Obviously a Gentle Typhoon. Preferably an AP-15. And then a few different models of Sanyo Denki fans. It doesn't really matter that much which ones. (Which model is used in the Seagate PSUs?) As long as they are Sanyo Denki San Ace fans. Also some Japan Servo fans, and Enermax Magma, and a Coolermas...

Grab the S-Flex 1,200 rpm there isn't better fan out there. The Gentle Typhoon fans eat the S-Flex for breakfast. But if you can't get one then I agree that an S-Flex would be second best. I think the Zalman ZM-F3 would also be pretty close. Also check out this review for more fan alternatives.

Where did you get that slick die simulator? Did you buy it or make it? Me want. Also, I love your new vane anemometer. Truly a thing of beauty. +/- 1% fs. Very nice. As an ex silence enthusiast I do appreciate the fact that you review fans at higher speeds than would be relevant for silent or even q...

Was anyone else ticked off by reading the anandtech article? What a joke. Comparing the best air coolers against the worst water coolers. Everyone involved in watercooling knows that the kits suck. They always have and they probably always will. I love how the radiator only used one 12cm fan. Hah! O...

http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_venice/ These results are astonishing to say the least. If these numbers are true and so are the Pentium M specs, then the Pentium M has been dethroned. Even non-mobile A64s would win the speed/watt war. Unfortunately the Pentium M probably won't be tested like t...

Gojira, can you adjust the RPM on these? (120mm) No more or less than you can with any fan. It doesn't include any rheostats or special connectors for any voltage adjustment. Not that I would expect that for the price. I am now looking into making voltage divider circuits to run them at 6 volts or ...

I just bought 10 each of the these YL 8cm and 12cm fans from PCTEK and all I can say is that I love them. Seems like a perfect balance of air movement and noise at 12 volts. No whining or clicking. Just a smoooth whooshing noise. I have 3 of the 12cm ones in the front of my case cooling my hard driv...

I am also thinking about home radiators instead of automotive ones. We really need some testing to compare heater cores with full size radiators with home radiators like cast-iron standup radiators and finned baseboard tubing and European radiant tubing designs. Needless to say some of these home ra...

People keep talking about some soft dampening material called "Silicon". Is that a brand name or something? What am I missing here. Here's a definition from dictionary.com: A nonmetallic element occurring extensively in the earth's crust in silica and silicates, having both an amorphous and a crysta...

Seems you're right, grandpa_boris. The FBKs are apparently a discontinued older ball bearing model that came even before the unslotted sleeve bearing models. I guess I just wasn't familiar with the model numbers and thought it might be another slotted fan from Pana. Care to divulge your supplier? So...

Have you tried the Panaflo 12V DC Fan FBK-12G12LH I have a FBL-12G12L, a 12cm slotted Panaflo. I suppose it might be impressive at a full 12 volts. It seems to move a lot of air without too much mechanical noise. Of course, it is anything but quiet at that speed. At 5 volts it is totally ridiculous...

No. It always started, and I have a low power system. I stopped it once with my finger, after which it didn't start again until I nudged it. While it was stopped it produced a hum load enough to compete with the monolith from 2001. Is your PSU reasonably new? I guess the theory is that Seasonic fixe...

Well, I replaced the Cheng Home Electronics Superred CHB120 12AS-A in my SS-300FB with a Papst 4412 FGL. It seems to be moving more air and is no longer making the Superred induced chopping sound. The chopping has been replaced with a much quieter (but still audible) soft whoosh of air. It seems tha...

It looks like I am going to be replacing the stock fan with a Papst to see if I can quiet it down. Other options I am considering are the Silentmaxx (although all the buzzing complaints make me nervous) and a passive (convective) water cooling project which would include cooling some of the power su...

Best quiet video cards, IMO:

Non3D: Matrox G450(for CRTs) or G550(for LCDs)
Low performance 3D: Geforce4 MX440 cards from MSI, Asus, or Aopen.
High performance 3D: ATI Radeon 9500 pro with ZM80C or waterblock.

The Matrox G450/G550 and GF4 MX440 are also low power FWIW.

I have an SP1614N 160GB and a Seagate 7200.7 80GB. The Samsung is definitely quieter. Both drives are fairly quiet (but not silent) when idling, but when the Seagate starts seeking it makes me reach for my fly swatter. It sounds just like a buzzing bee to my ears. The Samsung is a much lower frequen...

I just want to add another data point to this discussion. I have a Super Tornado 300 (SS-300FB) that I recently purchased. It is by far the loudest component in my system. It is making that banging noise similar to a 2 cycle engine. It is not very loud but my system is otherwise virtually silent whe...

I recently unplugged the power from the fan on my Elsa GeForce2 card, waiting for it to audibly sizzle, but nothing happened. I aimed my Papst 12cm fan at it first at 5v and now at 12v. I initially underclocked the GPU and memory a bit with Powerstrip, but later I just let it run at default speed. I...