How loud REALLY is a "loud fan"??!?

[niwi7]

People claim oh this fan is too loud and that fan is too loud...but is any fan really TOO LOUD?
What qualifies a fan as too loud? like not in DB but in real life situations
Rite now i got a comp with stock everthing and yea i hear it from like across the room....so if im used to this, if i got a loud fan (im upgradin soon with new case and some fan w/ slk800), will it be louder than wut i have now??
like should i get a smart fan or a fan that just reguarly blows like 5000 rpms lol....pretty much saying....how loud is loud?
also on some review site people say oh this fan is so loud it sounds like a lawnmower....how the helko can a cpu fan be this loud? lol i just dont get the whole loudness issue please clarify...i think its all a bunch of nonsense for people who have sex with their computer and are obsessed....

 

[amcdonald]

Get the smartfan2 or another adjustable fan so you can decide for yourself.
If you don't care about noise then don't worry about what other people consider to be too loud.

 

[GAZZA]

The smartcase fan II is a good fan, you can have it as loud as you like or as quiet as you like

This new fan from Thermaltake flows up to 75.7CFM of air. Thankfully, thermaltake has given us control over the fan speed. You can set it to full speed, allow the fan to adjust its speed based on the supplied temperature probe, or use a supplied variable resistor to manually set the speed anywhere from 1300 to 4800 RPM for 20.55 to 75.7 CFM at 17 to 48dBA. The high airlfow capability combined with versatile speed control make this fan perfect for almost any application from super quiet case fan to ultra high performance CPU cooling. Use it on your case or any 80mm CPU cooler and dial in just the right amount of airflow to balance noise and performance.

 

[niwi7]

thx 4 quick response....i dont know if i care about noise or not b/c i do not know if what i have rite now is loud....give me sompin to compare a loud 60 db fan to or sompeihtng.....plus it must reduce the DB by a LOT when the case is assembled and the side r on...these are like the RAW measurements rite?

 

[amcdonald]

The kind of high-pitch whines usually associated with high-rpm fans cut through any case.
Just get the smartfan2... its pretty quiet at minimum voltage, and if its max 48db isn't enough to annoy you then it'll annoy anyone who comes near the computer.

 

[HiTek21]

I had an old Volcano 6cu+ with a 7000+ RPM Fan and it was so loud it gave me an ear ache, the noise it made was unbearable. It had a high pitched whining sound that was very hard to ignore while using the computer. Anything you can hear outside your computer room with the doors closed is too loud.

 

[HiTek21]

I had an old Volcano 6cu+ with a 7000+ RPM Fan and it was so loud it gave me an ear ache, the noise it made was unbearable. It had a high pitched whining sound that was very hard to ignore while using the computer. Anything you can hear outside your computer room with the doors closed is too loud.

 

[niwi7]

yea high pitched stuff sucks...rite now in my computer it think sumpins wrong b/c lately every once in a while there is a high pitched noise for a few minutes then it goes away...i gotta open up and take a look but it doesnt reall ymatter gettin all new stuff soon....thansk again..... lol ok im gunan get this smartafn 2 thx

 

[amcdonald]

I'd look into that dissapearing noise asap.
Its probably a failing fan... those are not good.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

yeah, i really don't care about noise either. i've got 2 rigs in my study, but there is no door or seperation... just open space into the entry-way. all bedrooms are upstairs, so noise isn't a problem with that. and my tv is almost always on in the next room with a decent volume thru 5.1 speakers. i dont think i would notice a loud-as-hell fan.

my case has (all 80mm):
vantec stealth intake
antec intake
antec intake
vantec stealth expel
antec psu expel (and an antec psu intake inside the case)
sk-7 with a YS tech @ maximum.

son's case:
60mm on a 1.4celery (i think the loudest fan in the whole room)
80mm expel
no intake

if i had to sleep in the same room as the computers, with them on, in the dead quiet of night, it might be considered loud. but, hell, i back up to a forest, so the crickets and locusts are louder than any equipment.

noise could be a huge problem for those with smaller, enclosed areas or situations where a computer is in the sleeping area. i've seen some people talk about losing their hearing from the delta fan screaming at them, while others are quite fine with it.

i say get something adjustable (ys tech, tt smart II, etc) and that way you can test both.

deadseasquirrel

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: HiTek21
I had an old Volcano 6cu+ with a 7000+ RPM Fan and it was so loud it gave me an ear ache, the noise it made was unbearable. It had a high pitched whining sound that was very hard to ignore while using the computer. Anything you can hear outside your computer room with the doors closed is too loud.

ok ok it's loud! we heard you the first time, no need to repeat yourself.

I don't mind the volume of the fans as long as the pitch is low and not some spine-tingling screech of an angry banshee that some of the smaller high rpm fans can sound like. I always try to go as big as possible with my fans. Bigger fans push more air with less rpm and less noise that is also a lower pitch. Nothing worse then a bunch of whiny 40mm fans. Sounds like a bunch of miniature jet planes in your case.

 

[Confused]

Loud is subjective, it varies from one person to the next. What could be loud for one person could actually not be too loud for another.

It's all just personal preference, as to "how" loud you like things.

As others have said, it's also to do with the pitch of the sound. A loud, but low pitch noise isn't as annoying to me as a slightly quieter, but more high pitched noise!!


Confused

 

[MangoTBG]

Just know that the large fan you get, the better. You get more CFMs at lower dBA ratings. However, I don't believe any of the 90mm to 80mm or 120mm to 80mm adapters would work on the SLK800, It's something to consider if noise could be an issue.

For example...

I had an Alpha Pal8045 w/ a 120mm to 80mm adapter

The 120mm fan I had on there could put out 130CFM at 45dBA. It's debatable if that much CFM is even working to help cool the heatsink any better than 80CFM (about the highest you can get w/ an 80mm fan without shattering anyglass).

However, I used a Vantec Nexus fan controller to control the speed of my fans in my case. With out accurate measurements, I'd say I could get 80CFM at sub 30dBAs, what most would consider "quiet".

Just another possability for you to pursue.

I no longer have that set up (I still have the fan and adapter). I now have the Zalman 7000 that is all copper. Very quiet, and very potent!

 

[cmdrdredd]

you can always turn it down to low when leaving it idle and when you are gaming crank the fan up to max so your speakers/headphones drown out the sound

 

[Blooz1]

A Tornado is just slap-up LOUD no matter how you look at it! A good 120MM does have a lower pitch, and you'll usually hear more air movement noise than mechanical noise, which is much more bearable to most people.

 

[gramboh]

Don't even consider the Tornado. I don't even know why it's produced, it's insanely loud. Maybe if you could somehow isolate your case in a soundproof chamber with dampened exhaust or something, but it's really way too loud for any kind of normal usage. There is a video review with sound over at http://www.3dgameman.com

 

[soja]

A TT smartfan2 at full speed with the case open sounds like an average hair dryer to me. It even fooled my sister who thought I had the hair dryer in my room one day... Thank god there's watercooling.

 

[0roo0roo]

get a fanbus/speed controller and lower the rpm of your fans. unless your system is insanely hot theres no need to move that much air. i like it when i can't hear my fans over my harddrive very low rpm

i once had a 6800rpm fan. for like 24 hours before i ripped it out and threw it across the room.

ok..i didn't throw it but i really really wanted to!

 

[soja]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

i once had a 6800rpm fan. for like 24 hours before i ripped it out and threw it across the room.

6800 deltas are made by the devil.