I don't think many people would be unhappy with the results from the P8Z77-I Deluxe BIOS fan controls and Big Shuriken 2/full size 120mm fan combination if used with PWM fans like the Noctua NF-F12, Noctua NF-P12 PWM and the Scythe Slipstream SY1225SL12LM-P PWM. That's because setting the BIOS to S...

I recommend a low RPM model at static (near-maximum) RPM because the fan will have better reliability for startup that way (more drive) I'm not sure I follow. Could you please clarify that? To prepare for worst case scenarios, you'd want a bigger heatsink. Small 'sinks like this are a measured resp...

Das_Saunamies & kuzzia: Many thanks for the info! Regarding the Gentle Typhoon, why would you want to run it at static 800 RPM instead of having the speed temperature regulated? I've heard that fans often have some specific RPM speeds where they produce a spike of higher noise levels - is that why ...

I'm considering building a system based on an ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX motherboard and an Intel 3570K CPU, with a Scythe Big Shuriken 2 RevB CPU cooler. To make it more silent I intend to replace the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 RevB stock fan with a 120x120x25 mm fan that is more silent. The system wi...

fjodor2000 wrote: What about the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX motherboard and the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 RevB? Will that combination work without covering the PCI-E slot?

Found it myself. Yes, it seems to work ok without covering the PCI-E slot, see:

http://vimeo.com/43560652

Our only real complaint about the product is endemic for all top-down heatsinks with 120 mm fans — they are too big to use in SFF gaming systems with mini-ITX LGA1155/1156 boards, hanging over the PCI-E slot, preventing the use of discrete graphics cards. This is unfortunate as this type of PC is m...

I just saw that SPCR added a review of the Scythe Big Shuriken with a reference fan here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1267-page3.html (scroll down on that page) Based on the results it seems like cooling efficiency and noise level of the Scythe Big Shuriken really improves a lot when replac...

@Mike C / Lawrence Lee: I just saw you added a review of the Scythe Big Shuriken with a reference fan here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1267-page3.html Many thanks for doing that. Based on the results it seems like cooling efficiency and noise level of the Scythe Big Shuriken really improv...

The one thing I have against the original Big Shuriken is its 12mm fan. Unexpectedly at 12 volts, it actually cools better with the stock 12mm fan than with the 25mm SPCR reference fan also running at 12 volts... but it does it so so so much louder. See: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1018-pa...

Don't forget that on a top down you want one fan width of breathing room. Using the Noctua with just an undermount fan means you need much less breathing room on top.... maybe not much as all. When I specified that there was about 70 mm space in my case, I calculated with some breathing room. Also ...

@MikeC: I'm not so sure. Those who visit this site are enthusiasts. They are ready to experiment and modify to get the best results. Exchanging the stock fan on a CPU cooler is really no big deal. The way I think about when deciding on a CPU cooler and fan combo is this: => "I have X mm space for a...

Here's a tip: We just finished testing the new Shuriken, and it is considerably better than the last one. Nice! Do you mean the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev B? Is the review online yet, or is it coming soon? Can you please also test it when you replace the included slim profile stock fan with a 120x12...

Here's a tip: We just finished testing the new Shuriken, and it is considerably better than the last one. Nice! Do you mean the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev B? Is the review online yet, or is it coming soon? Can you please also test it when you replace the included slim profile stock fan with a 120x12...

@gbessens: Thanks for your comment. I missed that before! Then it was as I feared, and one should stay away from slim 5.25" drives to avoid noise. I noticed that the HDPLEX H5.ODD has a note on their web site saying "Notify me when this product becomes available", so I guess you're right it's not a...

Thanks. Based on your answer, I'm now considering the Schythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev B as an alternative, see http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=64467 . I wonder what is best: Nuctua NH-L12 with somewhat larger cooling fins but only a 92 mm fan, or a Schythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev B wi...

Hi, I'm building a system with an ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX motherboard and an Intel 3570K CPU. Due to computer case size restrictions, I'm considering these two options for the CPU cooler: 1. Noctua HN-L12 , with only the included 92 mm bottom fan installed. 2. Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev B , with...

Some questions:

1. Is it possible to put the 120 mm fan as the bottom fan on the Noctua NH-L12 (instead of the 92 mm fan)?
2. If that is possible, will it fit on a Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX motherboard? If so, will it block e.g. any connectors?

Doesn't anyone have any experiences or opinions on this?

Which case are you considering? I ask because if yours is a typical HTPC using onboard graphics, the real power demand will be well under 100W, typically 50W or less. This is true for the several such HTPCs I've built over the years. This means, depending on the case, you could easily run a hgih ef...

Yes, that could be an option. But then ideally the case should have a mounting option for placing the power brick in the case so it's easy to assemble, see for example the the bottom two pics in the review of the HDPLEX H10.ODD: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1173-page2.html However not many c...

Hi, I'm considering building a completely silent HTPC. On the computer case short list currently are the HDPLEX H3.SODD and H5.ODD . The prior has space for a 5.25" Slim slot-in Blu-ray drive, and the latter a 5.25" Full height Blu-ray drive. From what I've heard Slim Blu-ray drives drives are suppo...

look around for pico psu. There a lot of threads in here. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article601-page1.html Yeah, I know that is an alternative. However the Pico PSU requires an external PowerBrick as well, which I don't want to have. I'd like to keep the PSU "solution" completely within the case...

How quiet is the H60 when the pump is running below 2000 RPM? Is it completely silent?

Hi,

I'm looking for a fanless PSU such as the Seasonix X-400. However I want it to fit in a small computer chassis that uses the SFX format for the PSU. It only needs to be rated at ~150-200 Watts. So does anyone know if such a fanless SFX PSU exists?

Thanks!

Combined with a good PSU, TV card and SSD these should make for pretty much perfect small/silent do-it-all HTPCs Zotac seems to already have built one for you. At CES 2011 the ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 HTPC which use the AMD E-350 was presented: http://www.wegotserved.com/2011/01/04/zotac-adds-amd-e350-apu...

I wonder if one could use an AMD Ontario C-50 (9W TDP) netbook with SSD as HTPC? Perhaps it could even be made fanless? Then you'd get HTPC with the following features: * Very small * 0 dB (if fanless) * 1080p capable * HDMI output * Keyboard input, which is nice when entering text to search for mov...

I don't know where you'd want to internally mount the (external) power brick of a PicoPSU. It would kinda defeat the purpose of having a) a source of heat removed and b) more space to incorporate a bigger cooler. Well I like to keep all stuff inside the computer case. I don't like having external "...

Modo wrote:Note that there are now other fans with bearings of similar and even better quality.

Any particular ones you could mention? Are they also better than the S-FLEX when it comes to low noise and CFM?

Both have a faint whine at a specific low speed. The S-FLEX does this while still generating turbulence noise, the Noctua below the normally audible speed. Just to be sure, do you mean that the whine produced by the S-FLEX is louder, so that it's heard even at higher fan speeds where there is also ...

@Atragon: Thanks!! That round up at XtremeSystems was truely excellent. And I agree that hearing the fans "live" can be very useful since they often have different noise characteristics.