Wicked Interesting Fan!

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

I found a very interesting fan over at NewEgg:



The spec that caught my eye: 720RPM!!

They also claim 13dBa, which is remotely possible, but they do make a reasonable claim on the air flow: 11+ CFM -- so maybe the noise is possible?

I've already ordered one, so if anybody else wants to check it out...it is $14 shipped. And it has open corners!

[m0002a]

My suspicion is that these type fans are really 24V fans with a 12V sticker on them. But I have not proof of that.

11 CFM is not much airflow for a 120mm fan. I think that most applications might be better served with about 1000-1200 RPM, 18-20 CFM and 18-21 dBa.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

Well, the two low speed Yate Loons that I installed in a Athlon 64 4000+ machine (one as the exhaust in the 4252, the other on an XP-120) -- I had to use some $5 FanMate2's to slow them down to 800-900RPM's (which was overkill!) so I would think that just dropping in this ~720RPM fan at 12v would be great! And I would not have had to fight with the corners on the XP-120...

[Tibors]

I think that most applications might be better served with about 1000-1200 RPM

Yeah, right. That's why people use a Nexus 120mm fan at 7V (~600RPM) on an XP-120 or as case fan. Apparently you haven't noticed it yet, but a lot of people arround here think a Nexus at 12V (~1000RPM) is too loud.

[Tzupy]

11 cfm is rubbish for a 120 mm fan. Since 1400 rpm fans claim about 45 cfm, I would expect at least 20 cfm at 720 rpm. I know it's not a linear dependence, but 11 cfm is way too low IMHO.
I'm running an Enermax UC-12FAB-B(N) (Compuman) as the back fan on my SLK3000B, and after setting the speed to 1,500 rpm from the included controller and lowering it further with my TT Harcano 10, it's quiet and smooth at about 1,100 rpm. I think it still moves ~35 cfm, but can't measure that...

[ilh]

According to this NMB page (pretty interesting!), airflow is proportional to RPM. Still, the blade shape of most of these fans are so similar, it is hard to imagine they vary all that much in terms of CFM/RPM.

"wicked" ... spoken like a true native New Englander!

[andywww]

It was my understanding that in the specifications for many fans the relationships between power and air output is given. Whether or not its reasonable/honest I dunno, but perhaps the datasheet can be found/compared to other 120mm fans.

[yeha]

coolermaster has a range of 'interesting' fans floating around, i believe they're all made by delta given the 3-blade 'modder' fans are definitely deltas, and their mention of superflo bearings seals it.

i've got a few 80mm/120mm coolermasters coming in the mail soon, hopefully they live up to the scant reviews i've seen.

[BillyBuerger]

Ultra Silent Fan Series (SAF-S12-E1)

I was confused when I first saw the pictures of this fan. It says 12V .21A. At .21 amps, it would be spinning at faster than 720rpm. I noticed at NewEgg, it mentions "W/ Speed Senser". Also, at CoolerMaster's website, it is says 0.05A (Max 0.21A). That would seem to suggest that it's got some sort of controller for altering it's speed. But it doesn't mention and rpm ranges. Just 720. So I guess I'm not any less confused.

[m0002a]

I assume that Speed Senser means that it has a third wire that sends the speed to a device that can monitor or report it (like fan connectors on most motherboards).

The maximum ratings might be at 24V, if my theory is correct and these are really 24V fans.

[yeha]

most of coolermaster's other low-rpm fans are 24v ones downvolted (yes, i actually checked the delta spec sheets), however i can't find any 120mm delta fan, 12v or 24v, with 0.05a as its stock current. maybe they just changed it for something to do.. anyway i'm sure coolermaster's entire line is made up of delta fans - the bearings, designs and specs make it definite.

i was interested in the 3-blade designs, however if they're already undervolted from 24v i doubt they'll go much lower than their stock 12v, or at least not without some weird noises eminating.

[m0002a]

Glad you confirmed my suspicion about them being 24V fans labled as 12V. I wonder if the Nexus 120mm fans are really 24V Yate Loons?

[yeha]

i doubt the nexus fans are 24v stock.. their frame mimics the 1200-rpm model, and their undervolting performance mimics the 1200-rpm's, just with the voltage tweaked a bit. that is, the nexus always acts like a stock d12sl that's having 2 or so volts chopped off the input by a resistor somewhere - this would explain why they're fickle about starting around 5v compared to stock yate loons.

of course this is all second-hand info, i didn't get a chance to grab one of the d12sl's, and i'm certainly not paying $20 for a nexus

[niels007]

Hey you missed my little 120mm fan review?

Yesterday I briefly tested the Coolermaster SAF-S12-E1, which is a 'rifle bearing' (god knows what that means, I didn't get shot that's for sure..) 120mm fan running at 720rpm at an alledged 13dba.

I think this is the slowest 120mm out there at 720RPM / 12V. Vibrations are quite noticable which where quite noticable and audible with the fan in free air. I didn't have time to put the fan to the test in my computer but I'm sure the vibrations would end up being unacceptable, compared to the trusty Papsts that is.

There is good news as well however: no sign of high frequency sound, just slight motor noise and 'whirr'. Overall the fan is pretty good if take care mounting it as damped as you can.

Since then I obtained a Nexus and Yate Loon low speed (identical really except for the colour..) and they are better than the Papst by a good margin, yet the papst was a good margin better than the Coolermaster.

Even at 1000rpm the Nexus makes less noise than the Coolermaster at 720. All you hear with Nexus is air being moved. Coolermaster and Papst let you know there is a hard working motor whirring away.

[frankgehry]

I have the fan in question, and just hooked it up with a nexus and compared them at 650rpm. The coolermaster is solidly built w/rpm sensing and is as quiet as the nexus with a slightly different sound that I can only hear about 4" from my ear, so its really irrelevant. Its not bad at all, just different. Its also very smooth. I believe the nexus puts out a little more air, but its hard to tell. I have to applaud neil for the willingness to experiment and 720rpm seems like a maximum spd for case fans. I do occasionally see my cpu fan running faster than that.

Coolermaster does have an interesting line up that seems to be growing. They have a new 120mm made by bi-sonic that I believe makes one of the smaller nexus models. And then there's the 3 bladed delta that is rated @1320rpm. I have a 3 blade delta low speed that looks just like the coolermaster and is rated at 1900rpm and its a 12v model so I don't think any of the coolermasters are 24v models. When coolermaster lists their rpm specs. they don't specify max rpm(?). They have another delta model that's tested here on the coolermaster hyper 48. The other coolermaster that I like is the SUF-S12-EB UV, which is a 1200rpm sleeve bearing model that can be purchased at www.svc.com for $7.

I guess they could be 24v models.

Delta doesn't have any sleeve bearing models. To see most of the delta models go to www.sidewindercomputers.com. If you look at the coolermaster aluminum 120 it clearly says bisonic, it doesn't say delta so apparently coolermaster sources fans from a lot of manufacturers. - FG

Did anyone ever post a review of the glacialtec silentblade?

007 - We both have just one coolermaster 720rpm fan. You must have gotten a bad one. Just kidding, but I certainly don't see a large margin between the coolermaster, nexus, and papst - especially at low speeds.

[yeha]

Delta doesn't have any sleeve bearing models. To see most of the delta models go to www.sidewindercomputers.com. If you look at the coolermaster aluminum 120 it clearly says bisonic, it doesn't say delta so apparently coolermaster sources fans from a lot of manufacturers. - FG

au contraire - the asb line is sleeve-bearing, i can't remember which others are but i know they exist, and most of their fans have options for different bearings during manufacturing. delta definitely has some variety in their lineup, just look at the parent directory to the one i linked to.

Did anyone ever post a review of the glacialtec silentblade?

none of mine got sold on spcr, and no one got back to me about a free sample so i don't think any got reviewed, aside from in this post by jan kivar.

[niels007]

Frank,

There is no question all three (yate / coolermaster / papst) are very well suited for (near) silent computing. Perhaps I did get a bad coolermaster.. I've tried 3 yate loon / nexus fans and 4 papst fans so my opinions on them hold more truth and consistency. I found the bearings (ball type, whatever they call them over at Coolermaster HQ) cause vibrations. Motor sound is not annoying but of the Papst whirry kind on my sample.

The beauty of the Nexus / Yate Loon fans is that compared to the Papsts and Coolermaster I tried they just do NOT vibrate and producte the faintest of motor sounds I ever heard, by some margin. Perhaps the difference isn't too big, but directly mounted on a 40x40 cm thin steel side panel it surely made a considerable difference in my case! (pun intended although not really funny ) The most important though, we're talking about the last few % of noise. The main goal of getting a near silent pc can be accomplished with any of these fans.

At that point it becomes somewhat of an unnecessary obsesion. From a functional point of view there was no real reason to swap my papst fans with yate loonies, but I just had to... Its some kind of sickness They all produce different 'types' of noise, and I think the different opinions are partly due to individual sensitivity to certain types of sound. Hearing is quite subjective!

I would love to see a get together of all the hardcore SPCR readers with their systems to see.. err hear what they sound like! Of course it would be rather rediculous to travel half way round the world with a heavy computer case just to listen to near silence

[frankgehry]

Yeha,

I guess you're right about the sleeve bearing deltas.

I'm surprised more people here didn't get a silentblade.

[yeha]

well the sample offer's still open for you, or anyone with some good 120mm fans to compare them against for that matter all i have is a yate loon d12sm-12 that i can hear motor noises coming from (not very loud, but still there all the same) so i don't know if it's the best to do a comparison with.

the best i can come up with for the glacialtech is a slight drone (vibrational?) which gets quieter with undervolting, and a 'flutter' noise (reminds me of wings flapping for some reason - a brushing sound) that doesn't really change in volume, but the number of flutters per second decreases with voltage.

[frankgehry]

Neils,

No question that nexus are the best. They seem to have come down in price a few dollars, their quality is the most consistent, you get a 3 yr guarantee, and they work well with the t-balancer. For me its fun to try a new fan now and then, but nexus is really the standard. If I were to replace my nexus case fans with coolermasters I might be really disappointed. I guess a complete test should include mounting them in a case. - FG

[m0002a]

On the Yate Loon website, they list Delta as one of their major customers. I don't know for certain that it is the same Delta that sells fans, but I thought it was interesting:
http://www.yateloon.com/index-1.htm

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

I got my 720RPM CoolMaster today -- it is pretty quiet, and yes it does seem to blow a little more than 11CFM. The main sound is a muted purr -- I can hear it at about a foot away. It is nearly as quiet as a Nexus, but a little rougher sounding. Mine has a very mild "tingle" in the frame when you hold it, so the Nexus is a smoother fan (at least the one I had. This one blows fairly well -- in free air, I can feel the coolness of the air flow over two feet away.

Compared to the medium speed Yate Loon in the Fortron 300watt PS (I was using to power it), which is running at near it's minimum speed (~800RPM?), the CoolMaster is a smidge less quiet. The CM does undervolt!! I used a FanMate2 on it, and it starts at 5v -- it runs very slowly, and a bit quieter than it does at 12v.

The blades are a little thicker in the middle -- they are airfoils like most blades; just thicker in the middle. The CM blades are not swept forward as much as the Yate Loon, and they have sharp corners on the leading tips -- the YL has a small radius here instead; which I daresay is a better design.

The medium speed Yate Loon at 5v may blow a bit less air -- it's hard to compare the fan inside the PS to the free air CM, and the YL is a slightly quieter fan. But if you want a 120mm fan that is quiet at 12v, and you can't see spending at least half again as much for the Nexus, then consider the CoolMaster.