15 Quid For A Case Fan?

[crazyfool]

hey guys,
I currently have 4 sharkoon fans, these ones... http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=579450 in my rig at the moment but they dont seem to shift that much air into or out of the case so i'm looking for some new ones. After looking round the net it would seem that these are meant to be very good in terms of performance and quietness... http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=787802 but i dunno if i want to spend 15 quid on a case fan that isn't going to shift much more air than my current ones... what do you guys think, is it worth the money or are their better ones for this price?

[staffsMike]

get yate loons/ nexus from specialtech or OcUK. Pretty much as quiet and shift about the same air I think. £4/5 a pop.

[Hicks12]

imo i think spending &#163;15 on a case fan is a bit strange as by the time you buy 4 you have spebnt &#163;60 and so you could buy alto of things with that. I have a few of the akasa smokey grey fans @ &#163;3.50 each http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=608229 they do pretty well in terms of performance and noise, i havent got much to compare it to other than the coolermaster quiet ones with the cm690, they are slightly louder than the cm ones but push more air. i have 6 120mm fans in my case and on full they are loud but medium its almost silent(my gfx card/cpu cooler is loudest now >.<). Id recommend these are they should push more air than the sharkoon

Also, if you want to keep your system quiet id recommend using a fan controller(if you cant control via mobo, not enough connections etc) try the hiyatek fan controller as its really good value, i did a small basic reivew here http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ni-review.html

[Koolpc]

Fan controller is a good idea.

[Mithrandir]

I've read THESE Nexus 12cm fans are one of the quietest fans shifting a good amount of air. They only cost £5.39 each as well.

Fan speed 500 ~ 2000 RPM (±10%)
Noise level 15.5 dB(A) ~ 26,9 dB(A)*
Airflow Up to 76 CFM

Comes with rubber mounts as well.



Official link HERE

[Mithrandir]

Also, if you want to keep your system quiet id recommend using a fan controller(if you cant control via mobo, not enough connections etc) try the hiyatek fan controller as its really good value, i did a small basic reivew here http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ni-review.html

Good review. Might look at getting one myself.

[Hicks12]

Good review. Might look at getting one myself.

atleast someone has use for it . Currently it makes my system silent, have it either on medium on all fans and its hard to hear but if im going to watch a moive i put on low just so i definitly cant hear it. So far so good.

[shadowcreaper]

yes those 15 quid fans are the best on the market atm, and come top in most reviews so far..but there are 2 other makes of fans which are just as good, though little bit less air flow, and a lot cheaper.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=154681

these work just as well, but save urself about a tenner, also the sycth fans are good but more exspencive than these.

best fan controller to get is a:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=517726

it a wicked fan controller and works great for water cooling too.t balancer works great also

[Webby]

If you want high airflow and quietness then the Scythe slip streams are a good place to look cost ~&#163;6.50 from specialtech.

See the SPCR review (link below) on them to get a better idea of what to expect from each speed.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article832-page1.html

Also check out the other 4 120mm fan round ups there to get an idea of what other fans will accomplish.

[Pob255]

A fan controller is not going to be much use if he's not happy with the amount of air flow, as it will only slow the fans down reduceing the overall sound & air volume.

The sharkoon golf balls are suposed to be very good fans for the cost, so overall I'd say look at your air flow within the case first.
Where have you got fans mounted?
What's the overall flow ballance like?

For the CM690 I'd sugest the following;
1 Rear = out
1 Top (the rear of the two) = out
1 front = in
1 Side (lower of the two over the graphics card) = in

You can use the 2nd top fan mount (out) however make sure your not disrupting the air flow of the CPU cooler.
What I mean by that is that the forward of the two top fans sits right above and in front of a CPU cooler if it's an after market tower type, so if you put something meaty there it's going to be sucking the air out of the top of the case that the cooler fan is trying to draw in effectively reduceing the air flow of the cpu cooler.
One alternative setup for this case is to have a the cpu cooler pointing upwards into two top fans above and have a lower rpm/air flow fan at the back.

Don't bother with the fan in the bottom of the case that's fairly pointless. same goes for the upper side pannel fan (if you've got a tower cpu cooler then it probably blocking it off any way)

I have one of these Sharkoon system Power fan (actually this is a slightly newer revision of the fan) in my case and I gave a spare one I had to my friend when he got the CM690 also made sure he got a fan controller to go with it.
Why? because at full speed these things shift a heck of a lot of air but make my pc sound like a vacume cleaner. I've got a zalman fan controller and I keep this fan at 1/4 setting on it and still it's the lowest fan in my system and moves the most air.

Now all that aside, first thing is to check your fan layout, idealy you want even flow with equal in/out fans or slightly higher Out flow than in flow.

The CM690 comes with 3 ok 120mm fans (balanced air flow/sound level) 2 plane 1 LED
compair these to your golfballs, more or less air flow?
Move the fans with the best air flow to the rear and rear top fan positions (or the two top positions if you want to go for the alternative layout I sudgested above)
Your next most powerfull goes in the front to blow over the hard drives, finally a weaker fan on the lower side pannel and front top positions (or rear for alternative layout) No fans on the bottom or upper-side pannel positions.
That should give you good air flow through the case. If you are still not happy then look at getting one or two higher air flow fans for the rear and rear-top mounts.
I'd not fork out on very espensive fans (I got a Scythe S-flex 1600rpm (&#163;12) for my girlfriends case and while yes it's a nice fan and pushes out a decent amount of air for the sound level, I don't think it was fully worth the extra over a silverstone or skarkoon fan that are around &#163;6

Basic rules with fans:
1- Higher RPM = higher air flow and noise
2- while better fans increase air flow without increaseing sound levels the amounts are small
I've got cheaper fans than that sflex that are quiter than it but don't move as much air, I've also got a 800rpm sflex that is quiter than the cheap one but moves about the same air amount
3- (very much a personal rule) advoid the very cheap fans
I've had a couple of very cheap fans that looked good on paper, however low build quailty ment the blades where unballanced cuaseing a lot of vibration, the poor quality frame suround would creat a hidious buzz, weather securely fixed or suspended

personally I don't like the akasa smokey fans because they fall under rule 3, although I've not used the 120mm versions the 92mm versions do buzz.

[UseItNow]

I've got a number of the Yate Loons and Nexus fans from Specialtech and Aria, low noise and shift quite a bit of air plus the pricing isn't outrageous.

[Thorsson]

I have one of those Noctuas, and I'm not impressed by them. I prefer the Scythes.

[shadowcreaper]

fan controller is kinda a must realy for a case like cosmos S, it will helps lots, airflow problems are due to fans not fan controller being issue, for example.

t-balancer can help lots with this, also when you overclock if you do OR if you want make profile so that when you game it increases airflow and little big louder, then a IDLE profile for normal use, ie normal airflow/ low noise

[amjedm]

I have one of those Noctuas, and I'm not impressed by them. I prefer the Scythes.

I think the Noctuas are over-rated.

Years ago I spent £40 on a couple of SilenX 14dba fans . They were more like 140dba.

[Mithrandir]

Some good charts HERE

[inonefly]

if u get the YL fans make sure you place them vertically