Silent 80mm fan recommendations? Vantec vs PCP&C

[Antz]

I'm looking to build a silent system and I was wondering what you guys suggest.

I have an Alpha 8045 w/ Panaflo L1A on there at the moment in my old case.

My new case (Lian Li dont know which model yet) I plan on using a better 80mm on the heatsink and also in the power supply (Sparkle 350W).

My plan is either:

2 Vantec Stealths (one for HS one for PSU)
Panaflo L1As for case fans

or

2 PC Power and Cooling (one for HS one for PSU)
Panaflo L1As for case fans.

We all know Vantec makes great products and PC Power and Cooling are well known for their Power supplies. But I want to know how their fans work. Are they better than the Stealths? 27CFM/21dBA/$12shipped (Stealth) vs. 27CFM/20dBA/$8.44shipped(PCP&C)

What do you guys think?

 

[Antz]

No one knowS?

 

[hmsrolst]

I can't help you with the direct comparison, but since nobody else has yet, I'll try to help you with part of it. I use PCP&C Silencers as case fans in two systems, running them at minimum voltage via a fanbus, and I'm very happy with them. I've modded several PSU's with L1A's and they are very quiet also. I also have a PCP&C 275 Silencer PSU which appears to use one of their 80mm Silencer fans. It's quiet, but not as quiet as the PSU's modded with L1A's. On the other hand, it's a ball bearing fan, so it might be more reliable. Sorry, I've got no experience with the Vantecs.

 

[Neurofreeze]

PCP&C's 80mm silent fan specs aren't exactly... accurate. They make more noise and push far less air than what's listed. If they really were as quiet as they say, then it would match the L1A's (which it doesn't). For the CFM, just look at the RPM's, they're far lower than it should be to push 27CFM.

I don't know about the Vantec, but its specs seem reasonable. People seem to be very happy with them, but then again, people who don't know the truth about PCP&C's 80mm fans are happy with those too.

 

[hmsrolst]

On an early thread, Gizzo reported testing the amount of air moved by L1A's and PCP&C Silencers. He found that, in fact, the Silencers moved more air. They aren't silent, but no fans are when in actual use.

 

[Ausone]

I haven't tried Vantec Stealth, but I have compared Silencer and Panaflo L1A side by side.
Silencer's CFM rating seems to be a bit exaggerated. At least air pressure from Panaflo L1A was perceptibly greater than that from Silencer.

However, Silencer's noise rating seems to be more accurate. At default voltage, Silencer is not louder than Panaflo L1A, if not quieter. They are almost the same. If your Silencer is noticeably louder than a Panaflo L1A, you might have got a bad one. Motor noise is less with Silencer, which makes it a better candidate for undervolting.

Both are still not quiet, though, at default voltage. You'll have to run them at least at 7v. That is, 20dBA or so isn't really so quiet, at least for me.

BTW, PCP&C's PSU may not be using a Silencer. At least some of them aren't.

The problem with undervolting those fans is you'll get too little air flow. Using Papst 8412NGL at default voltage may be a better alternative. If you want to go cheap, you can search for a fan rated at around 26dBA and 31CFM and 5-volt it, which will give you less noise and more airflow than 7-volted Silencer/Panaflo. But this may not always work if you find a fan with those specs, since some cheap fan emits bad motor noise. So there is some risk to this approach.

 

[Soldat]

i would heed gizzo's opinion and since i'm running both the silencer's AND the L1A's i think it's safe to say that i can hardly tell the difference between the two as far as noise is concerned.....go with the cheaper of the two

 

[Antz]

Thanks for the input. I guess i'll wait around till BGMicro gets more Panaflos in stock. IT seems to be the cheapest route to a quiet case. Although it would be nice to have CPU Fan speed readings...mine says N/A b/c its a 2 pin panaflo

 

[RU482]

see my sig for silent fans