Welcome to SPCR!

The Enermax Enlobal bearing does seem to be pretty quiet -- if you search SPCR for "Enlobal" you find a fair number of references.

Neil, thanks for the reply, I tried searching earlier but got nothing, I am just going to have to get used to the search engine.

Also I have been reading these forums for a couple months and I am glad to join, there is a lot of knowledge in here.

Hi,


I've just recieved a batch of GlobalWin 120mm fans with ceramic bearings.


The bearings are suitable for high(er) temperature work - i.e CPU cooling fans. There is definately much less noise coming from the bearings compared to say the Asaka Amber; and also much less commutator vibration at low speed.


The actual blade design looks no different from countless others I 've seen and seems quiet at 700 -> 800 rpm. I don't yet know how low it can go and still start.


So, IMO, definately worth testing - this round or the next one.


@Mike C: let me know if you want me to send you one.





Peter

first of all i didnt understand what this person talking about

second testing all these fans are nice
but people should mention for how long they used these fans beforehand the tests
because ball bearing fans and sleeve bearing fans and fluid dynamic fans tend to act differently on noise level due time
also these fans are for case fans i assume and no cpu fans included it seems

i dont have these ones but they are good as far as i know so try to include these ones

silentx ixtrema pro
Arctic Cooling Arctic Fan
scythe s-flex
and sharkoon silent eagle

Below is a list of fans I'd most like to see added to the review queue as time permits... I'm sure some (all?) are already on the list, so just count this as my 'vote' as appropriate .

120mm
---------------
Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 "Golfball" (1000 rpm)
SilenX IXP-74-11 120x25 (1100 rpm)
SilenX IXP-76-14 120x38 (1200 rpm)
SilenX IXP-74-14 120x25 (1400 rpm)
Akasa 12cm Amber Series case fan (1400 rpm)
SilenX IXP-76-18 120x38 (1400 rpm)
Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 "Golfball" (2000 rpm)


92mm
---------------
SilenX IXP-64-09 92x25 (1100 rpm)
SilenX IXP-64-11 92x25 (1300 rpm)
Akasa 9.2cm Amber Series case fan (1400 rpm)
Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1500 "Golfball" (1500 rpm)
SilenX IXP-64-14 92x25 (1600 rpm)


80mm
---------------
I_don't_care
(but for the sake of consistency, the above suppliers have fans of this size as well)


40-70mm
---------------
I'd love to see a roundup of these smaller (40-70mm) fans that are often used on chipset cooling and other components. I'm guessing that the response in this venue will probably be "you don't need a fan, just a good passive heatsink", but I'd still like to know the best (quietest) fans in this size for the times when a fan is needed.

Some Fan's I would like to see sometimes tested. When I get money, I could consider even buy some of these and I could send some to MikeC for testing. When and if I get enough money:

Adda:
AD0812DF-A76GLLF 80mm white fan with Fluid Dynamic Bearing
AD0912DF-A76GLLF 92mm white fan with Fluid Dynamic Bearing
AD1212DF-A73GLLF 120mm white fan with Fluid Dynamic Bearing
For some reasons, Adda's pages are very poorly designed and you cannot find any information of the fans they offer, not even with complete retail code. *sighs*

Noctua:
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=9&lng=en
Noctua NF-R8 80mm fan.

I think is a good idea to consider the Enermax UC-12AEBS this new fan dont have the old Ball/Sleeve metallic bearing , this model of Enermax Fan have the Enlobal Magnetic bearing , with this new technology the fan spin without friction and NEVER need oils and therefore have a extreme long lifespan, if you have the old Ball/Sleeve bearing fans in your computer , remember to add oil to the bearings once in a while , if you want you can check how to add oil to your fans bearings in this website http://www.dansdata.com/fanmaint.htm

my list

arctic cooling
papst
silent eagle
scythe

There should definitely be a review of the SilentEagles. The new Noctuas with the funny trailing edge have piqued my curiosity as well. I wonder if a combination of both technologies would result in any improvement in flow/noise. (edit) Enermax Marathon series seem interesting as well, now that I think of it.

good luck to you ,one year have been gone.........

old topic but oh well....

I'd say Noctuas's but now that's no news for SPCR

I'd add the Arctic Cooling 9 PWM fan
I've just played around with it. Hard to notice any noise appart from airflow noise even at full speed... I can't really say more than that. I'll just add that it seems that the airflow is much more spreadout than on other fans. By that I mean that if you put your hand more than 6-7 inches away from the fan, right in front of it, you don't feel much air, even at full speed. But if you move or center a little bit, you'll feel a nice wind. Most fans act like this but I think (hard to measure) this one has a tendency to do that more just because of the way it is built.

Hi

Has anyone tested Enermax Magma 120mm fan? Want to know about +ve pressure, -ve pressure etc. If anyone has got a link or tutorial for that?

Ooh, I'm really curious about the Tacens Ventus Pro. You can't find any reviews on it, even though they claim to have very good performance/noise ratio (better then Noctuas?) so it would be good to put them to the test.

Well, it's been over a year since the last SPCR fan review (which only covered Scythe). I don't have any extra samples to send, but there are some fans I'd recommend or like to see for the next time you guys get around to another fan round-up.

Recommended for review:

Scythe 120mm Gentle Typhoon - I stuck the medium speed model in my PSU, and except for a faint ball-bearing whine, it's the quietest, smoothest fan I've (n)ever heard!

Apevia 80mm (newer 1,500RPM models) - These came with my computer case. They have a very, very smooth noise character, and except for a very light buzz due to the clear plastic used, are even quieter than the Enermax 80mm Marathon fans.

Enermax 80mm Marathon - Fairly smooth noise character, and pretty much silent when undervolted.

Like to see for review:

Gelid 120mm Wing - Well liked at other review sites. Good features.

Nanoxia 120mm - I'm most curious about these. They look good, have nice features, and are listed as quiet.

Noiseblocker 120mm S-Series - Vibration absorbing frame. Probably has good features (but I can't understand their language).

That's all.

An Ultimate 120/140 mm Fans Roundup has appeared.

Akasa Silent Color 140-мм
Akasa UltraQuiet Amber (AK-183-L2B)
Akasa White LED (AK-FN055)
Enermax Apollo
Enermax Everest, Cluster, Magma
GELID Wing 12 (FN-FW12-15)
GELID Silent 12 PWM, TC (FN-P(T)X12-15)
GlacialTech GT12025 SDLA1, EDLA1 и BDLA1
Nanoxia FX12, FX+12
Nexus Basic (D12SL-12)
Nexus PWM (D12SL-12 PWM)
Noctua NF-S12B ULN, FLX
Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilent XL1, XL2, XLP Rev. 3.00
Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe S-Series MF12-S1, -S2, -S3HS, -P
Scythe S-FLEX (SFF21E)
Scythe Gentle Typhoon
Scythe Kaze Maru
SilenX iXtrema Pro IXP-74-09/11
SilenX iXtrema Pro IXP-76-14/18
SilverStone Suscool 121
Thermalright TR-FDB
Thermaltake ISGC 12 (AF0018)
Thermaltake TurboFan (A2491, A2492)
XILENCE PWM
Zaward Golf Fan (AFNS-C025L-R420)

The most interesting final charts:

Who would I contact to see if I can donate one of these Sunon HA40201V4-0000-C99 40mm fans for testing? I would love to see if that fan is truely putting out the spec's it touts for a 40mm fan. 5.5cfm with 12.8 dBA would be a dream come true for us Shuttle owners that want absolute silence without compromising too much cooling power in these tiny machines.

Hi,

You should ask Mike C. -- I'd suggest sending a PM to him.

OK, .... I am naturally impatient and Mike C hates reviewing fans. Obviously. I notice that Newegg markets 24 pages of case fans now. I am sure Mike wants to look at all of them. ;-) Certainly, LED color matters too....

Here's what I am going to do:

I anticipate a total of 3 new fans. Replace Antec 120 rear case with another 120. Maybe... maybe, replace Gellid Tranq, athough it had a positive review by SPCR for the heat sink. And, probably, one 92mm fan at front panel.

I don't know what to do about a graphics card with fans--the last one I had lived long enough to be replaced by an emergency Newegg order of a silent, passive cooled card. The current build ATI 5870 has exhaust vents equally spaced from rear and front case panels. It's going to be a trick to vent properly. I pray the fans are quiet.

The next issue is:
Fan speed management. I've had 4 Asus mobos, and not one has responded to guidance from Speedfan. Three of the boards have on-board fan management. The latest Asus needs 4-pin (4-wire) fans. I have a Gigabyte board that was just as happy as the Asus boards.

In other words, I could probably fiddle with BIOS, but if there is no prior settings available for my board, none of SPCR's fan recommendations mean squat if I'm expected to do my own tweaking. The only thing that works for me is on-board management, and off-the-shelf switches. So far, third party fans have been quieter than Antec's case fans.

For the need of three fans I will purchase about five. The two extra are for fiddling purposes between all five. I will make judgement calls for the ones I buy.

To date, my cases sit within 18 inches of my ears. All attempts at quiet machines, based on fans, have failed at that distance. I'll get back and notify the group of my recommended fans.

Bruce

Currently I have laying around 2 ASUS, 2 DFI, 2 MSI and 1 Abit boards: all their fan headers are driven by SpeedFan with ease and good to excellent results, with reference to quietness.

Thank you, for such enlightening thoughts.

You're welcome: it's what you definitely deserve.

I have a Nexus Silent 80mm PWM fan. I hooked it up once a few weeks ago and don't like it so it's now sitting in a draw. The one you have is probably the standard 3 pin. Would you be interested? May be good for a comparison. It seemed to have that "growl" you were talking about.

@jcoffin1981, my Nexus 120 PWM was pretty noisy, but not as bad as the Gelid PWM. Here are my notes from building, and checking a bunch of fans (I have several in stock, incl. Scythe):

3-11-2011 Tested fans; those purchased and what I had in stock. Recently purchased included: 12cm and 9.2cm Real Silent Nexus; Noctua 140mm, Gelid 12cm PWM, Arctic Cooling 12cm PWM.

Trashed the Gelid that was stock with Tranquillo heat sink. It and the purchased fan were just *loud*. Replaced the Gelid CPU cooler fan with Arctic Cooling 12cm PWM, which was quietist of all the PWM fans. Nexus PWM sounded like 7 Dwarves music. Front and rear case fans are 120mm Real Silent Nexus (1000rpm) ... dead silent. Using 120 rather than 92 on front case (92 was ‘clicky’ noisy). 140 Noctua is a 3-slot (three physical plugs for speed range), 3-pin fan that was very quiet on the slowest rpm. Just couldn’t justify the price—or figure how to mount it.

The two Radeon fans are silent at idle mode, which will be the predominant speed.

Returning the WD Caviar Black. It’s very noisy. Don’t want and can’t install a 3.5”. No room in the standard spots for the bigger HDDs. 5870 sink and fans hit a 3.5” mounted on the case floor bracket, and no room, too tight for air circulation, in the upper bay. The 3.5" hits the PSU in the normal mount. My 3.5" option is the WD 5400 TBs. Also, WD Earth power are slow to write to and always spin up when loading or writing—noisy (clicky) at 18”.

I need the 3.5" bay for a memory card reader.
----------------

That's what I have so far. As typical, I will limit the SSD (or fastest drive, and outer platter) to OS. All data is written to another physical hard drive. Will try a 2.5” 7200 Seagate 500Gb that was tested by SPCR. A 2.5" will clear the graphics cooling, with plenty of space. SSDs are too costly for data storage right now.

I hate installing and setting up software, or I could say more at this point. An earlier computer took 6 months to build; no RMAs for that one. My last repair was a year-long nightmare that replaced everything but the graphics card.

Hope this helps, and good building!

Add.....
The OCZ PSU is very, very quiet. I expect the only perennial noise will be from the hard drive spinning.

My accoustic equipment is my left ear. If I can't hear it at 6", I won't hear it at 18".