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How much does adding a 2nd fan to 212+ help?

F

funkatation

Member
I have a Coolermaster 212+ with the stock 120mm fan on my 2500-k. I'm thinking of replacing the stock fan with 2 new fans (any suggestions on good QUIET fans would be appreciated), and wondering how much difference it would make? Anyone notice much difference if you added a 2nd fan?
 
I don't think a Sandy Bridge would get hot enough (even overclocked) to make much of a difference. It'll probably make a few degrees difference with a Nehalem.
 
This review will give you some idea of how much a second fan will make a difference: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...olimatech-super-mega-cpu-cooler-review-9.html. They show a drop from 79 to 76 with an i7-920 clocked to 3.8. I'd say it's not worth it at all on an SB. You just won't hit high enough temps for it to matter. I tried it for a while on my i7-860. Wasn't worth the noise, since I only dropped a degree or two.

As for fans, I swapped the stock CM fan for a Scythe, but there are plenty of good choices. This is the one I have: http://www.directron.com/sp1225fdb12m.html. I use a fan controller to bring it down to 1050rpm. Cool and quiet. Two of my cores idle at room temp, the other two are about 4 degrees higher.
 
Yeah I don't think its worth the noise imo. I'm a silence nut and am using a 212+ (24$ @ MC) on my 2500K and the temps are superb. Are your temps not within the norm? Have you tried a remount to see what kind of contact your getting?

Look at this

I will say this about the 212+ as the base is not perfect flat...it's crucial to get a good mount or good contact. I've built a lot of PC's and this cooler is tricky. I've reseated mine twice now to experiment. I realized this cooler takes more TIM then what I was used to...firstly on the base to fill the gaps and then a 3 line method (the above benchmark link uses 2, but that HS only has 3 heatpipes) instead of a "pea". It's also important to equally tighten the screws going caddy corner to caddy corner when mounting like remounting a tire on your car :awe:.

I'm using an 800 Scythe Slipstream on mine it's super quiet almost silent inside a good quiet case and you can get them here

You might want to be safe if your not a silencer like me and get at least the 1200rpm models or higher even, then you can control them how you like via bios, speedfan etc...

You can also use the S-Flex series they are a little more $, but are also very quiet. I have a 2 Noctua 1300rpm intake's and an S-Flex 1200rpm exhaust for my 3 case fans all at ~700 rpm while idle. The Slipstreams put out a little more wind at the same RPM from what I read...

The Noctua's and S-Flex you link are excellent fans
 
One of the best 120mm fans I've bought was this Arctic Cooling AF 12025 fan. It's way quieter than my 140mm 1200rpm Scythe Slipstream. Even with the rpm lower than 1200 like around 800 there still is a little bit of noise. I am not knocking it's performance in cfm, it could just very well be the bearing choice Scythe used with the Slipstream.

The S-Flex D is a very quiet fan Scythe S-Flex D

You could always test out some fan placement. I took one of my Arctic Cooling fans and zip tied it to the perforated case and directed it at the NB and I also got some benefit of CPU cooling as-well.

Pic:

click to enlarge

Looks sorta ghetto but its VERY effective.

EDIT: My NB would run around 42*c Putting the Arctic Cooling fan there dropped it from 42*c to 32*c in 67*F ambients
 
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I have 2 800 rpm fans on mine on a i5 no noise problems since they are running so slow. If you have only one it will have to run at higher rpm. Whatever you decide to do I would still buy a replacment fan since the one it comes with is not silent.
 
Which fans do you have? With the current single fan setup @ 4.3Ghz I max out at 54C running Prime95. Idle is about 28C.


OlafSicky said:
I have 2 800 rpm fans on mine on a i5 no noise problems since they are running so slow. If you have only one it will have to run at higher rpm. Whatever you decide to do I would still buy a replacment fan since the one it comes with is not silent.
Click to expand...
 
I just pulled out my new Scythe SlipStream 120 Kaze-JYUNI fans, one 800rpm and a 1200rpm and came across a little discovery.

I am able to get an RPM reading by the front of my case's digital lcd read-out. Both Fans were tested ~ 800rpm and surprisingly the '800' rpm model was quieter. I figured it was electrical so I took a closer look and sure enough the '1200' rpm fan uses 0.26a VS the '800' rpm fan that uses 0.10a - this difference is very audible.

It may seem like so little but once you have everything else very very quiet, other things become very loud.

I recommend a fan that uses 0.10a or <

EDIT: the last thing that I need to quiet down is the ringing in my ear, hah 🙂 .. that's how quiet my main rig is.
 
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BTRY B 529th FA BN said:
New Egg has the S-Flex for 17$

Cooler Guys has them for 13$ - Link
Click to expand...

The S-Flex 1200 is $12 here: http://www.directron.com/sff21e.html

I recently did a search and found Directron had the best prices on these fans. I ended up buying the Kama Flow 2 1400rpm, however, for $9.50: http://www.directron.com/sp1225fdb12m.html. The blade design is a bit more "agressive". I have an S-Flex in my HTPC, and I'd have to say the S-Flex is a bit quieter at the same rpm, but the Kama Flow 2 pushes a bit more air. Both have fluid dynamic bearings, which I wanted for longevity.

Xbitlabs did a nice review of a number of fans here: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-1.html
 
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With GentleTyphoons, adding a second makes a big difference on the 212+. My i5 750 @4.0 (1.375) hits 73 with two 1850 rpm GTs at full blast, but it got up to ~80 with just one GT.
 
Lightflash said:
If you can find them in stock that would be great, but he could just get some Yate Loons at around $6 a pop and buy a few extra whenever they bite the dust.

I have run both and they perform solidly.
Click to expand...

Got the Yates from that site myself and love them.
 
BTRY B 529th FA BN said:
What have you compared them against?

I would imagine the Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm Slipstream is a better deal and at only 0.10a. I found that at 0.20a the fans motor will emit a high pitched noise at any rpm speed.

Here are the Slipstreams at 10$ a piece.

And here are your Gentle Typhoons at 16$ a piece if you go this route.
Click to expand...

There have been some reviews at Xbitlabs and the GTs seem to be the best combo for static pressure and silence.
 
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