Step 8: Accessories

Now you've got your fancy new fans running quietly inside your PC, you'll want to tweak them so they're running at peak efficiency and quietness levels. For this we recommend a Zalman ZM-MFC1 Multi-fan Speed Controller (picture 1 -- £26 from Quiet PC) as this lets you independently control the speed of each fan in the PC.

This device can control up to six fans: four via control knobs similar to those on dimmer switches, and two by switching the electrical voltage from 12V to 5V -- which causes them to run slower.

We've attached the fan-speed controller to the CPU cooler on our Asus motherboard (picture 2) for extra flexibility. The process for doing so is quite simple: one cable is attached to the fan controller port on the motherboard, while the power lead for the fan itself attaches to a bypass connector on the fan controller. The controller then sits neatly in a 5.25-inch drive bay at the front of your case, where you can tweak settings on a whim (picture 3).