Quietest 120mm case fans?

inxil · Post by **inxil** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 6:48 pm

SPCR's recommended fan list doesn't cover any 120mm case fans. I was planning on using Nexus 120mm fans, but I thought I'd ask around. What's the best 120mm fan out there?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 5:50 am

This is one of the most hotly contested topics amongst us geeks here at SPCR. We just can't seem to reach a consensus.

I'll suggest some that I've either had good luck with, or that others rave about. I apologize in advance if I miss any (because I know I will, I just can't keep up with this subject)..

Evercool, Panaflo L1A, Globe, Papst 4412, NMB B10, and the list goes on...

If you want to do some reading about it, search for "120mm AND recommended" or "quiet AND 120mm" and you should get plenty of hits. Then you too, can see why there's no actual "Recommended" list.

RLiu818 · Post by **RLiu818** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 12:36 pm

I think the quietest fan at 12v in my experience is the stock antec fan that comes with the 3700BQE case.

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 1:43 pm

RLiu818 wrote:I think the quietest fan at 12v in my experience is the stock antec fan that comes with the 3700BQE case.

The stock fan on the SLK3700AMB is the only 120mm fan I have, but I don't think it's particularly quiet (nor particularly loud). It does cool well, though.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 2:06 pm

I don't run any of my 120s at 12v....they're all loud at that speed. But I think you can judge how quiet a fan will be by the specs. The lower the current draw they claim, the quieter the fan is likely to be. Or if watts are not listed, go by airflow. The lower the airflow claimed, or even the lower the max rpm claimed, the quieter.

This pretty much holds true across the board....with a few exceptions. I love my Yate Loon 120s at low rpms. At 12v they're loud.

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 2:17 pm

My particular favorite is the Aluminum Evercool 120. It is extremely undervoltable (if that is a word.) I have run it down to 3 or 4 volts and it is very quiet (in my opinion) at any voltage under 6V.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:57 pm

The Nexuses (Nexii?) are pretty damn quiet at 12V, but not as quiet as other undervolted fans IMO.

So if you just want to buy a fan, plug it in to 12V and be done with it, Nexus is not a bad solution. If you're searching for the ultimate in quiet and you're willing to mess about with voltages, etc., to achieve it... you have a whole lot more possibilities

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:37 am

Agreed. I have the Real Silent 120mm, and it is pretty much performs just as well as the Antec Stock fan from the 3700BQE, and has only a very low hum, which is nearly inaudible. I have the Stock fan for exhaust, and the nexus for intake, and right now:

CPU Socket 49
Cpu Diode 32
Case 45

My motherboard has been known to report temps for the case higher than in reality, becaus ehte sensor is near one of the bridges, north, south, i forget which, so that throws it off.

koody · Post by **koody** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:58 am

CPU Socket 49
Cpu Diode 32
Case 45

Are you sure you aren't confusing your socket and diode temps? Even if the northbridge is close to the case sensor, it would be the result of REALLY bad design that it would effect it that much while the cpu diode/socket temp is only 32.

Could it be that the case temperature is in fact 32 degrees, the socket temp 45 and the cpu diode temp 49?

What program are you using to monitor your temps? Some programs don't identify the sensors correctly.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 5:47 am

MBM 5. I'm sure those are the correct temps.

wussboy · Post by **wussboy** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:58 am

RLiu818 wrote:I think the quietest fan at 12v in my experience is the stock antec fan that comes with the 3700BQE case.

I'm gonna have to agree with you. My BQE fans is exceptional.

Sledge · Post by **Sledge** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 11:46 am

cmcquistion wrote:My particular favorite is the Aluminum Evercool 120. It is extremely undervoltable (if that is a word.) I have run it down to 3 or 4 volts and it is very quiet (in my opinion) at any voltage under 6V.

Does that fan start up at 3v or do you start it at a higher voltage and turn it down manually after bootup?

markjia · Post by **markjia** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:44 pm

I have the 120mm Al Evercool and find it too loud at 5V. But I can't find a way to power it at under 5V. Using a fanmate connected to a 5V feed doesn't work (though not entirely unexpected given that it is more than just a potentiometer). Software like speedfan does not work either...it seems that my MB (Asus P4P800SE) only allows me to adjust the voltage of the cpu fan.

I've though about soldering a resister, but I don't know what size to use, and putting a pot in the case is a bit troublesome (too dangerous to just leave hanging there, and mounting it is too much work). How do you get 3V or 4V?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:50 pm

inxil - See what I meant in my original reply to your question when I said "This is one of the most hotly contested topics amongst us geeks here at SPCR. We just can't seem to reach a consensus. ".

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 2:00 pm

I agree with Ralf. It depends upon your environment, your case's build, and the way you mount it. There are countless variables, including the manufactuerer (i.e., Japanflo/Chinaflos), so to find out what truly is the quietest 120mm fan, may never be solved. Personally for me I believe the Antec stock fan bundled with the 3700BQEs/Sonatas or the Nexus Real Silent fan are the quietest, but, like I said, there are too many variables to find THE quiestest 120mm fan.

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 5:20 pm

Sledge wrote:
cmcquistion wrote:My particular favorite is the Aluminum Evercool 120. It is extremely undervoltable (if that is a word.) I have run it down to 3 or 4 volts and it is very quiet (in my opinion) at any voltage under 6V.
Does that fan start up at 3v or do you start it at a higher voltage and turn it down manually after bootup?

markjia wrote:I have the 120mm Al Evercool and find it too loud at 5V. But I can't find a way to power it at under 5V. Using a fanmate connected to a 5V feed doesn't work (though not entirely unexpected given that it is more than just a potentiometer). Software like speedfan does not work either...it seems that my MB (Asus P4P800SE) only allows me to adjust the voltage of the cpu fan.

I've though about soldering a resister, but I don't know what size to use, and putting a pot in the case is a bit troublesome (too dangerous to just leave hanging there, and mounting it is too much work). How do you get 3V or 4V?

I used the instructions here to build a simple voltage-dropper to change the voltage supplied down to 5V or whatever I want. You just daisy chain some IN4001 diodes together. Each one drops about .75V. I use a cheap Radio Shack terminal strip to hold and connect the diodes. I can then clamp in the fan at whatever interval I want.

My home system now consists of a P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard and P4 3.0C (overclocked to 3.6 GHz). This motherboard has Q-Fan, which I love, but the Zalman fan controller defeats it (it also defeats Speedfan.) I built a voltage controller with a terminal strip and a handful of diodes. I have the CPU fan header supplying power and I have the CPU heatsink (Zalman CNPS7000AlCu) and the exhaust fan (Evercool 120mm Aluminum [AL12025]) both connected to the voltage strip at different intervals (the Evercool was stopping, when Q-Fan restricted it, too far.) Q-Fan is on in the BIOS, set to 11/16. At full power, the heatsink fan gets around 5V and the 120mm Evercool gets .75V more. Q-Fan then lowers the speed (I have the RPM wire of the heatsink connected through, so Q-Fan detects its RPMs). This works extremely well. I don't know how slow the fans are running, but I think it is in the neighborhood of 3-4 volts. I really need to photograph my contraption and write it up. It is much easier to understand with pictures.

I've built several systems, with this configuration, on various motherboards ;some Asus boards, using Q-Fan, and some other boards, using Speedfan to do the speed lowering. It has worked perfectly in every system and can bring the noise down to a nearly inaudible level. The Zalman CNPS7000AlCu heatsink, Evercool 120mm Aluminum fan, and Fortron FSP-300 (modded for 5V) are favorite recipe for a Quiet Computer.

*EDIT* I went in and measured the voltage being supplied to the Evercool 120mm aluminum exhaust fan and the Zalman CNPS700AlCu heatsink, with my contraption, and Q-Fan. At full speed (startup), the supplied voltage is 11.63 volts, going in. The Evercool fan is getting 5.95V (it needs around 4.5-5V to start) and the Zalman heatsink is getting 5.17V (I think it needs about 4V to start.) Since Q-Fan is turned on 11/16 in the BIOS, it slowly turns down the supplied voltage to the CPU fan, depending on CPU temperature (which is very low in my system.) After a few minutes, it has dropped the supplied voltage to 8.47V. Now, the Evercool is getting 3.25V and the Zalman is getting 2.52V. When I had the Evercool hooked up to the same location in my diode chain as the Zalman (8 diodes), it was stopping, when it reached the lowest power (2.52V). This is why I moved it up the chain one notch (7 diodes.) It operates happily as low as 3.25V.

munichkid · Post by **munichkid** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 5:35 pm

I used to like the Evercool ALum's but I found Delta WFB1212M to be a bit quieter even under 12v load. Currently, I am running at about 7v. Ambient 25°C, Cpu and Case 32°C

DrCR · Post by **DrCR** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:00 am

munichkid wrote:I used to like the Evercool ALum's but I found Delta WFB1212M to be a bit quieter even under 12v load. Currently, I am running at about 7v. Ambient 25°C, Cpu and Case 32°C

Delta mentioned at SPCR?

I'm definitly going to have to learn up on this fan. What voltage were you running your Evercool at?

Edit:
"Delta WFB1212M

5" Chassis Cooling Fan (ball bearing type)
2100rpm, 72 CFM, 34 dBA
12V DC "

Well, the specs look good for undervolting. Thanks for the info!

DrCR

______________

markjia · Post by **markjia** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:31 pm

cmcquistion,

I have a 2.8 P4, 7000AlCu, 3700BQE...so it's pretty similar to your setup. I'm really interested in how you have the fans controlled...but I don't really understand how you use the diodes or the terminal strip...are you using them to simply to reduce the voltage?

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 5:04 am

markjia wrote:cmcquistion,

I have a 2.8 P4, 7000AlCu, 3700BQE...so it's pretty similar to your setup. I'm really interested in how you have the fans controlled...but I don't really understand how you use the diodes or the terminal strip...are you using them to simply to reduce the voltage?

Yes, I'm just using them to reduce the voltage. The supply voltage (from the CPU fan header) goes into one end of the terminal strip. There is a diode going from each section of the terminal strip to the next, with 9 in all. I can attach a fan at any point in this chain. The CPU fan is attached after 8 diodes and the Evercool is attached after 7 diodes. Both fans share a common ground with the fan header's ground. The CPU fan's RPM wire is hooked to the fan header, to report RPMs. The Evercool's RPM wire is unused.

I'll take some pictures, soon, and post them to explain this.

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:29 pm

I wrote up an explanation of my fan-voltage-controller-strip, along with some pictures and posted it here.