What are the quietest 120mm case fans?

[n7]

I know people hate the Noctuas here because they are pricey, but i'd say they are easily the best overall 120mm fans you can buy.

For cheap, Yate Loons will suffice, as long as you make sure to get them from a retailer known to get good ones, since consistency & YL don't seem to be great unless you get them from certain spots.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: craftech
What's the difference how much longer ball bearing fans last than sleeve bearing fans. Sleeve bearing fans are cheap, quiet, and often come in multiple packs to use as spares.

For example:

COOLER MASTER case fans such as:

http://www.svc.com/r4-s2s-124k-gp.html

R4-S2S-124K-GP 4 PACK 120MM LOW NOISE FAN 44.73CFM 19.3DBA

Four for $9.99

John

I'll step back in here quick, those fan are not, Not, NOT 19dbA. They're about 19dbA above an ambient reading of 19dbA, lol. They're a little quieter than my 60cfm 39dbA evercool cheapies and don't nearly move as much air.

Sleeve bearings generally have an MTBF of just shy of 3 years whereas ball bearings are about 5 years. Proper re-oiling of a sleeve can stretch it to about 5 years and re-oiling a ball bearing can push it to about 8.5 years. Obviously that is giong to vary by as much as 25-30% depending on build quality. Any imbalance in the actual rotor/blades of the fan is going to cut it's life by 10-20%.

These Cooler Master sleeve bearing fans sold in two-packs by Newegg are similar. The user reviews seem to indicate that they are quiet and cheap.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835103022

If they are quiet and cheap, I still don't get the logic of spending $20 plus on a ball bearing fan or two or three.

John

Then you'll have a hell of a time explaining why aigomorla has a thousand dollars worth of water cooling stuff sitting in a box and why I'm spending about $300 to cool my 4 year old hardware to -25C huh?

It's just what we do. :shrug:

Then for you it's worth it. Not all of us spend that much as I am sure you are aware. I am not sure if the OP spends that kind of money either.
From his post:

I want 120mm fans (2 or 3) and my priorities are:

1. Quiet

2. Moves decent air

3. Not too expensive


Probably the least important of those 3 is air movement, because my system isn't that high powered:

Now I believe we are participating in this thread to help the OP meet his needs. Right?


John

I haven't found anything here offensive or off topic, including the discussions between the two of you. I stated my ideas in the OP, but I was pretty naive at that point and I've been learning a lot in following what's been going on in this thread. Please feel free to speak your minds. And thank you for the education.

Speaking for myself, I figure it's worth something to buy fans that are apt to last longer just so I'm not inclined to wonder, "are my fans failing? Is my system getting a little louder?" With BB fans, in particular what is stated as the superior BB technology of the S-Flex fans, I figure it's unlikely they'll get louder any time soon, especially since I don't leave my system running when I don't expect to use it within the next hour or two (i.e. I shut it down often, don't let it run overnight, etc.).

I did have a vexing system failure situation a few weeks ago, which led me to this point. Motherboard failure (and it took out a PSU and 2 vidcards!), and I figure that cooling was a contributing factor. I had no intake fan and 2 exhaust (including the PSU's exhaust fan). I figure I should add an intake fan and swap out the 80mm I had for a 120. I wasn't happy with the noise of the PC as it was, and wanted to do something about it. Now, since I'm rebuilding the system I figure that the addition of two 120mm's and removing the relatively loud 80mm should address both problems (cooling and noise).

 

[craftech]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: craftech
What's the difference how much longer ball bearing fans last than sleeve bearing fans. Sleeve bearing fans are cheap, quiet, and often come in multiple packs to use as spares.

For example:

COOLER MASTER case fans such as:

http://www.svc.com/r4-s2s-124k-gp.html

R4-S2S-124K-GP 4 PACK 120MM LOW NOISE FAN 44.73CFM 19.3DBA

Four for $9.99

John

I'll step back in here quick, those fan are not, Not, NOT 19dbA. They're about 19dbA above an ambient reading of 19dbA, lol. They're a little quieter than my 60cfm 39dbA evercool cheapies and don't nearly move as much air.

Sleeve bearings generally have an MTBF of just shy of 3 years whereas ball bearings are about 5 years. Proper re-oiling of a sleeve can stretch it to about 5 years and re-oiling a ball bearing can push it to about 8.5 years. Obviously that is giong to vary by as much as 25-30% depending on build quality. Any imbalance in the actual rotor/blades of the fan is going to cut it's life by 10-20%.

These Cooler Master sleeve bearing fans sold in two-packs by Newegg are similar. The user reviews seem to indicate that they are quiet and cheap.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835103022

If they are quiet and cheap, I still don't get the logic of spending $20 plus on a ball bearing fan or two or three.

John

Then you'll have a hell of a time explaining why aigomorla has a thousand dollars worth of water cooling stuff sitting in a box and why I'm spending about $300 to cool my 4 year old hardware to -25C huh?

It's just what we do. :shrug:

Then for you it's worth it. Not all of us spend that much as I am sure you are aware. I am not sure if the OP spends that kind of money either.
From his post:

I want 120mm fans (2 or 3) and my priorities are:

1. Quiet

2. Moves decent air

3. Not too expensive


Probably the least important of those 3 is air movement, because my system isn't that high powered:

Now I believe we are participating in this thread to help the OP meet his needs. Right?


John

I haven't found anything here offensive or off topic, including the discussions between the two of you. I stated my ideas in the OP, but I was pretty naive at that point and I've been learning a lot in following what's been going on in this thread. Please feel free to speak your minds. And thank you for the education.

Speaking for myself, I figure it's worth something to buy fans that are apt to last longer just so I'm not inclined to wonder, "are my fans failing? Is my system getting a little louder?" With BB fans, in particular what is stated as the superior BB technology of the S-Flex fans, I figure it's unlikely they'll get louder any time soon, especially since I don't leave my system running when I don't expect to use it within the next hour or two (i.e. I shut it down often, don't let it run overnight, etc.).

I did have a vexing system failure situation a few weeks ago, which led me to this point. Motherboard failure (and it took out a PSU and 2 vidcards!), and I figure that cooling was a contributing factor. I had no intake fan and 2 exhaust (including the PSU's exhaust fan). I figure I should add an intake fan and swap out the 80mm I had for a 120. I wasn't happy with the noise of the PC as it was, and wanted to do something about it. Now, since I'm rebuilding the system I figure that the addition of two 120mm's and removing the relatively loud 80mm should address both problems (cooling and noise).

With that in mind I have the Scythe 4710KL-04W-B19-V54 in one of my rigs and it is extremely quiet. It has been going for around two years now and is just as quiet as the day I installed it.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185029

It is no longer made and I don't know which Scythe has replaced it or how it stacks up.

In terms of the San Ace 1011 that was mentioned I looked, but I didn't find a vendor that carries it.

http://www.google.com/products...Products&hl=en&show=dd

http://www.google.com/products...Products&hl=en&show=dd

John

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: craftech
What's the difference how much longer ball bearing fans last than sleeve bearing fans. Sleeve bearing fans are cheap, quiet, and often come in multiple packs to use as spares.

For example:

COOLER MASTER case fans such as:

http://www.svc.com/r4-s2s-124k-gp.html

R4-S2S-124K-GP 4 PACK 120MM LOW NOISE FAN 44.73CFM 19.3DBA

Four for $9.99

John

I'll step back in here quick, those fan are not, Not, NOT 19dbA. They're about 19dbA above an ambient reading of 19dbA, lol. They're a little quieter than my 60cfm 39dbA evercool cheapies and don't nearly move as much air.

Sleeve bearings generally have an MTBF of just shy of 3 years whereas ball bearings are about 5 years. Proper re-oiling of a sleeve can stretch it to about 5 years and re-oiling a ball bearing can push it to about 8.5 years. Obviously that is giong to vary by as much as 25-30% depending on build quality. Any imbalance in the actual rotor/blades of the fan is going to cut it's life by 10-20%.

These Cooler Master sleeve bearing fans sold in two-packs by Newegg are similar. The user reviews seem to indicate that they are quiet and cheap.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835103022

If they are quiet and cheap, I still don't get the logic of spending $20 plus on a ball bearing fan or two or three.

John

Then you'll have a hell of a time explaining why aigomorla has a thousand dollars worth of water cooling stuff sitting in a box and why I'm spending about $300 to cool my 4 year old hardware to -25C huh?

It's just what we do. :shrug:

Then for you it's worth it. Not all of us spend that much as I am sure you are aware. I am not sure if the OP spends that kind of money either.
From his post:

I want 120mm fans (2 or 3) and my priorities are:

1. Quiet

2. Moves decent air

3. Not too expensive


Probably the least important of those 3 is air movement, because my system isn't that high powered:

Now I believe we are participating in this thread to help the OP meet his needs. Right?


John

I haven't found anything here offensive or off topic, including the discussions between the two of you. I stated my ideas in the OP, but I was pretty naive at that point and I've been learning a lot in following what's been going on in this thread. Please feel free to speak your minds. And thank you for the education.

Speaking for myself, I figure it's worth something to buy fans that are apt to last longer just so I'm not inclined to wonder, "are my fans failing? Is my system getting a little louder?" With BB fans, in particular what is stated as the superior BB technology of the S-Flex fans, I figure it's unlikely they'll get louder any time soon, especially since I don't leave my system running when I don't expect to use it within the next hour or two (i.e. I shut it down often, don't let it run overnight, etc.).

I did have a vexing system failure situation a few weeks ago, which led me to this point. Motherboard failure (and it took out a PSU and 2 vidcards!), and I figure that cooling was a contributing factor. I had no intake fan and 2 exhaust (including the PSU's exhaust fan). I figure I should add an intake fan and swap out the 80mm I had for a 120. I wasn't happy with the noise of the PC as it was, and wanted to do something about it. Now, since I'm rebuilding the system I figure that the addition of two 120mm's and removing the relatively loud 80mm should address both problems (cooling and noise).

With that in mind I have the Scythe 4710KL-04W-B19-V54 in one of my rigs and it is extremely quiet. It has been going for around two years now and is just as quiet as the day I installed it.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185029

It is no longer made and I don't know which Scythe has replaced it or how it stacks up.

In terms of the San Ace 1011 that was mentioned I looked, but I didn't find a vendor that carries it.

http://www.google.com/products...Products&hl=en&show=dd

http://www.google.com/products...Products&hl=en&show=dd

John

The mineba 120mm were replaced by the slipstreams we've been refering to in this thread. SanAce1011s are generally a b!tch to find and you'll end up paying $20-25 each when they do come in stock anywhere.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12


I'll step back in here quick, those fan are not, Not, NOT 19dbA. They're about 19dbA above an ambient reading of 19dbA, lol. They're a little quieter than my 60cfm 39dbA evercool cheapies and don't nearly move as much air.

Sleeve bearings generally have an MTBF of just shy of 3 years whereas ball bearings are about 5 years. Proper re-oiling of a sleeve can stretch it to about 5 years and re-oiling a ball bearing can push it to about 8.5 years. Obviously that is giong to vary by as much as 25-30% depending on build quality. Any imbalance in the actual rotor/blades of the fan is going to cut it's life by 10-20%.

I'm curious about this statement because the Slipstreams sleeve bearing 120s are rated at MTBF of 30,000 hours, IIRC, and the S-FLEX E, F and D are rated at 150,000. Those are I believe ball bearing although they are supposed to be superior technology to _ordinary_ ball bearing fans. The difference is a factor of 5, but your statement suggests a difference of less than a factor of 2. And you are talking about continuous running, I suppose.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12


I'll step back in here quick, those fan are not, Not, NOT 19dbA. They're about 19dbA above an ambient reading of 19dbA, lol. They're a little quieter than my 60cfm 39dbA evercool cheapies and don't nearly move as much air.

Sleeve bearings generally have an MTBF of just shy of 3 years whereas ball bearings are about 5 years. Proper re-oiling of a sleeve can stretch it to about 5 years and re-oiling a ball bearing can push it to about 8.5 years. Obviously that is giong to vary by as much as 25-30% depending on build quality. Any imbalance in the actual rotor/blades of the fan is going to cut it's life by 10-20%.

I'm curious about this statement because the Slipstreams sleeve bearing 120s are rated at MTBF of 30,000 hours, IIRC, and the S-FLEX E, F and D are rated at 150,000. Those are I believe ball bearing although they are supposed to be superior technology to _ordinary_ ball bearing fans. The difference is a factor of 5, but your statement suggests a difference of less than a factor of 2. And you are talking about continuous running, I suppose.

Those are s-flex bearings which have substantially higher MTBFs because they're a sealed unit instead of just having an open plastic bearing guide like your run of the mill ball bearing. Being sealed makes them slightly quieter at really low voltages as well but it makes them slightly less efficient because of the extra drag caused by the bearing casing and they're essentially not re-oilable so when they go, they're gone.

s-flex is to ball bearings as riffle is to sleeve bearings. I haven't disected a riffle bearing fan yet but, I really want to. I'm also working on swaping a slipstream rotor to an s-flex bearing to see how it responds. Those are both on the list right behind my chiller and making a D5 pump top.

 

[aigomorla]

Same thing as the 1011 only with closed corners

http://store.thermalfx.com/mer...H101&Category_Code=120

told ya expensive as hell.

 

[Muse]

I have my new S-Flex D's, 2 of them, installed in the case now and I'm quite pleased. The noise they contribute seems negligible compared to the CPU and video card fans, which are rather quiet. It's a pretty quiet system and the temps I'm getting are spectacular:

no load with room temp at 67F:

CPU: 25C
Case: 24.5C

I have two midtower cases, and the more expensive (an old Enlight) just won't accommodate a 120mm fan on the back. The other, a generic that came with a usable L&C 350w PSU (Mikhailovich gave it a very positive review, and it's still going strong and in my test/backup system), just barely accommodates a 120mm fan. There's a ridge that's virtually exactly 120mm from the side of the case and my S-Flex fan fits in there so nice and snug there was really no need to even drill holes and attach the fan to the case!! I did so anyway, and also cut out the 80mm fan hole to perfectly accommodate the 120mm.

 

[sblake]

Take a look this one.

http://www.jab-tech.com/Nexus-...an-mounts-pr-3857.html

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I buy more fans than I need, so I can test and choose.

AigoMorla mentioned the Sanyo-Denki San-Ace fans. I got two (120x38mm) -- I think they're rated at 0.52A of current @ 12V and a top speed of around 2,500 to 2,600rpm. At this point, I don't even remember the CFM ratings on these things, although I knew of it when I purchased them, and I chose my fans so that intake CFM would exceed exhaust CFM. The San-Aces I use for exhaust.

Everyone has their preferences, and there are a lot of preferences here for low dBA fans, but such fans also compromise CFM -- even if blade-design and other factors increase the CFM slightly for the top-end rpms of which those fans are capable.

I prefer fans that draw more than the usual current and therefore have fairly strong motors; strong motors mean the fans are heavier. So for that, I'd always prefer a fan that's 38mm wide as opposed to a 25mm-wide fan. But some situations require compromises.

I've discovered that high rpm, high-CFM fans that throw out maximum noise-levels of as much as 50+ dBA -- can often produce nothing more than white-noise (turbulence) at a moderated speed. So I might purchase a Delta Tri-Blade capable of 3,700 rpm, and run it at speeds between 1,800 and 2,500 rpm.

Some of the discussion about sleeve versus ball bearings seems confusing. I always try to find double-ball-bearing fans.

Furthermore, although larger, slower 140mm (x 20mm or x 25mm) fans don't provide much in the way of static pressure, you can mod your case and fit such fans to the bottom or lower case-front. You can hardly hear them, but three in a full-tower case, for instance, provide a lot of air -- ample pressure for well-planned air-flow -- if you're "into" that sort of thing, as I am . . .

EDIT: By the way -- some of the Zalman fans come in handy for certain reasons and purposes. Since the nVidia GeForce4 days (AGP pre-history), they had a heatpipe-cooler called the ZM80D. For this, there was an option fan called the OP-1. The OP-1 is an 80x15mm fan which can be very useful in certain situations. And it is very quiet at nearly 3,000 rpm. So for that, I probably wouldn't hesitate to buy a larger Zalman fan of the type described by the OP -- if a situation called for it.