Andy Ruhl <acruhl@gmail.com> writes:
> Anyway, there isn't much room in there for those huge copper things. I
> know of a way to quiet down fans a little (rough up the leading edge
> of the blades), so I'll try that while I mull all of these great
> suggestions.

Some fans are just better designed than others.  The ones that come
with the factory heatsinks on the athlon64 and opterons are very
quiet.  I've seen the fans with heatsinks going for around $15 in the
aftermarket.  With a bit of tinkering and one of the straps from an
old heatsink you could probably adapt them to an old socket.  I've
been thinking of retro-fitting my older computers with the newer
heatsinks and fans and enjoying the quiet.

My only gripe with the new narrow-spaced heatsinks is that dust can
clog them so you really do need to blow them out once every 2 - 3
months.  I guess the wider spacing of the fins on the older heatsinks
wasn't only for ease of manufacturing.

-wolfgang
-- 
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht                http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/