According to the specification, the VIA EDEN processor on the EPIA CL6000 mainboard doesn't require any active cooling. However, the heat sink tends to get quite hot during periods of high CPU usage. Lowering the heat sink's temperature by employing an active cooling solution has proved to be very effective. Even at slow fan speeds, the operating temperature of all components gets lowered drastically. A larger fan typically achieves a better cooling effect at even lower noise levels than a smaller fan. Therefore, the currently used 120x120x25 mm fan is more silent at even slower rotational speeds than the originally deployed 40x40x10 mm fan which can be seen on the photo above. Since the new fan is mounted on four foam pads, vibrations are effectively prevented from propagating to the casing. Even in periods of high CPU usage, the heat sink merely gets lukewarm, and the operating sound at a distance of one meter is barely audible at all.
