New Case, New Fans, New Levels of Noise!!

Nicksy · 7 Nov 2011 at 17:53

After doing very little upgrading for a few years I decided it was time for a new case. Bought a CoolerMaster HAF 912 and 3 fans to go with it. 1 x BitFenix Spectre 140mm Fan - White and 2 x Xigmatek 120mm Crystal Red LED Fan.

All my system transfered across from my reasonbly quiet Chieftec Dragon with 4 Xilence Red Wings 80mm fans, boot up and the noise is deafening.

The BitFenix has a horrible clicking drone. The exhaust fan which came with the case has a clicking drone and the 2 Xigmatek fans are just really loud. I assumed with newer tech and being larger these fans would be quieter than my old red wings.

Anybody else find these fans loud or clicky? Or should they be this way?

Goose · 7 Nov 2011 at 18:02

I have a 120mm Spectre and i too find the clicky motor to be more annoying than the sound of the moving air. The fans in my CM690 II also have clicky motors although one is worse than the others.

I've come to the conclusion that cheap(ish) fans have crappy motors.

pgi947 · 7 Nov 2011 at 18:45

I have 2 of the xigmateks, they aren't especially loud but one of them has already started to whine after 2 months use. They do however run at 1500rpm, so they will be louder than most 'quiet' fans.

Going to do a complete overhaul of my fans soon, there really doesn't seem to be any quality LED fans kicking about these days, looking like its going to be a case full of 1850 GT's with an LED strip inside.

Fragg · 7 Nov 2011 at 18:52

i cant help with your question but i would have recommended getting 120mm black apaches. They are very quiet and have draw a heavy amount of air in, however, they are 12 pound each

kul1 · 8 Nov 2011 at 07:35

@Nicksy: Please contact support@bitfenix as something must be wrong with your fans... our current fan series Spectre is focused on silence and should not have any clicking noise.

The support team will help to get you a replacement.

Hotwired · 8 Nov 2011 at 07:43

Nicksy said:
After doing very little upgrading for a few years I decided it was time for a new case. Bought a CoolerMaster HAF 912 and 3 fans to go with it. 1 x BitFenix Spectre 140mm Fan - White and 2 x Xigmatek 120mm Crystal Red LED Fan.

All my system transfered across from my reasonbly quiet Chieftec Dragon with 4 Xilence Red Wings 80mm fans, boot up and the noise is deafening.

The BitFenix has a horrible clicking drone. The exhaust fan which came with the case has a clicking drone and the 2 Xigmatek fans are just really loud. I assumed with newer tech and being larger these fans would be quieter than my old red wings.

No.

At about 120mm you want fans which either are or are controlled down to 1000-1200rpm to be relatively quiet.

120mm fans which are getting close to 2000rpm will be quite audible and the brand has little relevance to this, the speed of the blades and movement of air should be almost entirely responsible for the noise at that point. If you can hear motor noise over the fan blade noise at this speed then find another fan.