Fan advice?

[Womble]

Im looking for 3 80mm led fans for my sg01. Last night I unplugged all my fans and really liked the silent machine - the loudest thing was my hard drive seeking Going to get an accelero so my vid card is passive but need to sort out the case fans

I have a sharkoon 2000 which is apparently 17db and I want something quieter then that. I spent ages looking for something but am still unsure. My options:

Sharkoon 1000 9db (no LED though )
Xilenc 15db fans - reviews have said that these arent what they say they are though :S
Fan controller +3 LED fans - would the fan really matter here if I am going to slow it down with the controller? Thinking again about the sharkoon 2000, possibly Akasa.

Any ideas on what is best?

 

[Diggsy]

I would definately get a fan controller of some description, gives you fine tuning options to get the best compromise between noise and cooling.

As for fans, Akasa, whilst okay are by no means quiet. I have 2 of the Ambers and a Light Smoke, and they are not quiet until I reduce their speed a little bit. Around 1,000RPM is perfect for me anyway.

I have read an awful lot of good things about the latest Noctua NF-P12 fans ( http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-003-NC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4 ), but they certainly aint cheap. Although I have always found with fans that you get what you pay for.

I reckon these will be my next purchase, although I will probably need 6 of them (will replace every fan in my system), so i'm waiting until they drop in price a little, or are on some kind of offer.

 

[Monkey Puzzle]

I have a 12cm sharkoon silent eagle 2000 and it is quiet but still very audible at 7v on a fan controller. If you're going to go for a fan ontroller then it's worth getting a Sunbeam Rheobus so you can lower the voltage below 7v.

The fan does matter even if you're undervolting with a fan controller, as some fans undervolt badly and make a lot of motor noise regarless of the voltage.

The Silenx fans are very quiet indeed (though not the figures they claim), and airflow is good considering how quiet they are (though they can't provide delta-like airflow). I have three for sale in the member's market if you're interested.

The Akasa ambers are supposed to be okay; Ive only tried the 60mm version which isn't too whiney.

Yate Loons are really good and excellent value. The noctuas are supposedly excellent, though pricey.

 

[krooton]

Silent Eagle 1000, Nexus, and Noctua are the quietest fans you get, and have decent cfm:noise ratio.

SilenX are overpriced pap, had a bunch in the past, and there is no way they were the rated specs, and when undervolted, the cfm was too low.

I'd reccomend Nexus for best priceerformance