Best ~£5> fan?

[Hicks12]

As the title says, what fan should i get? Im ordering the zalman fan mount so i thought 120mm would be big enough(also allows me to shove in case slots if it dont work), its going to be facing my gfx card and should have alot of room. Anything around £5 or less is considered dont want to be paying loads for little difference, also they need to be an average in terms of DB because i want it quiet .


Thanks.

[Lourdes]

Scythe Slip Stream M (1200rpm), my current preference (and SPCR's).

[Papipap]

For £5 you might be best looking on ebay. Have a look at this list: silentpcreview.com/article63-page2 (can't post urls yet, so put the w's infront and .html at the end) and try and find them on ebay. I just bought some Noctua ones, which are really quiet, especially if you use the adapter wire that comes with them - it contains a resistor that cuts the voltage and, therefore, RPM by ~ half.

[Hicks12]

Thanks for the sugestion, i cant find the scythe slip streams, only the Flex ones and they are £11 which is alot more than i was hoping for. Currently have about 5 akasa smokey grey 120, they seem great especially at £3.5, just wondering if there was much better stuff.

After looking for them on ebay(the noctua) i cant find them cheap so i think ill just buy another smokey grey, £12 for a fan seems way to much

[staffsMike]

www.specialtech.co.uk for slipstreams

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...me.php?cat=885

[Papipap]

I am sure the resistor wire that comes with the Noctuas could be used on any fan. After all, it seems like just a 3 pin wire extension cable with a resistor stuck in the middle; you could probably make one if you can't buy them. I remember having some 92mm Akasa fans and they seemed pretty quiet.

[Hicks12]

To late xD, i just ordered 4gb of ram+ zalman fan mount and a 120mm Xigmatek extreme i decided to try their fans again after the pure loudness produced from their 92mm series(i wasnt impressed to say the least) hopefully this size is much better. Didnt want to order else where from scan as i was making a big order(intermsn of over £20) for free delivery

Thanks again guys .

[richieuk]

Xigmatek 120mm fans for £5 each *i got two in todays only for under £4*, they push/pull over 70CFM and at 25decibels which is bloody good! Theres nothing better for under a fiver at scan as far as I know.

Comparison...

Scythe Kaze Jyuni 1200RPM Slipstream
Air Flow : 68.5 CFM
Speed: 1200rpm
Noise: 24.0 dBA
Price: £6.54 Inc VAT

120mm Xigmatek XSF-F1251 eXTreme Ultra Quiet Case Fan
Air Flow : 72 CFM
Speed: 1800rpm
Noise: <24.0 dBA
Price: &#163;4.68 Inc VAT

(NVM, just read your post Hicks )

[looney]

Yate loons, check out www.chilledpc.co.uk

[P_J_B]

I've got an 80mm xigmatek and am pretty pleased with its noise/airflow ratio given its low price so I think you made a good choice.

[richieuk]

Yate loons, check out www.chilledpc.co.uk

Those are actually worse specs than the sythe slipstream fans *which was the best of the others I could find*

The only Yateloon that pushed more than 72CFM was 40 decibels, which is a bit too audible for my liking. Sub thirty is whisper quiet, and natural quiet background sound is usually between 20-25 decibels in the home.

The SM is the closest at 70.5 CFM at 33db. Whereas the Xigmatek as I said earlier is 72CFM at "<"24db (I just say 24 although it says on packaging <24)

[looney]

Those are actually worse specs than the sythe slipstream fans *which was the best of the others I could find*

The only Yateloon that pushed more than 72CFM was 40 decibels, which is a bit too audible for my liking. Sub thirty is whisper quiet, and natural quiet background sound is usually between 20-25 decibels in the home.

The SM is the closest at 70.5 CFM at 33db. Whereas the Xigmatek as I said earlier is 72CFM at "<"24db (I just say 24 although it says on packaging <24)

Really? i was thinking of getting those xigs, but changed my mind on them, and those decibels are just qouted figures, doesnt mean theyll actually do that, wa shoping to get the yate loon M's, but oviouslyw will have to do more reserahc now.

[Clunk]

Those are actually worse specs than the sythe slipstream fans *which was the best of the others I could find*

The only Yateloon that pushed more than 72CFM was 40 decibels, which is a bit too audible for my liking. Sub thirty is whisper quiet, and natural quiet background sound is usually between 20-25 decibels in the home.

The SM is the closest at 70.5 CFM at 33db. Whereas the Xigmatek as I said earlier is 72CFM at "<"24db (I just say 24 although it says on packaging <24)

None of those fans will actually be those rating, it's just marketing nonsense.

I've tried many fans and I still say the Yate Loon, undervolted to around 7v is your best bang for buck/quiet/pushes good amounts of air/Value For Money fan.

[ackrite26]

None of those fans will actually be those rating, it's just marketing nonsense.

I've tried many fans and I still say the Yate Loon, undervolted to around 7v is your best bang for buck/quiet/pushes good amounts of air/Value For Money fan.

this is true, the Xigmatek fans will not push that much air with <24 dBA. Those figures are either made up or taken in less than adequate test settings/environment (most companies are).

The Yate Loons figures have been tried and tested and proven.

[Hicks12]

but afaik, there are regulations in order to come up with that figure e.g. has to be 1meter away no more. Surely they would have to? false advertising=lawsuit pure and simple .

[ackrite26]

but afaik, there are regulations in order to come up with that figure e.g. has to be 1meter away no more. Surely they would have to? false advertising=lawsuit pure and simple .

Can you really see someone taking a company to court over some misleading figures for a case fan??

And I do not think there is a strict industy standard for testing fans.

Check this review out, none of the fans are at the dBA rating stated by the manufacturer and silentpc use the 'industry standard' of 1m etc

120mm fan review

Best bet is to buy a couple of each and come to your own conclusion?