I'm looking to mod out the buzzers in my two Zalman 7000AlCu's. Other than Nexus, what are the best (and preferably, less expensive) options for quiet fans they must start at 5V (for my HTPC) and be relatively quiet up to 7-9V (overclocked gaming machine)? If you know of any good stores for them as well, that would help too.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

There's no Nexus fan around where I live, so I use Tt 92 mm UV fan instead. It's a low flow fan and is quieter than stock Zalman fan, especially when undervolted.

Can't say how it is compared to Nexus, though I don't think it can match.

hi ultraboy!
you can order the nexus 92 fan from here :
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=nexus92mm.html
they are sending to thailand to....

Hello,

Some of the Scythe 92mm fans would likely be quiet. I have the 2000RPM DF, and it is very quiet at 5v -- and here's the 1600RPM DF:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185016

Also, they make a 1400RPM NMB fan that they list at 18dBA:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185031

It draws a mere 0.08A, so it may well be very quiet; depending on the bearings...

raziell Thanks for the link.

Problem with oversea shipping of one fan is that shipping cost is higher than fan cost.

What about Yate-Loon 92mms? I have some 80mm and a 120mm (medium speed, I believe) that work pretty well at 5V and 7V (120 and 80mm, respectively).

I really don't want to spend more than $5 a fan, if that's possible. As you get closer to $10, I might as well buy the Nexus (but I don't want to).

Thanks everyone for the help.

Bump.

Anyone?

In the first Newegg link that Neil posted you can find the Scythe "KAZE-JYU" 100mm fan that SPCR said was the quietest stock heatsink fan ever for $8; also you can get Panaflo 92mm from Jab-tech for $3 and Scythe 92mm for $4.95:

http://www.jab-tech.com/92mm-Fans-c-80.html

The Panaflos won't necessarily be quiet but the Scythes almost certainly will.

Jaganath, 'sample variance' bit me. I bought one of the 92mm Scythes from Newegg and it was seriously unbalanced. Not just vibration, but lots of vibration to the point of being a defective fan. While I've read many other comments in SPCR on these fans (mostly on the 120s), my experience leaves me gunshy.

D'oh , I gotta say it is seriously difficult to find a cheap, silent 92mm fan. To be honest IMO you gotta raise the budget if you want quality, $5 is OK for a rubbish Thermaltake fan but for quality you gotta pay a little more.

You can get 92mm Yate Loons on Ebay for $5, but they are ball bearing:

92mm Yate Loon on Ebay

Mind you, at $3 the Panaflo 92mm is no big loss if it turns out to be rubbish.

Yate Loons can usually be had for not that much, I have a couple and they're all good--balanced, no bearing noise, etc.

Note that this goes for the 120 mm low speed fans, I don't have any of the others.

thta Kaze jyu looks interesting...the ultra-quiet verson is rated 14dBA @28CFM.

impressive if true.

I think I'll head towards the Panaflo. Some people here say that it's pretty quiet @ 5v and like Jaganath said, it's cheap enough to be wrong. I can always mod it to work for my bro's system if it doesn't.

I can't wait to start upgrading all of my machines, but that looks like it's going to be another year or so. Therefore, I'm stuck with my AthlonXPs for now.

I have some 92mm fans (Noiseblocker SE2, NMB-MAT, Coolermaster Sleeve, Thermaltake Sleeve made by Hong Sheng that comes with the Tsunami Dream and Yate Loon Slow Speed Silencio Edition).

The best is the Yate Loon (1500rpm). Almost no bearing noise even at 12v and cools suprisingly well. despiste its low speed.
I use it in a XP-90 with a AMD64 3000+ overclocked at 2720Mhz at 1,57Vcore, which is hot! I have 45C at load.
I usually run it at 5v (silent - 700rpm) and put it at 12v when gaming. I barely hear it from the distance of 50cm at 12v.

The Thermaltake is the 2nd best, undervolts really well, a bit more bearing noise than the YL, 1750 rpms. At 12v almost only whoosh noise. Made by Hong Sheng. Not bad and smooth too.

The SE2 is 3rd, with some little clicking, and noisy at 1750rpm (of course), but not a bad fan at all, especially being a ball bearing.

The NMB-MAT 92mm fan was a dissapointment as I had high hopes for it, mainly because it has a humming sound starting at 7v, which I simply can't stand. Too bad. Pretty heavy fan and I believe it lasts a long time.

The Coolermaster 92mm Case Fan is very bad, the motor noise comes in a 7v and is unbearable. Forget this one. At 12v ->2200rpm.

Just my 2 cents.

I still haven't made the jump here. But I wanted to throw another wrench into the mix.

One of my PC's is OC'd and I would like the ability to raise the speed of the fan(s) slightly in case it's too slow. I guess I'm thinking that the low speed Kaze-Jyu 100mm is not a good idea in case it doesn't cool any better than my Zalman @ 5-7V.

Any opinions on this?

Also, I was thinking of getting the 92mm low speed YL from Silencio_777, but I see that there isn't anything on his store anymore. Anyone know what's up with that?

I was thinking that maybe I could go with two of the Low-speed Scythe Kaze-Jyu 100mm (they should fit inside the 7000B, no?) and one medium speed Kaze-Jyu 100mm for my OC'd Athlon system, just in case it gets a little too warm for a low speed fan.

Any thoughts/ideas/recommendations?

These NMBs are good, quiet, and economical.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/nmb92lowsp36.html

...and apparently, that NMB works in Dell's, which has been a point of interest around here for some folks. It is 32mm thick, which is somewhat unusual, and thermally controlled.

Ahem! "Maximum Output Specifications: When temperature is 55°C, specifications are 69.91 CFM @ 3800 RPM, 43.5 dB, 5.64w."

3800RPM? 43.5dBA? Is this an overclocking forum or SPCR?

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I think the low speed Kaze-Jyu (Kaze no Kizu ) would be fine if you want a drop in 12V quiet fan. But personally, I would go for the medium speed. It may be louder than I like at 12V, but I'd be running it at about 5V anyways. If for any reason I need some more cooling, I'll just turn it up. Best of both worlds.

I too have been finding it hard to find good 92mm fans these days. I recently got a new Panaflo (NMB-MAT) L1. It's not terrible, but makes a rubbing/clicking kind of noise at 5V. Nothing like my old 80mm L1s which are great. The Kaze-Ju seem to be the only decent ones for cheap I can find these days. I've never bought one yet, but it probably would be what I would get.

Hello,

I saw that, but also up to 25C it runs at 1400RPM/17dBA (by their specs), so it has a 2400RPM range (1400-3800RPM), which you can control and use to your advantage?

Seeing as Silencio has no 92mm fans for sale at the moment (does anyone know when he will?), what 92mm's do you guys recommend that are on sale in the UK? The best seem to be the Nexus and Acoustifan Dustproofs but they are both very expensive. Are there any cheaper options?

You could try the Glacialtech Silentblade (link) on paper it's good but I've never tried it.

Those do look interesting and the specs look like exactly what I am after. However, we all know how misleading they can be!

To give you an idea of what I am after, I require two fans to go at the front of a SOLO case I am building. I have snipped out the grills where the fans will go and am in the process of filing off the rough (and sharp!) edges and lining them with rubber edging. The fans will be mounted to the case via Acousti Ultra-Soft Fan Mounts and run through a Silverstone FP-33 fan controller to be silent when under normal use but to give more air flow when gaming.

Can anyone else recommend fans that might be suitable?

I'd seek Nexus 92mm or Yate Loon 92mm

Hello,

Apparently, there is a 92mm GlobalWin NCB fan made, but outside of the Hong Kong website, I can't find it for sale. This could be a very quiet, and durable, 92mm fan.

[Edit: there is an 80mm GlobalWin NCB, too; and it can be had from NCIX:
http://www.us.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13941&vpn=NCB-80&manufacture=Global%20Win&nocookie=1&membership=0]

Yes, I have some 120mm GolbalWin NCB's that have been used in various applications. Anyway, I have ordered the Glacialtechs and will see how they are. I couldn't pass them up for less than the price of only one Nexus.

I'm in the same situation where I need 1 or 2 92mm fans for my Solo. I could get a Nexus, but the price is steep. I've gone with Yate Loon for my 120mm fans because of the great price. Might be worth it though to make sure the front fan is as quiet as possible.

Silencio, Silencio, where for art thou Silencio?

I just bought a couple 92 Nexus fans for an Antec Solo case. The fans didn't come with any screws, but I have these rubber fan mount thingies from a dampening kit. I am not sure how to use these. I push extremely hard, but the tapered part doesn't fit through the fan holes. If the hole was a millimeter larger they would fit, but I am wondering if I am doing something wrong. Is there a trick to getting these rubber fan mounts to work?

Here are pictures of what I am talking about. http://www.cooltechpc.com/c/ctpc/std/sk ... ounts.html

Hello,

Are the holes on the Nexus 92mm open, or do they have the "ears"?

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18368