SilenX crusty?

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:30 pm

SilenX fans seem to get poo-pooed a fair bit around here, yet I have read quite a few glowing reviews of these on other sites. The 14 db claim is surely optomistic at best and probably highly questionable (as pointed out in numerous other posts) but is the bad reputation of these fans justified or is it more to do with board bias. I have read a couple of posts about shenanigans played by SilenX on these boards in the past. Do they get the bad rep from their bahaviour on these boards or from making crusty fans?

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:57 pm

If you read the WHOLE threads on SilentX, you'll find that board opinion is against a fraudulant person in particular, not necessarily the products, that all SilentX products are rebrands anyway and that SilentX products - while being quieter than most - are not among the best or cheapest and that there are always better deals from reputable vendors that considering them becomes a nonissue.

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 4:45 am

OK. That makes perfect sense. I don't know the whole history of the fraudulent person in question. Just what I picked up from a couple of threads. To be honest, I'm not that interested. The only reason I ask is because SilenX fans seem to be easily available here whereas many of the ones recomended on this board are not (I'm in Australia). They are definately expensive, but when you factor in obtaining parts from overseas suppliers, they work out about the same price as others. So it just comes down to performance rather than price.

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 5:02 am

My experience with the Silenx 120mm fans is that they are about the same performance and noise as the Globe S1202512L but with a slight bit of motor tick noise. They are not bad fans at all. They are not as good as the Nexus, but not that much worse either. They are more expensive than just about any 120mm fan out there and their published noise specs are a total fantasy. They are rebranded Adda fans btw, so if you can get Adda that works too. I'd get Nexus if you can and they aren't too expensive to ship.
Yes, the Silenx get the black ball around here for dishonest noise figure advertising and extremely high prices, but they aren't bad fans.

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 5:41 am

I haven't been able to find the nexus anywhere in Australia. My choice would be easy if I could. I feel somehow dirty talking about Silenx here. Thanks for your replies... I'll do some more reading before I make any decisions.

davidstone28 · Post by **davidstone28** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 6:44 am

ferdb wrote: Yes, the Nexus get the black ball around here for dishonest noise figure advertising and extremely high prices, but they aren't bad fans.

Think you meant SilenX.

Agree with all the stuff said above. The SilenX stuff is just very very expensive for what it is. IMO, you can get better performing products at a cheaper price from other manufactuers. The marketing rubbish / sales puff that they put on the SilenX website about how their product are miles better than anything else, whilst trashing competitors products, also puts me off.

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:20 pm

you're right. I edited the post. thanks for bringing that to my attention.

wing · Post by **wing** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 8:31 pm

I bought a SilenX 120mm fan (the 58CFM model), rated at 14 dbA. That was a couple of weeks ago.

A few days ago I finally found a store in town which sells the Nexus. I bought a Nexus yesterday and swapped the SilenX with it. Subjectively, the Nexus is quieter than the SilenX.

Since the Nexus is rated at 23 dBA, if I believe my own hearing, SilenX must have an actual dBA rating of more than 23.

It's be nice to have this fan's noise level properly measured. I can send the fan to SPCR for measurement if you want

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 8:51 pm

Nexus fan pushes a good deal less than 58CFM. If what you say is true, the SilenX fan is a first rate option.

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:29 pm

The Silenx and Nexus push similar CFM at similar RPM. The Silenx has a higher max RPM at 12V than the Nexus. The Nexus however has a lower noise vs CFM. So for any given CFM the Nexus is quieter up till it's maximum flow rate. The Nexus would be the first pick. If you need more CFM than the Nexus can supply you are moving out of quiet territory no matter what kind of fan you use. If the airflow in your case is reasonably efficient and not too restricted the Nexus should be more than enough.

However the Silenx is fairly close to the Nexus in performance so it's a very viable option. It's only reviled on this forum because the Silenx people practice blatant false advertising about noise levels and the fan is also one of the most expensive on the market. You can buy an Adda fan which is what Silenx rebrands as their own for less than half the price. Many people also can buy a Globe fan that is as good as or better for about 1/4 the price.
All that being said though, if other options are not available it is a good quiet fan.

I have all these fans and more and have tested them all personally.

Psyko · Post by **Psyko** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:51 pm

ferdb, would the Nexus still be your first pick against other 120mm fans such as the Panaflo, Vantec, Papst?

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 7:14 pm

Yes, the Nexus has the best airflow vs noise for a 120mm DC fan that's currently available. Vantec's are actually pretty poor. The Nexus is a 120x25mm fan. There are NO quiet 120x38mm fans, the Panaflos, Papst, and Sunons have a lot of motor noise that you can't get rid of at any speed. If you need a 120mm fan then get a Nexus. If for some reason you need more airflow than that get a Globe S1202512L. Above the maximum Nexus airflow rates though things are not going to be quiet no matter what fan you use. Silenx is almost as good as the Globe and would be an alternative if they weren't so stupidly expensive for a rebranded Adda fan.

Psyko · Post by **Psyko** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:39 pm

Thanks. I recently acquired an Antec Sonata... At first I was only using the PSU fan and didn't plug the provided 120mm case fan. My system was really silent; my mobo temp was at 30C and my CPU (which is cooled by a Zalman 7000Cu at lowest speed) at 50C... this was OK for me but my HD (a Cuda IV 60GB) which I put in a Sunbeam Magic HD Silencer was getting so hot that I couldn't even leave my finger on the side of it for more than 5 seconds!

Since I plugged the case fan in the "fan only" connector, it helps a lot but I find my computer not so quiet now...

I thought of buying a Nexus Breeze case instead of the Sonata but it was just too expensive...

I will buy a Nexus 120mm Real Silent fan... then an AccoustiPac kit and an Antec Phantom fanless PSU

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 3:20 am

You'll be amazed at how much quieter your system is with that case fan.

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 5:58 am

If you can just barely hold your finger on something to a count of 5 it's roughly 70C.

As an engineer, Fanless PSU's seem to me to be asking for trouble. Yes they are quiet, but you are forced to run the components very hot to make do without a fan. Even a tiny bit of airflow makes a huge difference and you can get very quiet supplies with fans. Certainly quieter than any quiet hard drive.

I have a Tagan 480W in this AMD64 machine and I cannot hear it. However everybody has their preferences and fanless supplies do work. If you do get a fanless PSU, take some time to make sure airflow is unobstructed for your PSU and case and keep an eye on the temps till you are satisfied they don't get out of hand.

Psyko · Post by **Psyko** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 7:31 am

Thanks guys!

I'll buy the Nexus fan and I'll dampen my case with some AcoutiPack meterial that I can buy pre-cut for the Sonata. It might be quiet enough wihout justifying buying a fanless PSU.

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 10:57 am

Don't forget to get a Fanmate so you can adjust the speed of the Nexus to your liking.

Psyko · Post by **Psyko** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 7:55 pm

Yeah I already have a Zalman 7000Cu HS that came with a fanmate... I was planning to connect my Nexus to the "Fan Only" connector of my Sonata; it's a 5V connector. If I had a fanmate I would probably set it to the lowest speed which is about 5V anyway... Except for the speed control, the only drawback of using the connector from the PSU is that I couldn't monitor the RPM...

But you make me think... I don't think the Phantom comes with a "Fan Only" connector so I might want to get a fanmate after all

For the price, I can't go wrong...

alglove · Post by **alglove** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 3:38 pm

ferdb wrote:If you can just barely hold your finger on something to a count of 5 it's roughly 70C.

Unless you are a waiter at a Mexican restaurant, in which case it would be 140C. Honestly, I have no idea how they can hold those cheese enchilada plates in their hands.

Psyko · Post by **Psyko** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:35 pm

alglove wrote:Unless you are a waiter at a Mexican restaurant, in which case it would be 140C. Honestly, I have no idea how they can hold those cheese enchilada plates in their hands.

LOL

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:42 am

alglove wrote:
ferdb wrote:If you can just barely hold your finger on something to a count of 5 it's roughly 70C.
Unless you are a waiter at a Mexican restaurant, in which case it would be 140C. Honestly, I have no idea how they can hold those cheese enchilada plates in their hands.

They are clearly of the Nexus 6 generation.

xcgames · Post by **xcgames** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:00 pm

if you put price and 'reputation' out of picture and compare the two fans (nexus and silenx), which one is better? (lowest noise with highest CFM).

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 4:14 am

Since I started this thread, I've replaced all the fans in my system (Antec SLK3700BQE):

Zalman ZM-MFC1 fan controller
2x 120mm case fans (Silent Blade)
1x Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu CPU cooler
1x Zalman VF700-Cu GPU cooler

Power supply fans:
1x 96mm Panaflo L
1x 80mm SilenX (I wanted to try one for myself)

The Zalman stuff is all excellent, as are the Silent Blade case fans (very low air flow but I don't need much and they're very very quiet).

The power supply (with 80mm SilenX) was pretty quiet when I first swapped the fans but has been getting increasingly louder over the last few months. Seems to be a slight whiring/clunking noise coming from the SilenX (sounds like a little motor boat up close). If it gets much worse, I'll have to think about changing it again. Unfortunately, that will involve pulling my entire computer to pieces because of the way I've done the wiring

I should have experimented with SilenX somewhere a bit more accessible.

So to answer my own original question, I say SilenX = pretty crusty

There is no way that fan was ever as quiet as they claim and its been getting noisier ever since I installed it.

In fairness to SilenX, I might have just got a bad one. My experience with 1x 80mm fan shouldn't be considered representative of their entire product lineup. But I certainly won't be rushing out to buy another one. I should also say that I tried a 120mm papst case fan that had shocking vibration and noise and ended up being a "whirly merry-go-round" for my 3 year old son, yet they get pretty good reviews around here.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:57 pm

xcgames wrote:if you put price and 'reputation' out of picture and compare the two fans (nexus and silenx), which one is better? (lowest noise with highest CFM).

Nexus.