Which 80mm Fans

dazza121

dazza121

dazza121

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Howdie

I have just setup an HTPC with the silerstone LC16M case but the fans that come with it are too noisey on 12v and dont push enough air on 7v.

Can anyone recommend some replacement 80mm fans that would push a decent amount of air at low noise levels - price isnt really an problem as i only need 2 of them.

Also looking for a silent psu for the same system - doesnt need to be very powerful (400w should be plenty) modular would be a plus but noise levels are my main concern - have been thinking either the enermax liberty 400w or the Tagan modular 400w but are there any quieter but not a lot more expensive options ?

Thanks
 
Seasonic S12 430 is the quietest psu in existance except for fanless ones.

Panaflo's are pretty good in the cfm/noise ratio department.

Silent x are said to be good too despite their unrealistic specs.
 
Joe42 said:
Seasonic S12 430 is the quietest psu in existance except for fanless ones.
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Thanks I did look at those and am very tempted - ideally wanted a modular psu though as in the HTPC i dont have much need for all the extra cabling and it will just limit the already limited airflow.

Also looking for a replacement for my Hiper TypeR 580w as i have started to max it out with my main rig - was thinking of moving it to my htpc but dont want the LED fans - anyone replaced them with quiet ordinary fans ?
 
Don't solely believe the ratings. How they are recorded varies quite a lot.

The Zalman 80mm fans are meant to be very good,with the 80mm akasa ambers not far off.

I;ve heard that Hipers aren't very quiet, you can't go wrong with a Enermax Liberty tbh
 
Seasonic will have a modular version out in a few months time. I would put up with the cables for the low noise. You only have to cram them in once but you always have to hear it.
 
If it's going to be a good distance away you won't heat the PSU fan, it's only a couple of hundred rpm faster than the Seasonic. You won't hear it over your home theatre speakers.
 
Joe42 said:
Seasonic will have a modular version out in a few months time. I would put up with the cables for the low noise. You only have to cram them in once but you always have to hear it.
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Very true - will see what kind of a deal i can get 1 for - now just need some fans

Looking at either panaflo or the sharkoon fans at the moment - I have panaflo m1a's in my main rig and am very pleased with them but not heard much about the 80mm versions.
 
I have a panaflo 120mm fan and i love it. If the 80mm ones are as good i would try them. They may need undervolting a bit but should have a good cfm/noise ratio. If they exist, get some 80x38mm ones.
 
squiffy said:
If it's going to be a good distance away you won't heat the PSU fan, it's only a couple of hundred rpm faster than the Seasonic. You won't hear it over your home theatre speakers.
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that is very true when i am watching something - its just the humming in the background when the tv is not on that i want to get rid of - it is very annoying.
 
Liberty fan is a very low purr, not like the usual whirr of cheaper psu's, ie the stock cheap PSU I had is noticeable 8' away, the Liberty couple of feet. You need to hear one going. If absolute silence is needed then go for the SS, but HD noise is louder than the SS PSU so still have some noise (3.5" desktop) also case fans probably louder, unless the (2x12cm fans) set to 5/7v barely any air movement. Also want a passive mobo and GFX card. The Liberty fan noise is not a annoying whirring, it's a soft purr so shouldn't be noticeable. Get a 12cm fan and decrease rpm to 900rpm (Enermax) and then 700 (Seasonic)

The two 12cm fans in my SS TJ08 at 12v are the loudest in the system by far, had to set to 7v to be silent.

Why I didn't bother have a jack of all trades single computer, a gaming machine is not quiet, but a HTPC is but limited with speed/gaming performance.

Noise from a Akasa Amber 8 cm fan is louder than the Liberty. Also with a Liberty you have more exhaust so it might mean you'll need less exhaust elseware.
 
Hi, you could try pure silence 80mm 14dba, I cant hear mine.

For psu, seasonic are very quiet and high quality.
 
dazza121 said:
Those are rated at 24.6db - hardly quiet :(
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Do you know what 24.6 Db actually sounds like ? I don't .

Just stuck my ear to mine ( Not literally ) , its silent. :)

Db ratings or User experience - You choose !

Cheers,

Mark
 
squiffy said:
Why I didn't bother have a jack of all trades single computer, a gaming machine is not quiet, but a HTPC is but limited with speed/gaming performance.
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Thats not correct. I have a fast overclocked gaming machine and its cool and quiet and it folds constantly. All it takes is some careful planning.

Your right, hd noise is louder than the seasonic, but a harddisk silencer can easily solve this.

You don't have to have low airflow to have low noise. The best fans give decent airflow and near silence.

Graphics cards don't have to be passive to be silenced. An ac silencer at 7v is very quiet and temps are almost the same as at 12v.

The problem with noise is its completely perceptive, and there is no standard for measuring db, some manufacturers like silentx simply make their numbers up. The only way to find out if something is silent is to give an idea of what your definition of silent is (i.e as quiet as a seasonic psu) and others with those products can testify.
 
Don't agree at all. HTPC will be passive for graphics and mobo, one HD, stock CPU speed, slow CPU with CAQ enabled, slow fans for the entire system (cpu, psu, case) HTPC will be in a small case, be minimal install with front end software setup exactly for a HTPC.


Gaming PC with higher heat output and number of drives, fast overclocked CPU, fast graphic(s) will require a larger case and decent amount of case fans, and running at standard speed to expel the air. To get a gaming PC as quiet as a HTPC need to at least do watercooling, and hard disc quiet enclosures. I have both a HTPC and a gaming PC, money isn't the issue, more ease of use, quietness etc. With watercooling a fast PC you will still need to use fans. My gaming PC is pretty quiet, but still not quiet enough for a HTPC. HTPC level of quietness should be inaudible over ambiant noise over a decent distance from the case. My HTPC cost around £500, I could have spent that on silencing my gaming PC, but still not worth it- each one different requirements. I would need to shut down all but one HD, and reduce each case fan (5) plus decrease gfx card when I want it "HTPC" mode. Also need to change configuration. I won't need SLI/Crossfire for HTPC, or 2.7ghz dual core.
 
I'm just saying that its perfectly possible to make a gaming machine completely silent without watercooling, such as the one i'm typing on now.
Its overclocked, its got a hot graphics card and 3 harddisks, its overvolted and for relatively little cost, certainly far less than the cost of an htpc, its completely silent and keeps itself cool.

All it requires is an intelligent design and some carefully selected components.

Its also perfectly possible to fit a gaming pc into a htpc sized enclosure thats hot and loud and extremely fast, shuttle do this for a living.

Theres an entire website devoted to silent high performance pc's, Silent Pc Review, and if you expressed the view on their forums that its expensive and difficult to make a gaming pc silent, you would get hundreds of pictures of pc's with extremely low noise levels and all sorts of creative noise reduction solutions such as ducts and harddisk suspension, much of it done at no cost at all.
 
You don't need a high performance PC as a HTPC, you didn't get my point. With a gaming PC I don't mind the extra noise as gaming usually drowns out the system, films most likely action drown out but not during quiet scenes. Music system will need a the very quiestest machine you can build. Can you fit 3 hard discs in a Shuttle? No. Can I fit 3 into a large case? Yes. Would I need 3 hard discs in a HTPC? No. In a gaming PC? Yes. I don't like working in cramped cases so if I plan a gaming machine usually add things, replace HD. Reason for full towers. At the end of the day my gaming rig is fast with lots of storage and upgrade potential, not bad noise levels considering the number of hot components/fans. tbh not impressed with Shuttles, I wouldn't want to use a small MATX case for a gaming machine. But for my HTPC scaled down, and noise levels must be much lower.

I'm not anal for noise when it comes to gaming machine but I specifically built a HTPC up, a mates gaming/htpc with higher end graphics card (1800XT) is too noisy for a HTPC. And a couple of the Shuttles still have whiney small fans.
 
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Howdie again - as i said earlier I have no problem with the noise it makes while using it - it's when its idle i want it to be as quiet as possible - at which time the HD's will have powered down so cannot be heard - current setup is:
xp3200 with a thermalright heatsink (cant remember the model but it was rated as the best socket a cooler with a 92mm silent fan (and i mean silent cant hear it at all from anbout 6 inches))

radeon 9800pro with a zalman vu700 running at 7 volts which is slightly louder than the cpu fan but still cant hear it from 1 foot away,

2 80mm fans in the case which it came with - these make the most noise in the system at 12v but have them at 7v at the moment and they are fairly quiet but dont push enough air at that speed for me.

Enermax 480w PSU - which is fairly quiet but at the moment the noisiest part of the system when everything is idle.

so my aim is to get the 80mm fans pushing more air at the same kind of level of noise and the power supply as quiet as possible - looks like the seasonic is the best option for a psu so just need some decent 80mm fans.

The akasa 80mm fans dont push enough air at silent levels, have looked at some panaflo fans which quote 16cfm at <15db which going on previous panaflo fans i have had is probably correct or sharkoon silent eagle 2000 fans which state 26cfm at 18db which if accurate is exactly what i am looking for.

All this is housed in a Silverstone LC16 case with 2 Seagate 500gb drives
 
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