Cheap and quiet PWM fans?

[drizek]

I just got a new motherboard loaded with 4-pins and I want to upgrade my case fans on my antec solo. I want to switch out thev 120mm tricool in the back and add two 92mm in the front, as well as possibly replacing the 120 on my zerotherm CPU cooler. Basically the benchmark for noise is the tricool on low. It's already a bit loud for me, so I want something quieter than that(under low stress) but that can also put out the same cfm or more than the tricool on high(regardless of noise).

I've seen some that fit my needs but they are very expensive. Is there anything out there that comes in at under about ten bucks a fan or so?

 

[Brainonska511]

I put two Arctic Cooling PWM fans (F9 and F9 Pro) on my Hyper TX3 and have been very happy with their noise-level. Very quiet and they have PWM sharing, so I could plug both into the one 4 pin connector on my board.

 

[drizek]

Thanks. Seems like a good option. The two 92s and one 120 pro came out to 30 bucks. Does anyone have any other recommendations or should I pull the trigger?

And can anyone comment on whether it is worth replacing the stock zerotherm cooler? It seems to work well enough, but more airflow never hurts. Edit: the zerotherm puts out slightly more cfm than the ac fan, and since it is plenty quiet, I won't be replacing it.

 

[alizee]

Silent PC Review gave a pretty good review to the Scythe KAMA PWN:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article832-page2.html
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/020/dfspwm_detail.html

I have one in two different systems. The bad thing about them are they don't work very well with my Thermalright XP-120 and Ultra 120, I had to saw out the corners.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/60...tl=c365s940b14

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12...tl=c365s936b14

 

[drizek]

Thanks, I got my Arctic Coolings today though. They are pretty quiet, but they don't report the fan speed. It's kind of a weird setup and I think I've installed them incorrectly.

 

[Brainonska511]

Thanks, I got my Arctic Coolings today though. They are pretty quiet, but they don't report the fan speed. It's kind of a weird setup and I think I've installed them incorrectly.

I have mine daisy-chained to the CPU-fan slot (both are on my heatsink). One fan reporter is connected to the end of the chain, and I can see that speed. The other is connected to a motherboard header and it just says N/A in my BIOS.

 

[drizek]

oh ok, that makes sense.

I cut the daisy chain stuff off of my 120mm... I'm going to have to get out the electrical tape

 

[Brainonska511]

oh ok, that makes sense.

I cut the daisy chain stuff off of my 120mm... I'm going to have to get out the electrical tape

It's PWM sharing. If you don't daisy chain, you just attach the 3-pin fan monitor cable to the open end.

 

[drizek]

Ya, I didn't realize that when I cut it. I ust don't get whey they would go through all that trouble of sleeving the cable only to have that stuff hanging off of it.