Fans suggestion pls (1x120 n 1x140)

[Abula]

Hi,

I just ordered most for my a new build, this build will be at idle 90% of time, but it will be on 24/7. Im not looking to have a dead silent pcs, but as quiet as possible,

CPU Intel Core i3-2100T (its going to be at idle most of the time, it will never be OCed)
MOBO Intel DH61DLB3 (It has 2 PWM 4pin)
MEMORY Kingston Technology HyperX LoVo 4 GB Kit 1.25V (went with the lowest voltage memory i could find).
CASE LIAN LI PC-Q08B (I want to swap both fans).
HDD Hitachi Travelstar 5K750 0J11563 (hoping it behaves similar to 5k500B).
PSU Premium picoPSU-150-XT/12.5A 150W AC-DC (going external to minimized heat and noise inside)
HEATSINK Thermalright HR-02, planing on going fanless, but ill try also with Thermalright TR TY-140.



Im looking for suggestions for the fans, the case has 1x120mm fan on top (horizontal) and 1x140mm on front (vertical). I have no preference to go PWM or not for the case fans, as long as they perform and are reasonable quiet im fine, worth mentioning it wont have a fan controller at all, but i can buy fan adapters to lower the voltage if needed, but would prefer if the fans were already design to be plugged directly. Im open to any fan that you think will work better for me, i could buy a couple for each slot to play with, this is what im considering,

120mm (horizontal)
Nexus 120 mm Real Silent Case Fan Orange
Nexus 120mm PWM Silent Case Fan
Scythe "SLIP-STREAM PWM" 120x25mm Case Fan
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120 mm by Nidec Servo Corp. - Ultra Low Speed
SCYTHE S-FLEX™ "D" 120mm 800 rpm Quiet Fan
Noctua NF-S12B ULN 120mm Premium Fan
Thermalright X-Silent 120mm Liquid Bearing Silent Cooling Fans
Enermax T.B.SILENCE 120x25mm Case Fan
Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PL-1

140mm (Vertical)
Scythe Kama Flex 135mm Ball Bearing Fan (800 rpm)
Thermalright X-Silent 140mm Liquid Bearing Silent Cooling Fans
Enermax T.B.SILENCE 140x25mm Case Fan
Prolimatech 140mm Blue Vortex High Performance Fan
Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PK-1 140mm x 25mm Ultra Quiet Fan - 700 RPM

Thanks for any advise, suggestion or opinins,

[mkk]

This setup won't need very much airflow really. Instinctively I'd have considered going with just a top exhaust, but with all the (mostly redundant) perforations in this case it's best to have a front fan after all. I'd get two 800 RPM Slip Stream fans and figure out what fixed speed will be ideal by testing. Pulling both all the way down to 5V could be enough, but some simple variable controller like the Zalman FanMate would be of great help. I have too limited experience with 140mm fans to recommend an ideal front fan, but perhaps the case doesn't even have mounting holes for a 120mm up front.

I'd consider a lone top exhaust with all but the front intake blocked off, though that might not be the estethics you're looking for.

[ces]

Lian Li cases generally come with fairly good fans. I would try out the stock ones first before going out and buying replacements.

That being said if you are experimenting with fans. The first one you should try is the Nexus and the second the 1200 rpm Slipsteam. They are both so useful you can't go wrong with either of them. The Nexus is a bit better on static pressure... the slipstream is a bit more flexible in terms of the various speeds you can run it at (it starts at a very low voltage).

For 140mm, get one that can do either 140mm or 120mm mountings. The only good one that does that to my knowledge is the 140mm Noctua.

With the above 3 fans, even if you end up sticking with the stock Lian Li fans, you will have the most likelihood of finding alternative uses for them in the future.

If you get a 4th fan I would make it a PWM, probably the slipstream as you have the most flexibility with respect to speeds.

But all the fans you have on your target list are good fans (except the Enermaxs have some mixed reviews... though I am given to understand they vary substantially depending on the model)

EDIT:

1. Conventional wisdom suggests that for horizontal placement (the top fan) you should use real bearing fans for long life. The only real ball bearing fan you have on your list is GT (all of them downvolt to very slow speeds, so for flexibility I would choose a faster one)

2. Here is a highly useful devise for experimenting with various reproducible voltage settings and multiple fans.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=25981

[Abula]

Thanks mkk and ces for your replies,

I been reading some lately, searching for slipstream n nexus and both seems to be good fans, highly regarded from a lot of post here. One thing that i still bothers me is the that i read in a SPCR review that the sleeve bearing dont work well with horizontal placement, thus this will rule out the nexus and slipstream for my specific placement??? That said, i dont know which bearing styles are ideal for horizontal placemnt, i mean so many names that manufacturers marketing have placed that its a little confusing.

I will certainly try out the included fans, but i do want to play with other combos, im specially interested on PWM fans as i haven never tried it, more into how the mobo controls it, im still to noobish here, idk if its a bios controlling the fans or is it software based once you are in windows environment, im guessing its more like laptops fans control, that are embed into the bios depending on the temperature of the system/cpu.

Thanks for the warning on the enermax, this was high on my list due to price, but ill trust you and take them off the list. At 140mm there is not that many options, nor reviews, going by the high regard of slipstreams, im leaning toward Scythe Kama Flex 135mm Ball Bearing Fan (800 rpm), although this might different since the slipstreams that i read have a sleeve bearing and this comes with Fluid Dynamic Bearing, i belive its similar or the same as the SFLEX, but i also had some sflex 1600 in the past and their performance was acceptable, and still running fin after 4 years, so i guess if its similar cant be bad.

On the 120mm, im biased, as i said before i want to try PWM fans, I have a noiseblocker M12P on the way for my acer server, so ill get some good scouting this weekend before i buy, i was thinking on the M12PS (since it has lower rpms), but saw a youtube video that the fan lowered its rpm on voltage increase instead of slowing until 9V were hit, this kinda troubles me a little, but he also mentions that using a PWM there shouldn't be this issues, but not much info out beside that video. As a second alternative, im also considering the Scythe Kama Flex 120mm PWM Ball Bearing Fan, which seems to be like my old sflex with PWM on it and probably will also buy a second fan to test/play, the Arctic Cooling Fan F12 PWM 120mm Case Fan seems cheap and with some posts having positive impression on it.

Thanks again for your replies, if you see anything that im confusing or my choices are not good pls let m know.

[mkk]

In real practice most of todays sleeve bearing fans are doing just fine horisontally at modest speeds. And there's no need for anything well above 800 RPM with this system setup. With the included fans being of the transparent/LED type I wouldn't even spin them up but that's me.

[ces]

In real practice most of todays sleeve bearing fans are doing just fine horisontally at modest speeds.

That must be the case. The only generally available real ball bearing PC fans are the Gentle Typhoons. All the others are sleeve bearing... some have fancy names relating to grooves in the sleeves... but they are all sleeves. People seem to be getting along OK....