The intensity spectrum of modulated noisy light on optical microwave signal processing and on conversion of FM noise to intensity noise in optical links is investigated theoretically and experimentally with a good agreement. We have applied a model that uses a 1550 nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser and an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (UMZI) considering the external phase modulator. Numerical calculations show the influence of the phase modulation index, modulation frequency, and interferometric delay in the phase-to-intensity noise conversion by lowest-order group-velocity dispersion in optical fiber. The results can be employed to estimate the influence of the chromatic dispersion in phase-to-intensity noise conversion, which use either self-delayed interferences or interferometers.