More Fans.....

[marshalex]

I'm looking at getting a couple more fans for my case (CM690). Anyone got any recommendations, I have been looking at getting the akasa pwm fans and the extension pwm kit. these any good?

[Plantus]

Are you looking for performance (pushing a lot of air) or quiet operation?

[marshalex]

Are you looking for performance (pushing a lot of air) or quiet operation?

bit of both really, be nice to have everything nice and cool while i'm using it for gaming etc but also so can adjust them to run a bit quieter of a night

[Plantus]

Posted this on another thread but it must be one of the most comprehensive reviews for 120mm fans

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=892

I have some Nexus Real Silent fans but they do not move to much air compared to others in that roundup. I connect all of my fans to the mobo and use SpeedFan to vary their speed according to the parts of the system that require cooling and so 90% of the time the system is very quiet and then only really audible if playing games etc

(N.B. I have found SpeedFan to be a far more useful app than I initially thought but it needs to be set up correctly. Cannot remember where I found the guide I used that helped me out but I could find it in my browsing history somewhere if you did decide to give SpeedFan a try...)

[marshalex]

i've tried to have a butchers for setting up speed fan but can never seem to get it sorted out and working correctly, must be how i'm setting up or my mobo isn't supported yet

[Pob255]

Not sure on that motherboard but the more expensive asus motherboards usely have some good fan control, at both the bios and windows utility level.
You can only control the fans when they are pluged into motherboard headers, if you using the molex conectors to conect them directly to the psu then you cannot control them.

While there are some very good £10+ fans out there, you can also get very good fans for around £5
What fans have you currently got it there?
Which side panel have you got? the one with 2 fan grills or the windowed side panel?
What cpu cooler have you got?
LED fans or non-glowy fans?

[Plantus]

i've tried to have a butchers for setting up speed fan but can never seem to get it sorted out and working correctly, must be how i'm setting up or my mobo isn't supported yet

I don't know if your mobo is supported but you can check on the SpeedFan website (also, if it is not supported then I believe you can request it and they will try to include it in a future release).

For a general guide I followed this link http://unitstep.net/blog/2007/11/02/...cs-fan-speeds/ but this does not mention the Advanced tab in the Configuration options [which is important if as noted in the next link]. I also looked at this http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=109858.0 but in the end a bit of tinkering in SpeedFan with the side of the case off so I could see which fan was being adjusted and I got it working the way I wanted...

[marshalex]

Not sure on that motherboard but the more expensive asus motherboards usely have some good fan control, at both the bios and windows utility level.
You can only control the fans when they are pluged into motherboard headers, if you using the molex conectors to conect them directly to the psu then you cannot control them.

While there are some very good £10+ fans out there, you can also get very good fans for around £5
What fans have you currently got it there?
Which side panel have you got? the one with 2 fan grills or the windowed side panel?
What cpu cooler have you got?
LED fans or non-glowy fans?

in it atm i've got 3 standard 120mm coolermaster fans which came with the case and an old (think its jeantek one) at the bottom. The front and exhaust fans are plugged straight into the mobo headers, the side fan doesn't stretch far enough to be plugged in so thats on the molex along with the jeantek which was molex connector only. The jeantek and the front coolermaster both have leds on. I've got the grilled side panel, stock cooler atm (waiting for spefically designed i7 coolers to come out as not heard many great things about the ones out). I've read good things about the akasa amber series and was looking at them.

[marshalex]

btw does anyone know anything about this? Been looking at a fan controller as another way of controlling the speed. Is there a way to use something like this and still connect to the motherboard?

[Pob255]

On fan controllers, I don't know anything about that one, however it is a rear controller, I hate thoes because I don't like having to reach around behind my pc to change the fan speed

As long as you're not useing the 3.5" drive bay adaptor for a floppy or card reader then I can recomend the Akasa one, controls 3 fans and has the added bonus of 2 additional USB ports at the front. (although the connectors are very fiddly as each pin is seperate if you have a q-connector it becomes much eaiser)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AKASA...2-USB-20-ports

I use one of these Zalman controllers which is very good for 6 fans
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Zalma...Fan-Controller.


The fans that come with the cm690 are not bad, a nice ballance of sound levels and air flow.
For other fans, does vary depending on how much you're willing to spend.
The YateLoon's are very good value for money, I'd go for the 1350rpm as the cloest to the stock fans.
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...5&cat=0&page=1
out of stock atm

These fans are good, but will both be slightly less noisey but move slightly less air than the stock fans
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...dB(A)-Case-Fan
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...bearing-design
You may also want to consider the 140mm Sharkoons as the cm690 can use 140mm on both the top and side panel.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/140mm...1200rpm-27db(A)
or
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...cat=892&page=1
again out of stock boy the Yate Loons are popular.

Basic Fan Rule of thumb
1000rpm or lower, quiet but not much air flow
1200rpm (ish), low noise, reasonable air flow
1600rpm (ish), more noise, better air flow
2200rpm+ lots and lots of air but will make your pc sound like a vacum cleaner.
This is just a rough guide some fans step outside these rules, often because numbers are fudged to make a fan seem better.

Here's some expensive fans
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Therm...at-max-1300RPM
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...t-Fan-1200-RPM
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/120mm...Quiet-Case-Fan
I've not used/seen the new thermalright fans, however I can say that the Scythe S-FLEX fans are the single most solid well made fan I've ever used, however the Sharkoon and sliverstone fans are both well made and half the price.

For the set up of the cm690

Get some fans for the Top 2 slots, fit them sucking air out.

If you have the standard 2 fan side panel then get some spacers between the fan and the panel. The large flat surface acts as a sound board and amplifies the resonance the air makes as it blows over the grill, the up shot is the same fan in ether the top, rear, or front slot will sound far louder if put on the side panel
A couple of rubber/silicon/soft plastic washers between the fan and panel greatly help reduce the volume.
Or buy the windowed side panel it has a better mesh grill.
http://www.coolermaster.com/products...detail&id=3168
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coole...for-CM690-Case

Don't bother with the bottom fan, it's really pointless, the air will get drawn into the case by negitive pressure, the front fan is useful as it directs air over the hard drives, the bottom fan points at nothing.
Same goes for the upper of the 2 side panel fans, while it does point at the cpu it has 3 major failings,
1 if you use and large cooler the fan will get in the way so you cannot close the side panel
2 a Tower cooler design does not work with air flow from above so it does nothing
3 it's too close to the top and rear fan, without the addition of a duct to focus the air onto the cooler all this achieves is to disrupt the air flow of the top and rear fans.

The 80mm fan on the back of the motherboard tray is totally optional, a nice idea but 80mm fans are not known for low noise operation.

One thing I would consider, if you get a tower design cpu cooler, is in stead of pointing it towards the back of the case pointo it upwards at the top of the case.
Then in the top put two matching fans with decent air flow and a fan with slightly lower air flow at the rear of the case.

[Plantus]

Also if mounting on the top of the case it is best to avoid sleeve bearing fans and instead plump for ball bearing...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article690-page1.html

[Pob255]

Also if mounting on the top of the case it is best to avoid sleeve bearing fans and instead plump for ball bearing...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article690-page1.html

Umm try again, what that says is

when sleeve-bearing fans are mounted in any position other than vertical, the fan's life span decreases.

Vertical means the fan pointing up or down, whenever manufactors talk about fans, the faceing of the fan is that of the direction of the air flow.

So it's actually better in the top panel than on the side, rear or front panel . . . or the cooler or well pritty much any where in a case other than the top or bottom.

As much as I like SPCR they do get the wrong end of the stick some times.

The only time I'm worried about sleeve vs ball is in constant running 24/7 and hot spots. Prime examples here are Servers.
The main reasonfor this is when ball fans die they die slowly, with much grinding sounds, so are easy to hear and replace before it loses all air flow. sleeve fans just stop and lockup, and the last thing you want in the middle of something critical is to overheat due to a fan locking up.
All said and done this is not really an issue for you're avrage user.

[Plantus]

doh! have clearly always been reading that the wrong way round. I to superior knowledge and will read things properly in the future!

[marshalex]

thanks for all the advice, definately got a good few options now to look at now, just a case of narrowing the options down!