I have a suggestion: You already list the startup voltage, but I'd also like to see the RPM of the free standing fan at the startup voltage. The would give me an estimate of the minimum RPM that could be used as a case fan for most situations.

I was listening to the fans inside the case, attached using the rubber pins - you are right, it could be odd turbulence, although it would seem strange that this is not as audible using other fans (like the Silverstones) - I will check it out and report back.

Thank you.

First I want to say thanks for making these reviews-they save so much time and make life easier on a lot of us! I was wondering since this review was last updated in 2007 if there were any changes in which fans were best...like any new models or anything.

There are many new models... and we're just setting up a brand new fan testing rig to test up the many dozens of fans in our collection now.

Cool! Thanks for the quick response. Any idea when that will be out? Are you going to update the case recommendations too or are those continuously updated?

Mike,

Please consider doing a side article on high impedance performance, CFM, and noise. There is a relationship I believe, but the only people who have access to that data are the fan manufacturer engineers.

NMB to my recollection publishes some pretty good info (except for the noise part) with nice graphs showing CFM against fan speed and impedance. If you got an NMB fan from Dorothy Bradberry, you could use that as a reference fan with respect to those attributes of fan performance.

Awesome news! Here are the fans I'd love to see:

Arctic F12 (frame) and F12 Pro (frameless) - these are like Slip Streams but with fluid bearings which should be better
Noctua NF-S12B - new revision
Akasa Apache
Scythe Gentle Typhoon

Do you have any of these? If not, I'd be happy to donate at least a few. And I'm sure the rest of the community would be happy to help out as well.

See:
"Which PWM, CPU or Specialty Fan do you Want SPCR to Review?"
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vi ... hp?t=58350

It seems many of these tests were done with background noise level of about 18dBA, newest chamber has about 11dBA.

Are the reported noise levels corrected for background level? If not, when SPRC reports ~18dBA, the fan probably has more than 5dBA less than this, right? since you need to add a noise source of at most 5dBA lower than the source you are looking at to get 1dBA increase? (if I read the theory/calc articles right, eg 20dBA + 15dBA gives 21dBA)

The artilce on the SCYTHE SLIP STREAM SY1225SL12M says it is quite a perfomer re CFM/dBA ratio, pushing as much as 30% more air at the same dBA levels as all the others. Not on this list though, guess it is not updated after the slip stream testing???

By the way, as a physicist, I like to create performance graphs, specifically cfm on y axis, dBA on x-axis. Makes comparison of fan performance easier...for instance you can see noise levels for two fans set at same cfm easily. SPCR might think about this visually intuitive presentation in the future. This graph really makes the slip stream stand out.

EDIT: turns out the Scythe Slip Stream data was published just days before the announcement CFM data was suspect. Did not find any updated CFM, so ignore my comment on this fan belonging in recommended list. Comment on CFM/dBA graphs stands.

Re: 2011 update to recommended fans, using new (2010) test System as noted in May 2010 article???

Hi, I need to buy new fans for my current build, and I don't know if the latest lists are any good--can't find orange Nexus fans. My stock of new fans is back to pre-Noctua introduction and tests (2007?). I have a box of unused Antec 3-speed fans.

Will the fans list be updated soon?

Thanks,
Bruce

With Thin Mini-ITX systems coming to the fore, any recommendations on quiet off-the-shelf blower fans, the sort you normally see in laptops?

Recommended Fans totally updated 26 Sept 2012 -- 9 & 8 cm fans need re-examination, though.

More and more cases are starting to use 140mm fans. Perhaps it's time for SPCR to pay them more attention? Especially considering 120mm fans are pretty much covered.

I arise from my long lurk to say:

Typo in Tonality : Pink Noise s/neature/nature

Also, thank you for the update.

There are three 140mm fans on the recommended list.

I think 92cm fans are a bit large Might wanna make that 92mm.

Love these write-ups and updates of 'recommended' articles, THANK YOU, really appreciated!

can anyone reccomend any 120mm pwm fans to replace the two antec ones in my antec veris fustion black? or any other 120mm ones thanks

Noiseblocker M12-S1 or Thermalright TR-TY 150? Or do you recomend a better case fan?

The M12-S1 to me its one of the best 120mm fans in the market, the TY150 is also good, just the size is odd for using it as case fan, was more meant for their big heatsinks that thermalright used to do, now a days they have more settile for TY143A and also very good fan. But out of the the two i would use the M12-S1.

I decided to open holes to the case and install 3 case fans. One 145 or 120mm, one 92 and one 80mm fan. Only the front case fan (145 or 120mm) will have a wire grill, the other two nothing. If i choose a 120mm fan it will be between Noiseblocker M12-S1 and S2. Now i am searching for the 145,92 and 80mm fans. Wich ones do you recomend?

145 is an unusual meassurement, you might find one that its design for certain purpose, but overall its not one that many manufacturers will make.

My recommendations for

140mm
PWM = Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM
3pin = Noctua NF-P14s redux-900 or Antec True Quiet 140

92mm
PWM = Noctua NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM
3pin = Noctua NF-B9 1600 or Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PE-1 1300rpm

80mm
PWM = Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800 PWM
3pin = Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800 or Noiseblocker M8-2 1700rpm

Hello Abula and thanks for the support. Where can i find reviews for the Noctua fans you suggest. Why spcr has not tested these fans?

I found, i believe a good review on the Noctua fans at http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/no ... iew,9.html
Because the fans are for the case, i do not need them to be PWM. Right?
The 3pin 92mm Noctua NF-B9 1600, is the same with the NF-B9 FLX 1600?
Also the 3pin 80mm Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800, is the same with NF-R8 FLX 1800?

PWM isnt a orientation or aplication, its the way the fan is controlled, it can be used as Case fans or or any other applictation. The important question isn't "do not need them to be PWM, but how do i plan to control the fans?"

REDUX is the old line of Noctua re done in grey and silver, the FLX line was very similar but in tan and brown, i would assume they are pretty much the same, but this question only noctua can answer truthfully.

I plan to control the case fans with a fan controller.

Then you should go for standard 3pin, not 4pin PWM.