Can a super cheap fan really beat the competition?

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BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
1,554
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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.

Well . . . that was always the trouble with sidepanel fan-mounting. That's why CM came up with that hinged plastic fan-frame close to but not touching the panel of the Stacker. The hinge of the Stacker frame rides on springs, so noise is attenuated both ways.

This also made it less pleasant to use a smaller fan like an 80mm or even a 120mm mounted directly to the side-panel.

Now truth be told, the side-panel for my Sandy machine faces the side of my couch. But there are three computers running in here, and I barely hear anything. Or when I go stick my head between the couch and the side-panel -- it's mostly the white-noise from turbulence, and the turbulence comes from a large 200mm fan spinning no more than 1,700 RPM.

Like I said -- you could take a spring-loaded-punch-marker to make tiny dents in your sidepanel at exactly where you would drill 3/16" or similar holes to expand the fan vent, drill the holes (best with a drill press, but a portable drill and steady hand should work), then drill the corner mounting holes for the larger fan.

I don't think cases in general have much stunning resale value, but if done neatly, it could be marginally appreciated by whoever gets the hand-me-down. A case is not something that needs much of a warranty to worry about. Of course, some people are pretty klutzy with power tools, so YMMV means your risk may vary.

And the other thing -- which you mentioned as an inclination: They build those cases to provide options. If you want a pressurized case, you would surely block off vents where you don't want or need fans. If the case is silver, you can enamel foam art-board. If it's black, there's plenty of black foam art-board wherever you can shop for it. Couple dollars for half a square yard. Useful stuff -- it is . . . .

ADDENDUM: Someone may want to check out my remark today 1/15/14 ~9AM PT on another thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35956887

I thought I'd do a re-review of 200x25mm options and criticisms for NZXT. They now have LED versions running at only 700 RPM, but the white/black-shroud version runs around 1,300 RPM. I've got the latter. No problem. But cus-reviews at the Egg on this fan are about 24% 1* "this-is-a-piece-a-s***" assessments. Go figure!

Works for me!

'NOTHER UPDATE: Man! I just got the other NZXT out of storage -- still in the retail box. These things are rated at 166 CFM, noise at 37 dBA. The way I have it installed, it doesn't sound near 37 dBA to me. And like I already said -- none of the cus-review criticisms for 1*-ratings seem to apply.
 
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BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
1,554
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Ho-Ho! The plot thickens!!

Check out this adapter:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14953/duc-54/FrozenCPU_200mm_to_120140mm_Fan_Adapter.html

I have this 140mm Sharkoon on my case bottom -- was going to dump it because it doesn't provide much in CFMs to warrant the extra dust -- lifted with casters off the carpet.

I was going to dump it and cover the hole.

I don't want to waste time with my drill-press to turn it into a 200mm fan-hole, either.

There may be room for the adapter to fit next to the PSU -- I need to find out.

NOW. Suppose you could cut two or three pieces of foam art-board -- cumulatively choking off the adapter at either of two locations -- in its bottom 140mm well, or on top of a 200mm fan mounted on the wide side.

You could hinge the art-board rectangles with wire fittings cut from unused CPU-cooler fan springs.

Then, thermally control the bottom 200mm fan. At low temps, the port would ideally block itself off; with the right controller, you could actually bring the fan speed to 0%. The hinged pieces would fly up with temperature and fan speed, throwing as much as 166 CFM into the case.

ANOTHER IDEA FOR THOSE BEEFY DELTA MONSTERS

Here or on another thread, somebody posted a link to a 3A@12V DELTA fan that spews out a top-end somewhere between 200 and 300 CFM. The one I have draws 1.65A and also moves a lot of air. But we're talkin' maybe 18 to 20W of power.

Here's a nifty item that may or may not work the way you want it to, using what is apparently shown as a single thermal sensor wire:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...On_at_88F_OFF_at_81F.html?tl=g47c17s422#blank

You'd only hook up one of those Delta's to this thing, and the temperature thresholds seem to be presets that you might not like so much.

I say "But really!" If it floats your boat, it's another feasible option . . . maybe . . .
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
71
Those b-blaster fans are a crock, air pressure makes them feel like they are pushing less then 80cfm.Almost swear the antec 120mm tri speeds with their 79cfm i have used many times are better then these.

Improvement over the stock Rosewill still but that isn't saying much.Noise seems about on with the Antecs as well but since i was looking for black non led fans in the 75-80cfm range when i found these, i guess i got what i originally wanted lol.:awe:

The silverstones still are my favorite 100+ cfm fans and these fans here aren't even 90....
 

Rinaun

Golden Member
Dec 30, 2005
1,196
1
81
You'd only hook up one of those Delta's to this thing, and the temperature thresholds seem to be presets that you might not like so much.

I say "But really!" If it floats your boat, it's another feasible option . . . maybe . . .

That's a shame they made that controller unit so rickety that it only handles 2 amps. Tempted to make a really nice unit like that with a LCD screen and programmable via USB; then again corair H100I's basically do everything above and more so it's super niche.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
1,554
126
That's a shame they made that controller unit so rickety that it only handles 2 amps. Tempted to make a really nice unit like that with a LCD screen and programmable via USB; then again corair H100I's basically do everything above and more so it's super niche.

Yeah -- you're right. I looked at the H100i's specs the other day.

Truth be told -- H20 . . . . is da way to go . . . for the new processors, whether or not you want to de-lid them, and IF you want to overclock.

I was looking around to see if anyone was still selling "chilled-water" parts, and can't find any.

With the beefy fans on (or next to) a heat-pipe cooler, they may be quiet under 2,000 RPM, but you expect that 3,500 will give you 50 dBA.

I've got two Akasa Viper 140 R's coming on Monday. That will be my first little playtime project on my Sandy before I do anything else.

EVEN SO!! Remember the "Progressive Insurance" lady, featured in a flashback to her grade-school class-election days, campaigning on "Pizza-loyalty discounts," then -- "And I've got great ideas for car insurance, too?"

I've got a low-tech idea for low-noise CPU-cooler exhaust. Another "foam-art-board" concoction.

And again -- the truth is -- you only get so much mileage on a heatpipe cooler with enhanced CFM. It would be better to get a WC kit and find a way to integrate TEC chilling.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Oh yeah. Tell me "congrats." I had settled into 2.5 years with my i7-2600K @ 4.60Ghz, not interested in taking it higher. Today, I punched up the voltage by 32 mV, set the multiplier to 47. I thought it would be much worse -- already in the "exponential elbow" of voltage versus clock-speed. Loaded voltage at 1.34V, the temperatures with a room-ambient of 79F only average around 70C.
 
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24601

Golden Member
Jun 10, 2007
1,683
39
86
TEC is easy, just buy a window AC unit, open up the front, and put your radiators inside.

/done

The hard way would be to put a giant waterblock on the inside of the AC unit.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
1,554
126
TEC is easy, just buy a window AC unit, open up the front, and put your radiators inside.

/done

The hard way would be to put a giant waterblock on the inside of the AC unit.

Yeah! That's a great Rube Goldberg idea! I think I already said someone had modded a standard office water-cooler to integrate with their water-cooling loop. Then -- you need a hand-cart to move the computer (and etc.)

All of the Rube Goldbergs and more elegant solutions like a commercially made, TEC-cooled chiller for a water loop are interesting ideas. I saw a TEC chiller at Sidewinder a few years ago, can't find it there now.

Ultimately, you'd want something that would just keep the CPU (and maybe GFX processor) at exactly room ambient, plus or minus a couple degrees. You're going to burn up extra electrical energy doing it, but the goal is less ambitious than what results with a $900 phase-change cooler. Even the latter could be adjusted probably to give room-ambient.

But . . . it's $900, has its own extra chassis --complexity that you can't just pick up as one and carry to the LAN party games without making an extra trip from your parked car.

And . . it's at least $900. One unit at Frozen CPU has fittings for both CPU and GFX -- around $1,700, I think.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
1,554
126
If you want to get fancy, just use an external AC unit with a coolant pipe to an internal radiator.

Something like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyRa_KAf4EI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCWegrTuKB4

You can use the coolant lines with a block on your components or a block connected to your loop to get subzero and basically have a super powerful peltier cooler that doesn't heat your room :D.

I have to . . . wrap my head around this . . . :oops:

I still have plans to "connect my computer to my house" -- surveillance, lights -- camera! Action! Maybe even hook it up to eee-leck-tronic sech-shual devices, driven by virtual reality "Anime" fantasy.

But connecting my house to my computer? :hmm: