Best 120 fans for case

NedKelly · Post by **NedKelly** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 6:03 am

What are the quietest and move the most air for 120mm fans?

I want to keep everything cool but don't want to have it sound like a plane taking off.

DanOnKeys · Post by **DanOnKeys** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 6:15 am

You'll find your answer here:

http://www.dagonnier.be/html/silent/120mm_fans.html

Vector · Post by **Vector** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 7:51 am

Yeah, people at this forum rarely recommend the Enermax, but I have found it to be quieter than the others at normal use (no undervolting, no special speed control devices, etc.). I've got one in my D8000, and it is dead silent running at about 1200rpm.

The JMC on the other hand - I am very dissatisfied with this thing. I got one pre-installed in my D8000, and it gives off an annoyingly loud vibrating noise when running at 12V. I'm not very happy with Coolcases.com for recommending these fans to me. I'm going to replace it very soon with another Enermax.

tragus · Post by **tragus** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 12:49 pm

Vector, I'm very interested in your experience with the JMC fan and coolcases.com; I need to build a new system shortly and was going to order from them (D8000, with some set of mods).

Unfortunately, prior threads on different 120 mm fans (including the JMC's ostensibly from coolcases.com) have me a bit confused. Has anyone just gotten the stock thermally-controlled fans on their D8000?

Vector · Post by **Vector** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 1:39 pm

Do yourself a favor, tragus. And order your case fans separately. Directron.com has several good low-noise brands of 120mm fans. That's where I got my Enermax. But they also have the Panaflos and Pabsts. Any one of these is better than the JMC's.

I'm just glad I only got the one of these in my case. I'd be steaming mad if I had let them talk me into getting 2 of them. Unfortunately, this has tanted an otherwise excellent case.

NedKelly · Post by **NedKelly** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 2:55 pm

What about the fans at Newegg.com? Some of them have over 100cfm.

I'm looking at getting a P4 2.4C and overclocking it and I want to keep the case cool to help with overclocking. I also don't want a real loud machine.

NedKelly · Post by **NedKelly** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 3:21 pm

After checking out this info: http://www.directron.com/quietpc.html

I've decided to go with the thermaltake A1280. It has 78CFM and only 34dBa of noise.

One on the front and one on the back of the case should keep it rather cool and not too noisy.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 7:28 pm

Hello:

Vector wrote:Yeah, people at this forum rarely recommend the Enermax, but I have found it to be quieter than the others at normal use (no undervolting, no special speed control devices, etc.). I've got one in my D8000, and it is dead silent running at about 1200rpm.

Is that the Enermax with the manual speed controller? New Egg also sells them ($14 shipped) -- but they are out of stock right now...

Td_nw · Post by **Td_nw** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 9:00 pm

Enermax fans are available at Pham Enermax page

I have read great things about the UC-12FAB 120mm fan, but I have not really heard anything about the UC-9FAB 92mm fan or the UC-8FAB 80mm fan which are in the same series and supposed to be "quiet".

Susquehannock · Post by **Susquehannock** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 10:45 pm

Another vote for Enermax.;mrgreen:

Even at full speed they're nice and quiet. Then when you adjust
the speed ... silence!

Furthermore, they produce lower frequency sound than most fans.

Lower frequencies are generally more pleasing to the ear than
higher pitched ones.

aphonos · Post by **aphonos** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 11:08 pm

Susquehannock wrote:Another vote for Enermax.;mrgreen:

Even at full speed they're nice and quiet. Then when you adjust
the speed ... silence!
Furthermore, they produce lower frequency sound than most fans.

Lower frequencies are generally more pleasing to the ear than
higher pitched ones.

Would it be correct to assume that the lower-frequency sound you are referring to is at full (or at least higher) speed/voltage? They can't, technically, be "silen[t]" and "produce lower frequency sound." Though perhaps you meant "quiet."

Hyperbole happens a lot here

, but we do tend to assign different meanings to "quiet" and "silent" by a few dBA.

What's has been your observation with this fan? I'm an 80mm user, but willing to be persuaded for the next project.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 11:16 pm

A little word of warning about Papst. I just ordered three more to try out 2 x 80 mm (the lowest speed, can't recall number right now) and the lowest speed 120mm.

They are all noisier and the 80mm ones are noisier than the one old of the same model I have.

There is something not good with the current "Made in Hungary" supply of low speed Papst fans. They are not as silent as they used to be and nowhere near SilentPC required level silent.

Just my personal experience having used over a few dozen of various Papst fans over the years.

regards,
Halcyon

Vector · Post by **Vector** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:20 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello:

Is that the Enermax with the manual speed controller? New Egg also sells them ($14 shipped) -- but they are out of stock right now...

Hi Neil,

Yes, it's the Enermax UC-12FAB-B manual adjusting fan. I got mine from Directron. It's a little more expensive there, but they hardly ever run out of stock of anything. Unlike Newegg.

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 2:03 pm

So far I've tested the below fans (listed in order of quietness). I've also just ordered from Directron a Papst 4412 120mm and JMC 120mm fan for testing. I'll update the list as needed.

Panaflo 120mm L1A (Very quiet)
Vantec Stealth 120mm (quiet, but clicks at 5V)
Yate Loon 120mm from Fortron PSU (very quiet at 5V)
Antec 120mm (quiet, but has bearing noise at 12V)

bcat · Post by **bcat** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 8:55 am

tragus asked

Has anyone just gotten the stock thermally-controlled fans on their D8000?

I'm using the Globe fans that come with the stock D800. I've removed the temp sensors & the case fan grills and have the speed controlled using a 5w 100 ohm pot.

I've got the front bezel plastic grill removed because it just looks too restrictive for optimum airflow, (wanna get the MNPC Tech mesh grill mod ala KatanaMan's review of the D800) so there's nothing but the filter to dampen the fan noise. Oh, and the case is foamed with Melamine

The Globe's are quiet running between 1000 - 1300 rpm. Above 1300rpm the sound level ramps up quickly. At 1000 rpm the voltage is approx 5volts, per my multimeter.

Being as the stock D800 case option at Coolcases includes the Globe fans I thought I would try them out before buying any other fans. I've had this setup for about 2 weeks and am happy with the results so far.

Hope this is helpful

quietquest · Post by **quietquest** » Sun Jun 08, 2003 7:34 am

I just finished my system and had 3 sets of 120mm case fans. The Papst, Panaflo L1A, and Vantec Stealth.
The Papst were a big dissapointment very noisy, and expensive.
I never installed the L1A's after installing the Vantec Stealths. I simply popped them in the slots in the Antec 3700 case and I can not even hear them run unless I put my ear up to them. They also come with 3 wires so you can monitor with them. The Papst only have two wires and the L1A's have two bare wires. Now if I can only silence this noisy Seagate 120g hardrive.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:51 am

quietquest wrote: I never installed the L1A's after installing the Vantec Stealths. I simply popped them in the slots in the Antec 3700 case and I can not even hear them run unless I put my ear up to them.

Are you running your Vantec Stealths at 12V?

What are the complete specs of your system?

jafb2000 · Post by **jafb2000** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:54 pm

Just a note on 120mm fans...

o Unless you need 120mm re extreme airflow, consider 92mm

o 92mm 40cfm is ~23dB(A), 120mm 40cfm is ~24dB(A)
---- you gain re more swept area
---- you lose re more weight, bigger motor/housing/mass

Re 120mm fans:
o NMB B10 - B10 re noise level, 25mm
o Panaflo L1A - 38mm so more static pressure & airflow noise
o PAPST 4312L - 32mm

The 4412FGL is unremarkable and not good at low voltage.
The 4312 series have a broader voltage operating range as they
were designed to run from 5-12V in the Variofan incarnation. By
run I mean without clicks from fan start circuit being engaged etc.

The NMB B10 120mm will be hard to get (B19 is tacho), as it is
usually quota allocated by large Tier-1 computer manufacturers.
B20 is a bit easier to get, but same dB(A) effectively as Panaflo.

NMB are remarkable re low vibration & ultra precise bearings,
something PAPST has variability over its fan range - eg, 612NM
174mm & 80mm suck, whereas the 92mm & 4312 are still good.

o Try and audition your fans if you can
o Don't overtighten them

Unless you need 120mm, 92mm is often a better bet.
Remember no fan >40cfm will be quiet - even 120mm and by 80cfm
you are into the 40dB(A) are where /quality/ of the noise matters as
much as the absolute dB(A) level. No vibration is critical here and the
NMB Panaflo have the edge over many lesser brands at higher cfm.
The 4312MV is very good - but frankly overpriced at ~32ukp. It does
not suffer PWM growl which Panaflo 120mm fans will very easily. The
slip tolerance is poor on them re 38mm depth (big magnets/coils), and
the 32mm/25mm fans have a less aggressive design and less rumble.

Must get a cork gasket tested sometime, very cheap, should be effective.
Used in car cam cover gaskets (Audi), inferior to silicone in that area, but
in PCs we're not exactly taking them round Brands Hatch to Summit Point.

The NMB B10 are ~4dB(A) quieter than Panaflo 120mm L1A, the
4312MV at coolest temperatures really is a 21dB(A) fan but $$.
--
Dorothy Bradbury
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy.br ... anaflo.htm (Direct Prices)

aphonos · Post by **aphonos** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:28 pm

NedKelly wrote:After checking out this info: http://www.directron.com/quietpc.html

I've decided to go with the thermaltake A1280. It has 78CFM and only 34dBa of noise.

One on the front and one on the back of the case should keep it rather cool and not too noisy.

Offtopic, but that article at Directron is full of erroneous information regarding quieting (too many errors to quickly delineate). Not sure who Dr. Michael, the author is, but his Ph.D. is not in sound management. It is obvious that he is starting from a different point of view than SPCR.

Dr Michael wrote:Source of the Noise. A typical PC may generate 36-45dB(A) noise level. 33-36dB(A) is considered low noise level. Below 33dB(A) is considered quiet. Below 28dB(A) is considered silent.

Nope! These numbers are way too high. Quiet around here is in the mid-low 20's and silent is, well, somewhere below that (somebody straighten me out if my numbers are off).

FWIW, the Directron chart on fan noise/cfm has been repeatedly debunked. See this thread: Fan Misinformation

jafb2000 · Post by **jafb2000** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 3:05 am

Unfortunately that Directron article isn't very good.

For one thing aluminium cases do not sink heat directly:
o Hard drives are the only item bolted directly to the case
o Most modern 10k/15.3k rpm hard drives aren't huge wattage
o Contact-area is small vs area not in contact

Anything else is pretty limited. You are talking of the gross
internal case air temperature wafting past flat aluminium.
Flat aluminium and large internal volume with an insulatory
boundary layer on BOTH sides of the case (inside & out).

Stick a heatpipe directly from hot components directly to the
case and yes you will have a benefit, but otherwise limited.

Do not use plastic spacers on motherboards?
No, plastic especially nylon has good vibration decoupling.
Steel has no decoupling and acts as a transmission line.

Use a large heavy motherboard? -?!- Oh gee.
Heavy will flex less & stress the tracks more, indeed Intel
had to specify a thinner higher grade lightweight PCB for P4s.

Too busy to go thro it, but this board is more use than that article.

mdaniel · Post by **mdaniel** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 3:35 am

I'll give a double vote for the Enermax Adjustable series fans...because I'm using two of them. I have a 120 exhaust and an 80 on my SLK800U. Both are very impressive and can be made to run very quiet by setting them at low. When I undervolted the 120 from 1600RPM to 1200 RPM, I was unable to notice ANY difference in noise produced by it.

I've used Vantec Stealths (120 & 80) and they don't compare to how nice the Enermax fans are. I've also tried the Pabst, and wasn't impressed enough to switch.

The loudest fans in my system are the PSU and the Video card. I've got a Zalman heatpipe coming for the video card and I plan to mod the fans in the psu.

quietquest · Post by **quietquest** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 10:18 am

Antec 3700 Fan Grills cutout front and Rear
Asus A7V8X-X
AMD 2800XP
Radeon 9500 PRO
Zalman HP80A
Zalman 6000 CU with 92MM fan
Zalman 300W PS (no whine yet)
Vantec Stealth 120MM front and back both 12V
FUSION II HDTV PCI CARD
Pioneer DVR-A05 DVD-R
Seagate Noisy 120gb Hardrive soon to be enclosed or removed I need the big hardrive for recording HDTV
MS XP PRO
Just finished it Sat Morn so still have a lot of tweaking

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 1:30 pm

OK, just finished some quick testing. Bump to update the list.

Panaflo 120mm L1A (Very quiet)
Yate Loon 120mm from Fortron PSU (very quiet at 5V)
Antec 120mm (quiet, but has bearing noise at 12V)
Papst 4412FGL 120mm (quiet, but clicks at ALL voltages)

Vantec Stealth 120mm (quiet, but clicks at 5V)
JMC 120mm 1225-12HB (0.55A)<from Directron.com> Holy Crap this thing is LOUD.

It pushes so much air, it tried to pull itself off my desk under 12V and fly away. At 5V, it's pretty decent, making about as much noise as my 'flo L1A at about 9-10V, no clicking.

My vote is for the Panaflo 120mm L1A. Match this up with a 5-12V rheobus and you've got the perfect match. At 5V, they're damn near inaudible. At 12V, they push lots of air. Too bad they're 38mm thick (can't use in my Fortron PSU).

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 7:59 pm

Hello:

I got two Enermax's today from New Egg ($18 each including shipping) and at first I was nervous, because on 12v with the manual controller all the way down, they were still pretty audible. Then I tried them on 7v with it still turned down -- and then they "whispered". I ended up using 5v and I had to turn the control up about halfway just to get them started -- but they are running at about 4v, I'd guess!

At this speed, they are similar noise level to the Fortron PS's Yate Loon fan at it's minimum speed -- maybe 20-21dBA?

Not too bad, really, and a "gold" wire grill is included to boot. If the control worked over a wider range, it would be better. Air flow is pretty good for this noise level -- the motor hub is small and there are 7 curved blades. BTW, the frames are a dark blue plastic and the blades/hub are a totally clear plastic, and they are 25mm thick.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 4:11 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello:

I got two Enermax's today .............. I ended up using 5v and I had to turn the control up about halfway just to get them started -- but they are running at about 4v, I'd guess!

Do they start 100% of the time at your 4V setting?

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:36 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:
NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello:

I got two Enermax's today .............. I ended up using 5v and I had to turn the control up about halfway just to get them started -- but they are running at about 4v, I'd guess!
Do they start 100% of the time at your 4V setting?

I'm currently testing one. Zalman Fan Mate 1 at minimum (~5V) I have to set the dial to "1.30 to 2 PM" to get it running at every startup. So basically You can just connect it to a 5V line, and then adjust the included pot to the level when it will start every time. I tested with both dials at minimum (first the Zalman at minimum, and when the fan spinning turned the fan dial to minimum too) and it still spun. That would be useful, if You could give the fan more voltage at startup.

NeilBlanchard: I was also annoyed by the noise at 12V (I tested with a small 12V transformer BTW, so no other noise). Then I checked the speed dial, and it was at minimum! I tried the max setting, that can't be 30 dB... (as rated by Enermax). Luckily I did buy the Fan Mate with it. Now I think I should probably mod the 4-pin to 3-pin power cable to give me 5V instead of 12V, so I could take the Zalman out, as it is unnecessary...

BTW, is the sticker on the hub aligned in your fans? Mine isn't, could it make the fan vibrate more? (I think not, as it is very close to the rotation axis)

Cheers,

Jan

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Jun 15, 2003 7:44 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:
NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello:

I got two Enermax's today .............. I ended up using 5v and I had to turn the control up about halfway just to get them started -- but they are running at about 4v, I'd guess!
Do they start 100% of the time at your 4V setting?

Yup! I may be a little off on the 4v estimate: I think the controller goes from 100% down to 75% i.e. from 12v down to 9v or 7v down to 5.25v or 5v down to 3.75v. They definitely do not start at 3.75 volts, and my "halfway" point would be 4.375v...but suffice it to say, they both started in this range and they were pretty darn quiet, too!

mtx · Post by **mtx** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:46 am

So, Panaflo 120 L1A or Enermax 120 Adjustable?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:00 pm

Greetings,

Wow, a 2 year and 3 month old thread resurrected!

I'd say that there are now some other contenders for quiet 120mm fans: the Nexus (made by Yate Loon) is probably the quietest, followed by the Yate Loon low and then medium speed, sleeve bearing models. There are also at least 2 or 3 other quiet fans: the AeroCool, the GlacialTech, the Globe (who make the Enermax, IINM).

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:17 am

mtx wrote:So, Panaflo 120 L1A or Enermax 120 Adjustable?

I'd take a look at the 120mm fan sticky at the top of this forum. It's quite up to date compared to this 2+ year old thread.

Best 120 fans for case

Best 120 fans for case

Is it the Enermax w/ the manual controller?

Re: Is it the Enermax w/ the manual controller?

I agree with halcyon stay away from Papst

Re: I agree with halcyon stay away from Papst

My system Ralf

I got two Enermax's today

Re: I got two Enermax's today

Re: I got two Enermax's today

Re: I got two Enermax's today