Replacement fans for the CM 690

[alex98uk]

I hear that the stock CM 690 fans are loud. I was thinking of replacing them with these:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...ZM-F3-Case-fan

Good idea?

[Barney]

depends how quiet you want it, i'm a fan of noctua fans, they cost but there quiet and move air, plus they have a 5 year warranty

[alex98uk]

I mean, i'm not hugely into silence, but at the same time I dont want 3000RPM 38mm fans rattling about. I thought those Zalmans would be a good mix.

[staffsMike]

Even with the sides off I was amazed how quiet the stock CM-690 fans were. Give them a try you might be suprised

The only thing I remember was to take the side fan off and stick it at the bottom of the case, it reduces and rattling.

[alex98uk]

Yeah, I will give them a chance. To be honest, my title was misleading. I'm not going to replace the stock fans as of yet, simply fill the empty fan spaces!

I shall put the Zalmans on the side panel, apparently they come with silicon mounts to stop vibration

[Pob255]

The main issue with the side panel fans on the cm690 comes from the vents themselves.
If you have the same fans on the side panel that you do on the top you will find the side fans sound louder.
Issues are
1 Fan Vibration (vibrations from the fan being passed into the case)
2 Resonance Vibration (the motion of the air being sucked through the vent causing it to vibrate/whissle)
3 Sound board (the large flat sheet of metal that is the side panel acts like a drum skin amplifing the vibrations)

Rubber plugs instead of screws will help reduce fan vibration but will do little to combat Resonance.
To combat the resonance you have two options,

Buy the windowed side panel, this only has 1 fan vent but is domed mesh and far better than the punched vents in the standard side panel
http://www.coolermaster.com/products...detail&id=3168
Scan used to sell it for £15, only place I can find it now is the offical coolermaster parts store
http://www.coolermaster.nl/shop/prod...roducts_id=240

The other way around it is to mod the case, basically cut out the existing vent and replace it with a fan gril.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...rome-Fan-Guard
this should be to complex to do if you're willing to take the plunge in cutting out bits of your case.
Although you could always pay to get it done but that would cost more than the replacement side panel
http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=36_68

Someone on here had the issues with his cm590 (which is basically the same case) he put up a youtube video to show it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXSG6mYQ53Y

EDIT: Quick note on thoes zalman fans, they are ok, they come with a resistor extention to reduce the fan speed as well as rubber mounts http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Zalma...our-3-pin-Fan)
with out the speed reducer they are louder than the cm fans that come with the cm690 but with them they will be quieter. (but not move as much air)

For fans that will not break the bank, my advice would be get some of these http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...bearing-design
These fans do not move quite as much air as the standard ones that come with the cm690 but are more quiet
move the fan that comes with the cm690 which is on the side panel to the rear most of the top fan slots, then use the FN122 for the side panel and the 2nd top fan slot.
If you want rubber fan mounts this is a nice buy http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Shark...PC-components)

[alex98uk]

Cheers for the help. I will also look at some 140mm fans as well