Best 92mm fan?

Crisi · Post by **Crisi** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:12 am

I see so many reviews and round-ups of 120mm and 80mm fans on the internet, but it's harder to find 92mm fan information. It's understandable, 92mm fans are somewhat non-standard; 80mm and 120mm are used a lot more. So my question, what is the best 92mm fan available at the moment? Sound wise of course, that's why we are here on SPCR.

After researching about every case in existence, I came to the conclusion that the Antec P150 is the best for me. I like the case a lot and it's beautiful, but the 'downside' is that it uses two 92mm fans as intakes. I can choose not to use them, that's right, but I'm not sure if my airflow is ok if I do. I am going to use some speedy components, so good cooling is necessary.

System I intend to build:

Case - Antec P150
PSU - Corsair HX620W
Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Overclock to 3GHz)
Memory - Crucial Ballistix PC2-5300 2x1024
GPU - Not sure yet, perhaps R600
Soundcard - Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
TV-Card - WinTV-PVR-150 MCE
Mainboard - Not sure yet, perhaps Asus Commando
Harddisk 1 - Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD
Harddisk 2 - Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS
DVD-Writer - Plextor PX-760SA
CPU Cooler - Scythe Ninja SCNJ-1100P
120mm Fans - Noctua NF-S12-800 x2

nightmorph · Post by **nightmorph** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:28 am

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:17 am

One option is to mod it to take a 120mm. Not done that myself, but I've checked and it's possible. The best 92's are probably the Scythe Kaze-Jyu. They are 100mm with both 100mm and 92mm mount holes - but the larger frame means you can't squeeze two in, just one. But again, maybe possible by modding, because the internal height of the fan holder is 205mm.

truckman · Post by **truckman** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:56 pm

Crisi wrote: Harddisk 1 - Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD
Harddisk 2 - Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS

You'll probably need an intake fan to get enough airflow to keep these cool. Even with just one disk, the incoming airflow through the lower front vent on the Solo/P150 seems to be pretty marginal. The Nexus 92mm fan is pretty quiet, but it doesn't move a lot of air. Even so, I bet just one of them would be sufficient to keep your drives sufficiently cool.

doogiehowser · Post by **doogiehowser** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 11:46 pm

i'm using a zalman zm-f2 in my antec Solo case. in silent mode, its very very quiet. they're cheaper than the nexus fans too.

and yea, truckman is right, u do need a fan there to cool the harddrives.

Crisi · Post by **Crisi** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:14 am

I think I will use 2x Nexus 92mm then. The Scythe Kaze-Jyu seems the best fan that fits in front of the Solo (yes, I decided to drop the P150 and go for the Solo instead), but two Nexus fans will move more air than one Kaze-Jyu I guess. I will just undervolt them until they are inaudible.

I hope this is good enough to keep my system cool:

-2x Nexus Real Silent 92mm intake
-1x Noctua NF-S12-800 exhaust
-1x Corsair HX620W exhaust
-Scythe Ninja with Noctua NF-S12-800 (Push/Pull config with the Noctua exhaust)

Towermax · Post by **Towermax** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:43 pm

I have a 74GB Raptor and a 160GB Seagate 7200.9 suspended in my Solo.

The original build used two Nexus 92mm at 5v for intakes. I removed one of the two 92mm Nexus for another project (was going to replace it) and found that my drive temps didn't change more than a degree at most.

Right now, they run about 29-31C at idle, and never get over 37C or so, even with heavy use like defragging. I have one Nexus 120mm exhaust at 5v. Ambient temperature averages 18-20C in my basement office.

orihara · Post by **orihara** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:19 pm

The top 92mm fan mount on the Solo/P150 is close enough to the top of the bracket it's on that you have about 1mm of clearance between the fan housing and the top of the bracket. You can only fit a fan which is actually 92mm on, I think.

Fungi · Post by **Fungi** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:28 pm

I have 2x Nexus 92mm fans at 12V and I had to remove the filter because the intake noise was too much. The case is only a foot or so away from my head, but I'd say it'd be best at 5V or 7V. These fans push excessive air (IMO) for simple HDD cooling, so I'm sure it wouldn't hurt at all to undervolt them.
Now here I am stuck without fan speed controllers and no courage to try the various voltage mods :p

Calgarian · Post by **Calgarian** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 4:28 pm

Hello all, a first time poster here.

I contacted Noctua earlier in the month. They told me they were working on a new 92mm fan, hopefully ready by mid-2007.

(I'm making my choices for a new system. Along with a couple of Noctua 120mm fans, I'm considering the NH-U9F CPU cooler. I was asking how a person could get a second fan for the two-fan option)

Towermax · Post by **Towermax** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:37 pm

Fungi wrote: Now here I am stuck without fan speed controllers and no courage to try the various voltage mods :p

It's not that hard, Fungi.

I recently did my first voltage mods for the two Nexus 92mm in my Solo.

I just took a standard molex splitter cable--you know, that kind that lets you plug two drives/fans into one power cable connection--and swapped the red and yellow wires on the center connecter. Didn't want to mod the power cable connecter, so this seemed the best alternative.

I wrapped a piece of masking tape around the splitter and marked it "5V", so I wouldn't forget that it had been modded.

You can buy a special tool, but I used the toothpick from a Swiss Army knife to push back the flanges that hold the pins in the molex connector, and out they came. Then used the knife blade to bend the flanges back out before pushing the pins back into their new positions. Took less than a minute, and voila!--5V for two fans.

Best 92mm fan?

Best 92mm fan?

Re: Best 92mm fan?

New Noctua 92mm fan likely by mid 2007