Looking for an equivalent but quieter fan than this.

[Feek]

Any suggestions for a fan that's roughly equivalent in throughput but quieter than the one attached please.

It's a 120X120X25mm fan and I believe it's only two pin as there is no speed control or sensing. I can probably get by with a three pin jobby as I can ignore the speed control.

Any ideas please?

Thanks.

 

[Holst1981]

Your going to need someone younger to translate the pic.

 

[Feek]

Damnit, I attached the wrong file - Should be the correct one now.

 

[ttaskmaster]

Blimey, 2200RPM? Is this one of the old fans supplied with a Corsair H100, by any chance?
OK, you have 34dB, kicking out 75CFM and 4mm/H2O... Presumably this is a static pressure fan you need, given the very high mm/H2O?

Noctua NF-F12 IndustrialPPC 2000RPM PWM - 29dB at 71CFM and 3.94mm/H2O
EK Vardar F4-120ER - 33dB, but 77CFM and 3.16mm/H2O
Blacknoise NoiseBlocker e-Loop B12-PS - Does 28dB for 77CFM but only 2.24mm/H2O

TBH, the one you have right now seems to have very good performance balance, long as you don't run it at full tilt...

 

[Feek]

Thanks.

It's the fan in my Drobo and I've recently moved the Drobo to my office so was just wondering if there's a quieter option. It doesn't ramp up and down in speed at all so yes, I assume it's running at full speed all the time.

I don't understand what the mm/H2O figure is, mm being millimetres but I think of H2O as water which I'm sure can't be right as it's not moist in there.

 

[Holst1981]

The mm/h20 is pressure but comparing between manufacturers is dubious.

I would try it on 7v on a molex/sata cable and see how it performs.

 

[Feek]

I would try it on 7v on a molex/sata cable and see how it performs.

Not really an option when I have to take the Drobo apart to get to the existing fan.

I'd have said the Noctura looks the best option but that's a four pin fan and I only need power, certainly not any control circuitry.

The Noiseblocker is the quietest, will that pressure thing be an issue? Looking at a picture, it seems to have a three pin connector but then the answer to a question says it comes with a 4 pin PWM so I'm not sure if that's suitable either.

The other one also seems to have a four pin connector.

All I want is a quiet 120mm fan I can stick 12v up and have it spin

 

[ttaskmaster]

mm/H2O is just a measure of pressure.
CFM is how much airflow the fan moves, mm/H2O is basically how forcefully it moves it. The former is important in cooling a case down, while the latter is more important if you're pushing air through a restricted space, like a watercooling radiator, a mesh or a grille.

I'd have said the Noctura looks the best option but that's a four pin fan and I only need power, certainly not any control circuitry.

You can put a 4-pin fan on a 3-pin header and still have relatively reasonable speed control. Have it automated by the motherboard, if needs be.
Thing is, every fan will sound noisy to some degree once it goes over 1,000rpm, as the air moving through your case makes the noise.
These values are all at max speed, though, which might help you decide.

It also depends on the rig itself (layout, internal components, filters and meshes, etc) as to how much noise the airflow generates, which is why fan stats are only a starting point.

 

[Feek]

You can put a 4-pin fan on a 3-pin header and still have relatively reasonable speed control. Have it automated by the motherboard, if needs be.
Thing is, every fan will sound noisy to some degree once it goes over 1,000rpm, as the air moving through your case makes the noise.
These values are all at max speed, though, which might help you decide.

It also depends on the rig itself (layout, internal components, filters and meshes, etc) as to how much noise the airflow generates, which is why fan stats are only a starting point.

It's going in a Drobo, a five bay external drive unit. There is no rig, there is no PC motherboard logic, there is just a fan with a 12v feed, no speed control.

The fan that's in there is running at 2200rpm, there's no control. Whatever I put in place will run at full speed, I just want it to be quieter. I thought four pin fans had to have some control, you can't just chuck 12v up them, is that correct?

 

[Holst1981]

If your running 12v then something with a lower rpm will be quieter.

How hot does your NAS run? Any concerns over temperatures?

If not then something like this should be fine.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-masterfan-120mm-fan-black-fg-02k-cm.htm

 

[Feek]

How hot does your NAS run? Any concerns over temperatures?

The drives can get hot, I don't want to reduce the cooling too much.

If the original fan has a sound level of 34dB then I just want another 12v fan that's quieter, I don't care whether it's running above 2k or not, it just needs to be quieter. The Coolermaster one has less than half the airflow, that's not going to be suitable.

If such a thing doesn't exist then it's not the end of the world, I just hoped there would be something quieter.

/edit - What about a Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 12V, would that do it?

 

[ttaskmaster]

It's going in a Drobo, a five bay external drive unit. There is no rig, there is no PC motherboard logic, there is just a fan with a 12v feed, no speed control.

It still has components over and around which the airflow has to pass, in order to cool them... In this case, a stack of hard drives, so not as noisy as a radiator, but also not whisper-quiet. Most will be good enough for your noise requirements, though.

Do you know which model of Drobo you have?
I don't know if the circuit board (whatever kind it is, but it will have one) has a 2, 3 or 4 pin header, the last two of which may well mean it can control the speed anyway, and I'm surprised that it doesn't already, TBH... It may depend on which model you have, but there are lots of posts on DroboCommunity about replacing the fan, which is either too noisy or has failed just outside of warranty. If yours is fairly new, as in 2015 or later, it appears they did have temp sensors and some method of speed control.

However, a 3-pin fan will often work on a 2-pin header, and you can either cut and solder the relevant wires together or use a converter cable if it doesn't. You could even twist/braid the wires and tape them up, if you wanted. Sometimes you get lucky and you can just pop the pins out of one connector and they'll fit the other easily.

Interestingly, several people seem to have used the same Noctua fan I mentioned above.

http://kevinrye.net/index_files/drobo_fan_replacement.php
http://blog.netscraps.com/tips/replace-drobo5n-noisy-fan.html
https://drobocommunity.m-ize.com/t/5n-fan-replacement/141892/20
https://drobocommunity.m-ize.com/t/5n-fan-replacement/141892/22
https://technikblog.ch/2011/03/howto-drobo-lautlos-machen/
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Drobo+FS+DRDS2-A+Fan+Replacement/78662

^ A couple of different models there, one of which looks to have a 3-pin header as well.

Whereabouts in the world are you, Feek?

The fan that's in there is running at 2200rpm, there's no control. Whatever I put in place will run at full speed, I just want it to be quieter.

That's the thing, though - Any 120mm fan running over 1,000rpm will start to get a bit noisy... which is often barely audible in a PC, but still too much for some people... while any 120mm fan running at 2200rpm will be ******* loud. Fans like that are intended for things like servers, which are usually in a server room, insulated to keep it cool and consequently noise outside that room is not a concern... which is why server rooms (that use small fans) are often deafening. Large fans moving slow are better and quieter than small fans moving fast.

I thought four pin fans had to have some control, you can't just chuck 12v up them, is that correct?

Only if you want speed control, but you can still run them flat out with 3 or even just 2 pin headers if they're wired right.
3-pin fans also have speed control, but they do it by varying the voltage. 4-pins use PWM to do it - https://www.overclock.net/forum/246-air-cooling/989566-pwm-fans-what-does-mean.html

 

[Feek]

Thanks @ttaskmaster
I've got a Drobo 5C (similar construction to the 5N) and from what I've been able to gather, it only has a two pin header for the fan and I'm absolutely sure there's no speed control. I think I did say that a three pin fan will do, and that's why I suggested the Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 12V which, looking back, is the same as the one you mentioned, only it's not PWM.

Whereabouts in the world are you, Feek?

I'm in Essex.

 

[Holst1981]

The drives can get hot, I don't want to reduce the cooling too much.

If the original fan has a sound level of 34dB then I just want another 12v fan that's quieter, I don't care whether it's running above 2k or not, it just needs to be quieter. The Coolermaster one has less than half the airflow, that's not going to be suitable.

If such a thing doesn't exist then it's not the end of the world, I just hoped there would be something quieter.

/edit - What about a Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 12V, would that do it?

Pretty much any fan will work but all of your 2000rpm choices will be loud.

This will be fine as well.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/noctua-nf-s12a-flx-fan-120mm-fg-018-nc.html

You dont need a super powerful fan to cool a NAS 1200rpm will be plenty.

The other option is adding some sort of fan speed to the nas.
I couldn't find much off the shelf apart from this
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/noctua-na-fc1-fan-controller-fg-05l-nc.html

Taking apart a old bay fan controller and a little modding would be my choice.

You can probably monitor temperatures somehow (smart) and adjust speed to suit.

 

[Feek]

Thanks, I'll look at those.

However

Pretty much any fan will work but all of your 2000rpm choices will be loud.

The fan in there now is 2200rpm and has a measured audio level of 34dB(A).
If I fit the Noctua NF-F12 iPPC, it has a speed of 2000rpm and a measured audio level of 29dB(A).

Therefore, it'll be slower and quieter, right?

I don't know about audio but at RF, if I drop the power by 3dB, it goes down by 50%. The difference here is 5dB so surely it'll be significantly quieter?

 

[Holst1981]

Thanks, I'll look at those.

However

The fan in there now is 2200rpm and has a measured audio level of 34dB(A).
If I fit the Noctua NF-F12 iPPC, it has a speed of 2000rpm and a measured audio level of 29dB(A).

Therefore, it'll be slower and quieter, right?

I don't know about audio but at RF, if I drop the power by 3dB, it goes down by 50%. The difference here is 5dB so surely it'll be significantly quieter?

It will be a bit quieter, but still much louder than a 1200rpm fan (at 18db)

2000rpm is still in the loud category for me.

The 1200rpm fan is only 18db

 

[Armageus]

For reference the smaller (40mm/50mm/60mm) noctua fans come with an "adapter" kit for connecting 3 pin fans to 2 pin devices.

Essentially just a case of cutting the existing fan cable and new fan cables and then using "jelly crimps" to rejoin the red/black wires leaving the yellow rpm wire unused

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/noctua-nf-a4x20-flx-5000rpm-fan-40mm-fg-05w-nc.html
Image 6 for reference

 

[ttaskmaster]

I've got a Drobo 5C (similar construction to the 5N) and from what I've been able to gather, it only has a two pin header for the fan and I'm absolutely sure there's no speed control.

I'm less certain...
The spec sheet suggests it has a "Fixed, 120mm variable speed cooling fan" - https://drobo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/downloads/docs/10:16-02-Drobo-5C-DS.pdf

I think I did say that a three pin fan will do, and that's why I suggested the Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 12V which, looking back, is the same as the one you mentioned, only it's not PWM.

That's great. PWM fans don't really enjoy being on 3-pin headers anyway.
My concern is that the device might not use a standard fan header, meaning a bit of fiddling. If you were local, I'd have offered assistance.

It will be a bit quieter, but still much louder than a 1200rpm fan (at 18db)
2000rpm is still in the loud category for me.
The 1200rpm fan is only 18db

That's just the fan when measured on it's own. It's the airflow that makes the noise, along with any subjectively irritating additional sound the fan itself might make, depending on frequency.
My Gentle Typhoons are legendarily quiet by themselves, but with airflow blasting through my rad you're looking at nearly 50dB.