Help me find a good CPU cooler fan

cdbob

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Hello
A few months ago I bought a Corsair A50 CPU cooler for $15 :D. Anyways, the first time I fired the old girl up it was apparent the fan that came with the cooler had come from an aircraft carrier. I'm looking to replace this 3 pin fan with a proper 4 pin fan so my motherboard and os can control the fan speed. The fan has to be 120mm to fit and I'm for something that's quiet. The CPU it's cooling is an Intel i5 2500k @ 4.6 GHz, i'd rather downclock for a quiet computer than I would continue to racket.

Thanks
 
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I've been using the "Zalman CNPS10X Performa" for my AMD 955 Black, and it's quite good. And highly recommend in custom desktop building guides. But, then again, I'm no expert on this stuff myself.
 
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38112&vpn=F12PROPWM120MM&manufacture=Arctic Cooling
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=34071&vpn=FN-PX12-15&manufacture=Gelid Solutions Ltd.

Both are PWM fans, max 1500 rpms, and push about the same amount of air (~57 CFM).
AC is about .5 sone, and the GELID is around 12-25 dbA.

Don't know what the formula is to convert sone to dbA and vice versa.

For more feedback on both products:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186036&cm_re=pwm-_-35-186-036-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426015&cm_re=pwm-_-35-426-015-_-Product

Imo, the Arctic Cooling fan seems to be a better buy.
 
Thanks for your guy's input, I bought a GELID fan and some arctic silver cpu thermal paste.
 
Arctic Silver is good. That said, my Zalman came with some thermal paste and I initially thought it must be some cheap generic paste. But it turns out that the Zalman paste is actually as good as, if not better than the arctic silver. So with these things, it's hard to say.
 
It's generally agreed that a dot in the middle is the best way to do it.
Might feel/look insufficient at first, but once the surfaces are mated that little dot will spread out pretty good, and having just one initial area for application prevents bubbles from forming.

Anyways, searching google gave these (out of stock at amazon, though):
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Nanoxia-TF-1000-Thermal-Paste-Fluid-Metal-05gr_17902.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nanoxia-Liquid-Thermal-Compound-TF-1000/dp/B001PV0GC0
 
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