Silent 80 and 120 mm case fans recommendation request

[taltamir]

any recommendation as to which fans I should get if I want them to be silent? I don't trust the newegg reviews

Oh, and price IS a factor, as I have multiple fans I wish to replace.

 

[JaYp146]

Cheapest bet are Yate Loon low speed 120mm fans from Petra's. Undervolt them with a fan controller to 5v and they'll be practically inaudible.

 

[zagood]

Mounted on a heatsink or intake/exhaust?

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: zagood
Mounted on a heatsink or intake/exhaust?

heh, I am not THAT clueless.

case fan, so mounted on the case, not on a heatsink.

Originally posted by: JaYp146
Cheapest bet are Yate Loon low speed 120mm fans from Petra's. Undervolt them with a fan controller to 5v and they'll be practically inaudible.

thank you, I went and ordered some on jab-tech.com

 

[zagood]

Reason I asked is because 80mm fans are tough to find "silent" with any type of airflow.

These are about the best price/performance, but really not a lot of air moving:
MECHATRONICS 80 x 25 mm Slow Speed Fan $4.25
http://www.coolerguys.com/840556086581.html

This one has better airflow, obviously a bit louder and more expensive, but a good "tone" to them:
Scythe "KAMA FLEX" 80x25mm 2500 RPM Silent Case Fan Medium Speed $7.50
http://www.censuspc.com/product-pr-8107.html

YLs are about the best 120mm for keeping costs down.

 

[taltamir]

thank you. i figured the 80mm are a long shot, i already unplugged all my 80mm fan cases and i only run the 120mm ones (actually, some of those are unplugged too). ill see if i need more flow after putting in the quiet 120mm fans.
My goal is actually to get LOW airflow quiet fans, and put a bunch of them working together to keep the case cooler (with components that will be ok without any case fans)

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

I went Fry's and saw a Velocity pc using Lian-Li fans and it was silent. Unfortunately, all the 120mm Lian-Li fans come with LED's.

 

[taltamir]

ugh, I HATE that... my room is already too bright to sleep in without me applying electrical tape to a bunch of LEDs...

 

[jhansman]

Just put a Scythe SFF21D 120mm in my rig. Only moves about 34CFM, but I can't hear it even when I put my ear up to it (rated at 8.7 dBA). I am experimenting with 120mm fans, trying to find the sweet spot between exhaust volume and noise, as my case will accommodate only one fan. Oh, about $17 each.

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: jhansman
Oh, about $17 each.

You need to comparison shop, brotha!
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=SFF21D&scoring=p

 

[bloodugly]

Originally posted by: taltamir
ugh, I HATE that... my room is already too bright to sleep in without me applying electrical tape to a bunch of LEDs...

Some wire snips can always cure the LED problem if you ever find a fan that you're otherwise interested in.

 

[taltamir]

what a simple and elegant solution... yes i believe it would solve the problem.

 

[Chang10is]

Anybody with a recommendation for a 120 mm fan that is already silent w/o undervolting? I just bought some Yate Loon 120 mm fans, but they're too loud for my taste. I'm looking for something relatively inexpensive.

 

[Engineer]

SilentPCreview's recommended fan page.

Always good information about quite stuff on that site.

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: Chang10is
Anybody with a recommendation for a 120 mm fan that is already silent w/o undervolting? I just bought some Yate Loon 120 mm fans, but they're too loud for my taste. I'm looking for something relatively inexpensive.

nexus real silent, S-Flex 800rpm.

 

[Chang10is]

Originally posted by: Engineer
SilentPCreview's recommended fan page.

Always good information about quite stuff on that site.

Looks like the Scythe SFF21D (S-Flex 800 rpm) is what I should buy in the future. In the meantime, I need to figure out a way to slow down the Yate Loons a little, maybe around 30% in RPM. Using a resistor like these seems like a good way to go, but I'm looking for something more along the lines of 9V. If I drop the voltage from 12V to 7V or 5V, I think it would slow the fans down too much. Anybody know where I can buy something like this?

 

[zagood]

10v: http://www.svc.com/nrc-1000.html

You're much better off with a controller though so you have a range available to you, even a FanMate if you're only controlling one fan -
http://www.svc.com/zm-fanmate2-75.html

 

[AVP]

I was considering these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811999199

Only 14db at a rate of 24cfm. That is a pretty nice ratio.

 

[Chang10is]

Originally posted by: zagood
10v: http://www.svc.com/nrc-1000.html

You're much better off with a controller though so you have a range available to you, even a FanMate if you're only controlling one fan -
http://www.svc.com/zm-fanmate2-75.html

Wow, $4 for a tiny resistor? At that price, I'd definitely prefer the fan controller. Newegg sells them a little cheaper than SVC--you can get 2 for under $10 shipped. Quick question though... are these meant to sit on the bottom of the case while they're connected to the mobo and fan?

 

[zagood]

They're small and light enough so conceivably they can just hang inline. They come with double-sided foam tape so you can mount them pretty much anywhere.

If you're looking for control for more than one fan, you should definitely get a Sunbeam Rheobus or other multi-channel controller...IF you have a free drive bay. Gives you more options for the future, you can reach them more easily, they don't clog up the inside of the box, so many more benefits.

 

[OzzieGT]

That fan controller looks like nothing more than a potentiometer in a box...is there more to it than that?

 

[bloodugly]

Edit: Never mind

 

[Zepper]

The Enermax "enlobal" type fans have been quite unreliable, but maybe that's just the 120 versions.

.bh.

 

[bloodugly]

These days I'm looking at the high end Noiseblocker Multi-frame fans. I've tested them, and they're smooth like butter...or margarine if you have high cholesterol Expensive, yes, but they sound sweet to my ear, especially at low speeds, plus they're not sleeve bearing. Worth a look, if you ask me. You can nail me for self promotion, but if anyone wants some at cost plus shipping, just hit me up via PM. Just trying to do some people here a favor and stuff. Crap, I'll probably get banned for saying that..... *sigh*