here's the scoop-

I have an MSI K8MM-V mobo with a 1600MHz AMD Sempron processor and an nVidia GeForce 4000mx and 2 SATA HDDs. I have not modded or upgraded anything.

The computer is running very loud. It is almost unbearable sitting up on the desk. I believe that it is the CPU fan that is causing the noise. It's a stock fan, so I know it's crap.

I found this fan on Newegg and it looks pretty sweet. I don't want to get it if it won't make my system any quieter. I don't know how to check on temp and stuff, but so far there haven't been any problems.

Is there a way to quiet the beast without a new fan? otherwise, is that fan a good option?

Is your CPU socket 462 or socket 754? You can tell by downloading cpu-z from http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php. Please post here what socket it is.

As kitty says,it has to be for your cpu model.
Best bet is to locate choices and prices.Buy the most you can afford.
Note : These are best installed by Experts.It's very technical to do right.
You might have to remove the motherboard and all devices plugged in.
But if it is the cpu,do it soon,or you'll need that too.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...8&Sku=ULT31796
Try here for just an idea of choices.
The 754 is shown,but it's a Canadian location.

sorry - it's socket 754. the biggest thing i want is for it to be quiet. It's not like a bad hard drive sound or anything...it's just loud, loud fan noises. I was told that AMD is just louder, but I'm not sure I believe it. do these fans normally come with heat sinks too?

If the headsink is shown with a fan it comes with a fan....

Also you may save a few bucks and just buy a quieter 70mm fan to replace the AMD. You can do this without even taking off the heatsink. Just remove the fan from the heatsink.

The AMD fans are really not that loud, so yours must have a problem.

As much as I hate to say it, I wouldnt bother waisting $30 $40 on a new HS/FAN Combo. The stock one that you have on there is more than enough to cool that sempron. They dont run that hot at all especially one running at 1.6ghz. I have never set up a machine with a sempron that ran over 30c with the stock cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835166017 the simple $3 solution.

Don't forget, you also have a power supply fan in there and probably a case fan as well. Semprons run cool, as JimShady said, so what you may want to do is just tweak with the fan speed a bit, or POST it without the system fan running for a short period, see how the noise is.

I find that power supply fans are almost always the culprits when it comes to excessive fan noise.

Have you taken the side off and listened up close.foozy is right,pws fan blades sometimes are hitting something.My Son fixed mine.
Best i can add.But a better cpu fan is a good update.I'm sure it includes
a heatsink as there made as a unit to improve cooling.
All you can do is buy 1 that says it runs quiet and hope it does.

okay - I took the cover off and discovered that the culprit was really was a case fan. I disconnected that and the sound went down drastically - my roommate actually thought I had turned it off!!

so here is the deal - where can I get a program to monitor vitals, like CPU temp and fan speed and such. I want to see if it is cool running on one HDD fan and the CPU fan.

I'll bet my PSU is a noise hog too - I'll have to check into that when I get home!

And sometimes it is only the cables vibrating against the side of the computer case.

Testing fans and temps :
1.I have an asus mbd.It includes a utility called Probe.It's probably just for asus boards.
2.Check your mbd cd for something similar to install or try thier downloads.
3.Try download sights for System Tools.