Fan advice please

tophee

tophee

tophee

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Joined
12 May 2005
Posts
460
Location
Cambridge, or somewhere else in the world
Hi,

I'm about to upgrade the cooling of my akasa eclipe case. Currently I've two akasa amber 12cm fans 1 front, 1 back, which are beginning to show their age. Even though I've lowered the volts they're still a bit noisy for my taste - my system is cooled by a Zalman Restorator so the usual noise suspects are pretty much dealt with for minimising noise.

I'm thinking of getting a Scyth Kama-bay cooler and three Noctua fans (2 for the front one for the exhaust).

Now, what speed? Will 800rpm be enough or should I go with my first inclination and go with the 1200rpm version? Or 2x800 for the front and 1x1200 for the rear, or 2x1200 for the front and 1x800 for the rear to have +ve air pressure to reduce dust?

Many thanks
tophee
 
How will you be attaching them? If you're sticking them straight into the PSU, go with the 800rpm all round.

If you'll be using motherboard headers or a fan controller, grab the 1200 versions and drop the speed (in bios/speedfan or on the controller) until you find a noise:temp balance you're happy with. You may find that you can't hear them at 1200, or you may find that you can get all the way down to 500 with reasonable temps.
 
If I were you I'd get the 1200rpm ones. They're able to shift more air if you decide you need to and should still be rather quiet, but also come with adapters to slow them down to 600rpm if you want a bit less noise / need less cooling.

Or you could get a fan controller as well, means you'd have a lot more flexibility with their speeds
 
I hadn't considered how I would supply power. I imagine I'd use the headers, though not adverse to direct plugging in0 to psu. I have one fan controller atm.
 
Actually Ducky Spud,
What you suggest makes perfect sense. Harder to add than take away.
 
Well, based on your advice - ordered. Don't let it go to your head tho. lol. Thanks mate.
 
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