Best 80mm CFM-to-Noise ratio fans?

[phaxmohdem]

The next upgrade I do to my PC will be in the cooling department. (more specifically, cooling to reduce noise) (see sig for specs), and I'm looking for a few tips. It is housed in a smallish all-aluminum mid tower case, with the following air flow layout:

2x 80mm fans bottom front (intake)
1x 80mm fan rear (exhaust)
1x 80mm fan top of case (exhaust)
120mm fan in power supply helps exhaust air also.

Other fans in the system include the blower on the reference design 8800GTX, and 8600GT cards as well as a Zalman 92mm CNPS something or another on the CPU.

I'm not crazy about the Zalman's cooling performance, but it's reasonably quiet, and anything much bigger (taller) wouldn't likely fit in the case with the side panel on.

The 80mm fans are a hodgepodge collection of cheapo ball bearing fans, maybe some sleeve bearing in there too, I really don't know. I do know that the system overall is entirely too loud (sorry I don't have a dB meter to get an exact number for you) I personally believe the 80mm fans and the 8800GTX are most likely the loudest parts, and am looking for solutions to keep things both cool and quiet. What do you feel offers the best airflow for the lowest amount of noise in an 80mm fan these days? (also in an alternative GPU cooler)

 

[ExcaliburMM]

According to the egg these work well at low noise:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103025

 

[phaxmohdem]

Those look like just the ticket. Question though: The bearing is listed as a "Rifle Bearing" in the specs page, I've never heard of that, only Ball, Sleeve, and Fluid. Anyone have any insight into what a Rifle bearing is?

Edit: I did some Googling myself on the subject and found this: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/coolermasterledcasefans/

 

[zagood]

Personally I hate 80mm fans. I'd do anything possible to avoid using them. Just took a look at that case though, and there aren't many options. Here's some ideas for you though.

1. For the rear fan, get a 80mm to 120mm adapter. Remove 80mm fan. Attach adapter and 120mm fan on the outside. Ugly but useful. May consider getting a 120mm finger guard as well.

2. Top fan - if you have a dremel, hand jigsaw, anything like that, cut out a 120mm blowhole where the current grill is. Good instructions here, or just google for it. Again, probably want to get a finger guard.

3. Not much you can do with the front fans unless you want to cut a space out of the hard drive rack. You could just cut out enough room for the sides of a larger fan to fit through, and mount the fan (single) to the main frame instead of the HDD rack.

So, some ideas. You could just replace the fans with quieter ones, but where's the fun in that?

 

[zagood]

First double post noooooooooooooo...

 

[SketchMaster]

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/no80nf34cfm.html

I've heard pretty good things about this fan. The main point of it is not so much how little noise it puts out, but the kind of noise. It's supposed to be a softer sounding fan.

Quick review here: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/noctua_nfr8_nfs12_fans/