Underclocking to reduce temps in HTPC

[Yannic]

I've got some fairly noisy components about to go in to a media PC - as i've just upgraded. I was wondering if it is easy to underclock somthing to make it run cooler?

Its an athlon x2 S939 4400+ and a 6800Ultra which although with their Zalman Fatal1ty heatsinks arent that noisy - I would like to fit a fan controler and turn their RPM to near silent.

So for CPU, would I turn multiplier or FSB down or lower the voltage? Likewise for the graphics card - how do I drop its speed and temp?

Yan

 

[badbob]

Just use AMD CAQ.

 

[mnemonix]

Reduce your fan speeds to the noise level you're happy with and then start lowering your Vcore. Monitor temps & test for stability. Temps too high ? Lower your Vcore some more. Not stable, you'll need to underclock it by dropping your fsb speed. To maintain memory bandwidth however you'll eventually want to drop the multiplier so you can put your fsb back up a bit.

I've actually had good results overclocking 939 & AM2 rigs while still undervolting them, but it's trial and error.