Questions about Yate Loon fans. Undervolting, thickness, durability?

[tracerit]

I'm looking to buy two 120mm Yate Loon fans from jabtech but I have just a few questions:

1. Should I go with 20mm or 25mm thick fans? 20mm seems to be 8dB quieter than the 25mm but $1.50 more. Are the 25mm more durable?

2. How do I undervolt these fans? If I go with the low speed D12SLs and undervolt will they even be worth it? I remember reading something about undervolting will sometimes cause a fan not to spin at all because not enough power is supplied.

3. Are closed corner fans the norm?

4. PWM, does it only work with the 4pin connectors on the motherboard? How about 3pin connectors?

 

[WoodButcher]

Originally posted by: tracerit
I'm looking to buy two 120mm Yate Loon fans from jabtech but I have just a few questions:

1. Should I go with 20mm or 25mm thick fans? 20mm seems to be 8dB quieter than the 25mm but $1.50 more. Are the 25mm more durable?
I've had very few problems w/ yates, ever. For what the Yates cost compared to other brands of equal quality I think $1.50 is a moot point unless you were buying a gross or more for resale, for a system w/ many fans, ten x 1.50 is less than the cost of one of the more expensive fans. Buy what fits your case, bigger is better, performance-wise. All the 120mm yates I have will spin up undervolted to 5v, the 80mm yates I have don't like the undervolting, no prob, can't hear them at 12v either. What you do hear from yates is the air.

2. How do I undervolt these fans? If I go with the low speed D12SLs and undervolt will they even be worth it? I remember reading something about undervolting will sometimes cause a fan not to spin at all because not enough power is supplied.
You don't want to undervolt the low speed yates, you can't hear them anyway. I use the high speed fans w/ a rheobus controller. If a fan won't spin up, no biggie, add more juice.

3. Are closed corner fans the norm?
No, It depends on the manufacturer.

4. PWM, does it only work with the 4pin connectors on the motherboard? How about 3pin connectors?

3 pin does not do PWM, voltage only. Many mobos give you a choice in the bios, read the online manual carefully before you buy the mobo.

 

[Zepper]

Well, I don't expect the longevity to be too great at $3. to $5. per fan. The 20mm thick fans are used a lot in PSUs for the bit of extra space that allows inside. If you crank the SL version down, much below 7V, you may as well not have a fan. As most know, the Nexus fans are just slightly undervolted YL SLs.. The SM version may still give some air if dropped below 7V, but J-T may still be out as I bought their last two back after thanksging. I just checked and his quantity selector on the SM is back up to 20, so I guess he got some more in.

.bh.

 

[Billb2]

Just a reality check: Are you sure an undervolted, low-CFM fan is going to supply enough air?

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: Billb2
Just a reality check: Are you sure an undervolted, low-CFM fan is going to supply enough air?

There are a few applications where you don't need to move much air, like HD cooling and side panel intake, and exhaust if you have more than one fan. That being said, yeah, most of the places people are setting fans up like that make them totally useless.

-z

 

[tracerit]

Yeah, I wouldn't want a fan there unless it moved some air. I just want it quiet. So the low speed 1300rpm 120mm D12SL-12 (25mm thickness) should be quiet enough then? Or should I go for the SM version and undervolt that?

 

[Tiamat]

I've purchased from both Jab-tech and SVC.com I know the latter is carrying the D12SL-12 for 4-5$ now. THey have closed corners so you have to saw them out. My D12SL-12 fans have been running for over 4 years without any problems. I undervolt them to ~6V using Zalman Fanmate 2, they have trouble starting up on their own below 4.5V.

Hope this helps!

 

[Zepper]

jab-tech has the SL in both closed and the new open corners (the open cornered ones are a bit noisier than the original closed corner units. $3.50 each, buy three or more at $3.00 each. Similar deals on most YL sleeve bearing.

.bh.

 

[tracerit]

I'm going with the closed corners. Whats the reason for sawing them out though?

 

[Zepper]

Some CPU fan mounts don't work well with closed corner fans, so you can cut out the bridges if you need to.

.bh