The 800 rpm Gentle Typhoon looks like a can't lose choice. Just plug it in and run it at a regular 12 volts. It is both quiet... and has good static pressure performance.

Also a good selection and it should be able to be voltage controlled with the software on his motherboard.

I've had mixed results with the GTs, a couple have had issues with ringing and chatter, most have been fine.

Just a quick observation: The link at the end of the article points to the thread from the 5th round up, not this one.

Also a question, Was that an older picture of the Kanomax 6803 Anemometer? The picture shows that it's 3 years overdue for a calibration.

Does anyone know how these results apply when it comes to case fans? It seems to me that a case fan would require much less static pressure and more airflow. I'm a bit surprised that there wasn't a test procedure designed to test performance when mounted as a case fan since it should be different conditions and different results.
Am I wrong? Can these measurements be used? Because it seems to me that a scythe GT will most likely fall behind a nexus fan when mounted as a case fan since the 11 blades wouldn't be very useful when it's just about moving air compared to the 7 blade design from the nexus.
I'm wondering because I need to decide on fans for my upcoming build ^^

ps. would the front fans on a door-design case like the fractal design r3 or corsair 550d take advantage of a higher static pressure because of obstructed intake?

Finally I get my fan roundup! Best 100 bucks I ever spent!

Didn't really get an answer to the question if 140mm is "worth it" tho. Maybe I'll have to donate some more.

Well, FWIW, the FPM measurements (and SPL) are done in free air and not while the fans are mounted on the heatsink.

in case you did not get the msg in the review, airflow by itself is completely meaningless, and there is no way my single anemometer can give an accurate cfm. It has to be tied to pressure measurements as well, and both these vary with rpm, like spl.

Some simple notes -

--Fans with high pressure at low speed are ideal for silencers.
--The fans which gave lower temps at low speed will also do better than others at those speeds as case fans when there is some but not very high impedance -- which describes the archon.

Gotta run -- more later.

----------------

LATER:

Going back to comparisons of the results, I caution everyone not to...
-- celebrate differences of 1C in temperature or 1 dBA in noise. Even though the results are probably accurate enough to better than those numbers, the actual performance oor audible difference is just too small to be significant for just about anyone. Can I hear the difference, for example, 11 and 12 dBA fans when they are inside a sturdy case, perhaps with one or more noise sources within (even if they are very quiet) or any ambient noise around me (like my own typing?) No, it's almost impossible.

Whether higher pressure or higher airflow is better for case fan is probably going to raise debate. It depends, as usual, on just what the rpm is, and how much impedance there is. In fans with big area blades are going to give higher pressure but will cause more noise. A simple rule of thumb for me is to look at thefan -- if the gaps between the blades are small or non-existent, then it's probably going to give higher pressure at the cost of higher noise, and of course the reverse -- thin, small blades with big gaps between just can't apply as much pressure.

When it is on a low impedance heatsink (ie, one which has wide gaps between fins and short distance for the air to flow through), a higher speed fan with lower fan blade area will probably work best -- again depending on the noise/cooling balance you want/need.

On a higher impedance heatsink, a fan that can provide higher pressure at lower speed will do better.

So there is no perfect fan, just which fan works best for your setup, depending on your goals.

But if asked what's the perfect fan for a silencer, I'd have to answer high pressure at low speed (noise). This is the best general purpose silencer's fan -- ilke a car with a powerful electric motor that has great torque at <20 mph while barely making any noise.

Thank you, CA_Steve, for the graphs, especially the 2nd on. Very useful, I should have done that, but I am glad you did.

Sure thing.

Thanks for the review, but



I run SlipStreams at 400 RPM, when not gaming or overclocking. IMO, 500 RPM is not too slow for quiet systems.

What's the opinion on 38 mm fans? How does the extra thickness affect the noise and performance, in general?

The actual examples out there are louder than 25mm fans... but it is hard to know if that is because of the extra width, or because of the design goals and tradeoffs of the actual designs.

According to the guy at Scythe-USA that I talked to yesterday, the 800 RPM Gentle Typhoon is no longer being made. 500 RPM version is also discontinued.

Gah! Did you point him to this review?

Mike, Question:

Among your untested fans, are there any Noctuas?

If no, do you have any plans to test them? Should we be email bombing them to send you samples? =)

It seems there's sample variances between Gentle Typhoons. I got one GT1450 which was very quiet at 5V/7v, and it managed to surprise me given its smooth turbulence, no ball-bearing chatter characteristics.

Looking at the second picture in the review they obviously have at least one Noctua fan. According to this review http://www.silentpcreview.com/Noctua_NH-L12, it performs worse than the Nexus fan.

Glad to see the Gentle Typhoons finally got attention. I put 5 of the 1150 rpm fans in a build almost 3 years ago (Aug 09). I'm very happy with their performance and silence. I've never noticed unusual noise or anything other than their unobtrusive signature sound. 5 fans running full speed and very nearly inaudible from a case under my desk and beside my right leg. Unfortunately it seems many models of the GT fans have been discontinued. They could have used SPCR's review attention some time ago.

Link to the old thread where the Gentle Typhoons were discussed with a link to pictures of my build:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=54804

Ack, I didn't think to look at heatsink reviews. Thanks much for the pointer. A bit disappointing though; I thought they'd be better than that.

That is not exactly true. The NH-L12 with its stock fans outperforms the NH-L12 with the Nexus reference fan on both dBs and degrees Centrigrade. See:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1261-page6.html

True, but it takes both Noctua fans to outperform the Nexus by itself.

Who cares. The only variables that count are dBs and degrees Centigrade.

The two inferior fans, together, generate both better dBs and C (at the same time). Who cares how they do it. If you stop and think about it for a moment, I think you will agree.

And they have 150K hour bearings that are approved for horizontal use.

It's not entirely exact: it depends of the platform (you're using older, partial data).

With the overclocked Core i5 (the new SPCR test bed), the stock Noctua are clearly less effective than a single, cheap Nexus down to 14dBA, while they have a slight advantage over it of just 1°C only at the lowest 12dBA level. See: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1267-page5.html

Your state is simply not true (as already pointed out, it depends of the platform).

And I add it's a shame (on Noctua) that two very expensive fans can barely match a single, simple, cheap Nexus.

This is what really matter in a fan roundup: Noctua fans often "sucks", with reference to both their high cost and what competition may offer.

Just an overt, inveterate Noctua fanboy like you won't admit the current simple, awful truth.

It's a bit unfortunate that the GT is discontinued. The real winner for me from this review is the Nexus. Running it at 700 RPM (~7V) gets it pretty close to the performance of the Noiseblocker or the GT and it's half the price and widely available.

Yes, the 2 noctuas slightly outperform the single nexus on that heatsink in particular, so swapping them out would obviously be a Bad Idea(tm).

But I was more interested in fan-vs-fan performance in my question. And I do believe the answer is "1 new Nexus outperforms 1 new Noctua where SPCR reader interests are concerned".

Having said that, I would like more info on how Nexus vs Noctua fans degrade over time. I have a decent confidence in Noctua myself, but Nexus I do not know enough about. Price wise you can buy 2 Nexus for 1 Noctua, but if 50% of the Nexus' life is spent squealing and humming I'd still shop Noctua. But I don't know if that's the case - anyone with insights? =)

squealing and humming is not what happens to sleeve bearing fans as they age. "chuffing" is more likely -- this is the sound I hear most from slightly damaged or worn sleeve bearing fans. We also have really old Nexus 120 fans that are still being used in the lab -- like 8 years old! -- and they're still OK. Lots of handling abuse, but much less actual spinning than fans employed in normal PCs.

I propose you limit the debate to the content of the argument as opposed to who is making it. I expect better from you

If you expect to be running most of the time near idle... the NH-L12 look pretty good to me.

My personal opinion, is that if you are looking for short stature, it is hard to beat the NH-L12 with a 92mm fan and the Scythe Kozuti.