2x 80mm or 1x 120mm???

[imported_rod]

Hi.
I've got a new system, and I'm trying to work out how to cool it effectively.

The case has 5 mountings for 80mm fans. There are two mountings at the back, one on top of the other, just below my PSU. There is another in the middle of my perspex side window. The other two mountings are side by side at the bottom/front of my case.

Currently there is one fan at the back and one fan in the side. These two fans are both illuminated with three LEDs. They're not noisey, but they're not silent either.

Currently temps are fine, about 33C idle and 40C under load (ambient ~25C), when using AMD Cool 'n Quiet. I want to be able to run it more silently at stock settings, and be able to overclock safely, once i get a better hsf for my CPU.

-So i want a silent 80mm fan for the other slot at the back. I've heard the SilenX 80mm is good (14dBA, 32CFM). Any other suggestions?

-Also, I want an illuminated blue/purple fan at the front, to go with my front face panel. It's an alien with large dark purple eyes. At the front, should i try fitting 120mm fan, rather than 2x80mm. Im not sure it'll fit, i just wanna know it it's worth even trying.

Also, I'm going to be using a DIY fan controller that I'm in the process of making, so i can adjust the speed of some or all of the fans.

Thanks in Advance
RoD

 

[larry89]

I think those silentx fans provoke scandalous specs and are overpriced.

You should buy 1 fan first and see if it is really up to par with what they say.

IF you have all 80mm fan slots just get all Panaflo's.

 

[imported_rod]

Hey, thnx.
I was only gonna buy one silenX anyway. The two illuminated ones will just be generic types.

I just looked at some panaflow fans, and they're rated as louder than the silenX, and dont support RPM monitoring. And I only save $4.

Also, I may be able to cram a 120mm in the front of my case where there are mounting holes for 2x80mm fans, but will a single 120mm be much better anyway???

RoD

 

[cyberknight]

SilenX specs are BS, even if it was the most perfect fan possible, they can no way live up to their specs within the bounds of physics.

Go for Nexus fans if you want quiet. Coolermaster fans are good too, but my require some undervolting.

120mm fans are generally better. Keep in mind that a 120mm and 80mm spinning at the same RPM, the 120mm is gonna be easily louder.

 

[imported_rod]

My original question still stands. At the front of my case, should i put in one 120mm fan or two 80mm fans?

RoD

 

[xbassman]

Originally posted by: rod
My original question still stands. At the front of my case, should i put in one 120mm fan or two 80mm fans?

RoD

If you case has openings for 80mm fans, just go with them. The 120mm won't be as much of an advantage unless you want high CFM.

BTW-I haven't used SilenX fans, but for them to be much quieter than the Panaflo's they would have to be lower rpm, lower cfm fans. (Specs for Panaflo are probably the most "honest" you'll find)

 

[ExpertNovice]

You could put in multiple lower volume 80mm's.

My case supports 92mm fans and currently there is one intake.

To cut the noise I will be drilling holes and making room for 120 mm fans and adding 2 intake fans. The intake fans will be lower volume fans to reduce the noise even further. That is 2 Nexus Real Silent 120 mm (D12SL-12) fans each moving 36.9 CFM at 22.8 dBA supposedly have a combined dBA of 25.8 (http://www.csgnetwork.com/decibelamplificationcalc.html or http://sackheads.org/~mayfield/software/decibels.html) should be much quieter than one Panaflo 120mm Hydro Wave Bearing M1A Fan moving 86.5 cfm at 35dba.


Everyone is right about the SilenX fans. It has been stated that there are standards set to measure the sound level and SilenX is obviously using different standards. The easiest way is to simply move the microphone further away. Thinking about it a bit more it should be considered a scam since so many will not investigate or even stop to think about it. Even if they are trying to simulate real world conditiions their reality might not be mine.

That said, some have stated that the SilenX fans are quieter than other fans but not by much. I plan on buying a couple of the other fans reviewed at SPCR to form my own non-scientific opinon based on the conditions in my home. Until then it can also be assumed that someone prejudiced in favor of SilenX fans would hear less noise than another fan and someone prejudiced against SilenX fans would hear more noise.

 

[Phantronius]

By far, avoid the SilenX like the plauge and put in a 120mm, much less noise and you'll get betterairflow, 80mm's are just not the way to go anymore.

 

[Tiamat]

you case is stock 80, so i would just stick with that unless you have a hunger for mods.

Go with all Panaflo L1A and a fan controller.

A place like jab-tech has plenty of these fans in stock and might even offer quantity purchasing.

 

[charlietee]

What case do you have ??? If you state the model number you might be able to get people who have actually owned the same case you have and can share their "experience" with that specific case with you.

One thing for sure...At the same DBA a 120m/m fan will be pushing a bunch more air than a 80m/m...Hench the reason so many case manufacturers are moving to 120m/m fans...More CFM versus same DBA.

Most cases like the Antec, Chieftech Thermaltake, style with the 2 rear 80m/m and 2 front 80m/m and side door 80's are easily modded to accept 92m/m fans.

Again the advantage of going with larger fans is that the bigger fans will move more CFM at the same DBA of the smaller fan.

Give us your case manufacturer, model and maybe even a link to your case and you will probably get better answers.

 

[imported_rod]

I got the case a while ago, and it's not a brand name. CCP was all that was written on the box. There's a link to it here: http://www.computer-hergt.de/geh/et3/et3-2.jpg.

I'll try to post some pics of it later.

RoD

 

[Baked]

Pair of 120mm will win every single time. Is Panaflo available? I like Vantec Stealth too.

 

[imported_rod]

I cant fit a pair of 120mm fans in the front. I can fit either a single 120mm fan or a pair of 80mm fans.

Also, Im using an 80mm vantec stealth at the back as my main exhaust fan. I was gonna use a Panaflo, but I wanted my main fan to have RPM monitoring for the MoBo.

Thanks so far guys.
RoD

 

[Baked]

I can't decide if I should have more CFM in the intake or exhaust. Given you want the heat to exit faster than the cool air coming in, the exhaust should have more CFM. Anyway you can modify your case to have 120mm for intake and another 120mm for exhaust?

 

[imported_rod]

I'm pretty sure your right about having higher CFM for the exhaust than the intake.

I can modify it to have a 120mm intake instead of 2x80mm intake, but there is no way i can do that on the exhaust. The only way I can get more than 2x80mm exhaust (not including the PSU) is to put a fan in the PCI slot. I know Vantec makes one of them... Anyway, 5 80mm case fans should be enough, shouldn't it...

RoD

 

[charlietee]

Yeah 5 80m/m case fans should be plenty...And my experience with slot coolers is not good...No effect on temps what so ever...None...They do make a bunch of racket.

 

[wisdomtooth]

5 80mm case fans, plus 2 80mm PSU fans, 1 CPU fan, 1 vid card fan and probably 1 NB fan.

You have so many fans, and you aren't even famous.

Must be loud..

Rule of thumb: If your case temps are around 5C higher than ambient temp (plus or minus 2 degrees), you are fine. I would try to reduce the number of fans if that's the case.

 

[imported_rod]

Thanks All. I think I'll keep my 10 fans, I'll just use a fan controller to quiet'n things down a bit. I've also got an LCD temp monitor now, so I dont have to worry about something going wrong. I can see my important temps just by looking at the front of my case So cool!

RoD