A quick fan question

Credo

Credo

Credo

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Joined
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Worcestershire
A bit of a basic question - I have three Akasa 120mm Blue LED fans in my CM Stacker (two intake, one exhaust):

Akasa 120mm Blue LED Fan

The are however, a bit noisy. The Akasa Amber series -

Akasa 120mm Amber Fan

- are a *lot* quieter, but less powerful (44.8 CFM vs 59.05 CFM).

My (basic) question is - would my case temps change much if I fitted the Ambers in place of my current fans?

(Message to OCUK - this post would not exist if you hadn't brought back free delivery for loyal forum members!)
 
Personally, I don't think you'd see a 'significant' difference. I went from some 'standard' fans to 6 of the Areocool's i've mentioned below and was underwhelmed by performance increase.

AeroCool Silver Lightnings:

120mm = 65cfm + 26.58 dBA
140mm = 73cfm + 31.72 dBA

The best fan I have ever used is: SilenX Ixtrema Blue LED Pro:

120mm = 72cfm + 14 dBA.

They are well quite due to their fluid bearings (although some have reported this mechanism fails after 6 months!) but expensive.

Thats my 2 pence worth.
 
Thanks folks, some good advice there. I have thought since posting that maybe I'll try disconnecting the front fans and see what difference that makes to CPU temps. That should give me an idea of what a bit less airflow will do... if anything interesting happens I'll post here!
 
You could try a fan controller and keep the existing. Akasa do a 3 fan controller for ~£8. That will allow you to find the best noise/performance compromise.
 
Credo said:
Thanks folks, some good advice there. I have thought since posting that maybe I'll try disconnecting the front fans and see what difference that makes to CPU temps. That should give me an idea of what a bit less airflow will do... if anything interesting happens I'll post here!
Click to expand...
Well, as threatened, I disconnected the two front fans, and lo and behold - no difference in CPU idle or load temps! To clarify, this was with a 120mm Akasa blue LED as exhaust (with no grille, filter or anything - there is a fair breeze behind my PC), the PSU fan and the little 80mm in the top (which does basically nothing). I know the CM Stacker is a huge cas with a *lot* of ventilation, but I'm surprised. Anyway, I may well get some Ambers and have a quiet PC, and the cumilative drop of around 30CFM looks like it will make no difference!
 
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Well I took the plunge and bought a couple of these:

Noctua NF-P12 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin

I have to say I'm very impressed - I'm running them as dual intakes and they make no discernable noise, and the airflow feels the same as the Akasa's. Just need one more for the exhaust and I reckon I'll have a damn quiet rig. The rubber fan mounts were easy, no pliers required, just tug them through, job done :D
 
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