CA_Steve wrote:
Also, the WD Red 2TB is damn quiet. Can't hear it seek at all.
Glad your mechanical is very quiet, im really waiting for some 5tb reds for the server.
CA_Steve wrote:
I unplugged the case fans for you, Abula. The MSI GTX 760's fan has a minimum of 1000rpm. Doesn't matter what profile I set in Afterburner. So, it's quiet but not silent. (The Mugen's fan is idling at 460rpm).
Thanks for the test, well im glad its very queit, hopping they continue the trend into next gen.
CA_Steve wrote:
As mentioned, the BIOS chassis fan control is 50% min. The R4's stock fans are the primary sound in the case at idle. Tried plugging the rear fan into CPU fan 2. No joy - max rpm. The mobo doesn't want to control a 2 pin fan. So, I plugged them into the fan controller. Loud at 12V. Audible at 7V. Quiet, but still the loudest component at 5V.
Interesting, personally i didnt find the included bad but not good either, just average, that said noctua fans above 650rpm that im using become noticeble, so at the end only gaining on very low rpms and idle situations, on load is still very quiet, but not silent.
CA_Steve wrote:
I may pull a Fan Mate out of my Solo and see what happens.
As i posted the graph in the previous the case fans lowest is around 400rpms, where they are very quiet, but they wont drop from there, im guessing this is very close to 5V, idk if you going to gain much with the fanmate.
CA_Steve wrote:
Eventually, I will have 2 front fans and one rear to promote positive pressure. I might go for a 140 PWM fan for the rear and tie it to the CPU and either come up a way to quiet these Fractal fans down or buy two Antec True Quiets.
If you find a way to make it work with 3pins, meaning if you were to live fine with 50% restriction on CHA_FAN headers, i would go with Antec True Quiet, i can agree with lawarance review on the Noctuas in terms of not bieng the best tonally, that said they are very versitle fans because of its range, i run mine at 225rpm on idle and restrict them to 650rpms on load, higher than that to me its not worth the noise. That said, thinking on Antec True Quiet 140 that top at 700rpms (fractal is like 1000rpms), so in essence from what i saw on your post the 50% on the MSI mobo reflect 630rpms, interpolating, should be around 400rpm on the Antec using the same 50% on the bios (this is just theorycrafting... idk for sure but its my guess), this should be pretty decent specially since their sonic signature was the best of all fans tested, i think its a good range to work with form 400-700rpms, you could probably use the built in on the fan switches to lower them even more, so overall i think its a good bet (personally i didnt knew that MSI could undervolt on bios 3pin fans on CHA_FAN headers).
Now on PWM fans, Noctua NF-A14 PWM are imo very good but out of the range not the sonic signature, i feel they are kinda loud, still they are very good fans imo, no ticking no motor noise i could hear even at very low rpms, that said there are other contenders out there that might be better.
1)
Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PK-PS 140mm x 25mm Ultra Quiet PWM Fan - 400-1500 RPM - 4.2 ~ 29 dBAFor a long time i wanted to try this out, as i had very good experience with the Noiseblocker PK-1 700rpm 140mm fan, even before NF-A14 PWM were released. Noiseblocker design their PWM fans very weird though, at least 120mm PLPS can reach its minimum rated RPMS on exactly 0% pwm signal, there is no dead zone. Now the MSI on this gen you cant put 0% pwm (on ivy bridge MSI mobos you could), the minimum is 12.5%, so the least i would be able to idle them is around 488rpms, which isnt bad but i got lured into noctuas super low sub 300rpms, that said im probably going to buy one soon to test how it really works out.
2)
Phanteks 140mm x 25mm UFB Bearing PWM Fan w/ Speed Adapter - Black Frame / White Blade (PH-F140XP-BK)This fan intregues me, specially into how SPCR valued so well the first Phantek 140, this is not the same model though, but i think its the first true PWM fan from them, i believe the others were 3pin that used a voltage converter (don't take my word for it). On paper seems a little high for my liking, 600 - 1200rpms, but it comes like Noctua with an adapter, 300-900 rpm, this range seems pretty good for me, and besides black n white fan would look great on white 540, so this has my hopes up into building something that looks great, performs well and specially that its quiet, but to much unknown on this fan still, so im going to bring one to test as well to decide which fan will be on the next build.
Its up to you to what would be better, but i do think Antec True Quiet 140 seem like a good bet, already reviewed by SPCR and got really good comments, has a very good range of operation for someone seeking a quiet setup, they undervolt great according to the SPCR review, the question is weather you can live with the diminish cooling they will provide. And thinking that Amazon sometimes have them at $9.99 free shipping, you can buy all 3 fans for what a single noiseblcoker/noctua will cost, and in theory will sound better.
Btw where are the naked pics.... i want to see your build.