Looking for the quitest case and CPU fan

Cavallino · 28 Nov 2009 at 20:47

Ok so I have a Red Scorpion sink which has a Scythe Ninja fan and P180 case.

People have been telling me that the Noctuas are the business for silent cooling.

As such what Im looking for is really quiet case fans and perhaps the same fan to be slapped onto the sink itself as well.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

(120mm fans please btw!)

bigjimmyauk · 28 Nov 2009 at 21:19

i know of a new fan that out which is supposed to be one of the quietest you can get but OCUK don't sell them so don't think i can mention the name they are 19db at 1000 rpm

Cavallino · 28 Nov 2009 at 21:24

I dont think its a problem mentioning brands of products which OCUK dont sell, just not mentioning competitors no?

bigjimmyauk · 28 Nov 2009 at 21:26

Akasa AK-FN057 Apache Super Silent 120mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM [AK-FN057

£13.98 inc VAT
£12.16 ex VAT

these got some rave reviews 16db at 1300 rpm

ocuk stock them and if the spec and revies are right they are quiter than the noctuas

Cavallino · 28 Nov 2009 at 22:10

Are those the ones you wanted to refer to me? Cause it does sound quite tasty these fans.

sorn21 · 28 Nov 2009 at 22:13

OcUK do sell said item;
Here

Apparently they are rather good.

Cavallino · 28 Nov 2009 at 22:47

n1blo said:
OcUK do sell said item;
Here

Apparently they are rather good.

So you reckon 3-4 fans? Thinking of replacing the top and rear fan and also the scythe ninja fan on the red scorpion with all 3 of these akasas.
Way to go?

Cavallino · 29 Nov 2009 at 18:10

Peeps? Am I ok with going with this fan do you think? There isnt anything else better out there is there?

JonJ678 · 29 Nov 2009 at 18:35

You won't find a quieter case than the antec P series I'm afraid, they're pretty much spot on. As you've noticed, the things inside the case making noise are the problem rather than the case itself.

Those fans are probably good. I'd personally want to head over to silentpcreview and base the purchase on their opinions rather than on manufacturer published specifications. 16dB doesn't mean anything without a distance-from-source value, and this is rarely (never?) mentioned by computer fan manufacturers.

If you're putting the fan on the cooler you don't want a 1300rpm ultra low noise one. It'll have to spin a lot faster in order to move any air through the heatsink, and make more noise than one designed for the purpose. The 1450rpm scythe gentle typhoon is the standard answer to this as far as I know, though you may want the lower rpm version. Again spcr is the place to be, I'm just pointing out that an excellent, quiet case fan can be woeful on a heatsink and vice versa.

What else in your case is making noise? Depending on the hardware you may be able to use a passive heatsink on the cpu, I built a system using a stock speed, stock volts e8400 with a £9 heatsink with the fan removed. No temperature issues.

Cavallino · 29 Nov 2009 at 18:44

JonJ678 said:
You won't find a quieter case than the antec P series I'm afraid, they're pretty much spot on. As you've noticed, the things inside the case making noise are the problem rather than the case itself.

Those fans are probably good. I'd personally want to head over to silentpcreview and base the purchase on their opinions rather than on manufacturer published specifications. 16dB doesn't mean anything without a distance-from-source value, and this is rarely (never?) mentioned by computer fan manufacturers.

If you're putting the fan on the cooler you don't want a 1300rpm ultra low noise one. It'll have to spin a lot faster in order to move any air through the heatsink, and make more noise than one designed for the purpose. The 1450rpm scythe gentle typhoon is the standard answer to this as far as I know, though you may want the lower rpm version. Again spcr is the place to be, I'm just pointing out that an excellent, quiet case fan can be woeful on a heatsink and vice versa.

What else in your case is making noise? Depending on the hardware you may be able to use a passive heatsink on the cpu, I built a system using a stock speed, stock volts e8400 with a £9 heatsink with the fan removed. No temperature issues.

Wow thanks for your extensive feedback!

Im running a Q6600 at 3.5GHz (443 X 8) with a Vcore of around 1.41V. Temperatures are idle 50s, and load 70s so not the coolest.
Currently the Scythe Ninja fan I have on is running at 1270rpm, but its this fan that I want to replace since I think its one of the noise contributors.

I have a 750HX Corsair PSU which spins up when I play games, but this is natural I assume?

Tbh, I dont want loud fans so if I could get away with putting one of these akasas on the heatsink and the 1 on the top and 1 on the rear, then Im surely good no?