Slow down the case fans...

[MotF Bane]

I have four 80mm fans, all of them are cheap MassCool units without controls on them, 25 dBa. How do I slow them from 2000rpm?

 

[RallyMaster]

2000RPM is loud? Are you sure you don't have other fans making the noise?

 

[MotF Bane]

The computer is sitting about 18 inches away from me, so it sounds a lot louder. The other two fans are a 120mm 1200RPM, and a 92mm fan on the stock Intel LGA 775 cooler.

 

[rquinn19]

First of all u have at least 7 fans from what i counted and maybe 9 iif u didnt count the PSU and videocard. Theres gonna be noise.

 

[MotF Bane]

Well, the PSU is an Antec SmartPower with 2 fans, but they control themselves based on the temperatures. The video card is passively cooled via a huge heatpipe thing. I don't want to turn down the 120mm, the airflow is still needed. So it comes back to the basic 80mm fans.

In any case, is there a way to reduce the power for each fan so they go slower?

 

[rquinn19]

get a fan controller

 

[RallyMaster]

I have a feeling it's the stock Intel cooler that's causing most of the noise mmmkoi.

 

[paydirt]

I'd go buy a bunch of Thermaltake Smart2 fans, 80mm or 120mm, they come with adjustable speed controllers. About $11 a pop on the 120mm's at newegg.com

 

[yosuke188]

Just 7V mod the fans. Google it.

 

[yh125d]

undervolt em? at 7v, they should do around 1200rpm. Dont do this if you already have fairly high temps though

 

[Boyo]

Try out Antec TRI-Cool fans. They have three speeds that you manually adjust.

 

[boomerang]

If the grill holes stamped out of the case are restrictive, you're fighting a losing battle.

 

[Cerb]

What case, and how are they arrayed? If you can, post a pic or two. As said by rquinn19, you've just got too many fans (at least 4 80mm too man, I think).

 

[taterworks]

Originally posted by: paydirt
I'd go buy a bunch of Thermaltake Smart2 fans, 80mm or 120mm, they come with adjustable speed controllers. About $11 a pop on the 120mm's at newegg.com

Bad idea -- these fans are anything but silent, even at their slowest speed. Their motors and bearings are very noisy. I recommend Evercool's "Ever Green" case fans (the green ones) -- they're very quiet even at 12V, and could be silent if run from the PSU's 5V rail. I use the 92mm and 120mm fans in my own rig, as well as the USB-programmable MCubed TBalancer BigNG microprocessor fan controller.

The 5V mod is one that I recommend you look into. The 7V mod doesn't always play nicely with every type of power supply, so the 5V mod is much safer, though not every fan will start reliably at 5 volts. The Panaflo L1A-speed fans is a good candidate for operation at 5V, and it was the original favorite over at Silent PC Review.

Don't expect a whole lot of airflow, however. You'll sacrifice some of your thermal performance for decreased noise, especially with a case that has 80mm case fans. What case do you have? Would you consider a new case, like an Antec P180 or SOLO?

 

[mgutz]

Even when you slow them down 80mm fans are loud in comparison to low RPM 120 mm fans. The large fans move more air at lower RPM. You can get quiet 80mm fans, Nexxus comes to mind, but you're better off with 120 mm fans.