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1 2 3 4 5 6 NextFan Round-up #5: Attack of the Scythes
May 8, 2008 by Devon
Cooke & Lawrence
Lee
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Editor's Note — May 10, 2008
Since the posting of this article, it has come to our attention that there is the possibility of data corruption having tainted the CFM measurements. We apologize for the possible errors, but note that the noise level and quality information — the real keys to selecting and using fans in a quiet PC — are not affected. We will update you on this matter as soon as possible.
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After developing a more consistent fan testing methodology and arduously
re-testing all the previous fans in our database, it is time to finally take
a look at some new 120mm fans. It has been nearly a year since our last fan
round-up, and the number of untested fans in our lab has accumulated to the
extent where they can no longer be ignored. Our previous round-ups revealed
some great fans by Nexus, Noctua, and Scythe. Today, we focus solely
on Scythe fans, as their product line is quite varied and frankly, because they
are the most popular among SPCR readers.
Our main goals are to determine how much air each fan moves, the noise it generates
while doing so, and the nature of its acoustics. Through our analysis, we will
try to determine which of Scythe's fans has the best airflow-to-noise ratio
when undervolted to near inaudibility, i.e. the most efficient quiet fans. Scythe
is one of those few manufacturers that seems dedicated to making
fans with good acoustics, so we expect to see some quality fans emerge.
Although we do a complete set of objective measurements for both airflow and
noise, we always base our final recommendations on how a fan sounds subjectively.
Typically, there is not enough variance in the objective measurements alone to make clear
distinctions. We've always said what really counts is what we hear.
For users who are interested, a technical discussion of fan technologies
can be found in our article, Anatomy
of A Silent Fan. Users who want to know exactly how the fans were tested
should refer to our Fan Test Methology. The rest of you: Read on and pay attention! We hope you find our work
useful.
HOW TO USE THIS REVIEW
Each fan in this roundup has its own data table
and write-up that summarizes
what we learned about it. Use these to find specific information about the fan
you're looking for. In addition, every fan is recorded according to our
standard Audio Recording techniques. These recordings can be used to make
A/B comparisons between fans to help illustrate the differences between them.
Recordings are comprised of alternating ambient noise and the fan running at
various speeds recorded at a distance of one meter.
As always, we recommend that you listen and compare the recordings in a specific
way. The green box below describes how we make our recordings and what you're
supposed to do with them.
At the end of the roundup is a conclusion that summarizes the best and the
worst that we found. This is where to look if you just want to cut to the chase
and find out which fan we liked best.
HOW TO LISTEN & COMPARE
This recording was made
with a high resolution, studio quality, digital recording system, then
converted to LAME 128kbps encoded MP3s. We've listened long and hard
to ensure there is no audible degradation from the original WAV files
to these MP3s. They represent a quick snapshot of what we heard during
the review.
The one meter recording
is intended to give you an idea of how the subject of this review sound
in actual use — one meter is a reasonable typical distance between a
computer or computer component and your ear. The recording contains
stretches of ambient noise that you can use to judge the relative loudness
of the subject. For best results, set your volume control so that the
ambient noise is just barely audible. Be aware that very quiet subjects
may not be audible — if we couldn't hear it from one meter, chances
are we couldn't record it either!
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THE FANS
The following fans were included in the roundup:
The Conclusion can be found on page
6.
We would like to thank Scythe
as well as Vancouver computer retailers Anitec, and NCIX
for supplying the many Scythe fan samples.
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