I have used small case fans, cpu fans on aftermarket heatsinks, water cooling, bigger case fans, etc, etc. (Just spent over $150 on 2 heatsinks with 3 fans total, 1 is a spare) Quiet is best achieved with water cooling. The BEST and cheapest way to cool your box and not have those fans go out on you is to just open the side and put that sidecover away, then get a GOOD table fan and just blow into the side. End of problems. Yes, i know your girlfriend will not be impressed, but so what, just tell her you are about making money and care less how it looks.
May not even need a table fan. As they are pretty big. I bought a 5" computer cooling fan. (Yeah, like "supersize me"). Then some Japanese chopsticks and some silicone... to mount the 5" fan inside the chassis to blow off the heated air from the processor with the side panel off. It draws the 5-volt power from the PS.
Enclosed is a picture of my older, retired trading rig. An extra computer cooling fan glued to the chassis with silicone and Japanese chopsticks.
No, NO, not even close. That's just a case fan. Go to your local Home Depot and brooze their fan dept. Something like this, http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=100678376&R=100678376 Think of "Monica" power to get the job done..........
Use these on open side, noiseless. http://www.dyson.com/fans/ Hog , cool your brain with this. http://www.villagehatshop.com/prope..._campaign=Propeller Beanie&CAWELAID=681912057
Just what this kid needs for his room.. http://www.menards.com/main/lights-...-kids-room-fantasy-flyer/p-1316405-c-6347.htm banjo, this cools also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xslO6Qi_kGQ A sidenote (i know banjo loves sailing),............ I will forever be thrilled everytime i think of that young girl that sailed around the world for 210 days all by herself, simply an amazing feat for anyone. Jessica Watson
For a laptop computer I would recommend strongly the cooler master notebook x2. http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...1ZRS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1301178380&sr=8-3 If you are going to use your laptop for a long period of time, it does make a difference. I was having problems where the new Dell laptop would just power off due to over heating, and this solved the issue. Also, if you want to put the laptop on your bed, this solves the problem. It also makes no noise.
I went with a slow room fan at one point when my rig was in a separate closet. Then I moved it under the table. It's 3 inches from a wall so I have the side off. I have a big heatsink on both the video card and the cpu. And a couple of Noctua near silent fans mounted on string slung across the frame. Almost perfectly silent and cool even on hot days here in the tropics.