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#1
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Has anyone seen a review of fan manufacturers? Which companies produce
quiet, fans which move air well and which have a long life span? Thanks Ken K |
#2
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Ken wrote:
Has anyone seen a review of fan manufacturers? Which companies produce quiet, fans which move air well and which have a long life span? Thanks Ken K Ken, The Antec Tri-cools that came in your case are OK, provided you don't use the "Hi" setting. Additionally, Zalman makes good quality fans that are comparatively quiet. Here's a link to a website that list a number of fans in various sizes along with the rated DB levels at different settings: http://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiFan...5B--P66C6.aspx Stay with 120mm fans as they can move more air at lower RPM's (note your case uses all 120mm fans). Regardless of claims, I've never seen one that is "silent", and the case has a lot to do with dampening noise. You'll notice a difference with the front door open or closed on your case. Fitz -- Your body is a temple boy, You ought to treat it well But you trash the place and rent it out Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees |
#3
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Ken wrote:
Has anyone seen a review of fan manufacturers? Which companies produce quiet, fans which move air well and which have a long life span? Thanks Ken K Try a site like this. http://www.silentpcreview.com/section12.html One thing I read in some of the reviews, is some brands are sensitive to physical handling. Some brands of fans, if you accidentally bumped them on your work table, would not be as quiet from then onwards. So in terms of absolute quietness, you would expect some unit to unit variation, as a function of how they've been handled. If any one company solved all problems simultaneously, they'd be a roaring success. The thing is, some quiet designs will compromise fan lifetime, to get the level of quiet. I have a fan here, which is known in the industry as a premium fan company, but the fan in question is quite annoying. But at least it'll live forever, to annoy me. I think the people who look for these, are constantly testing and tweaking, looking for the perfect fan. So expect to have a large pile of rejects sitting next to your desk. Every company can solve a little part of the puzzle. Like Verax invented a fan blade shape, for less turbulent airflow. But you won't find these in your local PC shop. http://www.verax.de/verax.php?template=home&lang=en http://www.verax.de/verax.php?SID=&t...= 1&entryid=7 Paul |
#4
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
The fan creating the most noise in your PC will probably be the CPU fan.
The heatsink/fan that comes with the retail processor is adequate for cooling, but not the most efficient nor quiet of solutions. An after market heatsink/fan is an option (I use a huge Zalman) that you might consider. You can also use a front panel fan controller which would let you adjust the RPM's for individual fans. You could then find an acceptable compromise between noise level and temps. Fitz |
#5
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Fitz said the following on 4/26/2008 11:35 AM:
Ken wrote: Has anyone seen a review of fan manufacturers? Which companies produce quiet, fans which move air well and which have a long life span? Thanks Ken K Ken, The Antec Tri-cools that came in your case are OK, provided you don't use the "Hi" setting. Additionally, Zalman makes good quality fans that are comparatively quiet. Here's a link to a website that list a number of fans in various sizes along with the rated DB levels at different settings: http://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiFan...5B--P66C6.aspx Stay with 120mm fans as they can move more air at lower RPM's (note your case uses all 120mm fans). Regardless of claims, I've never seen one that is "silent", and the case has a lot to do with dampening noise. You'll notice a difference with the front door open or closed on your case. Fitz Yeah, Fitz, you are probably one of those people who actually installs the sides on your case, as well... ;-) Once I am finished burning it in, routing the wires, and mounting the sides "permanently" (in between tweaks, of course), I am sure it will be quiet. I am thinking about putting a fan (on slow) in front of the upper hdd cage if I add drives... While I have your attention,... about the lower fan. 1, is there an easy way to remove the lower fan? The four plastic hooks seem a bit brittle and I don't want to break them. I thought that if I build the same system for my daughter, it might be easier to remove that fan and then replace it toward the end of the process. 2, I find that fan won't start by itself on the lowest setting but will do so on med and high. Have you found the same? (I wish there was a screen in front of the fan--without one, I am having to be more compulsive about cable routing than it is in my nature to be in order to keep the cables out of the fan blades. It is probably a good thing.... WRT the case, I am pleased with the design in that it allows for cable routing that is out of sight and out of air flow. Again, thanks, Fitz, for your input. Ken K |
#6
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Paul wrote:
If any one company solved all problems simultaneously, they'd be a roaring success. The thing is, some quiet designs will compromise fan lifetime, to get the level of quiet. I have a fan here, which is known in the industry as a premium fan company, but the fan in question is quite annoying. But at least it'll live forever, to annoy me. I've been using a fluid dynamic bearing case fan since February 24, 2006, 24 hours a day. The subject came up in a cross post and I got lots of static from a troll or two, as if it were too good to be true. I didn't realize it was a big secret. I used to play with hardware, ordered from Digi-Key Corporation. Panasonic is a major supplier of all different types of high-quality electronics. They made fluid dynamic bearing fans sold through Digi-Key and obviously were very proud of them (judging by the price). The fans have incredibly long lifespans. Didn't take much figuring when I noticed fluid dynamic bearings offered in PC case fans. Even if the one I bought wasn't the best, I'm convinced it's the way to go for reliability as in leaving a computer on 24 hours a day. Newegg sells lots of them now. |
#7
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
John Doe wrote:
Paul wrote: If any one company solved all problems simultaneously, they'd be a roaring success. The thing is, some quiet designs will compromise fan lifetime, to get the level of quiet. I have a fan here, which is known in the industry as a premium fan company, but the fan in question is quite annoying. But at least it'll live forever, to annoy me. I've been using a fluid dynamic bearing case fan since February 24, 2006, 24 hours a day. The subject came up in a cross post and I got lots of static from a troll or two, as if it were too good to be true. I didn't realize it was a big secret. I used to play with hardware, ordered from Digi-Key Corporation. Panasonic is a major supplier of all different types of high-quality electronics. They made fluid dynamic bearing fans sold through Digi-Key and obviously were very proud of them (judging by the price). The fans have incredibly long lifespans. Didn't take much figuring when I noticed fluid dynamic bearings offered in PC case fans. Even if the one I bought wasn't the best, I'm convinced it's the way to go for reliability as in leaving a computer on 24 hours a day. Newegg sells lots of them now. The Panaflo fans are good (now owned by NMB or whatever). http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/..._fans_home.htm But check the Silentpcreview articles, to see if there are ones that are more quiet. There may be some cheesy sleeve bearings with better noise ratings. Ones you've never heard of, like Yate Loon. (Like I said, you cannot optimize for all characteristics at the same time - there may be some quieter fans, that don't last as long. It really depends on whether noise is a priority or not.) http://www.svc.com/d12sl-12-bk.html Paul |
#8
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Ken wrote:
Has anyone seen a review of fan manufacturers? Which companies produce quiet, fans which move air well and which have a long life span? Thanks Ken K Vantec Stealth fans - I use them in all my builds and mods and have never had one die since I started using them more than half a decade ago. Ari -- spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor and literally save someone's life: http://www.abmdr.org.au/ http://www.marrow.org/ |
#9
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
Ken wrote:
While I have your attention,... about the lower fan. 1, is there an easy way to remove the lower fan? It's more of a bracket than clips. Take hold of the fan housing (fan in the O-F-F mode, hopefully computer powered down) and pull it toward you. The bracket will disengage from the case, and after moving toward you about 1/4 of an inch, the fan bracket can be removed from the mounting holes and taken out. 2, I find that fan won't start by itself on the lowest setting but will do so on med and high. Have you found the same? (I wish there was a screen in front of the fan--without one, I am having to be more compulsive about cable routing than it is in my nature to be in order to keep the cables out of the fan blades. It is probably a good thing.... No, I haven't had that problem. I opened my case up (to verify the fan removal steps) and turned all the fans in the case to Low. They all started up fine. Could be just the switch on that particular fan. You could try connecting it to another power connector and verify that doesn't make a difference. Check the voltages in your BIOS and make sure they are within tolerance. Since it's only that fan (and they don't draw much power), I wouldn't think there would be a problem, but might as well eliminate possibilities before you get done with the build. "keep the cables out of the fan blades. Its probably a good thing...." - Ya think?! Fitz -- |
#10
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Fans: who makes reliable, quiet fans with decent CFM flow?
"Timothy Daniels" wrote:
The usual trade-off is between airflow and fan speed - the faster the fan turns, the greater the air flow, but the greater the noise as well. That's why people use the big 120mm fans - to get good airflow while maintaining low fan blade speed. The more efficient fans can get good airflow while keeping speed low relative to other fans of the same size, but it's a "snake oil" market and few homebuilders actually measure and graph the airflow versus noise of their fans, much less measure the power used to achieve a given cooling effect. Nobody measures the speed or power consumption of their CPU either. You can approximately measure airflow by putting your hand in front of the fan and by looking at your case/CPU temperatures. |
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