I’m contemplating purchasing a 120mm fan to be used as a cabinet fan for my 2nd PC. I don’t know much about cooling and noise parameters for 120mm fans. Since there are a lot of users on TE with a lot of experience with cooling, I thought I’d get your views.
I want to know what CFM value is the threshold beyond which a fan will be considered good. Or rather what CFM should I not go below.
Also, I’m sensitive to noise and want a really quiet system. Low to moderate cooling is ok for me. I’m not going to overclock. So, in that case, what dB would be consider whisper quiet? And how low an RPM can I trade off for lower noise?
Other suggestions like for eg: which bearing to consider i.e. sleeve/ball/fluid dynamic bearing to consider, which brand to consider, should I look for PWM variable speed fans etc are also welcome.
Scythe S-flex 120mm fans should suite you !!. It is one of the more silent ones out there..and the airflow too is not that bad..67cfm. I have one that goes with my Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme cpu cooler..and it does a great job !!. Check out a few reviews on S-flex..and better still it has “Fluid Dynamic Bearing” technology from SONY Corporation and its life is said to be 150,000 hours. Check out the following link :-
Sythes are supposed to be good as said in above posts. I use Yate loons for my case and have been pretty happy with them. I cant say that they are totally silent, but are pretty good as I sit next to the case for the whole day. YLs are rated at 47cfm.
What I would suggest is, if you can spend 800+ for Sythes buy those or else look for Yate Loons.
The thermaltake fan interests me because of lower noise rating. CFM is higher than the Scythe S-Flex. I don’t know how that’s possible with the lower noise rating(I hope the values are true and not just marketing speak).
I don’t want the lighting on the thermaltake fan. I’m hoping I can shut it down or else I’ll have to clip the LEDs off.
Which is a better brand? Anyway, I’m not looking to spend too much on a fan. The silverstone is waayyy out of my budget. Plus, I’m not sure how to go about setting up the variable speed thingy. Is is s/w controlled? Or do I have to get some fan controller?
get a glacialtech… costs approx 350 in delhi.. 450 in mumbai..
its a 4 led fan.. v high cfm.. nd proportionately high db… 80odd cfm.. don remember de db ratings… u can undervolt it using speedfan to reduce de noise.. but i ended up wid more of a whine once i did that…
abt the material.. i dont think fans are made of metal.. atleast none that ive seen are… (mebbe im wrong on that) also.. logically.. plastic is gonna be better at noise dampening.
I guess you have to connect the fan to the motherboard for speedfan to work right? Is there a seperate wire going to the motherboard? How are the power connectors on such a fan? My simple 80mm fan has a molex power connector. Anything different with the glacialtech?
What’s the fan controller on the silverstone? It is the same 3 pin connector to mobo thing? Or is it a seperate pot?
I’m now favouring the Scythe S-flex as some people are telling me that metal bladed fan makes lesser noise v/s a plastic fan(I would assume otherwise :S ). Plus the Thunderblade hass a sleeve bearing v/s the Sony fluid bearing on the Scythe and I’ve read that sleeve bearing fans are best mounted horizontally which does not work for me.
IMO Scythes are not metal bladed. What I would suggest is, to get glacialtech or yate loons for now. You would be just spending ~300. Check if they can fit your need. If not, go ahead and get Scythe or other brands.
I was in a similar situation few months back and decided to go for cheaper option just to check. And im pretty satisfied with them. The noisiest fans in my comp are the blower type one on 1900gt and then the fan on my TT120 at max speed. Maybe I will get a scythe later just to check how they do compared to YLs I have now.
The most silent fans are the ones that are on my PSU. I just cant hear them. Im thinking of getting couple of those (Hiper).
If you want a quiet fan which throws a decent amount of air and does not cost a bomb then, GlacialTech Quad Led Fans are the way to go. They are rated for 90 CFM, relatively quiet and cost just 350 bucks.
continued
i have glacialtech 120mm & 80mm in my case & IMO they are quite loud & wont recommend them anyway for their loudness,air flow of 120mm one is really decent though
here at smc 120mm & 80mm are for 300 & 175 bucks respectively.
Its a separate controller with a knob through which you can reduce the fan speed which will reduce the noise levels as well, controller hooks up to my front bay and i reduce the speed when i am not doing anything intensive. Though i dont find them that much cost effective.
You should look something below 30dbA for noise levels as you said you are sensitive to noise. RPM doesnt matter, for good movement of air look for something above 50CFM in a 120mm Fan.
I will recommend the Scythe based on the specs though have not used them myself.
You forgot to check the MTBF. i think it depends on the bearing being used, most have 30k hours although I found some Scythe 120mm’s having 180k hours. Scythe uses Minebea (NMB-MAT) bearings (Panaflo ? ) in some fans.
CFM ~ 100 is possible in the 40-50 db range, which is quite bearable IMO.
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