Need a pair of 120mm fans that can push 80-100CFM

Ender17 · Post by **Ender17** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:49 am

Using them on a BIX radiator, I need at least 80CFM, more if possible and I want them as quiet as possible. I figured it would be better to use say 2 80CFM cans then 1 100CFM - am I right?

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:10 am

I think all the info you want can be found in the sticky on the top of this forum.
The Top SPCR Quiet 120mm Axial Fans Compared + 120mmAC Fans.

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:18 am

The sheer volume of air pushed by an 80 or 100CFM 120mm fan is loud. 120mm M1A gives you 86CFM, 120mm H1A gives you 103CFM.

Why do you need so much air? I thought the point of watercooling was to get a high performance low noise system.

Ender17 · Post by **Ender17** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:23 am

sthayashi wrote:Why do you need so much air? I thought the point of watercooling was to get a high performance low noise system.

I'll be cooling a 4.2GHz+ Prescott with a single 120mm radiator

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:24 pm

It's unfortunate that you have a BIX radiator. The BIPro models work better when noise is a concern. The BIX models are too restrictive and you will have to run your fan faster to get the same airflow as the BIP.
Also a double size radiator would have helped immensely in lowering noise. Ah well, next time perhaps.

You'll want to get a 38mm thick fan for your radiator, especially since it's so restrictive you'll need all the back pressure capability you can get. Just about anything will do since you'll probably have to run it so fast that the noise will be dominated by the airflow noise.

mshan · Post by **mshan** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:43 pm

Saw this fan while I was shopping for a different fan for a noisy Dell:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12trbllows1.html

Ender17 · Post by **Ender17** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:22 pm

ferdb wrote:It's unfortunate that you have a BIX radiator. The BIPro models work better when noise is a concern. The BIX models are too restrictive and you will have to run your fan faster to get the same airflow as the BIP.
Also a double size radiator would have helped immensely in lowering noise. Ah well, next time perhaps.

You'll want to get a 38mm thick fan for your radiator, especially since it's so restrictive you'll need all the back pressure capability you can get. Just about anything will do since you'll probably have to run it so fast that the noise will be dominated by the airflow noise.

Well I don't have it yet, but the BIX is rated for 3134 BTU per hour, which is double the 1501 BTU per hour the BIPro is rated for, and since I only have room for a single 120mm, I figured I needed the BIX to handle all the heat.

Ender17 · Post by **Ender17** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:22 pm

mshan wrote:Saw this fan while I was shopping for a different fan for a noisy Dell:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12trbllows1.html

looks interesting

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 7:16 am

A comment made by Ralf in private... which should be public:

Ralf Hutter wrote:For comparison, I've been cooling an OCed (to 4.1GHz) 3.8GHz Prescott with an XP-120 and one of the low speed 120mm Globes.

I just can't fathom why would anyone choose a cooling setup that requires 80-100CFM to do the same thing that I'm doing with 30-ish CFM (and way less noise)? Of course that's just my opinion so I'm not going to try and change his mind.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 10:04 am

E,

I have one of the delta triple blade low speed fans that several people have mentioned here. I purchased it from sidewindercomputers.com. They are very nice to deal with. At 1000 rpm it is actually very quiet, but for 80cfm you probably need a medium speed version.

There is an interesting comparison with mp3 files of a nexus 92 and a delta 92 in the coolermaster hyper 48 review. -FG

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 10:57 am

I'll agree with Ferd and Ralf. Ender, HW Labs' ratings are next to useless since they are made with unrealistic air-to-water temps. In addition, I'd wager they test with WAY more airflow than any SPCRer would want. For reasonable noise, a BIP with a decent fan at 1000-1500rpm would probably provide enough cooling for you. But get a rad with more frontal area if at all possible. Determine your max. OC with full fan, then see how much you can slow the fan before instability. You'll probably be surprised. Of course, you can't forget about building for smooth, efficient airflow - regardless of your final CFM.

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 6:45 pm

If you haven't got the radiator yet, get the BIPro. You will get better results with it than the BIX because it's not so restrictive. The BIX has an advantage only when you put a howling fan on it, at lower fan speeds the BIPro will outperform it. BIPro is cheaper too.
You can put a BIPro 2 in a Chenbro SR104 Genie case easily with outstanding results. Coolcases amongst others has them
http://www.coolcases.com/cart/sr10403_28.html
With the double size radiator you can use Nexus 120mm fans and get a very quiet overclocked system. If you want to use a double size radiator in a smaller case you can mount it at a slant and build a shroud for it. You don't need a 120mm x 240mm hole for it. A 120mm x 120mm intake hole will have almost no impact on performance as the radiator airflow restriction is the dominant factor.
If this is for a gaming rig btw, you're better off getting an AMD64 than the Intel chips. They run faster and cooler.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:52 pm

ferdb wrote:You can put a BIPro 2 in a Chenbro SR104 Genie case easily with outstanding results.

Heck, if you're more interested in frontal area than core thickness, you can fit much more than a BIP2 into a Genie!

Ender17 · Post by **Ender17** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 5:13 pm

thanks for all the advice - my friend just got a dual BIX and a couple of the really high speed H1A fans - after listening to it and how much air noise the BIX creates, I'm definitely leaning towards a BIPro

what are a couple of good, quiet fans for the BIPro? Nexus? Globe? Was thinking I'd need something with a little more airflow - what do you guys think?

Or possible keeping my XP-120, just depends on how high I can get with it

Also, incase anyone is wanting to know, here is the system I have and some of the mods I'm wanting to do:

I'm getting the PC-7 Plus and here is everything I want to put in it (long list)

PCP&C 510W PCI-E
DFI 875P-T
P4 560 (maybe a 6xx later)
BFG 6800 Ultra w/ NV Silencer 5
Audigy ZS
NEC-3500
AOpen DVD-ROM
Sunbeam Rheobus
Hauppauge PVR (not sure which one yet)
My trusty Raptor
LSI MegaRAID SATA 4-150
4 x WD2500JD Drives
DD TDX 775 block
DD12V-D4 pump
120mm radiator

OK, a lot of stuff - here is how I want to set everything up:

Panaflo M1A fan in PSU and the 120mm Yate Loom at the top as a cold air intake
Another 120mm Yate Loom in the front intake cooling the hard drives
Remove the HDD cage from my case and replace the crappy one that comes with the PC-7, instead of using rivets, I'm going to bolt it in and use some rubber washesr to reduce vibration noise
I've got those Vantec rubber vibration reducers for all the fans and for the PSU
The rear 120mm exhaust is where I want to put my radiator - really the only place since it won't fit in the top with the PSU duct, I want to put it on the outside and have a 120mm fan on both sides of it - one inside the case, one outside on the otherside of the radiator
I'll probably cut out the 3.5" drive case and mount my pump in the empty space
The pump will be hooked to the Sunbeam Rhoebus, so I can lower the voltage if its too loud. I'll have the pump on 1 channel, the 120mm fan in the blowhole on the other, the intake fan on the 3rd, and finally the 2 radiator fans on the 4th channel
I'll probably go ahead and put a 5.25 reservior in the last remaing drive bay and leave the front cover off so you can see the water
Speaking of water - I want a neon blue dye for it and I want to put one of those anodized fillports in somewhere
Every wire will be sleeved in black and all visable molex connectors will also be black.
The hard drives will be turned backwards so none of the power or data connections will be visible.
The CD drives will be stealthed and I'll have a hole in the side panel so all the PSU wires will be hidden behind the MB tray.
I've even got a black fan grill for the blowhole fan

[/list]

ferdb · Post by **ferdb** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:22 am

I would try the Nexus fans first, they will probably work better than you expect. Also don't pull hot case air through your radiator. Get cold air from outside the case through it or your system temperatures can be 10-20 degrees hotter.

Ender17 · Post by **Ender17** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:06 pm

ferdb wrote:I would try the Nexus fans first, they will probably work better than you expect. Also don't pull hot case air through your radiator. Get cold air from outside the case through it or your system temperatures can be 10-20 degrees hotter.

I was thinking most of the internal heat would be absorbed within the water cooling loop

edit: also, after hearing the BIX with Panaflo H1A's I'm probably going to go with a BIPro, which doesn't require so much airflow, so I've made a new thread with the requirements for the new fan:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=19912