Do I need a fan

[BLG]

I am trying to build a new silent PC and have been browsing heatsinks. I am debating between having HS+F or no fan. I am not planning on overclocking at all, but i know that if i lose the fan it will up the temp by around 10C or more.

I am planning on going with AM2 around 5600+ x2; it will be in my p180 case
Not being too knowledgeable I am wondering if this increase in temp will affect the performance of my cpu. And if it does is it a noticeable.

thanks.

 

[Nenu]

If you have decent enough air throughput in your case, a good fanless heatsink will be fine.
ie have at least one 80mm fan in, 80mm and psu fans out.
The out fan should be near the CPU heatsink so that it draws air through the heatsink a little more.
It will also be of benefit to choose a graphics card that vents its heat out of the back of the PC case.

If you want to spend less you can get a normal heatsink and set the fan speed to very low in the CMOS to make it inaudible.
If you stay below 55C you will have no issues.
It will work fine at higher temps too but 55C is a good guideline to avoid excess wear.

 

[Zero82z]

The noise produced by the fans you'll need to provide the airflow necessary for the heatsink to maintain low enough temps will probably be higher than the noise produced by a heatsink paired with a low-flow fan. I think the best path would be to get a heatsink like a Freezer 64 Pro which produces very little noise, but will create enough airflow to keep the CPU cool and reduce the need for lots of other noise-producing fans in the case.