Anyone with experience with Thermalright case fans?

[yiplong]

I currently have two of these 120mm Cooler Master fans in my case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-022-_-Product
That's a 2-pack for $10, a real deal. These fans are decent, but they are kind of loud. The specification says 20 db, but I they are more like 28-30 db.
So I am going to replace them with Thermalright X-Silent series. I can either get the 120mm or 140mm variety, I prefer the 140mm, because it moves more air.
Here is the info on the 120mm, my favorite is the 1000rpm one:
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_pa...r_fdb_fan.html
Thermalright claims the 1000rpm fan is 15 db, although SPCR.com gave a reading of 20 db.

Here is the info on the 140mm:
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_pa...ilent-140.html
Note that the noise rating is 20 db, same as the Cooler Master fans that I am replacing. If these are indeed equally loud as my old fans, I would not want to buy them. I don't know how honest Thermalright are with their specs.
Is there anyone with knowledge of these fans, how loud are they?

[Phage]

Paging Pob255 !!
I recommended the new thermalrights on this page recently but I can't find the quote now.

[Pob255]

Have I become the offical fan guru now?

I've recently done a fan round up and coolermaster was one, not that model but this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999061

Must admit I've not used the ThermalRight fans, on paper they are exellent.

The 120mm FDB http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Therm...at-max-1300RPM use the same japanese Fluid Dynamic Bearing as the Scythe S-FLEX
They are basically the same as Scythe S-FLEX fans so should be very good for low bareing and motor noise, which is what comes into play at low rpm

The X-Silent 140mm http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Therm...e-emission-fan at first glance doen't look quite so good.
Dencent blade count and shape, 900rpm is a great speed for a 140mm fan, the only thing that puts me off is the plastic, it's that smooth shiney plastic that tends to be softer and more light weight.
Although it's closed corners and you can see added flanges to add strength and rigidity to the frame



Yate-Loon are good low cost fans, but I don't know what US availability is like, same as in the US on newegg there's MassCool and Apevia which we don't get overhere so I've no idea on thoes.
You could also look around for the Lain-Li 140mm fnas, they are very nice too without being very expensive (I'm pretty sure they are made by Yate-loon)

Looking at the specs and images the Apevia looks decent http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835228008 although 1200rpm so might need slowing a little.

Things do get tricky when you want very low noise/near slient, as bareing and motor noise come more into play than the actual fan/air flow noise.
While cheap fans can be good you're running a higher risk of a noisy bareing or motor.
At the same time fan's can get knocked about in transit which can also damage a bareing and lead to noise.

The thermalright website seems to be down atm so cannot check the ones you've linked hope the scan links are the same ones

[Phage]

Have I become the offical fan guru now?

Yes.

[yiplong]

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

My case can take either 120mm or 140mm, so in addition to the Thermalright fans, I am also considering these two:

Scythe Kama Flow 900rpm
http://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Kama-Fl...5436403&sr=1-5
This thing only moves 30 cfm though, slightly less than my current Cooler Master.

Scythe S-FLEX
http://www.amazon.com/Scythe-S-FLEX-...5442039&sr=8-1
These fans have several speeds, I think I will get either the 800rpm or the 1200rpm. According SPCR.com, the 1200rpm fan is only 3 dba louder (23dba vs. 20dba).
http://www.silentpcreview.com/articl...ge5.html#sflex
This review however states that the 1200rpm fan is 30 dba:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coo..._17.html#sect0

How are the S-Flex and Kama Flow fans compared to the Thermalright X-Silent fans? Are they all better than my current Cooler Master fans at least?