Good cheap fans?

Eagle156 · Post by **Eagle156** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:49 pm

I'll probably be getting a P182 soon, but heard that the stock fans aren't good - they're not quiet and don't move enough air at low. Based on this, I'll want to replace the case fans with something better but I don't have a lot of $$$ to play with. The Nexii sound good but they're a bit too expensive. I have my eyes set on some Yate Loon D12SL-12 (http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm ... -3009.html) fans. They're very cheap and easily available. I could probably buy 5 of them and have some extra left over for experimentation/backup. But how quiet are they at 12v? The 1350 rpm seems high, and I don't really see many people using them here at SPCR. Are the tri-cool fans really that bad? Are there any other good cheap fans that I should be looking at?

RedAE102 · Post by **RedAE102** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:55 pm

First off, yes, the Tri-Cools are that bad for anyone looking for something close to a silent computer.

Second, I have two Yate Loon D12SL-12s, and each is subjectively as quiet at 12V as the Tri-Cool that came in my Solo is on "Low". They have a much more pleasant noise character than the rather grating Tri-Cool. That said, I wouldn't do them without a fan controller. They're just too loud for me without it.

Eagle156 · Post by **Eagle156** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:42 pm

Thanks for the speedy reply.

I assume that the Yate Loons push more air also?

While looking around I found this little gem: http://www.jab-tech.com/Nexus-Fan-Speed ... -3860.html
It's a pseudo fan controller that seems to be perfect for my needs in case I find the Loons too loud. Only problem is that I'm not sure if the fan speed cable is 3 or 4 pin and if the fans would work with it. It looks like the molex connector on the fan is detachable, so I assume it would work.

beoba · Post by **beoba** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:23 pm

I have a P182, and I've found the fans to be reasonably quiet when Low. I recommend waiting until you've received the case, so that you can see for yourself if you really need to swap fans.

CountChoculaBot · Post by **CountChoculaBot** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:17 pm

Eagle156 wrote:Thanks for the speedy reply. I assume that the Yate Loons push more air also?

While looking around I found this little gem: http://www.jab-tech.com/Nexus-Fan-Speed ... -3860.html
It's a pseudo fan controller that seems to be perfect for my needs in case I find the Loons too loud. Only problem is that I'm not sure if the fan speed cable is 3 or 4 pin and if the fans would work with it. It looks like the molex connector on the fan is detachable, so I assume it would work.

It's a 3 pin; you connect the fan to the 3 pin connector and that in turn connects to a molex.
You can also get this:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=22413
It's sleeved and allows for daisy chaining via the extra molex.

cpemma · Post by **cpemma** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:05 pm

Eagle156 wrote:I assume that the Yate Loons push more air also?

You're comparing apples and oranges, the Tricools on low are spinning at around 870RPM producing about 30cfm (SPCR review figures) in near silence; the Yate Loons spin at 1350RPM on 12V and produce 47cfm (Jab-Tech figures) along with plenty of wind noise. I can't agree the 12V YL = 'Low' Tricool noise-wise, but the YL D12SL on about 7V is the better fan and comparable in flow.

The Yate Loon D12SL are "a good cheap fan" as requested, but they need slowing down to be a quiet fan.

Eagle156 · Post by **Eagle156** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 4:13 pm

cpemma wrote:
Eagle156 wrote:I assume that the Yate Loons push more air also?
You're comparing apples and oranges, the Tricools on low are spinning at around 870RPM producing about 30cfm (SPCR review figures) in near silence; the Yate Loons spin at 1350RPM on 12V and produce 47cfm (Jab-Tech figures) along with plenty of wind noise. I can't agree the 12V YL = 'Low' Tricool noise-wise, but the YL D12SL on about 7V is the better fan and comparable in flow.

The Yate Loon D12SL are "a good cheap fan" as requested, but they need slowing down to be a quiet fan.

Well that would explain it, as I always thought they spinned @ 1200RPM on low for some reason.

adam_mccullough · Post by **adam_mccullough** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:28 pm

I'd recommend doing what I did and ordering a couple of extra YLs from jab-tech, above what you need, and picking out the best. Overall I originally ordered 8, of which 4 were extremely quiet, 1 was only marginally worse and 3 had a slight tonal sound, especially when held at certain angles. Probably 2 were noisy enough that I wouldn't use them, but only because the others were so much better. I think I've seen other people mention a bit of variance with this fan, but the good ones (maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of the ones you'll see) are really good. I shifted the extras on ebay for more than I paid for them, but even if you don't they're still good value.

I've since been filling up the shipping bracket with YLs every time I order from jab-tech, and just putting them straight on ebay; certainly in the uk I don't know of any way to get a good quiet fan for so little money.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:36 pm

Hello,

The quietest fan you can probably find (at 12v) is the Scythe Slip Stream 500:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835185056
or: http://www.jab-tech.com/Scythe-KAZE-JYU ... -3941.html

For a bit more air flow -- and also very quiet (if you can control it with a mobo header and the BIOS), then you can consider the SS 800:

http://www.jab-tech.com/Scythe-KAZE-JYU ... -3942.html

And quieter than the Yate Loon is the GlobalWin NCB (you'll definitely need to control it): http://www.svc.com/cs1202512l.html