Case fan advice

HaMMuS · 28 Jan 2009 at 19:43

I have one of the old OCUK Coolercase Tornados (for those who can remember them) with 6 80mm YS-TECH FD1281257B-2N fans rated at 3,000rpm at 12v with 45.2CFM and 34.5dB(A). Eventually the noise from these became more than a little annoying and they were all 5-volted. I was wondering whether it would make much noticeable difference in noise levels if I swapped these fans for some newer silent ones, such as the noctuas/sharkoons/redwings.

Mikey

cje · 28 Jan 2009 at 22:37

I can vouch for how silent the Noctua's are. OcUk have some 80mm ones here:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-002-NC

You say the current ones are 34.5 dba, the Noctuas I've linked to are 17dba at 1800 RPM.
So yes, you definately would "hear" a difference, especially if you have 6 noisy fans, going to 6 near silent fans.

HaMMuS · 29 Jan 2009 at 00:09

My current ones are 34.5dBA at 12v, but as I said i've undervolted them all to 5v so they're running slower, no idea what rpm or db though. They're probably rotating at roughly similar speeds to the noctuas, i was just wondering if they have any special design features that would make them quieter.

cje · 29 Jan 2009 at 00:15

well, the noctuas are 17 db at full speed (12v) and your ones are 34.5db at full speed (12V) so the noise difference is all going to be relative. If you want silent case fans, they don't come much quiter. Or, if you shop around you might find some that are. But bear in mind that silent usually sacrifices airflow (depends which make the fan is).

tindale · 29 Jan 2009 at 10:30

I've tried various mid range fans, and settled on scythe in the end, as they seem to be the best balance of noise to price (to my ear). Noctuas just seem too pricey to me.

saying that, by the time I'd ruled out yate-loons (to much clicking), antecs (not enough airflow except at full power) and a full others, it probably would have been cheaper to get the good ones first off :rolleyes: