Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

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highstream
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:44 pm

Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by highstream » Sat May 12, 2012 12:11 pm

I'm looking at putting in a front case fan to add a little more cooling, but three 3.5" HDDs don't quite leave me enough room for a 25mm deep one. 12mm would definitely fit and I think 20mm would probably as well, although perhaps a tricky install (rubber mounts). The case holes are for a 120mm. To give a feel of what I like in fans, I chose the Kama Flow 2 900 rpm (120mm) for both cpu and case, after first trying the Nexus 120 and Gelid Silent 12 PWM. Reviews of thinner fans are hard to find. Does anyone have experience to pass along - good, bad, ugly - with narrower 120mm fans? Thanks,

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by ces » Sat May 12, 2012 3:29 pm

highstream wrote:I'm looking at putting in a front case fan to add a little more cooling, but three 3.5" HDDs don't quite leave me enough room for a 25mm deep one. 12mm would definitely fit and I think 20mm would probably as well, although perhaps a tricky install (rubber mounts). The case holes are for a 120mm. To give a feel of what I like in fans, I chose the Kama Flow 2 900 rpm (120mm) for both cpu and case, after first trying the Nexus 120 and Gelid Silent 12 PWM. Reviews of thinner fans are hard to find. Does anyone have experience to pass along - good, bad, ugly - with narrower 120mm fans? Thanks,
The only thin fans that I am aware of the 12mm Scythe fans and the 20mm thick Yate Loons

highstream
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:44 pm

Re: Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by highstream » Sat May 19, 2012 8:19 am

Thanks. I just got a 20mm Yale Loon low speed running at 880rpm it's noticeably louder than a 25mm Kama Flow 2 900rpm running at 950rpm. That's the kind of info I was hoping someone who'd tried the Yale Loon could pass along.

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by ces » Sat May 19, 2012 12:13 pm

highstream wrote:Thanks. I just got a 20mm Yale Loon low speed running at 880rpm it's noticeably louder than a 25mm Kama Flow 2 900rpm running at 950rpm. That's the kind of info I was hoping someone who'd tried the Yale Loon could pass along.
The Kama Flow 2 is about as good as you get.

Can you tell us how low you can get the Yate Loon to run?

highstream
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:44 pm

Re: Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by highstream » Sat May 19, 2012 2:15 pm

Yeah, I wish the Kama Flow 2 came in a 20mm model. The Loon is running as a front case fan in a system fan plug (3 pin), so it's been ranging between the high 800s to the high 900s. I'm new to this, but as a 3-pin don't see any way to great greater control of its speed. As a cpu fan, it would probably be down around 500. The Kama runs consistently in the mid 300s, while before it the Nexus ran around 500.

ces
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Location: US

Re: Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by ces » Sat May 19, 2012 3:27 pm

highstream wrote:I'm new to this, but as a 3-pin don't see any way to great greater control of its speed.
Here are all kinds of fan controls:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... 8706743a02

This is the one I recommend:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=25981

highstream
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:44 pm

Re: Thinner (12-20mm) quiet case fan suggestions

Post by highstream » Sun May 20, 2012 11:27 am

Thanks for those links. I'm just not sure how much one needs to or can do with two case fans running under 1000rpm and a cpu one typically running in the mid 300's. The difference between room temp and typically the highest CPU and GPU core temps is <20C.

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