I recently put together a system based on a 933MHz C3 running a passive heatsink. I replaced the fan in my AOpen 145W PSU with a Panaflo FBA08A12L fan. Although it makes less noise, it still whines a bit - more than I would have thought given the reputation it seems to have. I have installed a switch in the PSU to select between 5V and 12V, and at 5V the fan is almost silent. The temperature of the air coming out seems quite warm to me to the point of making me worried (ambient temp 20C). Also the passive heatsink seemed to get quite a bit hotter with the lower airflow. I was disappointed to find that a friend of mine who owns a HP Pavilion has a quieter but noticeably stronger fan in his stock Delta PSU. Unfortunately I couldn't find out the fan's manufacturer, but maybe someone else knows. Panaflos are not that cheap here in Australia, and it seems like there are better solutions.

Try 7V or rig up a 30-60 ohm resistor in series off the 12V feed for the fan (select the resistor that gives you the speed you want), or run it off a header w/ Zalman and adjust the speed to what you want.

alleycat, PC Case Gear Sell panaflows FBA08A12L for $22 AUD, they're a nice little place that is in melbourne and they're online as well at http://www.pccasegear.com.au best price I've seen for panaflows in Oz, too bad we can't bring them over from the states as cheap as MikeC and the canadains another solution that would mean less mess would be to get a enermax 80MM adjustable fan then run the adjustment knob out of your PSU so u can change it to your tastes

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try rigging up a variable resistor so I can dial the speed I want.

However, the point that I was trying to make in my original post was that it seems that there are quieter, more powerful fans out there. My friend's HP Pavilion is pushing out more air than my machine, but is much quieter. The PSU is made by Delta, the fan is a Quietek. I have never heard of these manufacturers before, and I can find out almost nothing about them. If anyone knows anything about these I think we would all benefit greatly.

yeah, just be careful of the amount of current the variable resistor can handle. Got some nice sparks out of a variable resistor i tried using directly on a fan.

(Was building a temp. controlled fan speed adjuster thingy from heatsink.com (?), which worked nicely, apart from when i tried the pot direct to the fan thought a NGL would be low current enough, but obviously not )

Thanks Chief, I was thinking that it might be a problem. I was planning on using a 0.5W 500 ohm pot with a 1W 100 ohm resistor in parallel to get the range I want. Hopefully that will work as it's all I can get my hands on at the moment.

Sorry, this won't handle the power, get too hot & fail. Get min 3W; 5W better. If you want variable, build a voltage regulator or get a Zalman fanmate (which is a VR).

Thank you Mike, that should save me some embarrassment

In the 12v/5v article... it mentions 7V CAN be stressful to the psu but does not go into any further details. In what situations will the 7v be potentially harmful, if at all?

icchan, I don't think the 7v mod could be harmful/stressful to the PSU. A resistor is a passive component, and all you're doing is sticking it in front of the fan-- it won't appreciably increase power consumption (the resistor will likely be dissipating something in the neighbourhood of 0.5-0.8 Watts), and the fan's power consumption will decrease since it's got a lower power source.

Edit: for a single Panaflo fan, the resistor should be 50-60 Ohms to drop the voltage to 7v.

the other way to 7V mod of connecting the 12V and 5V rails causing the potential difference of 7V could be harmful to your PSU but I was running two 120MM papsts that I swear was pumping out 100CFM+ each at 12V there were NOT light duty fans one of them had stainless steel blades the PSU seemed to run okay with the two fans at 7V in that way but a few websites I've read said this type of rig up can be not healthy in some cases like on http://www.7volts.com but worked fine for me

I believe they mostly say this because it *could* be dangerous, but really, it wouldn't. It's like with all these modifications, you do it at your own risk, if something goes kaboom, it's your fault, not theirs.

but if nothing went kaboom were would all the fun go in modding? my opinion is that if u haven't fried something in your computer u're not trying hard enuff

Hahaha! So how's the 'steakhouse' business going for you quokked?

I put this up in another thread, but here are directions to make a cheap 12V to 7V or 5V molex: http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_ind ... apter.html

Cheap because you usually have one of these lying around. I use them all the time and haven't seen any problems with PSU. Let's you try the fan at several different speeds before you invest in Pots etc..