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Recommend A SUPER-QUIET 80mm case fan?

L

LxMxFxD4

Senior member
No volume discount, 22db

Volume Discount, 26db

So far thats what I've found. I have no idea whether 22db is that much quieter than 26db, but Link #1 is 5x the price of link #2.

If someone knows of a quieter fan even, please link me.

Also the amount of flow isn't largely relevant, I just need 3 fans to blow over my HDs and one out the back of my case.
 
Dude, those specifications are given by the manufacturers. You can never, and that is a definitive never, trust them. Are you going to run them at full speed or limit them to the slowest operational speed?

Take a look at this 80mm fan roundup to see the real specs and pick one that pleases you.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article689-page1.html

I'm not a fan of 80mm case fans as they don't provide enough CFM with acceptable sound levels. But if it's your only choice and want a recommendation, I'd say the Nexus REAL SILENT CASE FAN SP802512L-03. Newegg doesn't seem to have any Nexus fans however so you'd have to look elsewhere.
 
Ahh yes, thanks for the links.

I was looking at that exhaust fan but I don't know how to conver SONE to dB and wikipedia wasn't much help. If .8 Sone is less than 22db I'd probably buy that in a heartbeat for my exhausts.

As for my intakes blowing over my drives, I presently have some crappy generic 12V fan that I spliced the wires so that it runs only 5V. However these fans are dying recently (after 2.5 years) so I'm looking for a replacement.

As for money - its no real issue. I just want quiet with decent airflow. Can anyone comment on whether 26dB from those rosewill fans can be heard from 4 feet away?
 
it may be seen as a ghetto solution, but if you INSIST on quiet I would mod/drill out your case and replace the 80mm with a quiet 120mm.

Or monitor your temps closely while using a fan controller, turn the fans down to an acceptable noise level.

In my experience I have never seen an 80mm fan that I thought was "quiet" unless there was SOME level of background noise to muffle it.
 
Thanks guys, I went ahead and ordered 2 nexus 80mm fans from coolerguys. $30 with shipping for 2 case fans?! nutty, but hopefully they make NO noise!
 
Well...get out the check book again and order a few of these Yate Loons. The specs are real, not made-up like the others. And these fans are quiet, with no bearing noise. $2 each.
 
Originally posted by: Bluefront
Well...get out the check book again and order a few of these Yate Loons. The specs are real, not made-up like the others. And these fans are quiet, with no bearing noise. $2 each.
Click to expand...

They are quoted as being 26dB. Same as the rosewill fans. $2 each I can't complain, but is 26dB loud? I can't tell.
 
Have you actually read the posts in this thread? Those specs you read are frequently made up.....they usually mean nothing. SilentX specs are good example. A pack of lies. Yate Loon published specs have been proven over and over....to be real.

Lower db specs are quieter......but only if the spec is truthful.
 
Originally posted by: Bluefront
Have you actually read the posts in this thread? Those specs you read are frequently made up.....they usually mean nothing. SilentX specs are good example. A pack of lies. Yate Loon published specs have been proven over and over....to be real.

Lower db specs are quieter......but only if the spec is truthful.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have read what was listed in this thread regarding those manufactuer's specs. The Yate Loon specs are not bad at $4 a fan with shipping.

However, and I'll google them in a minute - can anyone say whether these 26dB fans are audible from one meter?

 
I have 120mm Yate Loons and they are dead silent. IMHO, if you are annoyed by Yate Loons, you are either A: A dude who is measure some sort of sound levels and for some messed up reason needs his computer right next to what you're measuring or B: A friggen wimp who needs to man up and get a dam pair of ear muffs if he really needs it quieter than that.
 
The only thing I can say about the yate loons is that it spins around 2000RPM. No fan is quiet spinning at that speed. It's not always just about the desibels, it's also about noise character. And of course, the more desibels the more the possible bad noise character stands out. I'm not saying though that the yate loons have a bad noise character, just something to think about.

No one can say whether you'll hear the difference between 20db and 26db without knowing the ambient noise level. If it's 20dbA, you'll definitely hear the 26db rated fan and when you have two of them, they add up 3db to make it 29dbA, whereas the 20db fans add up to 23dbA. The difference remains the same here, but if your ambient is 23dbA, then it's a different story.

And then there's the issue of your enclosure. How well it dampens the noise of the fans and whether there are grills in front of the fans that create noise with the airflow etc.
 
Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4can anyone say whether these 26dB fans are audible from one meter?
Click to expand...
In general, Sound Pressure Level (SPL) for components is stated in decibels, A-weighted for closest match to human hearing, and measured at 1 meter distance from the noise source. 26 dBA at a meter is most definitely audible -- if the ambient level is low enough, as Scoop already mentioned. In general, the ambient would have to be at least a few dBA louder for you not to be able to hear it all at all. A very quiet room -- like a bedroom in the evening in a suburban house -- will easily measure 20 dBA or lower; under 20 dBA/1m would be considered close to inaudible in most environments for most people.

Be aware that dBA only describes the level or "volume", not the quality of the noise. This is very important. 20 dBA/1m in a narrow tone, say 5000 HZ, would be most annoying for most people -- this is similar to the high pitched whine of a bad CRT monitor. In contrast a smooth 120x25mm fan spinning at 800rpm and measuring 20 dBA/1m would be virtually inaudible for most people in most environments. This is why a bunch of fans that have the same measured SPL do not sound the same, and most people will identify the less tonal, smooth fans in the bunch as being quieter.

For more info, see Anatomy of the Silent Fan, fan roundup reviews and Recommendations in the Fans & Controls section and What is a Silent Computer?, all in Silent PC Review.
 
Quiet 80mm fans generally don't put out any air to speak of. That's why most of us use 120mm fans as you actually may get 40 CFM and still be quiet. Note the Scythe fan in the review (which was 2 years ago - many new brands/models on the market now) only 24CFM at 12V - feh! If you don't want to cut, use a fan adapter thusly:
http://i52.photobucket.com/alb...r0/fanOnWaveMaster.jpg - the fan I have on there now can do up to 110 CFM if I need and can be pretty quiet when I don't!

.bh.
 
Not all Yate Loons are the same.
There are some that aren't nearly as good as many of us are used to, so beware. Check the fan thread @ XS regarding the safe places to buy Yate Loons.

Anyway, i'd recommend Nexus Real Silents or Noctuas 80mm fans for silence.

As has been mentioned, they won't push much air, but they're damn near totally silent.
I have a couple of the Nexus 92mm 1500RPM Real Silents, & they're quieter than my Noctuas 120mm @ 1350 RPM.
 
Check SilentPCReview.com for the answer. They'll probably recommend undervolted Panaflo 12L series fans.
 
Don't ever listen to manufacturer specs... they're always inflated CFM-wise and deflated [?] dBA-wise. The best 80mm fans to look at are Nexus Real Silent 80mm fans and Noctua NF-R8 fans. SilenX is the biggest joke in the quiet computing world - you can find out more at SPCR, where all they do is debate over what's quieter than what.
 
I order from JabTech frequently. They are almost always faster than NewEgg, usually beating NewEgg by 24 hours.

The 120x20MM Yate Loon is fairly quiet......just doesn't push as much air as the 120x25 YL (D12SL-12). There are 120mm fans slightly quieter than the YL......many cost 4X as much.
 
The 120mm D12SL-12C version is the low profile one (20mm thick instead of the 25mm standard, D12SL-12: http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-L...-D12SL-12-pr-3009.html ) which is a direct replacement for some PSU fans. Not sure whether that one is as quiet as the standard sized one (closed corner version) - the ball-bearing version (D12BL-12) is definitely not as quiet, nor is the open corner version. I have both. I've never had an 80mm version, so report back on your experience.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Bluefront
I order from JabTech frequently. They are almost always faster than NewEgg, usually beating NewEgg by 24 hours.

The 120x20MM Yate Loon is fairly quiet......just doesn't push as much air as the 120x25 YL (D12SL-12). There are 120mm fans slightly quieter than the YL......many cost 4X as much.
Click to expand...

Yeah I would have gotten the 25mm version but they were out of stock, and plus according to jab-tech, the 20mm version is 5dB quieter. I don't know if again the specs quoted on jab-tech are deflated or not, but I'll def report back when I get em installed tomorrow or wed.

Thanks again for the recs guys.
 
I think most of these re-sellers just re-print the specs as provided by the mfg. I don't blame them for exaggerated/ or reduced numbers. If you visit different places, you'll find the specs for a particular fan about the same.

I do blame re-sellers for not putting a disclaimer on fan pages regarding specs.....something like "Warning. Some fan makers are known to stretch the truth with their db and cfm specifications." SilenX has been even known say a fan can do XXXXrpms @12v, when it won't.
 
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