About to do Fan Swap on Zalman 7000A - Which fan to choose?

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:41 am

Hi,

I'm about to do the fan swap on my Zalman 7000A and attach the new fan with Stretch Magic. The problem is I don't have a quiet 92mm lying around that I can butcher. I was thinking about getting the Acoustifan (I have a 80mm and a 120mm that I am very happy with), but they are quite expensive just to chop them up!

My other choices are: Silenx (also quite expensive) or Panaflo 92L1A. The Panaflo is much cheaper but I am not sure if it will be quiet enough - I have read that most of the new ones are clicky. I have a 120M1A and that is a bit clicky. I'm not sure of the width of the 92L1A, is it 25mm or 38mm? I also considered a Nexus, but I can't find a 92mm in the UK and I would be limited to low air flow at 12v.

As always, advice is greatly appreciated.

ceraf · Post by **ceraf** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:52 am

instead of butchering a fan, maybe you could mount it on top of the round heatsink, maybe using screws that fit into the heatsink's fins (might not be very secure). Or, you can use a Zalman fan bracket and duct to the heatsink if necessary.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 12:25 pm

In my experience, all the newer 92mm L1A's are noisier than the included Zalman 7000 fans. I don't think you'd gain anything by doing the swap that way. Offhand, I can't think of any other inexpensive 92mms that would be better than a stock Z-7000 fan. I guess if you want lower noise, you'll have to pay for it.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:46 pm

Zalman's 92mm fan is actually a pretty powerful fan. Even at 5V which is very quiet, it blows a substantial amout of air. If you're going to change that, you'd better substitute something with equivalent airflow - which IMO doesn't quite exist.

If you hadn't said "limited to low flow at 12V", I'd have assumed that you'd be running your stock zalman @ 5V and find it a bit too loud. In which case, I'd recommend a Nexus (it's not impossible, it's probably temporarily out-of-stock). I haven't actually mounted one in a Zalman but I bought one for that purpose but discovered that I can run the Zalman @ 710 rpm which is a whole lot quieter. Nexus @ 12V is quieter than a Zalman @ 5V and pushes about the same air. Panaflo is definitely louder.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:08 pm

I have found a supplier for a 92mm Nexus so I have oredered one.... and a Papst 4412FGL while I was there

Wish me luck!

sorenbro · Post by **sorenbro** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:17 pm

Good luck, but as burcakb I have also just supplied the fan with less than 5V and you will have a noticable decrease in noise.
But the 5V (1350rpm) seems to be the "sweet spot" for the Zalman, meaning that you get very good cooling vs noise ratio. Dropping the voltage (and rpm of the fan) results in a slightly lower noise, but the temperature increase quite a bit.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:23 pm

I successfully modded the Zalman heatsink a few days ago. In the end I just used the normal mounting screws instead of trying to decouple the fan from its mount. It is now almost totally silent at 11.5v

CPU temps are fine, about 55 degrees under continuous load for a few hours on a coolish day. Having the 120mm exhaust fan helps.

The noisest parts of my PC are now the Seagate 7200.7 hard drive and an annoying electronic buzz that is only evident when the CPU is idle - I think it is something to do with the ATI 9800 graphics card

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 4:46 pm

zenzero- 2001
It is now almost totally silent at 11.5v
???

Qwertyiopisme · Post by **Qwertyiopisme** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 11:18 pm

EndoSteel wrote:zenzero- 2001
It is now almost totally silent at 11.5v
???

I think he means that the Nexus is completely silent at 11.5V

.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 4:57 am

zenzero-2001 wrote:I successfully modded the Zalman heatsink a few days ago. In the end I just used the normal mounting screws instead of trying to decouple the fan from its mount. It is now almost totally silent at 11.5v

CPU temps are fine, about 55 degrees under continuous load for a few hours on a coolish day.

What were your CPU temps with the original Zalman fan on the 7000?

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 7:59 am

zenzero-2001 wrote:[...]The noisest parts of my PC are now the Seagate 7200.7 hard drive and an annoying electronic buzz that is only evident when the CPU is idle - I think it is something to do with the ATI 9800 graphics card

If you join SPCR's folding at home team, then your CPU won't be idle anymore

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 3:01 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:What were your CPU temps with the original Zalman fan on the 7000?

They were lower but I can't really be accurate because I have been changing the rear case fan. I think I was running without a rear case fan when I stated 55 degrees (but I had an Acoustifan @ 5v on the front). Before doing the Zalman mod I was using the Acoustifan on the rear with the stock Antec fan on the front. I have just put a 3 pin plug on my new Papst fan and that is now at the rear controlled by a fan mate.

Temperatures have recently gone down a lot in the UK over the last week. The Friday before last it was like summer - very high 20's outside, probably 30+ in my room (it is in the roof and it is west facing - thus it is like a sauna). But now autumn has arrived and it is very much cooler with the wind and rain. This also makes it difficult to be accurate.

On my silent PC adventure I have tried a number of 120mm fans:

Papst FGL - Provisionally the quietest (@ 5v) since I have only just installed it.
Nexus - Very quiet, slight ticking (@ 12v), using in my PSU so this might be causing some slight resonance.
Acoustifan - Thermal diode clipped and shorted, very quiet @5v, unbearably noisy at 12v
Antec stock bqe - Quietish, but not quiet enough @7v or above, useless air flow below 7v.
Panaflo M1A - Not too bad @5v but louder than the Antec (@7v). At 12v this fan is like a hurricane and can be heard down the street (almost!).

So the Papst is provisionally my favorite because it is the quietest and has open corners (it is also the most expensive, twice the price of the M1A !). Acoustifan is also good, but not up to the same high standard as the 80mm (and probably the 92mm which I haven't tried). And the Nexus is recommended too, the slight ticking probably magnified by lack of acoustic decoupling.

I have just used stretch magic to decouple by HDD seems to have made a large difference!