Silent case fans - Scythe Kaze Flex or Nocturna?

jim5000

jim5000

jim5000

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I recently upgraded my case to Lan-li Lancool Mesh 2 Performance. The case is great, if not a little larger than I was expecting, but it has taken 30 degrees of my CPU temperature compared to my old 2001 case that I had been using for 20 years.

Due to the size of the new case, and the bottom mounted PSU, I have been forced to move the PC from the floor to the desk and it is now about 70cm from my ear, with a perforated case. The sound isn't too bad as all the fans are new, but I would like to get the case as silent as possible when not gaming.

I've been researching various 140mm case fans and the ones I seem to have settled on are the Scythe Kaze Flex Square PWM 140mm fans. These seem to have the best price (especially via OCUK) to performance to volume ratio at £11 per fan + shipping.

I'm also interested in the Artic Cooling P14s and possibly the Nocturna range if they are completely silent, however I have read mixed reviews about the noise of the later.

As I have a mesh case and don't overclock, I'm not worried about performance above all else, what I'm looking for is the quietest 140mm PWM case fan that I could replace the three stock fans that came with the case with.

Are the Scythe the quietest fans out there, or is it worth spending a few pounds extra on the Nocturnas?
 
ALPENFOHN wing boost 3 fans can run at very low rpm so quiet, yet still seem to shift a lot of air and very directional as well.
 
Before spending money on new fans have you tried using the fan control button on your case?

These fans can be controlled via the motherboard or their speed can be easily adjusted at the touch of a button on the i/o panel.
Click to expand...

Alternatively, use your motherboard to set a fan curve profile with low rpm at reduced loads. According to the specs, the fans can operate as low as 600rpm which should be pretty quiet.
 
The Lan-li has a fan controller which the 3 case fans are connected to. This allows low, medim, high, and auto (PWM) speeds, I usually use PWM or low, with PWM being the quietest\slowest fan speed when idle. I was just thinking that maybe the overall fan noise could be reduced further by getting 'silent' fans rather than the stock fans which came with the case
 
That's why I also mentioned using your motherboard to control them. It's only a suggestion though as I can understand the need for new and shiny :D
 
As suggested, use motherboard fan headers with motherboard fan control software to setup temp to rpm curves.

If you want the best I think be quiet! Silent Wings 3 are best, but they are quite expensive. Key to quiet is using fans with high enough pressure ratings that at low speed can overcome grill and /or filter resistance to airflow. Fan static pressure ratings are a fans' maximum speed, so keep in mind rating drops dramatically at low / quiet rpm speeds. Fan with a rating of like 2.16mmH2O 1600rpm only make 1.08mmH2O @ 1000rpm (be quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm). Lower speed to 500rpm and it's like 0.6mmH2O .. just enough to keep slow / quiet airflow through case. ;)

While I haven't used / tested Arctic P14 those who have used them almost universally like them. While they are not as quiet / smooth sounding as Silent Wings 3 140mm, their price of £5.99-6.99 price is a third or less than Silent Wings 3 140mm of £20.99.
 
five8five said:
Do you monitor the fan rpm at that setting?
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Yes, I get just under 700RPM across the three case fans (they are all linked to the same fan header via the fan controller) which keeps the CPU around 28 degrees. CPU fan is 630RPM, its a BeQuiet Dark Rock 4.
 
Fair enough, unfortunately cases with mesh panels help with cooling but don't block noise very well.

You could setup a fan curve with zero rpm for the case fans when the pc is idle.
 
doyll said:
Fan static pressure ratings are a fans' maximum speed, so keep in mind rating drops dramatically at low / quiet rpm speeds. Fan with a rating of like 2.16mmH2O 1600rpm only make 1.08mmH2O @ 1000rpm (be quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm). Lower speed to 500rpm and it's like 0.6mmH2O .. just enough to keep slow / quiet airflow through case.
Click to expand...
Pressure scales with square of speed when talking about single specific fan.
So half the speed and static pressure drops to quarter.
Drop speed to third and pressure drops to 1/9 of max.
https://www.cuidevices.com/blog/understanding-airflow-fundamentals-for-proper-dc-fan-selection

Though in real world usage fans anyway never operate at static pressure, or at max airflow.
 
EsaT said:
Pressure scales with square of speed when talking about single specific fan.
So half the speed and static pressure drops to quarter.
Drop speed to third and pressure drops to 1/9 of max.
https://www.cuidevices.com/blog/understanding-airflow-fundamentals-for-proper-dc-fan-selection

Though in real world usage fans anyway never operate at static pressure, or at max airflow.
Click to expand...
I wish it was that easy.
What you posted isn't the reality. The same pressure to rpm or volume to rpm change is not linier, often not even close. Different impeller shapes create different pressure to RPM and airflow volume to RPM curves as seen in graph below of Gentle Typhoon and Cougar Vortex fans.
cougarvsgt15part4.png

But you are correct in saying our fans never actually run under the conditions airflow or static pressure ratings are taken. We always have some resistance to airflow lowering airflow rating from no resistance specification and never have them pushing air into a sealed container for static pressure specification.
 
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