Quietest fans

[Andeh13]

Bought a new system a few months ago inc some blue neon fans(im a sucker for gimmics ) however they are noisy little buggers. AFAIK its the 90mm fan on my heatsink which is the main culprit, if i stop it with my finger the system seems much quieter. Iv manged to take the fan itself off so i know i can replace it but what would be your advice on the best fan to put in its place? Iv read up about these 'golf ball' patterned fans, yet i cant find any that are 90mm. Any others you'd recommend?


Iv got a 120mm at the rear, 80mm at the front and the 90mm on the heatsink.

my heatsink:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=382297


thanks a lot guys.

[amjedm]

Apart from a 90mm Panaflo I don't own any other 90mm fans but you could try the following

Yate Loon 92mm
Nexus 92mm

Both the above have good reviews afaik

From Scan I would try the NorthQ 92mm. Again no experience or reviews but it's a Ceramic Bearing fan.

The Zalman 92mm comes with a resistor so you could lower rpms.

Edit: why not try lowering the fan speed first? If temps are ok then stick with the fan.

[Azza]

Maybe Akasa Ambers. The 120mm versions are very quite so the 92mm should be pretty quite aswell.

[TheAnimus]

fan of the sharkoon range myself, incredibly well built feal, very low noise.

[EtheAv8r]

Best 80mm fixed speed fan = Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 80mm

Best 80mm variable speed fan = there is not a good one, get the above!

Best 92mm fixed speed fan = Akasa Amber 92mm

Best 92mm variable speed fan = Acoustifan Dustproof AFDP-9225B

Best 120mm fixed speed fan = Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 120mm

Best 120mm variable speed fan = Zalman ZM-F3

[scrandman]

You'll probably find the 80mm at the front is almost as noisy as the CPU fan unless you have it undervolted. I run my system with a Sharkoon 120 2000 @ 5V at the back of the case and a 120mm Scythe @ 5V on my HS (Ninja) and nothing up front. My hard drive noise now bothers me

[MD]

Sharkoon Golf Ball fans at Scan wipe the floor with the older Amber fans from Akasa...

Matt.

[Andeh13]

yeh, i had my eyes set on the golf ball fans but scan dont sell any 90mm ones. Im tempted to get all the fans replaced, and just look elsewhere for a 90mm golf ball fan.

Iv had a look at the amber fans but this seems to be quieter, is it any good?
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=396710

[amjedm]

Sharkoon Golf Ball fans at Scan wipe the floor with the older Amber fans from Akasa...

Matt.

What he said.

The Amber 120mm I had wasn't good at all so I sold it.

[Barrichello]

I wanted to get 2 of these....

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=332108

Basically same golf ball 80mm Sharkoon but with leds in as...

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=290840

both are clasified as 17.8 dB - anyone use these and can say that they are preety quiet? Im trying to cut down fan noise in my machine at the moment.

[this_is_gav]

They're gonna be quiet, but not entirely silent. 'Silence' is what the 1000 range is for - of course, it's not entirely silent, but unless you stick your head in the case on a quiet night you'll not hear them.

The 2000's is likely a very, very good balance between noise and performance. You shouldn't be disappointed.

[BUFF]

They're gonna be quiet, but not entirely silent. 'Silence' is what the 1000 range is for -

at the cost of a large drop in cfm e.g.
1000 80mm 11.4cfm
2000 80mm 22.7cfm

[this_is_gav]

Yeah. Still, they still provide enough air-flow in my rather large case to keep temps down.

[amjedm]

I have one of the 80cm 1000 Sharkoon fans. It doesn't push much air at all but as you'd expect it's very very quiet.

[Andeh13]

Just checked my CPU fan and found it to be 80mm(good news!)

Im going to go for 2 golf balls, both 2000. Thought about haveing the 1000 at the front and the 2000 on the CPU, but i dont think that would make much of a difference to the overall noise level.


thanks again guys, big help.

[amjedm]

Just checked my CPU fan and found it to be 80mm(good news!)

Im going to go for 2 golf balls, im thinking the 1000 at the front, then the 2000 on my CPU, then leaving my 120mm LED fan at the rear as it is.

Is it worth going for 2 different speeds(1000 & 2000) or just sticking with 2 x 2000?


thanks again guys.

Go for the 2000 ones. As stated in my post above, the 1000 doesn't push much air at all.

Best bet is to undervolt them if need be.