Can a super cheap fan really beat the competition?

taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
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I was googling some specific fan and clicked all the way to some roundups on silentpcreview, and found something really interesting.
This Antec TwoCool 140 which cost as much as three times less than the most expensive and popular fans apparently beat them hands down.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1346-page6.html

A quick search shows the Antec fan as totally generic looking, with no special fins or anything. Is that even possible?
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
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I was googling some specific fan and clicked all the way to some roundups on silentpcreview, and found something really interesting.
This Antec TwoCool 140 which cost as much as three times less than the most expensive and popular fans apparently beat them hands down.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1346-page6.html

A quick search shows the Antec fan as totally generic looking, with no special fins or anything. Is that even possible?

Without even looking at the SPCR link, I can say I've tried various 140x25mm units. Aerocool makes them; Sharkoon makes them -- there are several others. There may be a price-premium for "glitz." These things are cheap enough, though, that any reseller may drop the price to clear inventory. Right now, I'm lookin' at an Akasa Viper 140. NO-WHERE -- can I find the amperage rating for it, but it boasts a CFM of 109. The price seems to vary between maybe $13 and $17 -- where I've looked so far.

I often give a jaundiced eye to fan specs which omit some traditional measure. CFM and decibel ratings have often been questioned by consumers.

Me? Don' need the LED lights. Just gimme an all-black fan that performs and lasts.
 

taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
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I've been using Scythe fans for some time and am fairly happy with them, but there's always room for improvement, and this review caught my eye... The result looks weird, but hey, anything is possible. I am still in doubt, so I posted this thread.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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I've been using Scythe fans for some time and am fairly happy with them, but there's always room for improvement, and this review caught my eye... The result looks weird, but hey, anything is possible. I am still in doubt, so I posted this thread.

I understand. A lot of people use Scythe, and you may want to "get out of the box."

I don't like noise, but I do like airflow. And wide-range variable speed. Generally, I think people recoil at my interest in such things as the 120x38mm Delta Tri-Blade.

Instead, I tend to count on things like raising the case on caster-wheels, then using the machine in a carpeted room with a fan on the case bottom. Or -- noise-reduction insulation "stuff." Or -- rubber fan mounts (where you can use 'em.)

Well . . time to check a certain credit-card balance and order two of those Akasa jobs for ~$10 each. Sidewinder or Frozen wants as much as $17. [I could spend the weekend playing Solitaire -- it doesn't cost anything.]
 

Piroko

Senior member
Jan 10, 2013
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From a technical standpoint there is very little difference between cheap and expensive fans - a few cents in production costs perhaps.

The only problem that I have with cheap fans is that they tend to be multisourced - you can't guarantee that the one you get is from the same make that was tested.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
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Yes, it's possible. The fan doesn't cost that much. Added crap does. Scythe was good in that they stayed away from added crap (simple packaging, no useless accessories, no costly marketing materials included, etc.), and did not obscure the fans' sources. So they were good for the money, and you always knew you were getting just what you ordered. Was, because I'm in North America.

Noctua seems the best in that comparison, but not by much, and you could buy 2-3 slightly worse fans for the cost of a single Noctua. In a heavy/damped case, or with good enough airflow to stay at very low RPMs, the minor differences would be inaudible between most of them. I only bought Noctuas myself because I was swamped with info to sift through, yet planned to order in about a day after deciding to upgrade. Had I planned it out longer, I would taken more time prior to ordering to narrow down my options, and could have saved anywhere from $5 to $13 per fan.
 
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BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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From a technical standpoint there is very little difference between cheap and expensive fans - a few cents in production costs perhaps.

The only problem that I have with cheap fans is that they tend to be multisourced - you can't guarantee that the one you get is from the same make that was tested.

. . . . That's why I'm not so quick to shine on the "beefier" proven units, no matter how "ugly." Panaflo, Delta, etc. That in addition to lower variable range and throughput from the spate of low-noise options. To me, it's both fan-quality and thermal control issues. The fan should not have mechanical noise throughout its full range, and ability to thermally control the fan's speed robustly makes all the difference. Of course, by "mechanical noise" I mean motor whine. Vibration can be deadened or muffled, and the turbulence you'd live with when the fan spins up to top-end.

For the Akasa Viper 140 R fans I just ordered, I got the price at Performance PCs' web-site. I'm guessing they had ordered more than they could sell, people didn't like the puke-yellow and black colors -- can't say. But Frozen and Sidewinder are "enthusiast" resellers . . . too. SO . . . I'll be optimistic . . :biggrin:

. . . Noctua seems the best in that comparison, but not by much, and you could buy 2-3 slightly worse fans for the cost of a single Noctua. In a heavy/damped case, or with good enough airflow to stay at very low RPMs, the minor differences would be inaudible between most of them. I only bought Noctuas myself because I was swamped with info to sift through, yet planned to order in about a day after deciding to upgrade. Had I planned it out longer, I would taken more time prior to ordering to narrow down my options, and could have saved anywhere from $5 to $13 per fan.

Don't get me wrong, I can see from the units bundled with at least two heatsinks I bought that these Noctua P12 and P14 units have great -- maybe the best quality. The output is "good" for the amperage ratings -- which are around 0.10A. But I'd just as soon have better output and a little extra noise that mostly occurs when the CPU heats up. So . . . more amps, beefier motor, greater CFM drive my preferences.
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
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I just picked up two Bgears B-Blaster 120mm fans,apparently 35dba with about 103cfm and a pair cost me $18.89 shipped.Hearing they are rock solid but less then $10 a piece with those specs might be optimistic.Maybe hell of a lot more noise for that cfm but at the price i am willing to be bold:)
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
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I just picked up two Bgears B-Blaster 120mm fans,apparently 35dba with about 103cfm and a pair cost me $18.89 shipped.Hearing they are rock solid but less then $10 a piece with those specs might be optimistic.Maybe hell of a lot more noise for that cfm but at the price i am willing to be bold:)

See . . . their testing is done under fixed acoustical environment. NOthing in there about "black foam art-board" or Lexan/Plexi-glass or cut-and-stick-on rubber acoustic pads. Maybe they don't even use rubber fan-mounts!

I'm going to try one of those Viper fans first, but depending on how it goes, I may devolve and regress to trying the Delta 120x38mm Tri-Blade. I think it had a top-end output of 150 CFM and speed of 2,700 RPM. but I could be just a bit anxious about the 0.80+A draw against that on the remaining ports. It's really a toss-up between the two.

Some of the 120x38mm fans are heavy because the motors are heavier -- boding well for lower mechanical noise and brute-force output. If you get one of that size that feels light -- and I remember at least one -- they're likely to fall below their CFM spec or more likely be noisy as hell. Yeah -- noisy.

The Delta was lighter than some Panaflos, but the worst noise scenarios didn't exist -- and it was a darn good 120mm CPU fan. You could run it full-out and you would hear it. But it was pretty good throughout the speed range, I think.

Put it this way. It didn't moan or whine.
 

taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
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Yes, it's possible. The fan doesn't cost that much. Added crap does. Scythe was good in that they stayed away from added crap (simple packaging, no useless accessories, no costly marketing materials included, etc.), and did not obscure the fans' sources. So they were good for the money, and you always knew you were getting just what you ordered. Was, because I'm in North America.

Noctua seems the best in that comparison, but not by much, and you could buy 2-3 slightly worse fans for the cost of a single Noctua. In a heavy/damped case, or with good enough airflow to stay at very low RPMs, the minor differences would be inaudible between most of them. I only bought Noctuas myself because I was swamped with info to sift through, yet planned to order in about a day after deciding to upgrade. Had I planned it out longer, I would taken more time prior to ordering to narrow down my options, and could have saved anywhere from $5 to $13 per fan.
Glad I am from Europe then :D I currently have one of the new(er) GlideSctream 140mm in the rear, and some 120's elsewhere, and they seem to perform fairly well while being very quiet.

Noctua is good, but the more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion it's an overpriced gimmick which just happens to be capable of throwing some performance in as well. I don't think I will buy more, though.

Currently I am hopelessly looking for a 200mm fan to put on a side panel, but market for these seems horribly empty. Aside from some unknown junk all I could find was a fan by NZXT, which seems like a good company, but I can't find any references.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Glad I am from Europe then :D I currently have one of the new(er) GlideSctream 140mm in the rear, and some 120's elsewhere, and they seem to perform fairly well while being very quiet.

Noctua is good, but the more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion it's an overpriced gimmick which just happens to be capable of throwing some performance in as well. I don't think I will buy more, though.

Currently I am hopelessly looking for a 200mm fan to put on a side panel, but market for these seems horribly empty. Aside from some unknown junk all I could find was a fan by NZXT, which seems like a good company, but I can't find any references.

The NZXT 200mm offering seems to have more throughput (CFM or cubic meters per hour) than either of the CoolerMaster fans in my HAF case. For those with the HAF who plan to replace those fans with the NZXT, the down side is that you either need to mod holes in your side-panel to fit, or use neatly installed, colored wire-ties with the holes that are already there but off-center.

The whole purpose of the larger fans is to provide more airflow with less wattage and noise. The drawback with them is lower pressure at the exhaust side, but . . . they fill the bill, so to speak . . .

Noctua hasn't changed their web-page for their P12 fan. They don't report CFM or cu-meters/hr airflow. Nor do they DIRECTLY report the fan's amperage draw, but provide enough information that you can do the arithmetic and calculate it.

For me, I'm just going to replace the P14 and P12 on my NH-D14 with an Akasa Viper 140 R -- to begin with. Whatever develops, I think I can end up with no more than four fans in my box -- excluding the VGA's own fan . . .
 

taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
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Who would use 200mm fan as exhaust, though?
I think I have mount holes in my side panel that could accomodate a 200mm, so I would use that to get some cool air right onto the graphic card and its surroundings.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Who would use 200mm fan as exhaust, though?
I think I have mount holes in my side panel that could accomodate a 200mm, so I would use that to get some cool air right onto the graphic card and its surroundings.

Well -- I'll say right away -- "I wouldn't" . . . use a 200mm for exhaust, that is.

About 5 years ago and earlier, we here and people at other forums or creating their own PC-project web-sites were doing some interesting things with air-cooling and chilled water (other end of the spectrum for cooling choices.) I began to obsess about the ducting of components and the motherboard. It was cheap, and you could use either foam-art-board or Lexan/Plexi-glass constructions. The idea was to force air through narrow spaces around hot components (chipsets, RAM, VGA card etc.) as it travels from intake fans to exhaust fans.

There were also people who were building "miniature evaporative water-coolers" connected to their pumps and water-blocks. The room might grow a bit humid, but you really had "chilled water" for running a Rube-Goldberg "bong-shaped" contraption with 4" PVC pipe and fittings with a fan above the reservoir (blowing into the "bong-intake"). The warm water drizzled out of a nozzle at the top of the bong.

I just think it becomes fairly simple now with CPUs spec'd with TDP's of less than 95W and eight-pipe heatpipe coolers like that Akasa Venom thingie or the others we've come to know . . . the D14, the Megahalems etc.

Of course, if you're OC'ing IB or Haswell and don't want to "de-lid," you might first look at water, then chilled-water, and then your $900 phase-change CPU cooler from Frozen-CPU. $900 buys a lot of Mexican dinners, though.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Gave much thought to a pair of delta fans like those, loudest fans i had in a pair were silverstone 120mm 113cfm that did 44dba and those were acceptable but i saw plenty of delta fan videos on youtube to know what trouble you get into if you get into the 200 cfm range.:awe:

Wasn't there a slight degree of motor-whine with the Silverstone? I had the very same model you described, and I also think it was produced with a two-speed option. We used it as a CPU fan, but I thought it was a tad noisy.

But except for the 140mm size of the Akasa Viper I for which I await delivery next Monday, it's in the same "class:" Over 100 CFM and 25mm thick. I could be similarly disappointed.

On the other hand, I don't remember that we thermally controlled the Silverstone. Of course, if there's a motor-whine lower RPMs for say 70 CFM, it wouldn't matter, either . . .
 

skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
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Wasn't there a slight degree of motor-whine with the Silverstone?

Not that much, i had the ones with the included fan controller which i never used.:awe: Ran two of those full bore in a Antec 900 with all those fans on high.Back during that time i could easily live with the noise of the 900 but now i am more conservative.:)
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Not that much, i had the ones with the included fan controller which i never used.:awe: Ran two of those full bore in a Antec 900 with all those fans on high.Back during that time i could easily live with the noise of the 900 but now i am more conservative.:)

There are several things to do attempting to mitigate the decibels.

1) Pull off the label at the center fan-motor on the side with the frame's spokes, pull away any rubber plug, and spooge it with a little Teflon grease. Replace plug, dab the label with a little rubber cement and replace it.

2) Eliminate all solid contact with case or cooler parts -- as much as possible: rubber fan mounts, rubber or silly-cone bumpers, etc.

3) Suspend the fan from an interior case frame -- rubberized as much as you can make it.

4) surround the fan with foam art-board, adhesive rubber acoustic mats cuts to size -- or even lexan ducting, with the latter making no contact with the fan.
 

skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
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There are several things to do attempting to mitigate the decibels.

1)

2) Eliminate all solid contact with case or cooler parts -- as much as possible: rubber fan mounts, rubber or silly-cone bumpers, etc.
.

Think rubber fan mounts would come in handy, the loudest fan is the side 80mm i installed and its going buh bye tomorrow when i receive my new front and rear fans.Hoping two 103cfm front and rear fans can outperform two 120mm 55cfm fans and a side fan doing 34cfm while being nearly as quiet.:biggrin:
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
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Think rubber fan mounts would come in handy, the loudest fan is the side 80mm i installed and its going buh bye tomorrow when i receive my new front and rear fans.Hoping two 103cfm front and rear fans can outperform two 120mm 55cfm fans and a side fan doing 34cfm while being nearly as quiet.:biggrin:

Yeah . . When you order barebones fans, they give you a little Ziploc with four self-threading, flathead screws. I've done all sorts of things with machine screws -- long and short, little rubber cable donuts with washers -- every-freak-in' thing. Anything metal or solid contacting the case ruins those efforts more or less.

So . . . the little rubber fan mounts with the long nipples. Buy extra -- when you need to remove and then replace a fan, it takes patience to avoid tearing the mount and making it useless, so it's going to happen . . .

I've seen HDD-cage mounts of sculpted foam rubber, HDDs suspended with special rubber-bands. I've used the Akasa noise-deadening pads. There's enough optional resources to really drop the noise on a high-dBA fan if you need the RPMs and throughput. You're just never going to get rid of the white-noise air-turbulence. "Whoosh!" Not completely. That's why you want thermal fan control.
 

Rinaun

Golden Member
Dec 30, 2005
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I didn't read most of the thread but I will say as someone with thorough knowledge in PC fans, most cheap PC fans will get the job done. I'd avoid anything with bushings or cheap bearings (Yate Loons especially). They are cheap but if you run them in certain configurations bushing-based fans become worn out within months. Scythe typically makes the best quality lower speed/sound fans, followed by expensive specialty fans made by ADDA/Delta/Panaflow and then Noiseblocker/noctuas. Most fan brands are going to be fine as long as they aren't using terrible bushing/bearings and the plastic is balanced. If people want to spend extra for the 5% performance to noise level scythes give, then sure. I use Thermalright fans because I got them for 8$ at my old workplace and they have high quality bearings in them.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8...Stealth_Silent_Fan_-_2000RPM_TR-FDB-2000.html

I'd like to point out a really key thing here guys that is left out of each fan review: No two same model fans are truly the same/perform the same. I've had to test upwards of 100 of the same type of fan before and each one sounded different. Relying on mfg specs for db level is a bit silly. Add in the fact that the manufacturers lie a bit on dbs.......
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
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Yeah . . When you order barebones fans, they give you a little Ziploc with four self-threading, flathead screws. I've done all sorts of things with machine screws -- long and short, little rubber cable donuts with washers -- every-freak-in' thing. Anything metal or solid contacting the case ruins those efforts more or less.

So . . . the little rubber fan mounts with the long nipples. Buy extra -- when you need to remove and then replace a fan, it takes patience to avoid tearing the mount and making it useless, so it's going to happen . . .

I've seen HDD-cage mounts of sculpted foam rubber, HDDs suspended with special rubber-bands. I've used the Akasa noise-deadening pads. There's enough optional resources to really drop the noise on a high-dBA fan if you need the RPMs and throughput. You're just never going to get rid of the white-noise air-turbulence. "Whoosh!" Not completely. That's why you want thermal fan control.

Yeah i have seen some crazy mods to drop noise,this build is going towards moderately quiet and its my first attempt.Doubt between my intel stock cooler and my 770 i could get htpc quiet but as long as i don't hear it over my speakers when i game or watch movies that is all that matters but that 80mm does make itself known.

I also want to go about covering up those side fan mounts, i was thinking large stickers to give my case some style while eliminating noise but i think it won't be all that simple but i do want a natural looking solution.:)
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Yeah i have seen some crazy mods to drop noise,this build is going towards moderately quiet and its my first attempt.Doubt between my intel stock cooler and my 770 i could get htpc quiet but as long as i don't hear it over my speakers when i game or watch movies that is all that matters but that 80mm does make itself known.

I also want to go about covering up those side fan mounts, i was thinking large stickers to give my case some style while eliminating noise but i think it won't be all that simple but i do want a natural looking solution.:)

I'm trying to imagine the picture in your mind about this. Are you talking about the usual-access left side-panel? Some sort of bolts, nuts or nobby thingks . . . stickingk out of your case panel?

I didn't want to take the time with my drill press and my CM HAF side-panel -- to mod the holes for fan-support so they fit the NZXT 200mm fan. I just took some large purple wire ties and secured them so the little square thingie on the ends is pulled tight against the sheet metal exterior. I can't even tell if they're square -- standing several feet away. The ties loop through the fan's own corner holes which are offset maybe an eighth or 3/16" from the holes that fit the CM fan. The plus side I hadn't much thought about: they're less-than-solid plastic or nylon and they're not metal. I cut a gasket of 1/4" foam artboard to fit between the NZXT and the side-panel, but I could've used the AKASA rubber mats, and the gasket could have been cut closer to size and shape of the fan shroud.

If someone wanted to get into a day's modding project, for something like the HAF or maybe just a different make of case with only 140mm fan holes, you could probably (carefully -- with a punch-marker and drill press) widen the circle of vent holes for the larger fan.

Next level of tedium in the mod: run down to your local "metals" store (usually located in that part of town containing repair-shops, electronics wholesale for tradesmen, maybe lumberyards). Get some lengths of right-angle aluminum pieces to build a fan-sized frame, pop-rivet it together, drill the holes for the fan you want to fit, and then pop-rivet -- no -- SCREW it to your case bottom flush to the edge where the case panel slides -- maybe with a little clearance for the panel slides and hooks that secure it. You don't want it vibrating against the case. You could even rubberize the pop-rivets or screws the secure it to the case-bottom-edge.

The only thing better than that is a fan-frame constructed of Lexan to swing on a muffled hinge like that in the CoolerMaster midtower Stacker case. Geesh! Dawns on me you'd want to be able to pull the entire thing quickly from the case, so you might tap 6-32 holes in the case metal and use ornate little thumb-screws to secure the frame. You could still rubberize the mounting points.

If there were a gap between side-panel and the assembly, you could make a rubber (Akasa pad) gasket to stick on the case panel interior in the shape of the fan shroud. That would assure no leakage of interior air, and further muffle vibration.

Depends on how much time you want to spend and how much the pay-off matters to you.

That's why I just went for the wire-tie solution . . .
 

skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
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I'm trying to imagine the picture in your mind about this. Are you talking about the usual-access left side-panel?

Just the case door.Has two spots for fans but i hear some people prefer to basically cover them up to eliminate noise further. The case door panel is pretty flat inside and out which for some reason amplifies the noise the side fan puts out.
 
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