Case Fans

[lavery]

Could someone tell me what 80mm case fan gives of the lowest noise

 

[Fedor]

You realise that there is a trade-off between noise and airflow right? I mean the quietest fans may not provide enough airflow.

Are you looking to add some to your case or replace existing ones?

 

[lavery]

I want to put 4 in my case. two at the front to bring air in then two at the back to take air out.

 

[Fedor]

I just want to be perfectly clear - you have no fans in there currently?

 

[stefx]

silentpcreview.com has great reviews for fans

 

[Fedor]

Yes, it most certainly does. However, if the author would have confirmed that he is adding fans rather than replacing, I'd recommend the Noctua NF-R8, which aren't covered in silentpcreview unfortunately.

 

[lavery]

At the min i only have the two fans at the back of my case, i havent put the two at the front just yet as the two back ones make too much noise already.

I dont mine buying new case fans if it helps my noise problem.

I might buy a arctic cooling freezer 7 Pro to replace my cpu HSF. I already have a arctic cooling silencer nv5 for my 7800gt.

If you need any other information about my set up just ask

thanks for the help 😀

 

[TonyStark]

What sort of Case do you have? Would you be able to place 120's instead?


Larger fans = more airflow at lower RPM's (ie better airflow:noise ratio).

 

[lavery]

No there just room for 80mm fans. Might just buy a new case tho, im taken it 120mm fan is better, but do thay give of much noise? thanx

 

[stefx]

120mm fans can turn slower and provide as much (or more airflow) as 80mm, therefore they are usually quieter than 80mm fans (which have to turn faster)

 

[Fedor]

No there just room for 80mm fans. Might just buy a new case tho, im taken it 120mm fan is better, but do thay give of much noise? thanx

Not all fans are made equal. You can't generalise and say "120mm fans dont give off much noise" or "80mm fans are loud". Depending on the models, you can get quiet ones for either size, and loud ones for either size. Could you tell us your case model? If it's a decent/good case, it's certainly not worth replacing it just to fit 120mm fans. I've got 2 x 80mm intakes on my Lian-Li case right now, and they are quiet. Like I said, if you're looking for quiet 80mm fans, Noctua NF-R8 is a great choice.

You don't have to use the store of course but this is a good list (except the Zalman):
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/80mmfans

As for changing your CPU HSF, the Arctic Cooling solution is OK but it's not great. If you want the best in terms of quiet performance, get yourself a Thermalright Ultra-120 (Extreme version should come out some time soon), Noctua NH-U12F or Scythe Ninja.

 

[lavery]

My case isnt that good, just got it out of a computer shop, has no name are anything. Is there cases out there that some way help fans give of less noise? :?

Think ill go with that Thermalright Ultra-120. 😀

Just thinking would i just be better making the move to water cooling?? 8O

 

[stefx]

My case isnt that good, just got it out of a computer shop, has no name are anything. Is there cases out there that some way help fans give of less noise? :?

Yes there are cases that are optimized for silent operations. Antec P180 is one example, many companies make "silent" cases.

Just thinking would i just be better making the move to water cooling?? 8O

"Better" depends on your own criterias. It will be up to you to judge.

Usually (not always), watercooling outperforms air cooling and costs more.
Years ago, the difference between air cooling and water cooling performance was huge. Nowadays, water cooling usually still outperforms air cooling but the gap isn't as big as it was.

 

[Fedor]

If you have the money, time and guts to do watercooling, go for it. You can turn the fans to very low speed and therefore get a great performance/noise ratio. But there is no reason why air cooling shouldn't be enough to keep your components cool enough whilst doing so quietly. It would give us a better picture if you gave us full system specs.

 

[rdhood]

My case isnt that good, just got it out of a computer shop, has no name are anything. Is there cases out there that some way help fans give of less noise? :?

Think ill go with that Thermalright Ultra-120. 😀

Just thinking would i just be better making the move to water cooling?? 8O

Fry's has the Antec Solo on sale about once a month. I bought one for $40 after rebate, and a second for $20 after rebate. Into those, I am putting a Yate Loon 120MM exhaust fan ($3), replacing the 120mm Ultra V PSU fan with a Yate Loon ($3), replacing the stock HSF with Cooler Master Hyper T ($30), add a 92mm Scythe up front for intake ($12), and a Scythe mini kaze on the northbridge ($3).

Each fan will be at-or-less than 20dba, and should be fairly quiet when all is done. That's about $80 ($30 case +$3 +$3 +$3 + $12 + $30) overall in case+fans for a cool quiet system. I've already installed the CPU cooler (OCing an E6300 to 3Ghz), and the Northbridge cooler. Other fans are being delivered today.

People always talk about the overclockability of C2D, but the low power consumption is equally important. When you combine the low power consumption of C2D with the current round of heat-pipe+120MM HSF combos, you get some very quiet high-powered computing!

Looking back, I wonder why the PCs didn't go to to large low-rpm fans and heat pipes 10 years ago! It would have made the PC era much more enjoyable. Water cooling might never have evolved.