Silent 120mm Fans

[Boldeagle]

Actually, choosing quiet fans pretty much guarantees an impairment to cooling. It's a trade off between the two, you just choose a level of compromise.

There is also very little point in comparing dBA and CFM figures quoted by manufacturers, as they are inaccurate (or simply not detailed enough) most of the time.

 

Well I don't agree with that 100% there are high quality products out there across the board (from MOBO's to Vid Cards) and if you choose a poor and or generic products to start with you may actually "increase" your CFM and decrease your dBA (Noise) with a quality product. Research will indicate that you will have to pay for the extra benefits though. But I will agree some manufacturers if given the opportunity will fudge data to increase sales. That is were technical review sites come in and a golden rule in my book is those that have tons of product links within the page ("compare prices on") are going to be the most questionable. So the more research you do the greater the likelihood you will get a quality product. Personally I would compare the values so you have some sort of "gauge".

 

One good brand that comes to mind is Panflo. Here is another link from another thread I was in:

 

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-usd/products

 

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-usd/products/120mmfans

Edited May 29, 2008 by Boldeagle

[Great_Gig]

4 x Nexus 120mm =

Edited May 29, 2008 by Great Gig

[Boldeagle]

There are some other options to consider and one is sound dampening of the case for example:

 

http://www.quietpcusa.com/

 

The Acousti Pack.

 

Here is a good review site imho:

 

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1099/

 

and within the article "There are a few places on the Internet, where you can find real, scientific comparisons of different fans. One of them is HERE.";

 

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/tecar.html

 

Hope this helps some.

[Boldeagle]

I cant help myself, here are some reviews and there is a trend occurring here:

 

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=421

 

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page1.html

 

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article63-page2.html

 

Scythe and Noctua keep cropping up in a variety of reviews and medium.

[radodrill]

I'm actually running 6 of the A.C.Ryan Blackfire 4 Kameleons in my main rig. BTW, the UVBlue is not the same as the Kameleon; the difference is the UVBlue has translucent blue (UV-Reactive) parts, while the Kameleon is a translucent dark gray under normal light but a bluish glow under UV light. They're not the quietest fans I've seen, but if you slow them down on a fan controller they're actually pretty good.

[Warby35]

If its silence your after its got to be the Noctua NF-P12, I've got one on my HSF and its practically in-audiable

 

Warby

[Boldeagle]

Both of those brands seem good Scythe and Noctua.

Edited May 31, 2008 by Boldeagle

[xPETEZx]

I am torn...

 

Either to shell out and get the Noctuna's, or to grap some of the Sythe fans.

 

The thing about the Noctuna's is they are really really ugly, and my case has a Window in it. So thats +1 to the Sythe fans.

 

 

Thanks for all the responses. Will be placing an order next week!

[six]

I am torn...

 

Either to shell out and get the Noctuna's, or to grap some of the Sythe fans.

 

 

You won't be unhappy with the Scythe fans. I've gathered quite a collection of the slipstreams and their sony fdb fans. The slipstreams are sleeve bearing fans, so they aren't as durable, but they are quiet and seem to move the amount of air they are rated for. I have a pair of the 1600 rpm 88 cfm slipstreams as intake on the machine I'm sitting at right now. When I decided to remove my fan filters permanently, I noticed that I can barely hear them running under my desk. When my filters were in place, there was enough noise to bother me if my office was quiet.

[IVIYTH0S]

Enermax ENLOBAL.....yeah how 'bout REAL silence

[Warby35]

Enermax ENLOBAL.....yeah how 'bout REAL silence

 

I like the idear of the magnetic housing but the same site, Noctua http://www.xoxide.com/noctua-nf-s12-fan.html has 17db just the same but you get a 6 year waranty (but it is ugly and exspnsive) why did they have to make it that colour?

 

I geuss you could call me a Noctua Fanboy

 

Warby

 

EDIT: Just had a look on the Noctua box and the specs say 19.8db, they must have got a extra special one!!

2nd EDIT: its the NF-S12 and not the NF-P12 thats why! (I really should learn how to read)

Edited June 2, 2008 by Warby35

[IVIYTH0S]

i've got 6 of the enlobals, 80mm versions, as case fans and you really hear nothing at all the noise they make is the literal air flowing. and 44CFM isn't too shabby for silence (thats the 120mm version's CFM not the 80mm haha) I'd atleast recommend for secondary fans if the CFM isn't up to the demand, but they are the kings of silent fans. The Noctua looks like a good choice also (and is 47.7 CFM) so if it's as silent as it claims I admit defeat, i'd love to see a comparison .