Hi guys,
I could do with a little advice on a purchase. At the moment I have an stock XP1600+ running with a Zalman Cu flower hs with the supplied Zalman fan with a fanmate on the slowest/quietest setting. To my ears, this is still noisy (anyone else reckon this?).

I could replace this with a Panaflo easily, still running from the fanmate for quiet operation. The question is, what size? The price difference isn't really an issue - silence is paramount. Would it be better to run the 120mm or the 80mm, at the slowest fanmate setting? Obviously the 120mm will shift more air, but which will be quieter?

Panaflo's are kinda hard to source in the UK and they cost about £15. I could get them from koolnquiet.co.uk or pclincs.co.uk...

Actually, having said all that, does anyone have experiences of either size not starting at the lowest fanmate setting?

Yeah, the Zalman fans are not quiet. I've used both 92 and 80mm fans with the flower coolers; the difference is not big, either in temp or noise. The 92mm fan does cool a bit better, as the fins on the flower sinks are spread over quite a large space.

All things being equal, larger fans will end up making a bit more noise, becase they will have more vibrations. The bigger the fan, the tighter tolerances have to be to maintain balanced blades. A small amount of imbalance that is acceptable in a 80mm fan may not be in a 120mm fan, and the resulting vibrations will be conducted into the case, which may cause a rise in noise. 80-92mm Panaflo, Papst, etc -- they will all be virtually inaudible in a case at minimum speeds.

Why worry about whether a fan will start at the min fanmate setting? All you have to do is just turn the knob to the point that it does start consistently.

Try www.theoverclockingstore.co.uk or www.tekheads.co.uk

ChiefWeasel did you get my message?

Oz

Ah, thanks for all the replies. You guys are officially stars.

Just a couple more questions:
a) What is the story with the leads on Panaflo fans? I really wanna plug them into a 3pin mobo header. Is that do-able?
b) Do I need any extra screws to attach it to the Zalman arm thing?

question a)
the short answer is yes.

but I'm going to do better than that

you could check out this very informative thread on Ars OpenFourm discussing exactly the tailing of panaflo L1As:

http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopi ... 8550981793

should answer your questions

A Panaflo fan has a two-pin connector. You can plug itinto a 3-pin mobo header with an adapter, which I'm not is readily available in your area, but I'm not sure if there is so much a point in so doing since there is no RPM lead on the fan itself.

IMHO, a Panaflo isn't so good, particularly if you want to undervolt it. At 5 volt, it emits some noticeable noise presumably due to friction in motor shaft. This is not noticeable with some of other undervolted fans including PCP&C Silencer and certain little known fans. I don't know if this happens with a Papst fan, but, if I were in the U.K., I'd definitely choose Papst fans over Panaflos. I think what made Panaflo fans so popular in the U.S. is its low price rather than its quality. Qualitywise, it's not that great.

No question they became popular because of the low price. But I disagree about their quality. My experience is that they are very good.

I've gone through about 50 Panaflos & I find them very quiet, very consistent in quality, and about as good as most low speed fans at 5V. Almost all fans make some type of chugging noise at lower speeds, noise that is not audible at higher speeds, due partly to masking by airflow noise. It's sort of like firing of sparks in engine cylinders -- at low speeds, the firing of each spark becomes more distinctly audible, while at high speeds, they blur into a smoother vrooom. The low speed noise is often more associated with the circuitry in the fan rather than the bearings, and I don't think the Panaflo is bad at all in this regard.

My PCP&C Silencer samples are pretty good too, but I would not say there is the kind of difference between them and the Panaflos that you describe at 5V. The Panaflo hums more at a lower frequency, but the Silencer buzzes more at a higher frequency. Both, at 5V, are virtually inaudible when inside a case, especially if you decouple mount them in some fashion.

In terms of the plastics, the blades on the Panaflo seem carefully shaped for low noise and smoothly manufactured, while as the blades on the Silencer are thicker, cruder (rough edges), and in fact, smaller.

How many Panaflos have you used? Maybe you had some bum units. Can be caused by shock -- like dropping a fan.

OK thanks very much everyone, I read all the info - much appreciated.

I think I'm gonna wait for that guy's article on a passive XP1900+ and if I can't follow in his footsteps then grab a Panaflo.