topgeek

Have an intel pentium D Processor 920 LGA 775 with the stock Intel cooler on it (with the noisy fan).

Ideally I would like to passively cool it (space is no problem - silence is golden in this build - its not in a computer case; the components are exposed in a display case).

The cpu will be used as an HTPC running 1080p/blue ray - no gaming.

Is there a passive cooler that can handle this and if not - what is the quietest fan cooler I can get?

Any help is appreciated.

cheers,
Ed

ColSanderz

I'm kind of a fanboy when it comes to Noctua, but their products are very solid. I used the Noctua NH-C12P cooler in my HTPC.

Assuming you're not putting out a lot of heat, you may not need the fan, but it is very silent as is. How much were you lookin to spend?

urgrandpasdog

You could try the Scythe Orochi

Spritanium

I've seen people use mugen 2s passively. They're huge enough to cool a cpu like that without a fan.

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topgeek

I'm not too worried about budget (or size) - more about 1080P video running perfectly quiet with no heat issues.

ColSanderz

Then the Orochi or Noctua will be more than enough. The Orochi seems like it might be quieter (dunno, haven't tested it), but the noctua will fit in tighter spaces. And you can always slap the 7v or 5v adapter on the noctua fan, and it WILL be dead silent.

Have fun with your HTPC They're a lot of fun to build and great for home theaters

~Sanderz

Zap

The best coolers for "passive" operation either are ginormous (Scythe Orochi, Cooler Master GeminII), can take advantage of case fans (Rosewill RCX-Z4, Silverstone NT06, Thermalright HR01 with optional duct) or have widely spaced fins (Thermalright HR01, Scythe Orochi, Scythe Ninja, Cooler Master Hyper Z600).

You can also just use any normal CPU cooler that uses 120mm (or bigger) fans and undervolt the fan or (if the fan and mobo header are 4-pin PWM) enable Smart Fan in BIOS.

Note that "passive" just means no fan on the CPU cooler, but all "passive" CPU coolers still need airflow from case fans.

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the_beast

What motherboard are you intending to run it in?

Honestly, it might be cheaper to buy a new, cooler cpu than try and cool that hot beast silently. An e3xxx will be more than fast enough (and faster than your current Pentium), but puts out 1/3 of the heat. Pretty much any cheap 3rd party cooler can cool a low-power 45nm cpu quietly. It takes something very big and expensive to get a Pentium D cooled quietly, let alone silently...

nathris

1080p playback should be done on the gpu, so no problem there. I don't think a Pentium D can handle 1080p.

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Manyak

I have a P4 Prescott that can handle it, so I'm pretty sure a Pentium D can as well. The P4 has to be OC'd to 4.2GHz, but still, it can do it

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