Nosey air-flow on side fan

jamieoliver22 · 1 Oct 2007 at 18:26

Hey peeps,

Right, I have a fan on the side of my case that draws air into my case. This fan came with my case and it lights up blue.

Anyway, this fan itself doesn't seem to be loud exactly, I believe it is the actual airflow of it. For instance, when I cover the fan up (with my hand or shush) my case is considerably quieter. Now is there any way I can reduce this noise somewhat? Like I say, it seems to be the airflow, so I aren't sure if I can.

I could unplug it all together as it doesn't seem to cool my case any better (actually seems to make it a few degree hotter) but I do like to have it lit up blue.

What could you suggest?
Jamie.

thefishdude · 1 Oct 2007 at 19:06

can you identify what make *** fan is you can get fans that push good air and are moe quiet due to way they designed. also if fan is adjustable speed wise try slowing it slightly.

El Jimben · 1 Oct 2007 at 19:30

jamieoliver22 said:
Hey peeps,

Right, I have a fan on the side of my case that draws air into my case. This fan came with my case and it lights up blue.

Anyway, this fan itself doesn't seem to be loud exactly, I believe it is the actual airflow of it. For instance, when I cover the fan up (with my hand or shush) my case is considerably quieter. Now is there any way I can reduce this noise somewhat? Like I say, it seems to be the airflow, so I aren't sure if I can.

I could unplug it all together as it doesn't seem to cool my case any better (actually seems to make it a few degree hotter) but I do like to have it lit up blue.

What could you suggest?
Jamie.

Get a blue cathode for your case??

jamieoliver22 · 1 Oct 2007 at 19:33

Yeah, I might get a new fan for the side of it. Any you could recommend that are really quiet? I saw this, what do you think about it? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-002-CL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=819

Any more suggestions? I would prefer it to be lit up, but it isn't a biggy if it isn't.

El Jimben said:
Get a blue cathode for your case??

I already have a UV tube and 4 colour adjustable tri-colour LEDs in my case, I am just somewhat of a magpie when it comes to lights

mattyfez · 1 Oct 2007 at 19:42

If the fan make your temps hotter, you could just unplug it?
the rest of the lights will still light up the fan and you will have less noise and better temps, everyones a winner!

edit, you will also save 27.023846 pence a year on your electric bill, and have a smaller carbon footprint lol

jamieoliver22 · 1 Oct 2007 at 19:45

mattyfez said:
If the fan make your temps hotter, you could just unplug it?
the rest of the lights will still light up the fan and you will have less noise and better temps, everyones a winner!

I don't think it is making it any hotter really, if anything only a degree or two. My case is usually rather hot as it is, so I wouldn't mind getting a better fan anyway. And if I did unplug it, the lights wouldn't still work, the whole fan just has one 4-pin molex connector.

mattyfez · 1 Oct 2007 at 20:13

fair enough, the coollink in your other post seems as good an option as any..
a big plus it has the speed controller, if you have a spare PCI slot.

however the spec does not mention the all important LED's....so you would still be relying on passive lighting from your cold cathode or whatever to illuminate it

Chris Beard · 2 Oct 2007 at 11:26

Umm... maybe it's because if you cover the side of the case the sound can't escape whereas before it could do. Try running the case with the side off and the fan disconnected and compare the noise levels. This should give you a rough idea of the effect of the fan on the noise.

jamieoliver22 · 2 Oct 2007 at 16:46

Chris Beard said:
Umm... maybe it's because if you cover the side of the case the sound can't escape whereas before it could do. Try running the case with the side off and the fan disconnected and compare the noise levels. This should give you a rough idea of the effect of the fan on the noise.

Yeah, I thought it might have been something like this too, but the noise does just sound like lots of air. I have just taken the side off and disconnected the fan - It is a considerably amount quieter, not noisy at all.

So yeah, it seems that a fan replacement is in order, what would you suggest? How is that fan in my last post? Seeing as it sounds like airflow, would a new fan make a lot of difference?

Cheers.

Chris Beard · 2 Oct 2007 at 16:49

I'd try slowing the fan down before replacing it. Do a 5v mod on the fan and see how it runs...

A 5V mod should be a nice comprimise as you'll get deminishing returns on big side fans very quickly.

If you do replace the fans look at the sharkoon fan series.

jamieoliver22 · 2 Oct 2007 at 18:26

Chris Beard said:
I'd try slowing the fan down before replacing it. Do a 5v mod on the fan and see how it runs...

A 5V mod should be a nice comprimise as you'll get deminishing returns on big side fans very quickly.

Thanks for the info. I had a quick look on Google and saw how to do it, and I have just had a go. I must say, it is a LOT quieter than before, it is great

I dropped it down to 7v but because of that, the blue LEDs didnt work so I had to put them on a separate 12v line, so it it is all sorted now.

Thanks again, I will keep it like this I think.

Cheers,
Jamie.