Quietest 80mm fan

[pebbleberries]

Does anyone know, what is the quietest 80mm fan out there?

I'm thinking between a Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 and a Silenx Effizio Thermistor.

It also needs to actually move air too. This is going to be in an amplifier running max speed all the time when it's on.

 

[dangus]

this may be one of the most specific questions i've ever seen asked!

also, if it's going to be in an amplifier...why is it so important that it's quiet?

 

[pebbleberries]

The fans in this amp sound like a rocket and sometimes I listen to quiet music and the fans can be annoying.

It doesn't exactly have to be the quietest but the quieter, the better.

 

[dangus]

really need to know more about your hardware to be honest. what amp are we talking about? does it have a 3pin or 4pin header?

 

[pebbleberries]

It's the Behringer Inuke NU6000DSP which actually has a 2 pin connection so the idea was to cut the wire and solder it. That's why the fans run at max speed all the time.

 

[dangus]

are you sure that you won't have to do some soldering to replace the fans? or if you're comfortable with soldering...and they are in fact soldered...any fan you put in there might run max RPM anyways so i would shop for one that has a lower RPM listed in the specs? that's all i got brudda

 

[Karadjgne]

Case Fan: Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800 31.4 CFM 80mm Fan ($14.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A8 FLX 29.7 CFM 80mm Fan ($15.88 @ OutletPC)

Modding the fans is easy, you'll only need the power and ground to match up, the tach wire is essentially useless. I like the Noctua, but honestly, anything below 20 db(A) is considered silent. Whether or not this'll translate in enclosed space like the amp is unknown, but the silentwings would work too. Nice thing about Noctua fans is they usually come with LNA/ULNA adapters that'll change fan voltage from 12-9-5v lowering both speed and volume if you find it necessary.

 

[pebbleberries]

OK, Well I know soldering because i'm a DJ, Computer technician and electrician. From what I know is that lower RPM means lower noise.

Would the LNA adaptors work with only 2 pins instead of 4?

 

[Karadjgne]

I believe they should. They are only 3wire adapters, 12v+, ground and a tach wire. Basically just a resistor online on the 12v+ to drop the fan voltage to 9v etc. Will have nothing to do with the tach wire, since that's only an rpm signal wire. Pwm fans have no need for a voltage adapter since they work on 12v constant.

 

[pebbleberries]

OK, Well looks like i'm going for the Noctua's anyway so i'll try it out.

 

[chriscambridge]

What was the result? Did it decrease the amount of sound? I run 2U server racks and its 80mm fans are proper screamers.. So I personally would be interested in your results..