120mm case fans

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dc5

Senior member
Jul 10, 2004
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mucker, stop bragging about your TT 120mm. you talk like you work for TT.
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
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Not bragging and don't work for them. I am not brand loyal. I just don't buy into all this quiet non-sense. I have a Super Lanboy that had the stock clear fans that ran 1200 rpm. You know what, they were quiet as heck, but didn't move any air. You have to be super picky to distinguish any 120 turning the same rpm. Yes you get what you pay for, but, for the money these TT's are great fans.

I want to hear from people that have actually owned and ran these slowly, not people who read a review. If you have never owned one, you are not qualified to say squat.......

m :)
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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Originally posted by: Mucker
Not bragging and don't work for them. I am not brand loyal. I just don't buy into all this quiet non-sense. I have a Super Lanboy that had the stock clear fans that ran 1200 rpm. You know what, they were quiet as heck, but didn't move any air. You have to be super picky to distinguish any 120 turning the same rpm. Yes you get what you pay for, but, for the money these TT's are great fans.

I want to hear from people that have actually owned and ran these slowly, not people who read a review. If you have never owned one, you are not qualified to say squat.......

m :)


I think ill decide what im qualified to say and what im not qualified to say.

I have owned thermaltake products in the past. I have already listed why i do not like them several times.

As for the Nexus, it varies depending on which fan you are talking about. But almost any fan out there is quieter than the TT fans.

-Kevin
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
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Have you owned a TT 120mm? Simple yes or no will do....Again, I don't care about other TT products you dislike, just want to discuss this particular fan......

m :)
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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No but i have owned many other TT products. The fans are no exception.

If you think that is quiet you probably already has a noisy system. When you put together a system with a Seagate HDD, 2 Nexus Fans, Sound Dampening Foam, a Seasonic or an Antec Phantom PSU, Heatpipe VGA cooler, and a huge copper THermalright cooler with a 120mm low speed Acoustifan on it... i will garauntee you that TT fan will sound like a jet engine.

For instance my system with 4 Panaflo 12L's running half speed, and a 92mm Panaflo 12L running at full speed it COMPLETELY drowned out by this horrible TT PSU. It was a last resort, it was either noisy computer or no computer. I am still debating between the OCZ PSU (Modstream, and Powerstream, and the Seasonic)

-Kevin

Edit: WOuld you like me to list all of the TT products i have owned, i would be happy to. Especially since all of them prove my point especially well.
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
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No, your first sentence says it all for me. You are disqualified from talking about this fan, thanks....

m :)
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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I dont believe it is up to you to tell me where i can and cannot post. So stop crying about it.

I would think i would be very qualified having owned several of THermaltakes products.
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
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Once again Kevin, what is it you don't understand about NOT wanting to discuss other TT products. Yet again, I don't care about TT PSU's or other TT products. You come in here and spout off about how bad TT is but you don't even own this fan. Admit it, you simply don't know???? I have stayed on topic. This is a discussion about 120mm fans.......not TT PSU's or anything else you have owned that was TT. Sorry about your bad experiences with TT. Mine have been good......

m :)
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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Originally posted by: Mucker
Once again Kevin, what is it you don't understand about NOT wanting to discuss other TT products. Yet again, I don't care about TT PSU's or other TT products. You come in here and spout off about how bad TT is but you don't even own this fan. Admit it, you simply don't know???? I have stayed on topic. This is a discussion about 120mm fans.......not TT PSU's or anything else you have owned that was TT. Sorry about your bad experiences with TT. Mine have been good......

m :)


Simply dont know huh? Well why dont you tell that to the thousands of reviews that all say that TT is loud and cheap. In case you didn't know they do tend to use their products in their cases (ie their fans) SO i have owned 80mm fans of theirs before. Just not the 120. 120 is no different than the 80mm aside from size. They still use the same bearings and what not.

Mine have been good......

Good for you! Unfortunately if you haven't noticed you are not the only person in this world. YOu can say your experience is good all you want however it seems you dont know much about what you are talking about. Why dont you post the specs of your system and well go from there. Im willing to bet it appears loud because the rest of your system is probably loud.

-Kevin
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
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Once again and finally Kevin. YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO RATE A PRODUCT YOU HAVE NEVER OWNED.....period! I get a huge laugh at all the experts here who go by word of mouth or reviews. Until you have tried a TT 120 Kevin, you have nothing to say in this matter........

m :)
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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And you have no power over me.

Owning an 80mm is the same thing just smaller. How many more ways do you want me to reiterate this to you.

Ok so simply because i have never owned an A64 means i can say that a PII is faster than it. Remember i dont own one, but i have heard they are faster.

-Kevin
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
2,833
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" And you have no power over me." WTF??????? :laugh:

Always remember this: All these years on-line and you guys haven't figured out yet that when you feed a troll it grows? -DAPUNISHER :laugh:

Here you go :cookie:

and to wash it down :beer:

m :heart:
 

Nessism

Golden Member
Dec 2, 1999
1,619
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Back to the issue at hand...FANS!

I just ordered some of These fans for $7 each. Guys at silentpcreview say they are 1350 rpm Yate Loon's. The only quieter 120 is the Nexus version of the same fan that spins at 1000 rpm.

Shipping is cheap also but the company is known to take a day or so to get the package out.

Another cheap choice is the medium speed Panaflow's from BGmicro for $4 each. Shipping is a little steep though - I paid $7.50 for a small box.
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
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How do the specs stack up with these fans? I know that the clear Antecs that were in my Super Lanboy turned 1200 rpm and pushed 39 cfm at 25dB. They were very quiet but didn't cut it airflow wise for me. I am not trying to stir the poop here. :) I just want to know what makes the Panaflo's and Nexus fans any more special than high speed fan's that are slowed down to the same rpm range. From my experience, it has always been a trade off of speed/airflow and noise. I have always just heard the woosh of air at slow speeds with all fans, not whine or bearing noise, but hey, that's just me. The only thing I don't like about low speed fans is their lack to push air when you need to. I personally like the ability to have speed at hand when I need it, then again, I live in a desert where the summers are toasty......

m :)
 

xbassman

Golden Member
Feb 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: Mucker
Have you owned a TT 120mm? Simple yes or no will do....Again, I don't care about other TT products you dislike, just want to discuss this particular fan......

m :)

Got some here....
My son's case has 2 TT12025 120mm fans.
Oh yeah they have a lot of cfm's, but at 12v you can here them with his door shut from in the hall.
His case TT SViking has controllers that work with only TT fans, so I wish they were acceptable.
When I get a little time I bought a pair of Globe fans (SPCR.com recommended) to replace them. I will be happy if I can reduce noise to the level of my case which uses 6 80mm Vantec/Generic UV case fans. I will be overjoyed if it runs as quiet as my case was with 6 Panaflo case fans.
 

Mucker

Platinum Member
Apr 28, 2001
2,833
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Not very suprising at 12V, they are built to move air. They're pretty acceptable at low voltage.....even though someone that doesn't even own one will tell you differently.....

m :)
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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Originally posted by: Mucker
Not very suprising at 12V, they are built to move air. They're pretty acceptable at low voltage.....even though someone that doesn't even own one will tell you differently.....

m :)

THese sly little comments isn't helping matters jackass.

The fact is TT stats are way off on that fan. 21Dba for a fan spinning at ~2200RPM. No not gonna happen. Panaflos (10000000x better than TT, yes i own many panaflos) running at ~2000 RPM are rated at 35dba. TT stats are way off and people know this. There silent pure powere PSU's are some of the noisiest things on this planet (Yes i am running one).

You keep saying at full speed they are loud. Well bring it down to 7v almost any fan would be quiet! But the fact is they are not as quiet as the Acoustifan the NExus, and the Panaflo. Those fans are quiet even at full speed.

As for the question about why these fans are so good. Well Nexus and Acoustifan use extremely high quality Ball Bearing motors, and spin slower but have a more aerodynamic fin. Panaflo developed a Fluid bearing (touted Hydro Wave Bearing) for a fan, much like the ones used on modern HDD (Except WD).

-Kevin
 

SunSamurai

Diamond Member
Jan 16, 2005
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Originally posted by: Mucker
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Originally posted by: NietzscheRCN
I would agree that the Tt fans are some of the best value around. I am ordering two A1926 for my case after many long hours of searching through product. Great price, great performance.


TT are horrible! THey are not only poor quality but they are noisy.

All they have is flashiness.

-Kevin

TT fans are not "horrible". The quality is just fine. Have you ever used them? With a fan controller you can make these pretty quiet and move some air to boot........

m :)

I'd like a fan that is quite at %100 speed, not %50. What do you mean "and move some air to boot"? They are FANS, if they didn?t blow air, what?s the point of them? They make NO noise at all when they are off, but that doesn?t help much does it.

I would assume by how many sites have rated or ignored TT, the fans that actually quite would make less noise at the same RPM you have your TTs set at.
 

Nessism

Golden Member
Dec 2, 1999
1,619
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As for the question about why these fans are so good. Well Nexus and Acoustifan use extremely high quality Ball Bearing motors, and spin slower but have a more aerodynamic fin. Panaflo developed a Fluid bearing (touted Hydro Wave Bearing) for a fan, much like the ones used on modern HDD (Except WD).

-Kevin


My understanding is that the Yate Loon built Nexus, as well as the Panasonic Panaflo both use sleeve bearings of some sort. Ball bearings are noiser but are more durable.

Ed

 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
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No the Panasonic Panaflos use what they call a Hydro Wave Bearing which essentially is a marketing term for fluid bearing. It does an excellent job.

Nexus does use Yate Loon IIRC, but they modify them a little.

As for your last statement that is correct. Sleeve bearings tend to be a little quieter, but aren't as reliable.

-Kevin
 

Nessism

Golden Member
Dec 2, 1999
1,619
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Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
No the Panasonic Panaflos use what they call a Hydro Wave Bearing which essentially is a marketing term for fluid bearing. It does an excellent job.

Nexus does use Yate Loon IIRC, but they modify them a little.

As for your last statement that is correct. Sleeve bearings tend to be a little quieter, but aren't as reliable.

-Kevin



"Fluid Bearing" is a Panasonic term for a special type of sleeve bearing they developed. And yes, my understanding is that they work well. Panasonic tech info.
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
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No Fluid bearing is a fluid bearing (HDD for example). Hydro wave bearing is essentially the same thing only it is based off the design of a Sleeve Bearing so in essence it isn't a TRUE fluid bearing but a heavily heavily modified Sleeve Bearing.

-Kevin
 

Spike

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
6,770
1
81
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
And you have no power over me.

Owning an 80mm is the same thing just smaller. How many more ways do you want me to reiterate this to you.

Actually your statement is incorrect, let me go into my experience but first I will list the fans I have owned/do own

TT Purepower 480 with fan controller
TT 120mm Variable
Panaflo M1A 120mm
Panaflo M1A 92mm
Panaflo M1A 80mm
Panaflo L1A 80mm
Enermax 120mm Variable
YS-Tech 80mm
Antec Smartfan 120mm
Antec Blue led 120mm
Antec quiet 120mm
Antec tri-led (Blue, tri-color, and green) 80mm
some more I don't remember...

The reason your statement is wrong is due to manufactoring, it is well known that you can find better quality 80mm Panaflos than 120mm, the 120mm seem to be a "crap shoot" in terms of quality due to different manufacturers.

Currently I have a Enermax 120mm as my intake and a Panaflo 120mm M1A as my exhaust. The reason the M1A is exhaust is simply because it is MUCH noiser than my Enermax. To clairfy I used a fan controller and run my fans always at about 8 volts. At this voltage (or any for that matter) the panaflo is louder than my Enermax and this was after trying them both in both fan positions. In case you are wondering, I did return my first Panaflo M1A 120mm as I though I got a defect, second one was the same way so I just left it.

As for my other fan experiences, I would give the Panaflo line a thumbs up for producing decent fans but I am SURE there are better out there. My smaller diameter Panaflo fans worked well (and much better than all the lound Antec 80mm I have) but who wants smaller diameter fans when 120mm will push more air for less noise.

Originally posted by: aeternitas

I'd like a fan that is quite at %100 speed, not %50. What do you mean "and move some air to boot"? They are FANS, if they didn?t blow air, what?s the point of them? They make NO noise at all when they are off, but that doesn?t help much does it.

I would assume by how many sites have rated or ignored TT, the fans that actually quite would make less noise at the same RPM you have your TTs set at.

This is probably one of the most uninformed statements I have ever heard in regards to cooling fans. Everyone wants quiet fans at 100%, but the fact is quiet is relative and if you want a fan to actually move air then it is, by nature, not going to be very quiet. This is where fan controllers come in. The entire point is to have better fans that you can run in quiet mode (ie, turn down the voltage) but also have the option of running them in rock and roll mode when you need the extra cooling (like gaming in the middle of summer in Arizona). You can get quieter 120mm fans that push decent air, but a more powerful fan turned down is the best.

Take the 120mm Antec fans that came with my superlanboy. They are VERY quiet at normal operation. I don't remember their dB rating, but personal experience I could hardly hear them at 5 feet, and my apartment is SILENT due to excellent insulation, no road noise, and no noisey neighbors. Their only problem was lack of air flow. with my new Enermax 120mm and Panaflo M1A 120mm I can push more air at 7 volts for less noise then the Antec fans. That is the purpose of fan controllers.

Last thing, I am assuming mr gamingphreak that you are not using the provided fan controller with your TT purepower psu. With mine turned down to a little less than 50%, my TT exhaust fans makes almost no noise but still pushes a decent amount of air. At this setting it is quieter than both my whisper Enermax 350 and my Antec truepower 350. In fact, it is entirely drowned out by my Panaflo M1A even when the panaflo is at 7 volts and hardly making any noise. If you don't have the controller than I am truly sorry for you as that TT fan at 12v is, well, unbearable. I don't plan to ever go above 50% on the controller due to concern for my ear drums.

-spike
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
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M1A is medium speed genius. We are talking about low speed in which case it would be the 12L.

Also i am using the Silent Pure Power 420Watt. THere is no "fan controller" with it.

-Kevin