ExternalPsu? and 80-92mm Case fans.

[Moogledkupo]

Well my pc's case fans have seemed to start packing up and particularly the one at the back which is supposed to draw the hot air from the computer. I was wondering if anyone knew any decent <£10 case fans in the 80-92mm range which have a good Rate cfm to decibal ratio.
On another topic I was wondering about external psu's? Does anyone here use them and if so are they any good. Im looking for a few upgrades on my computer and my current psu will not suffice however its in a very akward place in the computer and unfortunately non-modular so it will take a lot of work to take it out and sort out a new one seeing as its a small case.
So yeah if anyone knows any good 80-92mm fans and any information about External Psu's please post away.

[watercooled]

Panaflo 80mm fans are great value for money and are very quiet if you run them at 7v. They don't move that much air at 7v but at 12v they are more audible but move a fair bit of air for an 80mm. They're not worth buying on their own though because of the cost of delivery (you can get free delivery from Scan if you reach 20 non-spam posts on this forum for orders over £20 excluding VAT). You can get external PSUs, here's a review of one: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/299 but they're not very popular and there's few of them to choose from. Personally I'd rather get a decent internal PSU and go to the trouble of replacing it. Could I ask what PSU you have and what upgrades you are planning on - a new one might not be necessary.

[Moogledkupo]

Oh my You really dont want to know. I currently have Q6600 @ stock had to turn it down because of overheating. 2gb ram 320gb hitachi hard drive and integrated 8300 gs. I did have a 8800gtx lying around but the psu has become weak and I highly doubt it would work. Its a standard 250-300w psu with very weak rails so i thought it would be good to replace, for the fans what do you think about the Be Quiet 92mm and Kaze Jyuin 92mm-100mm fan 2000rpm fan.

[woody_294]

I really think the first thing you should replace is the case. You can get the Coolermaster Elite in various forms from Scan for about £30, paired with a nice 500W psu eg:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500w-...2V-6Serial-ATA

You could get a damn sight more usability from your current PC for around £80. You could always get a lower powered branded PSU and a cheaper case if you wanted, but don't skimp on the PSU, it's the heart of your system, and you would definately appreciate the CFM per Decibel of 120mm fans in your case.

[watercooled]

Would you consider a case upgrade at all? If it's a no-name PSU you have I wouldn't trust it with a PC with half the power draw of yours. If you could possibly replace the PSU with an internal PSU, this is a great quality PSU which would do the job fine with room to spare: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/400W-...-year-warranty
About the fans, I'm not too sure about what to recommend but I'm sure another member will be able to advise you there. Also SPCR is a good place to read reviews on fans.

Edit: beaten to it by woody Anyway I agree with what he said about the case PSU. The PSU I suggested is cheaper and should provide plenty of power for your system.

[Moogledkupo]

Its just its seems alot of trouble. You see ive only built a pc a couple of times and upgraded a dozen or so times. But I dont really want to risk the trouble if you know what I mean. I mean if I upgraded a case I was thinking the Antec 300. Coupled with an Ocz Modx 500w psu. Would that suffice?

Was thinking about maybe getting a gtx260 too seeing as the prices will drop down soon after Fermi. Hopefully. Im not sure whether to upgrade 200 quid or buy a new one for 400.

[watercooled]

The Antec 300 is a great case AFAIK and should give you plenty of room to play with. I'm not too certain about the quality of OCZ PSUs but I think they are reliable. Also even £200 is a lot of money for a GTX 260 now, for that sort of money you could get something like a 5850 or a 5870 which is the fastest single-GPU card currently available.

[Moogledkupo]

I meant £200 for a 260 Psu and Case. ^_^. I might buy a Pc for <£400 in a couple of months instead though.

[Nanek]

I meant £200 for a 260 Psu and Case. ^_^. I might buy a Pc for <£400 in a couple of months instead though.

Well you might aswell wait till then, £200 spent upgrading would be a waste if you're planning to get another pc soon. even if you could use parts from the new upgrade on a new PC, it would probably be cheaper to wait it out. If you're having overheating issues have you tried cleaning it out (dust, random insects etc etc )

[Moogledkupo]

Ahh Yes. Funny story. I was cleaning out my pc of dust and cleaning my heatsink etc. Found a huge ass colony of spiders.

[Pob255]

Yes cleaning out the dust and spiders does help

If you're still wondering about a repacement fan, the Zalman ZM-F2+, at full speed it moves a heck of a lot of air, but it's a bit noisey, however it also comes with a resistor adaptor that seriously decreases the speed, noise but also air flow.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=396307
I sugest it as it gives you flexability and it's a decent fan.

With what you've said about your pc atm, you'll be hard pressed to beat it with new pc with only £400.
A case & psu upgrade (then you could use that 8800gtx again) + an aftermarket cooler if you're still using the intel stock cooler, and then you'll have a nice little system there.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I have the Zalman ZM-F2+ and I found it to be very noisy although it does shift a lot of air like Pob255 says. I found the Noctua NF-B9 to be quieter though.

[kmac]

I'd second the Noctua - you can trade off cfm for noise using the various voltage regulators included

[Pob255]

I'd second the Noctua - you can trade off cfm for noise using the various voltage regulators included

You can also do that with the Zalman as it also comes with one and yet is half the cost.

The op asked for

which have a good Rate cfm to decibal ratio.

not what's the best slient fan.
Noctua fans are good, very solidly built, but I'm still not convinced they are worth the premium price.

[kmac]

And I recommended Noctua as I believe it has a good cfm to noise ratio.

I mentioned the ability to reduce speed and therefore cfm and noise as the absolute noise value is also relevant. A fan can have a very good flow to noise ratio but only perform at sounds levels not acceptable to users. Ratio on its own cannot be used to make the decision.

[watercooled]

From review I've read the 80mm Noctua has dreadful airflow and while the 92mm is closer to what it should be, a fan which gets good reviews is the Revoltec RL042 but like this which I was also going to recommend it looks like it's been discontinued. The 92mm Be Quiet looks like a good performer but it's not exactly cheap...