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Recommend A SUPER-QUIET 80mm case fan?

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Yate Loons should be bought from Petra's Tech Shop, as PTS is the only e-tailer that gets their stock of YL straight from YL - someone over at SPCR compared PTS and non-PTS Yate Loons and found that the PTS versions were quieter and undervolted better than the others.
 
Hey Shen,

Kindly stop spreading that bushwa... Petra is the only one stupid enough to go direct, thus having to ship by air, so his inventory is at a higher cost than jab-tech's for example who uses a middleman that ships by boat. So he's just whining about it because he can't be price-competitive. Time to put this urban legend to bed.

If you have solid evidence that there are inferior Yates out there, let's see it. First, convince me that someone would be stupid enough to try to counterfeit about the lowest end product on the market (at least price-wise).

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
Hey Shen,

Kindly stop spreading that bushwa... Petra is the only one stupid enough to go direct, thus having to ship by air, so his inventory is at a higher cost than jab-tech's for example who uses a middleman that ships by boat. So he's just whining about it because he can't be price-competitive. Time to put this urban legend to bed.

If you have solid evidence that there are inferior Yates out there, let's see it. First, convince me that someone would be stupid enough to try to counterfeit about the lowest end product on the market (at least price-wise).

.bh.
Click to expand...

Huh?

He's not the only one to bring this up.

Vapor on XS does basically the best fan reviews out there IMO & he says the same thing about the YLs NOT all being the same: http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=170224

Personally, i don't like the YL fans, so i don't entirely care. However quality on them does seem to vary.
They're dirt cheap, but they're messy.

I prefer to spend the extra for the pure quality that is exuded by Noctuas personally, not to mention the lovely sleeved cabling & low RPM adaptors.
 
I'm with Zepper on this one. I've heard the story before also, but take it as an urban myth. In every line of products, a few duds show up, despite quality control. I've bought YL fans several places....no difference. They can be had so cheap like from Jabtech, I usually buy three at a time, test each one. Rarely one runs quieter, or vibrates more. Usually they're all the same.

This sort of claim is like saying your Chevy bought at "X" dealer is better than the Chevy from "Y" dealer. Ain't gonna happen.....

Yate Loon makes fans sold under numerous brand names.......no doubt to different specs. The Nexus 120 is supposed to be a yate loon with an internal resistor to make it run slower/quieter. But a fan with a Yate Loon label, is probably the same as the next Yate Loon. Yate loon changes designs frequently, without changing model numbers. So the new YL labeled D12SL-12, certainly may be different than an older D12SL-12.

I'll add one more thing about this brand.....they all seem to run faster at lower voltages, than different brand fans. For instance, a D12SM-12 will do 1600rpms @12v (aprox). A Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm model runs the same speed at 12V. But at 5V the Scythe runs about 150rpms slower than the YL. No explanation from me.....that's the way it is.
 
Noctua are overpriced boutique items (read ePeePee). I have a fan controller, no need of add-on gimcracks...

And, yes, Yates are more variable than some others, but I usually buy at least 4 at a time, so I'm fairly sure of getting at least 3 that work as expected. Still the best bang for the buck going.

.bh.
 
I like the scythe slipstream fans for air cooling. they are more expensive than a YL but, I don't mind paying a little more for a better CFM😀B fan. Their 120's all run right about 3:1 where the YL's run about 2:1, again their 120's. I haven't bought an 80mm fan in 3 or so years but the last ones I bought were some aluminum framed ones from frozen cpu that are re-badged enlights I believe and they're great fans.
 
FWIW....I just finished a small fan comparison test of eleven fans, comparing them all to the Noctua NF-P12......which claims to handle resistance better (tight fins, filter restriction, etc). You guys may be interested. SPCR Link.
 
Originally posted by: Scoop
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.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
Alright guys, my 4 YL 80mm fans and my 1 120mm YL fan have arrived.

Firstly I have to give props to Jab-tech. I ordered sunday night and fedex had them to me tuesday morning (today) by the time I climbed out of bed, but then I'm only 1 giant state away (texas). EVEN WITH A national Holiday yesterday. Thats impressive.

On to the fans...

I am very underwhelmed with the noise levels from both the 120mm and 80mms that I received. The 80mm is only marginally quieter than my piece of crap, mass produced fans that I got for $1 each years ago. AND these new fans move MUCH LESS air. How much, I don't know. I just know theres much less moving across my hand when I tried them out. Also, the build quality of these fans is garbage, or at least the molex connectors that were used are. THe wires were falling out of the connectors after just 2 insertions for testing. What a pain in the ass.

As for the 120x120x20mm fan I find this noise to be downright unacceptable. Compared to the stock fan that sits on my big typhoon cooler (original) this fan is much louder. My big typhoon spins at about 1300rpm though, while this one I think is spec'ed at 2000.

As for cooling my system, I have an old case, so old I dont even know what its called or who is manufactured by, and the last 15 mins searching for it on newegg, I could not find it. That being said, I bought it used, and the previous owner had cut a 120mm hole in the side door of it and this is where I placed the 120mm.

Impressively the single 120mm fan YL cooled my system down to 47C cpu and 31C mobo at full load and 33C/30C at idle. Considering that with my case open (and no fans) my temps were 48C / 39C at full load and 33 / 38C at idle, I find this to be damned impressive.

So my conclusion is this:

The yate loons are too loud for me, but I only spent $20 on 5 of them with shipping, so I'll consider this a $20 learning experience.

But, now the question is: What 120mm fan would you personally recommend instead? Maybe I should start a new thread.....but the Nexus Real Silent Case Fan D12SL-12 is also made by Yate Loon, except that its the 25mm versoin instead of the 'low profile, 20mm' version I received. Thoughts?
 
Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
Alright guys, my 4 YL 80mm fans and my 1 120mm YL fan have arrived.
...
Thoughts?[/b]
Click to expand...

My first thought is... 80mm Yate Loons? They're known for their 120mm fans, not 80mm fans AFAIK. Next thought... different models? The same style YL fans are available at different RPMs. Maybe the ones you got are higher RPM? Another thought... different blade designs and pitch can affect performance at different RPMs. A fan that is the better performer (more CFM) at 2500RPM may not perform as well at 1000RPM versus a fan with a different blade design and pitch. The YL are known for decent performance at low RPM. Which leads me to my final thought... Most people buy Yate Loons because they know the Nexus fans are just undervolted Yate Loons. So, they buy the much cheaper YL fan... and then undervolt it.
 
Originally posted by: Zap
Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
Alright guys, my 4 YL 80mm fans and my 1 120mm YL fan have arrived.
...
Thoughts?[/b]
Click to expand...

My first thought is... 80mm Yate Loons? They're known for their 120mm fans, not 80mm fans AFAIK. Next thought... different models? The same style YL fans are available at different RPMs. Maybe the ones you got are higher RPM? Another thought... different blade designs and pitch can affect performance at different RPMs. A fan that is the better performer (more CFM) at 2500RPM may not perform as well at 1000RPM versus a fan with a different blade design and pitch. The YL are known for decent performance at low RPM. Which leads me to my final thought... Most people buy Yate Loons because they know the Nexus fans are just undervolted Yate Loons. So, they buy the much cheaper YL fan... and then undervolt it.
Click to expand...

Well I bought the 80mm Yate loons that were recommended by people in this thread.

As for the 120mm that I bought, it was not the version recommended in this thread, because jab-tech was out of stock of those. HOwever, the version I did buy was spec'ed at 20.8dB at jab-tech which is much lower than the recommended 120x120x25mm fan at 26dB.

But, how do you go about undervolting a fan? Move the 12V rail to 5V on the molex connector? Or is there a software solution to this? Since I already have THIS fan and haven't ordered a new one, I'm rather curious. Thanks!

 
there are a few ways to lower fan rotation.

if the fan is plugged into the mobo (people might flinch, but a decent board will easily handle a good, low power 120mm) software can be used. speedfan is able to control fan speeds as long as the fan header supports PWM (often 2 or 3 of the available fan headers).

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

if the fan is powered right off the PS, then a hardware solution is needed. you could go with front panel controllers or an in-line resistor.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/Su...name=Controller-Panels

http://www.performance-pcs.com...3408669cf52759e8632c6f

if your feeling creative, you could try this:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article6-page1.html
 
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
there are a few ways to lower fan rotation.

if the fan is plugged into the mobo (people might flinch, but a decent board will easily handle a good, low power 120mm) software can be used. speedfan is able to control fan speeds as long as the fan header supports PWM (often 2 or 3 of the available fan headers).

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

if the fan is powered right off the PS, then a hardware solution is needed. you could go with front panel controllers or an in-line resistor.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/Su...name=Controller-Panels

http://www.performance-pcs.com...3408669cf52759e8632c6f

if your feeling creative, you could try this:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article6-page1.html
Click to expand...

Be very cautious with the 7v trick. I have a seasonic s12 600 that did not like the 7v. it in fact got very very angry and wouldn't let me boot my main rig for an hour and a half while I tested everything individually, including the PSU and finally i just let it sit for 20 minutes or so, kicked my case and fired it up.

As for 120mm fans I really like the Scythe Slipsream fans. tehy go from 500rpm to 1900rpm and take lower voltages very well. The 800rpm fan won't start with less than like 9v but, it's near silent on 12 so no real isue there. I don't think the 500 will start with less than lik 10.5v volts but it is very silent on 12v. I usually either get the medium1200rpm fan for good cfm😀b or i I get the super high 1900rpm fans and run them on 7v, gets me about 1050rpm which is right beween the low and the medium.
 
Alright guys, I undervolted both the 80mm and 120mm fans to acceptable noise levels and adequate cooling. I'm happy!

With the 120mm at 5v its dead silent, but moved almost no air, and wouldn't start on its own. At 7v its not dead silent but its almost and definitely acceptable, plus it spins itself up. Under full load my x2 3800+ @ 2.4ghz is at 49C which is only 2 to 3C higher than with the fan noisy at 12V.

The 80mms sadly have to run at 5v however though. Even at 7v there is noticeable noise. That being said, my hard drives are "warm to the touch" which is better than hot, and without the noise!

I wonder if all the people who recommended these fans in this thread (thanks btw guys) undervolted their yate loons? I suppose I shouldn't have complained as much as I did after receiving the fans, but I have to give props to this community for showing me the solution to my cooling and noise woes! All I hear now is very slight fan turbulence which is largely drowned out by the drone of 5 hard drives spinning.
 
Also Yate Loon puts "unbalance weights" meaning labels on the moving blade. Take them off. Be sure to brace the blade so you don't damage the bearings.

.bh.
 
Shen...,

I guess I'll have to eat my words on the Yate Loon fans. Y-L makes many versions of fans under the same model number. The testing on xtremesystems.org shows definitive differences. Resellers may have to order direct to be sure they get the ones with the proper options. Or make sure their middleman orders the correct options.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
I guess I'll have to eat my words on the Yate Loon fans.
Click to expand...

This is one of the many reasons why Zepper is well regarded. Takes a big man to admit that he's wrong (and a bigger one to point it out to him 😛 ).

Zepper, what made you change your stance?
 
Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Did you use soft mounts for the fans" I de-couple every fan I use.
Closed corner or http://www.jab-tech.com/4-Pack...n-Corners-pr-3270.html">open.</a>
Click to expand...

My case is such that the 80mm fans have purple plastic "holders" in the form of clip-ins. I really wish I knew the model of my case so I could send a link. It does INDEED transfer a bit of vibration, but as of now I'm quite happy with the cooling and noise of my case with the undervolting. Seriously the noise of 5HDs is larger than that of my fans, and even right now at mostly idle my system sits at 35C cpu / 32C mobo. Definitely good temps with very little noise.

My conclusion is that these yate loons are good and quiet... when undervolted.
 
Hey Zap,

I finally got a chance to read the test on XS.org in full and there it is in black and white - weights differ, internal construction differs. Assuming the tester is telling as it is, there's no question. Besides I took a while looking over the Y-L site and there are lots of options to choose from. Have to pick correctly to get the best ones, I guess. Still the ones I've gotten from jab aren't bad.

.b.h.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
Hey Zap,

I finally got a chance to read the test on XS.org in full and there it is in black and white - weights differ, internal construction differs. Assuming the tester is telling as it is, there's no question. Besides I took a while looking over the Y-L site and there are lots of options to choose from. Have to pick correctly to get the best ones, I guess. Still the ones I've gotten from jab aren't bad.

.b.h.
Click to expand...

Glad to see you finally read my link 😉
(Or found it otherwise.)

I bought myself some YLs from DC here (since our choices for them in Canada are a lot fewer), & the ones i got were fine, & actually seemed to make about the same noise as my Noctua NF-S12s.
But i have too much stuff in my case to hassle with messy wires, & am too lazy to sleeve them or organize them, so they got sold to a buddy, & the Noctuas stayed.

I will admit that for those who either get lucky or who get them from the "good" retailers, they are a good deal.

 
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