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...which fan...

The quietest fans with good airflow are the ones with fluid dynamic bearings. The only two manufacturers are Arctic Cooling and Scythe. The Scythe come in 800, 1200, and 1600rpm versions, and the Arctic Cooling only comes in a 1500rpm version.

What rpm speed you choose depends on the amount of airflow versus quiet that you want. If quiet matters, choose the lower speed fans. I own the Arctic Cooling fans and find them to be fairly quiet 24.5 dB (not silent, but not real noticeable either). Any decibel rating below 20 dB is considered nigh inaudible inside a case due to ambient noise. Also, the Arctic Cooling fans are cheaper and come with sleeved wires.

Hope this helps.
 
Originally posted by: Pyrokinetic
The quietest fans with good airflow are the ones with fluid dynamic bearings. The only two manufacturers are Arctic Cooling and Scythe. The Scythe come in 800, 1200, and 1600rpm versions, and the Arctic Cooling only comes in a 1500rpm version.
Click to expand...

Balls, yate loon are considered the premier of low noise 120mm fans and somehow you've missed them off the list. Which means that you're wrong in some way 😛

In my computer which is fairly low noise, any 120mm fan running much over 1000rpm will start to become audible because of the noise created by the airflow, around 35-40CFM. Odds are that if you want quiet you'll buy an overly fast fan and then undervolt it. As such i'd look at 1200RPM fans. They can then vary between high airflow for when you start gaming and the temps rise, but can be undervolted to a very quiet state.

Akasa aren't bad, Scythe aren't bad either, yate loon are about as good as it gets, Nexus are very, very quiet (but run @ 1k max), panaflo (japan made models) are another very nice performer.
 
The Panaflo fans have Hydro Wave bearings, which is a sleeve bearing. A good fan, but I have used one on my XP-120 in addition to the Arctic Cooling fans, and I much prefer the Artic Cooling fan over the Panaflo. But that is my subjective opinion.

The Panaflo at 1500rpm will do about 60cfm at roughly 25dBA. (I had the noisy 86cfm model -- 35dBA!)
The Arctic Cooling will do 56cfm at 24dBA at the same rotational speed.

So, near about the same. But you can get the Arctic Cooling with a vibration dampening frame and sleeved wires. The Arctic Cooling also comes standard with rpm monitoring whereas you have to double check to find a Panaflo with one (mine did not).

That is why I replaced my Panaflo, and I am not sorry that I did.
 
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Originally posted by: Pyrokinetic
The quietest fans with good airflow are the ones with fluid dynamic bearings. The only two manufacturers are Arctic Cooling and Scythe. The Scythe come in 800, 1200, and 1600rpm versions, and the Arctic Cooling only comes in a 1500rpm version.
Click to expand...

Balls, yate loon are considered the premier of low noise 120mm fans and somehow you've missed them off the list. Which means that you're wrong in some way 😛

In my computer which is fairly low noise, any 120mm fan running much over 1000rpm will start to become audible because of the noise created by the airflow, around 35-40CFM. Odds are that if you want quiet you'll buy an overly fast fan and then undervolt it. As such i'd look at 1200RPM fans. They can then vary between high airflow for when you start gaming and the temps rise, but can be undervolted to a very quiet state.

Akasa aren't bad, Scythe aren't bad either, yate loon are about as good as it gets, Nexus are very, very quiet (but run @ 1k max), panaflo (japan made models) are another very nice performer.
Click to expand...

Ok sure, just proof that each brand has their own fans (forgive the pun). However, a Yate Loon at 1350rpm moves 47cfm of air at 28dBA. http://www.frozencpu.com/fan-194.html Sooo....., explain to me again why that is better when the Arctic Cooling fan is quieter at 1500rpm? http://www.frozencpu.com/fan-209.html

Also, either cutting out fan grills on cases, or removing them (the ones on my Stacker 810 were removable) helped with the airflow noise in my case.
 
Pyrokinetic, I just wanted to thank you for explaining to me the reasons why you favor the other fan. Your explaination is excellent and I'll have to try your brand and who knows, maybe I'll have to change my pat answer for fans! :beer:

Hang a ceramic resistor on the positive lead of the Panaflo fan you have to slow it down a bit and still get great flow. Also, this may not be as neat, but you can run a thin coat of clear silicon on the mounting edges of the Pananflo to make it even quieter, but still, the Panaflo fan has no sleeved wiring as far as I know and I think you've made the better choice!
 
Originally posted by: Pyrokinetic
Ok sure, just proof that each brand has their own fans (forgive the pun). However, a Yate Loon at 1350rpm moves 47cfm of air at 28dBA. http://www.frozencpu.com/fan-194.html Sooo....., explain to me again why that is better when the Arctic Cooling fan is quieter at 1500rpm? http://www.frozencpu.com/fan-209.html

Also, either cutting out fan grills on cases, or removing them (the ones on my Stacker 810 were removable) helped with the airflow noise in my case.
Click to expand...

You are taking the piss aren't you? Manufactuer's specification for noise emmission from fans?

If you think they are even worth looking at you shouldn't be giving advice about fan choices. If you want to prove that one fan is quieter than another you should be looking at a good comparative review or a scientific one in the style of SPCR.
 
I am familiar with SPCR, and SPCR itself post the manufacturer's specs because they have not reviewed the fans themselves. The note on the Yate Loon was that it "ramps down well" when undervolting. Yeah great. I don't care about undervolting that much because I don't want a dead quiet PC, otherwise I would buy a Zalman TNN enclosure.

Noted in the SPCR fan listings is that they worry about fan "clicking" from the motor switching noise. Have you ever tried to hear that? I had to put an ADDA fan up to my ear to hear the "click." For me, I wanted about 50cfm for a 120mm fan at the quietest I could find, some noise being acceptible, though less is better. The Arctic Cooling fans satisfied me. I also did not want to bother with fan controllers.

For me, a 35dBA Panaflo was "too loud" and I could not ever hear a 20dBA rated 80mm fan even up close. So, when I went looking for new 120mm fans, I knew the airflow I wanted, and I figured something rated 28dBA or below would be ok. The Arctic Cooling fans had the right features and the right price. Not "scientific" but worked for me and amounts to nigh the same thing SPCR members do.

If you want to run around with a decibel meter and be "scientific" be my guest. As for the forum members, be sure to check out the "Yate Loon" fans as well. Happy now?
 
Originally posted by: Pyrokinetic
I am familiar with SPCR, and SPCR itself post the manufacturer's specs because they have not reviewed the fans themselves. The note on the Yate Loon was that it "ramps down well" when undervolting. Yeah great. I don't care about undervolting that much because I don't want a dead quiet PC, otherwise I would buy a Zalman TNN enclosure.

Noted in the SPCR fan listings is that they worry about fan "clicking" from the motor switching noise. Have you ever tried to hear that? I had to put an ADDA fan up to my ear to hear the "click." For me, I wanted about 50cfm for a 120mm fan at the quietest I could find, some noise being acceptible, though less is better. The Arctic Cooling fans satisfied me. I also did not want to bother with fan controllers.

For me, a 35dBA Panaflo was "too loud" and I could not ever hear a 20dBA rated 80mm fan even up close. So, when I went looking for new 120mm fans, I knew the airflow I wanted, and I figured something rated 28dBA or below would be ok. The Arctic Cooling fans had the right features and the right price. Not "scientific" but worked for me and amounts to nigh the same thing SPCR members do.

If you want to run around with a decibel meter and be "scientific" be my guest. As for the forum members, be sure to check out the "Yate Loon" fans as well. Happy now?
Click to expand...

You've never noticed the clicking? Then you've got good fans or crap hearing, it's very notable with the TT ones i have, barely notable with the panaflos and i've never noticed it with my akasa or nexuses although i didn't have to reduce the speeds that much on them.

I don't bother with fan controllers either, that's why i have speedfan and buy 3 pin fans with rpm sensors.

You chose somehting based upon unreliable numbers and got lucky, don't assume from one case where the ratings were in the right range that all of them are.

SPCR reviews are scientific, user writeups are not for the most part.
 
Reliable numbers? Any review that would use a decibel meter would thus have to assume that ALL the fans of that model would have the same dBA rating. A reviewer would need multiple samples across a period of time to ensure against non-representative samples.

Secondly, severly understating dBA levels in advertising can work against the manufacturer as customers get wind of it. The Newegg forums and the like will seriously discourage such actions, if the manufacturer has any brains. Not to mention that companies can get sued for false advertising, if caught.

Without actually measuring to dBA of my new fans, the fact that subjectively they are quieter than my Panaflo, and I can notice a pleasant 'whirring' sound from them tells me that dBA-wise they fall between the Panaflo and my Nexus 80mm. I have no reason to disbelieve the claim of 24 dBA. If actually off that mark, then my guess that it is not by much.

However, since I am satisfied by them, I really have no reason to measure the dBA anyway.

Other than that, maybe my notion of what I think 24 dBA is maybe in reality is 34 dBA and the Panaflo was truly 45 dBA. I really don't give a rats a--. To me, my new fans are quiet. If you can hear the difference between 8 dBA and 20 dBA, good for you. As for your "bollocks" how the heck do you know? Read an actual independent review? You are going to believe whatever preconceived notion (that fan manufacturers lie) that you want to anyway.
 
So, in short:

You don't read reviews of fans, you don't have much experience with low noise fans, you advocate choising fans based upon figures you know are unreliable and yet you feel capable of stating which fans are the quietest because you have one and like it.
 
Ok, lets try your way (I'll provide the example since you haven't yet):
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=3&artpage=1735&articID=421

Note the graph, all three of the Scythe fans are included. The ambient room noise is 34dBA. The slowest Scythe measures 35.6dBA. So, do the manufacturer's specs lie? Who knows? You would have to measure in a special 0dBA chamber, which the manufacturer probably did.

So, are you harping over nothing because of ambient dBA? Or, are you right? If you are right, then please provide an appropriate example or tell me why mine is not.

Or are you just full of dismissive hot air? You claim to know alot, so prove it.
 
So a review where they didn't have the facilities to test fans noise rating absolutly, but rather well comparativly. In which the low speed scythe does well, mostly because its' the slowest fan in the entire review.

Note how it shows the slowest scythe is quieter and shifts more air than the scythe does when it's undervolted to 7V. The manufacturer's stats lie regulary, you cannot rely on them in any way. When you admit that i'll be happy. I stuck up one example of exactly that above where scythe lie about the noise ratings.
 
Here ya go, a quote from the very article:

In my hours of testing I?ve learned that numbers aren?t everything; a dBA value won?t tell you if there is a clicking noise, buzzing motor or another irritating noise which the dBA meter simple doesn?t pick up. CPU temperatures are an okay method to see how much air is moved but it?s not perfect either. If you?re looking for a silent case fan only a slight bit of air movement is enough for the device to fulfill its purpose.

If you?re building an extremely silent system there are some excellent choices available for you, so you don?t have restrict yourself to one product. The Nexus, Aerocool, Scythe ?D?, Coolermaster Ultra Silent and GlobalWin can all become whisper quiet at different voltages without any disturbing motor noises.


For the truly obsessed, I guess there are noises the dBA meter cannot pick up. (How thats scientific -- God only knows) and if a dBA meter can't pick it up, I really wonder how the heck I am supposed to hear it, especially inside of a case. But hey, Bobthelost, you are correct from a certain point-of-view. I guess that is why there are "audiophiles" and wine tasters in this world, they can perceive stuff us normal folks cannot.

But if the manufacturers are such liars, cannot you sue them for false advertising? You could make alot of money.... however, I think a judge would toss you a-- first out of the courthouse for lack of case.

I'll look you up should I need to purchase another fan. Nice debating with ya.
 
I enjoyed the debate, as well. Interesting that a component that only costs a few dollars can be the topic of a such a debate.

Comparison reviews of fans can be helpful, if nothing else than to provide an apples-to-apples comparison of fan noise with a constant ambient noise level. But you shouldn't take the reviews as gospel, just as you shouldn't trust manufacturer ratings as gospel either.

I haven't read SPCR much lately, but have found the reviews helpful in the past. It's one site where I do trust the posted reviews and take the user write-ups / comments with a grain of salt.
 
Why does it have to be from Newegg?

I like my 120mm Delta Tripple Blade, you can get it at sidewinder computer, and they do a great job shipping, always arrives in about 3 days.
 
well when it comes to fans and other case modification stuff, they don't seem to have a very wide selection (don't get me wrong they have a lot but not everything). so you may want to check out sidewinder and some other popular sites if they don't have exactly what you end up wanting.
 
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