Good Fans, in quiet mode - advice please

Steviepunk

Steviepunk

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Hi,

I'm looking to replace the system fans on my case, with aim being to provider better cooling during gaming and also be very quiet when I'm not.

I've got a nzxt 410 Phantom case, with 2 intake fans on the front and 1 on the side. there are 2 x 140mm fan 'slots' on top for exhaust (though only 1 fan in place just now) and a rear exhaust - which currently has Antec CLC on it with 2 x SP120s in push/pull (which are running PWM from the MB)
The stock fans on the case seemed quite quiet initially, but not sure if I've just got sensitive to the noise or if they are making more noise now that they are older.

Also have a 7990, which seems like it get's quite warm (nothing at a worrying level, but I'd like to do better).

The case has a 3 step fan control switch on it, so I'm looking for fans that will be good when on full, but very quiet when I have them down on low.

Had considered a proper fan controller, but as I had to take the HDD cage out to fit the 7990, it means I have drives in the 5 1/2" slots, so no space for a controller

I've had a look at the fans below, all seem to provide good airflow on full, however I've heard reports that some fans don't quieten down much when at slower speeds. Anyone got any experience on what any of these are like on a low speed?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair AF120 Performance Series Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050004-WW) £22.00
1 x Be Quiet! Shadow Wings Fan High-Speed - 120mm £12.98
1 x Alpenföhn 120mm Wing Boost Plus PWM Fan - Black & White £12.95
1 x Cooler Master 120mm JetFlo FAN 1600RPM - non-LED £11.99
1 x Scythe Glide Stream 1600RPM Fan - 120mm £9.95
1 x Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED White Quiet Edition (CO-9050015-WLED) £8.99
1 x Scythe Kaze Jyuni 1600RPM Slipstream 120mm Fan £7.99
1 x Aerocool Shark Black Edition Fan - 120mm £6.98





Additional question for best cooling performance - am I correct in thinking that the total volume of air being pulled out of the case should be a little less than the total volume being pushed in? (ie. keep positive pressure)


Thanks.
 

Steviepunk

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Thanks, those fans do look quite interesting (and great colour scheme!), however what criteria are you using to detemin 'best'?

Airflow seems around the same as the Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED White Quiet Edition, while being much quieter, which is great.

The Scythe Kaze Jyuni 1600RPM Slipstream 120mm Fan doesn't seem too much louder, but has quite a bit more airflow. Starting to think maybe the Jyuni on the first of the case and the Aerocool DS 140mm on the top.

Seems to be a good contender, thanks :)
 

doyll

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If you use PWM fans with a PWM splitter w/ PSU power you can control their speed with CPU fan header PWM signal. Can use GPU fan PWM signal for some fans too but takes more adapters.

Here's how:
Controlling case fans with PWM signal from motherboard CPU fan header and GPU fan header.

There are some limitations:
  • Obviously motherboard and GPU must have PWM
  • Obviously fans must be PWM
  • Motherboard can only support 8-9 fans (PWM signal strength gets too weak)
  • No idea how many fans GPU can support.

Setting up motherboard PWM control of PWM case fans:
  • Use a PWM splitter with molex/sata connector. Gelid and Swiftech are my preferred.
  • http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?lid=2&cid=11&id=63
  • http://www.swiftech.com/8-waypwmsplitter.aspx
  • Plug PWM splitter to motherboard CPU fan header and PSU
  • Use CPU cooler fan as "master" fan. This is the fan that sends rpm signal to motherboard PWM header.
  • Additional CPU cooler fans and case fans will ramp u and down with CPU fan.
  • Can use a second PWM splitter on 3-way & 4-way PWM splitter.
  • Setup fan speed curve with motherboard bios or software. Gigabyte has EasyTune 6 and Asus has SmartFan. I set minimum at 30% fan @ 30c and maximum at 100% @ 65c. Than watch temps and see if you want more or less rpm to keep temperature and noise where you want them. My sig rig idles 24-29c @ 700rpm; 100% all cores is 42-48c :950-1050rpm.

Setting up GPU PWM control of case fans:
  • Obviously GPU fans need to be PWM. Because the GPU PWM header/plug is smaller than normal PWM we need a Mini 4-Pin GPU (Female) to Mini 4-Pin GPU (Male) / 4-Pin Fan (Male) Cable Splitter Adapter is needed-. The blue wire going to normal PWM socket needs to be cut off of mini PWM plug. (You can use this wire to monitor rpm on case fan by connecting it to a normal 3pin fan plug in the rpm position.) Plug a PWM splitter into the normal PWM socket and PSU for case fans.
  • http://www.moddiy.com/products/Mini...)-{47}-4%2dPin-Fan-(Male)-Cable-Splitter.html
  • Case fans hooked onto this splitter will ramp up and down with GPU fans.
  • Use GPU software or Bios to setup fan speed curve
Click to expand...

For PWM control of 3-pin variable voltage fans there are two ways to do it:
 
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ttaskmaster

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I'm currently working my way through a load of reccomendations:

120mm:
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1450rpm
Corsair SP120 1450rpm
Silverstone FQ series
Akasa Viper or Apache
Noctua NF-F12 120mm


140mm:
Noctua NF-A14 FLX

Also:
Scythe "SLIP STREAM" 120x25mm Case Fan" 1900 rpm
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120 mm by Nidec Servo Corp. - 4250 RPM Speed
Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP15 fans

I currently have a mix of Enermax TB Silence 120mm PWM, Noctua NF-P12, Noctua NF-S12A and a Coolermaster MegaFlow 200mm.
However, even with this lot on full chat, I get 10-20ºC *less* cooling than I did from just the stock fans with only around a 3db drop in noise...

The quest continues...!
 

doyll

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Very few if any fans above 1000rpm are quiet. None are silent. This is the primary reason I started using PWM control of case fans with either PWM fans or Tealc's PWM to analog adapter.
 

Steviepunk

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Don't suppose anyone knows where to find the PWM connector on a 7990?

I'll look at the PWM route instead of the standard 3 pin fans, auto control would be a better option (makes sure I don't forget to turn up the fans before playing a game!), though I'm suspecting that I'd probably be better having the fans ramp up with the graphics card rather than the CPU.

Though might also be worth having the 2 front fans on the case linked with the CPU, and the side fan linked to the GPU (since it blows straight onto it), also can't really think of many scenarios where GPU would be under load and the CPU would not be, but more likely to CPU under load with minimal load on the GPU
 

doyll

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Asking where PWm header in on 7990 is kinda like asking where the PWM headers is on x58 motherboard.

Depends on which 7990 it is.
 

Rroff

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AFAIK there are no fans that are silent at or above 1K RPM as mentioned above.

I've always found the akasa apaches the quietest while still providing reasonable airflow at min speeds if thats what you want but they don't tend to produce as good ratios of noise/airflow at higher RPMs as other "quiet" fans (they seem to be focused at the lower end of the scale whereas most other quiet fans tend to be a bit more balanced over the range if that makes sense).

The Corsair AFs are good if you want to get a lot of air moving into/out the case without being too noisey but they are a long way from quiet in comparison to other quiet fans. (Not tried the Aerocool DS to see how they compare).

Given how often this comes up semi tempted to buy a load and do some (proper) testing.
 
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ttaskmaster

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Finding the balance between good cooling when quieted and great cooling if you need them on full chat, ideally while still being comparatively quiet, is the goal.

It depends on your case, it depends on your setup, it depends on the size of the holes in the mesh through which you're intaking... and it depends what you personally consider quiet!!

One of my fans claims to be less than 20db on full chat... and yet the noise of the airflow through the mesh combines with the other noises in my case (H100, PSU, GPU, other fans) to make a comparative cacaphony!!
Time was, the noisiest thing in my magic box was the HDDs!!
 

doyll

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Steviepunk said:
My bad, it's a Gigabyte 7990.

Had thought they were all reference design, so didn't think it made a difference.
Click to expand...

You might be correct. After looking at some reviews with cooler removed there appears to be a PWM fan header in top left corner at 7 oclock from mounting hole and a PWM fan header on the lower right corner of PCB at 10 oclock from mounting hole.. looking with PCI-E strip at bottom.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeon_hd_7990_review,4.html

It's a small 4 or 5-pin socket. My ASUS ENGTX580DCUII has a 5 pin but I plugged the VGA 4-pin splitter adapter into one of the stock fan splitter sockets for stock cooler fans, than plug stock cooler fan into the VGA fan socket and PWM splitter with PSU power into the VGA splitter adapter's normal PWM socket.
Mini 4-Pin GPU (Female) to Mini 4-Pin GPU (Male) / 4-Pin Fan (Male) Cable Splitter
http://www.moddiy.com/products/Mini...)-{47}-4%2dPin-Fan-(Male)-Cable-Splitter.html

Hope that all makes sense.
 

Steviepunk

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Been reading up a little more on the 7990, looks like I might have to check over it's config and see that I've not left anything set incorrectly (like ULPS). also need to check where exactly the hot air is coming out the of card - I gather it should be out the back, but saw some reports that some cards are blowing hot air into the case (in which case the side fan may be better as an exhaust rather than intake.
Installing LtMatt's custom ROM is probably required as well - since I gather that helps the card run a little quieter that normal as well

Either way, as ttaskmaster says, finding that balance is the challenge (since I don't have the finances to buy lots of fans to test them :( )

I'm pretty much ruling out any fan that doesn't go above 1200rpm - quiet though they may be, they don't have the top end cooling capacity. Thinking that fans around the 1600rpm might be the target for the top end speed given the heat from the gfx card

For me the noise on full speed is not to big an issue (so long as it isn't crazy), since I'd probably be focused on a game and not notice it too much. So long as it is quiet when on it's 'low' setting then that is fine. Think I'll go for the PWM route from the CPU header and see how that goes.
Since there isn't really any consensus on which fans will fit the criteria I'm looking for, I think the way forward is just to make a best guess judgement, buy them, then report back here so (hopefully) others can use the information :)


Doyll - that's some great info, thanks for that. Though not sure I'll want to be taking the cooler off the card to get at the socket, not really comfortable with doing that :( Still, good info :)
 

doyll

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I can understand that. :D

It's really not much different than installing a CPU cooler.. Well, with the 7990 there are 2 processors, but same general idea.

Gigabyte does not officially warranty if cooler has been removed but in real life it's done all the time.. assuming cooler is re-installed properly.
 

doyll

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It had me wondering. Opened tread, quoted, started reading and.... whaa?! :confused:
Checked email notice are read 'now'... check thread and read 'no' ...:eek:

Finally decided I wasn't any crazier than I had been before. :D
 
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