at those inaudible levels in those days), but I think that if in case there may be enough to reasonably prefer a more capable cooler (anyway, if budget is a concern - but not the height -, another viable option is the normal Shuriken, as it is somewhat equally capable and should start from $17.5 USD, according to Froogle).