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Cans fan suggestion - 120mm, open air

C

CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
I'm looking for a decent, quiet case fan. It needs to be 120mm x 25mm and it will be mounted as an intake fan. It may be mounted horizontally (at the top of the case, blowing down), so absolutely no sleeve bearings (sorry, that means no yate loons).

I'm looking to spend $10 or less, and will give extra consideration to anything that comes with a pre-sleeved wire. In the past, I've had a Scythe Slipstream (wasn't impressed) and Scythe S-Flex (not bad, but pricey considering the CFM / dB ratio).

Thanks. 🙂
 
You do know sleeve bearing fans are almost always quieter than ball bearing right? I know ball bearing lasts longer but if you are going for quiet sleeve bearing is worth looking into.

That said the Gentle typhoons are good fans.
 
Petey! said:
Why would you have an "intake" fan blowing down? Seems a little counter-intuitive.
Click to expand...

It's an intake because it's blowing into the case. As for whether it's a good idea to have a top fan as an intake I guess it would depend on how his case/air flow is set up, in general fans on top work better as exhaust fans since heat tends to rise.

That being said, most 120MM fans ring up at over $10 except for the ones that aren't going to meet your other requirement, so I don't have any suggestions for you.
 
What's the worry with sleeve bearing case fans? I've got some orange Yate Loon's that are YEARS old, so old I can't even remember when I got them. Never a problem.
 
Nessism said:
What's the worry with sleeve bearing case fans? I've got some orange Yate Loon's that are YEARS old, so old I can't even remember when I got them. Never a problem.
Click to expand...

Running them horizontally is hard on sleeve bearings and can cause them to fail prematurely. Ball bearing fans are a little louder but last much longer when mounted horizontally.
 
modestninja said:
Running them horizontally is hard on sleeve bearings and can cause them to fail prematurely. Ball bearing fans are a little louder but last much longer when mounted horizontally.
Click to expand...

Sleeve also get louder with age, often pretty quickly. Ball bearing don't really change.

So while sleeve might be quieter initially, that may not last.
 
Sleeve bearings are designed to be run parallel to the ground, not perpendicular. When they're run facing vertically, the lubricant around the bearing will pool at one end, causing premature noise and failure. That's how I understand it anyway.

Seeing as there aren't any non-sleeve bearing, quality fans below $10, let's up it to $15 or so. I might go higher for something really exceptional.
 
FWIW...

I have used Yates in horizontal configs for years. I have never really noticed any increase in noise at all in those configs. While noise is subjective, I got my start PC building by using SPCR as a guideline. Subjectivity aside, I'd say I have a pretty strict guide as to what is "quiet".

As for failures, I have had 1 of 9 horizontal setup Yates start to exhibit a clicking noise. None of them failed, and all were in service for at least 9 months. The one that started clicking was entering its 13th month when it went south. This was in a machine that was on nearly 24/7 and I'd be willing to bet that dust killed it more than mounting position as I didn't realize how dirty it had become.

For as cheap as you can find Yates, I'd say it's not a bad idea. You can probably even get 2 of them for what you'd pay for a ball-bearing fan.

-edit-

Wanted to add that almost all of those fans were the "M" speed model 120's. Pretty sure I got them at PPC's, and they advertise them as already sleeved in black.
 
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