Lots of positive feedback on the Nexus 120mm, but how are the smaller Nexus fans? Same quality? Panaflo and Papst beaters?

The Nexus 80mm is much quieter at low voltage than the 2 separate Panaflo 80mm I tried and then junked. The problem was mechanical noise.

92mm is very, very quiet as well. It seems to put out about the same amount of air as an 80mm L1A Panaflo. Search the forums for more info, it's been discussed several times recently.

the 92mm is both very quiet AND very effective.

Do you think the Nexus 92mm would be a good replacement for the zalman 7000 ALCU stock fan?

How would it compare at 12v to zalman's stock fan at 5v (lowest fan mate setting) for airflow and noise?

Yes, I've done it. It's probably a bit quieter at 12V than the stock Zalman at 5V.

The 80mm Nexus is also a very quiet fan. My next-quietest fan, a Papst 1500rpm fan (best sample picked out of a set of 4) does not come close. I have 4 running at the moment (2x cpu and 2x psu fan, all between 800 and 1100 rpm) and they are the quietest 80mm fans I know of. Like the other Nexus fans they don't push an enormous amount of air but if the airflow they deliver is enough for your purpose you really can't go wrong with a Nexus. Another thing I like is their seemingly consistent quality.

Just making sure, all of Nexus fans 80mm, 92mm, 120mm are redone Yate Loon sleeve bearing Low speeds right?

No, not all sizes are Yate Loons.

I've done it too. Nexus 12V = Zalman 5V or even slightly better than the zalman in terms of airflow.

Noisewise, inside the case the difference is pretty much neglibale. However, I did do a comparison of the fans in free air (the one from the Zalman outside the heatsing alongside a seperate Nexus) and the zalman fan is definitely noisier.

Ok then! thanks for the responses.. I'll try to convince my boss (computer store part time job here) to drop the Qtechnology papst PSU's for Nexus and start shipping the fans and perhaps those whisper cases....

Nexus seems to be just about the only brand that claims silent and actually IS

Ralf Hutter and burcakb

How and at which bits did you both cut the fan from the frame?

And also how did you mount the fan to the zalman 7000?

Thanks

Have a look at
Zalman 7000A AlCu modded w/ CHROME FAN! (picture!)
for pictures how to do the replacement.

Thanks but I had read that already.

I was interested in their methods of mounting this particular fan to the 7000.

I have both the 80mm and 92mm nexus fans hooked up to a zalman fan controller, the 92 version starts at the minimum setting (5v) while the 80 doesn't, at maximum setting, the 80 is significantly louder, but I think that's most likely because of their locations.

I cut the nexus fan from the bracket right at the hub. All I had left was the hub & fins.

As for mounting.... Zipties are your friend

There's a hole-like empty place on one side of the fan hub. I threaded a ziptie through that and tightened it across the fan mounting frame. I added thick spongy double-sided tape between the hub & the bracket to reduce vibrations.

ie, the best quieting tools ever invented: zipties & ducttape

I cut the entire case away from the fan hub and just left enough of two cross pieces so I could use that to mount the fan:


I had nightmares about the fan falling off of the heatsink while it was running so I couldn't bring myself to tape or tie it into place. I drilled the hole pattern in the stubs so I could use some small sheetmetal screws to attach it to the Zalman mouning bracket. I then stuck some silicon washers onto the fan hub to decouple the fan from the metal bracket once I assembled it:


I fastened the fan to the bracket useing some more silicon washers to decouple the screws fron the metal bracket:


Fini:

Nice one,

Thanks very much.

Fantastic work taking an idea further and making it solid. You really brought this mode up another notch of quality.

Quality job there Ralf!

Back on topic, I have a sample of all 3 Nexus fans here: 120, 92 and 80mm.

120:
Very impressive. Very very faint 'whirring' but far less than half of a Papst 4412FGL. Occasional slight bearing noise, very slight. Overall, very smooth and clearly better than Noiseblocker / Papst. Sadly I have no performance information compared to the Papst: I have to return the fans tomorrow and had not time to put it in my case, cooling the cpu through a duct. (My case is falling appart anyway, I really must get to work on a new wooden model instead of this cheap 0.01mm steel jobby..)

92:
Again very impressive. My old ADDA 92mm fan undervolted quite well but had a tendency to whine in a sort of non constant pitch. The Noiseblocker 92mm fan was quite dissapointing with too much whine and whirr. The Nexus is definitely the best 92mm I've ever heard, just like its 120mm brother.

I took out one of my 2 120mm Papsts to compare to the 120 nexus.. I ''Ghetto'd'' the 92mm in the case to take over the job of the Papst: cooling the geforce 4 ti with huge heatsink. At around 900rpm its not really audible with my 2 other fans: 80mm noiseblocker at 870rpm and 120mm papst at 450rpm. Partly because its a very good fan, partly because it is not mounted to a panel or psu... Still a good sign though.

80:
Not so great is the smallest of the three. It emits a clearly audible ''whirr'' wich is purely the motor. Unplug the fan and it gets silent even when it only just started to slow down. This one also vibrates far more than the 92 and 120mm ones. I can only compare it to the slowest Noiseblocker S1 80mm and testing on my desk on a piece of foam I'd pick the Nexus. No high frequency whine, just motor clicking... However, applied in a PSU or something I'm not sure if the vibrations would make it worse in practise than the Noiseblocker.

Just found this thread. Some time ago, while playing with speedfan settings on my Zalmn 7000, I stuck my finger into the fan to see if it was turning. Well it was, and much to my dismay I knocked one of the blades off the fan. Subject finger wasn't damaged at all!

So, I also swapped the mangled fan on my Zalman 7000 ALCu for a Nexus 92mm. I performed the swap similarly to Ralf, using tin snips to separate the fan from the housing and drilling mounting holes into the fan frame "stubs" on my drill press. I didn't bother with the isolating the fan, and after installing the modded HSF, I'm not sure they're necessary. The modded Zalexus 7000A is great. My Sonata system is very quiet, but not silent. With dual 5v Papst 4412's, dual Maxtor DM9+ (FDB) drives and a 80mm panaflo L1A modded Fortron 300w PSU, it has multiple components that contribute to it's very quiet, but not silent noise floor. Well with the Zalexus 7000A installed and the case buttoned up, I could not hear the Nexus fan spinning at full speed. AIBooster indicated approx. 1450RPM. Comparatively, stock Zalman 7000 fan was audible at 1000RPM or more.

The swap also enabled me to abandon speedfan in lieu of AIBooster which allows me to undervolt the P4 2.4C CPU (currently running at Vcore 1.35v). Previously, with the stock Zalman 7000, AIBooster was not able to slow the fan enough to bring it under the system noise floor; not a problem w the Zalexus.

Do the 92mm Nexus fans have closed corners?

No, they have "standard" corners.

I have a new zalman V7000 which i'm modding before it's even used firstly. How do you get the stock fan off? What do I need to undo, unscrew?

As per Hang's diary, how large do the holes need to be drilled, what size bit?

Ok, I have managed to get it all apart safely , now I just need a drill bit diameter which matches the screw holes on the existing zalman fan?

Also does the retainer clip have a bend in the centre?, never seen it before

Just need to wait for the Nexus fan to arrive now.

Yes, the Zalman retainer clip has a bend in the middle. Look at 4th and 5th photos here. Yup, I'd match the hole diameter (small) from the Zalman fan and add some fan isolation like the silicon washers shown in a photo above.

Oh yeah, Welcome to SPCR!

I have too much noise from my current setup and will prob go with the Zalman 7000 ALCu and Nexus 92mm. However, any advertised Nexus 92mm seems to be 12V. Maybe this has already been addressed in the forum and I cannot locate it but how do you get the fan to run at 5V.
Thanks,
caseyc

The Zalman 7000 comes with a FanMate (or FanMate 2), which is a small, in-line fan controller that allows you to set the fan voltage anywhere between 5 and 11V (I think I got that 5 right, could be a bit higher). So you can simply use the Fanmate to reduce the fan speed to your liking.

Thanks teejay. I have ordered the cooler and fan.
caseyc