OT: CPU Fan noise reduction

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 09:32:57PM -0600, Marc Lanctot wrote:
> I often have the problem that my machine (HP Pavilion a1620n, P4 
> dual-core 3.0 GHz) gets quite noisy. I'm using the fan that first came 
> with the machine. By process of elimination << stabbing a pen into each 
> fan :) >> I've found that it's my CPU fan that is going wild. I've 
> removed it and dusted it off time and again but it doesn't seem to help.
> 
> My BIOS gives me:
> 
>   CPU Temp 56 C
>   CPU Fan Speed ~ 3200 RPM
>   System Fan Speed ~ 1600 RPM
> 
> So I have two questions.
> 
> I'm running Ubuntu 8.04. I would like to know if there exists a software 
> which can read the temperature and CPU fan revs. Can any software 
> actually do this? (Is there some mechanism that passes this info onto 
> the OS)
> 
> I think I need to replace the thing. A bit of Googling has given me a 
> few recommendations, but I'd still like to know if anybody has been in 
> my situation before; what fan + heat sink did you buy to replace it, and 
> based on that would you recommend that fan + heat sink, and where could 
> I go to buy it? (I'd prefer in person than online)

Well the dual core P4 is probably the most power inefficient CPUs ever
made, and runs quite hot and hence needs a lot of cooling (and even then
it might throthle itself down to stay cool and hence run up to 50%
slower than specced).

Certainly a higher quality fan (probably runs around $40 or so) could
make it quieter, although being an HP pavilion there may not be room for
another fan since they tend to use plastic airducts to control the air
flow in their stupid little cases.

It might be simpler to simply buy a better machine (which these days
seems fairly easy to get for $500 or so) which can actually take
standard (and quiet) parts.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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