120mm Fan

[darrensen]

I am about to purchase some 120mm fans for my build. My current ones are now doing my head in!

Is Nexus still the best to buy or should i get the Slient X brand?

I know you can always go by what they say for Db ratings.

Thanks guys

Darren

[philyau]

nexus m8, but the orange color is a bit naff.

phil

[vincent]

there's a brand named "Quiet-Fan" that are really good im sure you can get some coloured ones somewhere [i think]

[amjedm]

Nexus are probably still the best. SilenX 120mm 14dba are that level when switched off, or undervolted (I have a couple of them).

Yate Loon are cheaper than Nexus and quiet when undervolted.

I've bought Yate Loon fans from a guy in Germany via his ebay shop and the prices are reasonable.

[chrestomanci]

I just brought one of these Akasa fans from scan. It is both quiet and effective.

Personaly, I don't think it is worth getting obsessed about which fan is best, quitetest, cheapest etc, unless you are a system builder and need thousands. Instead just look at what is avalable from where you are getting the rest of the componets you need for you build, and choose from that.

One thing though, don't just look at noise levels, some fans acheve very low noise levels by moving so little air they might as well be off.

[Tak]

I've bought Yate Loon fans from a guy in Germany via his ebay shop and the prices are reasonable.

Silencio ?

I've bought stuff from him, he's great, good value and friendly service.

Yate Loon D12SL-12's are £6 + postage (same fans as the Nexus 120 but higher rpm and more airflow). Can of course be undervolted to (roughly) match Nexus specs.

chrestomanci,
Noise levels are highly subjective - fans that one person determines as "quiet" may appear loud to someone else. To my ears different fan types do indeed make a significant difference. Hell, even different batches of a certain fan model can have audible differences.

Regarding air flow, I agree, however the larger 120mm+ "quiet" fans tend to push a very reasonable amount of air due to their size.

[Taz]

I bought 2x120mm fans from Whispertec to replace those in my Thermaltake Tsunami case. Absolutely transformed the PC to the point where I can hardly hear it.

http://www.whispertec.com/Fan120.html

I bought the R120L Silent fans as these work great with my Asus motherboard using the Asus Q-Fan function to slow them down as required depending on motherboard temperature. The fans are 25mm depth so you need to check the mounting depth on your case (some 120mm fans are 38mm depth).

[darrensen]

It seems that Nexus is the brand to buy. Orange isnt really my preference though, guess it's the only let down!

[Tak]

Most Yate Loons are black

[amjedm]

Silencio ?

I've bought stuff from him, he's great, good value and friendly service.

Yep, he's the man.

Agree with all your comments. He is good to deal with.

[MiNiMaL_FuSS]

i'm using some of the silent X 14dba fans, seem the best noise to airflow ratio to me, and come with antivibration pads etc for free.