Re: Quiet 120mm fan review
Thanks for that - very useful.
SPCR also did a recent 120MM fan test too,and the Scythe and Noiseblocker fans were also considered the best:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1266-page1.html
Funnily I have both the Antec Tricool 120MM and Silent Eagle 2000 120MM and I have not compared the two for some reason.
The Silent Eagle actually uses a sleeve bearing BTW,but I had a smaller diameter version wear out within two years,and it started making higher pitched noises. It was being used as the CPU cooler fan on my Shuttle(was running at maximum constant speed). The sleeve bearing fan on my Akasa Vortexx Neo graphics card cooler did the same thing within two years too(had to buy another one) and it too was running a maximum constant speed. Then a mate had the sleeve bearing fan on their FSP PSU go in around three years. In the later case it was being used as the primary exhaust in a relatively small case.
I find that sleeve bearing fans are fine as long as they are not run at maximum speed for long periods - if you are doing that a ball bearing or another type of bearing will probably be a better choice.
I do like the Noctua fans - the one that replaced the smaller diameter Silent Eagle fan still works fine years later,and I preferred its acoustic signature. The Panaflo fans are pretty quiet and reliable from my experience too - the xbitlabs article rated the one they tested highly.
Re: Quiet 120mm fan review
That's exactly the sort of review I was looking for, and SPCR was the first place I checked but for some reason I didn't find it!
And I'm not sure where I got the idea the Silent Eagle was a ball bearing, I've looked back over a few pages and it's correctly referred to as sleeve - maybe it was someone in a forum, and for that reason I'll go edit the OP in a sec. However, the rumbling noise/vibration AFAICT comes from some sort of indents as the rotor turns, something I assumed to be caused by an imperfect bearing housing, but it could be due to motor design. With sleeve bearings, horizontal use can apparently cause them to wear faster, and due to increased friction they can perform worse too. However, you'd still expect some force perpendicular to the bearings due to thrust created by the rotor, especially in high speed fans, so I'm not sure how much difference orientation would make in practice?
I'd definitely considered Noctua, but was (perhaps unfairly) put off for a few reasons. They cost about twice as much as the Scythe/Noiseblocker and according to a few random forum posts, they're overrated. I tried an 80mm but it was a fair bit noisier than a much cheaper Panaflo, but I guess I shouldn't judge their entire range based on a form factor which seems near impossible to make quiet.
I might try to get hold of some 120mm Panaflo's, the 80mm ones are about the best I could find.
Re: Quiet 120mm fan review
The Noctua I used was a 92MM one,and I needed decent airflow as it was part of a fansink in a Shuttle P2 chassis. I tried a few other higher flow fans,and the Noctua was relatively quiet for the amount of airflow they produced. The one I used was the Vortex flow one which is meant for heatsinks.OTH,I do think they are very expensive. The Panaflo fans are good though. I used one on the cooler in my Shuttle G2 and that has lasted for years. OTH,it is hard to say whether newer designs are better,but I consider the Panaflo generally well built.
Re: Quiet 120mm fan review
I've done some searching and I can't find any UK suppliers of Panaflo/NMB-MAT fans, I don't suppose you know of any? I think they make quite a few, are there any particular model numbers I should be looking for?
Something I should add, about the review - the 'ticking' noise you get coming from a can of Coke is a fair bit louder than that coming from the Noiseblocker, just to put it into perspective. :P
Re: Quiet 120mm fan review
Another quick update, the Silent Eagle occasionally makes a scraping sound similar to the Antec, again usually fixable with a nudge.
Also, the Antec it seems really doesn't like being used with airflow pointing upwards, as it starts vibrating relatively strongly, and becomes much louder than when in other orientations. This may again be due to a defective sample, but I have some Blue LED ones on an Antec 900 I can remove and test, as they are all vertical in the case. I was thinking it may be an issue with the design, but IIRC they are used in that orientation in the likes of the 300...
After a quick search I found the following:
Quote:
Antec TriCool 140mm: Blades were off blaance. Cause fan vibrate like insane on top exhaust when mounted horizontally. Vertically no issues with vibration. Had low growling and ticking.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...hp?f=9&t=62830
Edit: Have just tested another TriCool, and while it's not as bad as the first, pointing it upwards does significantly increase vibration. I may look into this more, as I don't recall a recent build for a friend in a 302 case making noise like that, and it uses a TriCool in the roof.