Which fans to use for i7 920 build in a P183?

schnibly · Post by **schnibly** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:02 am

I've got a brand new i7 920 build that I'm building around a Antec P183 and I'm curious what fans I should use. I've collected a bunch of unused fans from over the years (along with a few new ones) and wondering what would give me the best balance between performance and quietness?

Here's the fans I have, including quantity---I'm using an i7 920 and a Megahalem heatsink.

Noctua NF-P12-130 (3)
Noctua NF-S12B (2)
Scythe S-Flex SFF21E (2)
Scythe SY1225SL12M (6)
Silverstone FM121 (2)
Nexus Silent (3)
Vantec Stealth (4)

Which should I use for case, heatsink etc.? Thanks so much for any and all advice!

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:44 pm

It depends a bit on the rest of your system components, so please post those.

Anyway:

Rear exhaust: Nexus or Slipstream 1200rpm
Front middle intake (upper chamber): Nexus or Slipstream 1200rpm
Top exhaust (if needed): S Flex 1200rpm
CPU heatsink: Nexus or S Flex 1200rpm

Depending on how hot the rest of your components are, you might not need all of these fans.

Unless you have 3-4 hard drives in the lower HDD cage of the P183 where the PSU is, you shouldn't need a fan down there in that chamber unless you are fanatical about HDD temps. The PSU fan should be enough.

I assume you'll be using some form of voltage control (either software like SpeedFan or a fan controller / Zalman FanMate / hard wired voltage etc) to get the fans to the desired speed/noise.

I'd aim for:

Nexus - 7V to 9V
S Flex 1200 - 7V
Slipstream 1200 - 5V

For the CPU heatsink, you should probably play with your BIOS so that whatever fan you connect to the CPU header is varied by voltage, based on CPU temp. I'd probably prefer the S Flex 1200 rpm just to give a little more cooling headroom on your i7 920, but the SPCR review of the Megahalems used the Nexus with pretty good results as well.

I'd scavenge a bit from the various accessories from your range of fans as well - grab the soft rubber fan mounts that come with the Nexus and Noctua fans, as well as the fan speed adapters that come with the Noctua fans, and use these to soft mount and voltage control whatever fans you go with.

Hope this helps.

iowahokies · Post by **iowahokies** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:53 pm

I have a similar question. I am building a p183 i7 system as we speak (it is partially assembled on the table in front of me). I have four hard drives in the lower chamber and have a Sycthe GentleTyphoon fan installed on the front of the case in front of the lower HD chamber.

Which direction should this fan be pointed??

Right now, I have it sucking air out of the case. After I started thinking about it, I thought it should be sucking fresh air in the case. So I would be bringing in cool air in the bottom of the case and exhausting hot air out the top and out the back (near the top of the case).

Your input is appreciated.

Steve

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:28 pm

The fan in front of the bottom HDD cage (in the lower PSU chamber) in a P183 should be an intake fan, sucking cool air into the case and pushing it over the HDDs.

Since the two chambers are separated, this air isn't sucked out the rear and top exhaust fans. This air is exhausted through the PSU at the rear. The main chamber has separate intake areas.

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:41 am

JamieG wrote: Rear exhaust: Nexus or Slipstream 1200rpm
Front middle intake (upper chamber): Nexus or Slipstream 1200rpm
Top exhaust (if needed): S Flex 1200rpm
CPU heatsink: Nexus or S Flex 1200rpm

Why not S-FLEX as front/rear case fan? Their bearing still is more reliable than the Slipstream/Nexus bearing and they are overall good fans (the main issue is that they are not so cheap).

schnibly · Post by **schnibly** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:15 am

JamieG wrote:It depends a bit on the rest of your system components, so please post those.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much JamieG! I sincerely appreciate your assistance and the awesome advice. Thanks!

Here's what I've got planned so far:

i7 920
EVGA x58 SLI Classified
24GB Corsair Dominator 1600
Evga GTX 285 SC (may get 2nd @ somepoint)
Intel SSD 80GB (upper bay?)
Velociraptor 300gb
3x Seagate 1.5TB

schnibly · Post by **schnibly** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:31 am

JamieG wrote:I assume you'll be using some form of voltage control (either software like SpeedFan or a fan controller / Zalman FanMate / hard wired voltage etc) to get the fans to the desired speed/noise.

I'd aim for:

Nexus - 7V to 9V
S Flex 1200 - 7V
Slipstream 1200 - 5V

For the CPU heatsink, you should probably play with your BIOS so that whatever fan you connect to the CPU header is varied by voltage, based on CPU temp. I'd probably prefer the S Flex 1200 rpm just to give a little more cooling headroom on your i7 920, but the SPCR review of the Megahalems used the Nexus with pretty good results as well.

I'd scavenge a bit from the various accessories from your range of fans as well - grab the soft rubber fan mounts that come with the Nexus and Noctua fans, as well as the fan speed adapters that come with the Noctua fans, and use these to soft mount and voltage control whatever fans you go with.

Hope this helps.

I'm a bit confused when it comes to voltages and fan control. I've used the fanmate plenty of times in the past as well as the fan control that comes with the silverstone. Is there a central fan controller bay that i should be considering? Or is the preferred method to run fanmates on the necessary fans?

And this question might show my true newbness but how does one go about determining the voltage that the fan is running at? Does a kill a watt work for this?

Thanks again.

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:23 pm

ekerazha wrote:Why not S-FLEX as front/rear case fan? Their bearing still is more reliable than the Slipstream/Nexus bearing and they are overall good fans (the main issue is that they are not so cheap).

I'm basing the recommendation mainly on the SPCR tests for CFM at a particular noise level. If you look at the SPCR 120mm fan reviews and look for the 'inaudible' voltage level (i.e. <18dBA in those reviews), the Slipstream 1200 at 5V (24CFM) and the Nexus at 7V (19CFM) slightly outperform the S Flex 1200rpm at 7V (18CFM) and 800rpm at 9V (16CFM).

I take your point about the bearing reliability, but as you said cost does come into it at some point (but since the OP has a stash of fans, that's less relevant I suppose). Due to its bearing type, the S Flex is the ideal top exhaust fan. For the sake of synchronising speeds, you could use one as the rear exhaust as well. It's something that the OP can experiment with, I guess.

That being said, my P182 has 3 case fans: Slipstream 1200rpm at 5V / Nexus at 9V / S Flex 1200rpm at 7V, so I'm not exactly a fan loyalist!

@schnibly:
Wow, that's quite a beefy system!

The dominant noise may be the GTX 285.

I assume that you'll be putting at least the 3 Seagates in the bottom chamber, so you might need a fan down there as well. Here is what I would do:

Top exhaust - S Flex 1200rpm at 7V
Rear Exhaust - Nexus at 9V
CPU Heatsink - S Flex 1200rpm to CPU header (set speed to vary in BIOS)
Front middle intake - Slipstream 1200rpm at 5V or Nexus at 7-9V
Front lower intake - Nexus at 5-7V

You can either use software or a hardware fan controller to control your fan speeds, or wire your fans to a fixed voltage.

I've got a 3.5 inch fan controller in my P182, so I'm not using up a spare optical bay. If you want to be able to easily changed your fan speeds, a separate fan controller is good, but if you want to set a fixed speed, but be able to vary it a little bit (but not changing it frequently or turning up fans when you are gaming etc), then using a Fanmate is fine.

I just guess the relevant dial setting on a Zalman Fanmate 2 or a fan speed controller for voltages. 5V is the minimum and 11V or 12V is the maximum, so estimate where on the little dial the appropriate speed is, or just use your ears to see at what point on the dial you can no longer hear the fan.

Alternatively, just find some cables that allow you to have a fixed fan voltage, or make up something yourself.

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:33 am

ekerazha wrote:Why not S-FLEX as front/rear case fan? Their bearing still is more reliable than the Slipstream/Nexus bearing and they are overall good fans.

Have you heard about reliability problems with sleeve bearing fans unless they've been run in horizontal position?
Of course if PC is going to be used for half dozen years without changing/touching anything then I would keep bearing lifespan as important point.

Also with SlipStream pretty much beating Nexus in this heatsink test I don't think there's need to worry about it loosing in pressure generating capability (like Noctua S12) in comparison to standard blade geometry fans:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article805-page5.html

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:44 am

EsaT wrote:
ekerazha wrote:Why not S-FLEX as front/rear case fan? Their bearing still is more reliable than the Slipstream/Nexus bearing and they are overall good fans.
Have you heard about reliability problems with sleeve bearing fans unless they've been run in horizontal position?

Yes, some people on this board reported Slipstream has little and poor lubricant and it does evaporate in a few months.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:48 am

ekerazha wrote:
EsaT wrote:
ekerazha wrote:Why not S-FLEX as front/rear case fan? Their bearing still is more reliable than the Slipstream/Nexus bearing and they are overall good fans.
Have you heard about reliability problems with sleeve bearing fans unless they've been run in horizontal position?
Yes, some people on this board reported Slipstream has little and poor lubricant and it does evaporate in a few months.

Aye, but that can be fixed few re-lubrication of general lubrication oil you can get from bike shop etc. My Nexuses still go strong after 3 years. I had to re-lubricate 2 out of my 5 Slipstreams during first 3 or 4 months.

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:02 am

thejamppa wrote:
ekerazha wrote:
EsaT wrote:Have you heard about reliability problems with sleeve bearing fans unless they've been run in horizontal position?
Yes, some people on this board reported Slipstream has little and poor lubricant and it does evaporate in a few months.
Aye, but that can be fixed few re-lubrication of general lubrication oil you can get from bike shop etc. My Nexuses still go strong after 3 years. I had to re-lubricate 2 out of my 5 Slipstreams during first 3 or 4 months.

Everybody does what he wants... personally, remove the sticker/seal of a pc fan to fill it with lubrication oil (and impurities) is a thing I'll never do in my life. I'd buy a fan with better bearing instead.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:06 am

Sleeve bearings are pretty robusts. I've done relubing for 2 or so dozen fans. It has worked well. Of course you could simply take tiny injection needle and small syringe, one diabetics use and use that to inject tiny amount oil thru sticker. Not too many fan manufacturers use seals. Scythe is one though.

But investing in more expensive fan with "better" bearings maybe waiste of money. S-flex 800 has ticking sound. Noctua's intend to howl ( old S12's ), P12 is still quite noisy in all its speeds.

Good bearings mean very little if blade design sucks or fan is otherwise poor. Currently most of the top recomended fans of SPCR are sleevebearings. Not too many fans with better bearings are there.

Besides I am not totally sure, but I don't think when they make fans, they use laboratory conditions with 100% purity such conditions, like they do in chip laboratories in manufacturing so fear of impurities is... Hmm maybe bit misplaced?

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:27 am

What about undervolted S-FLEX 1200rpm? And it's still usable (not silent but usable) over 900-1000 rpm if needed, while Slipstream become VERY noisy over that speed.

I don't know if bearing content is really "pure", but I don't also know if it's a good idea to add other dust and impurities.

Compddd · Post by **Compddd** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:45 pm

Why no recommendations for Scythe Gentle Typhoon?

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:01 pm

Compddd wrote:Why no recommendations for Scythe Gentle Typhoon?

SPCR hasn't tested them yet, so there's only user reviews / reviews from other sites only at this stage to go by. Personally, I wouldn't recommend a fan unless I'd bought it personally and/or had the benefit of reading an SPCR review of it.

coreyography · Post by **coreyography** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:24 pm

Looks like I am not alone in this territory.

I apparently have used my P183/i7 920/Radeon HD4870 build as an excuse to start a fan laboratory, as I ended up with several of them. I also have 12GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1600 RAM, an Intel X-25M SSD velcroed to the bottom of the 5.25" drive bay, and two WD 1TB RE3 7200rpm spinning disks in the bottom HDD bay.

I took the Antec fans out of the exhaust positions. They are OK on low speed, but audible at mid and too much on high. I reinstalled one of them on permanent low speed as an intake fan for the bottom HDD bays -- keeps my HDD temps about 6-8 degC cooler (I want quiet, but I want cool more, as almost all my electronics failures have been at least concident with high temps).

I bought a Noctua NH-C12P CPU cooler, as I wanted some air blowing onto the VRMs and other chips surrounding the CPU. The Intel stock cooler does this, and it just made sense to me. Those tower coolers blow parallel to the motherboard and seem to provide little or no cooling to those other chips.

That cooler came with Noctua's fan. It works well, is pretty quiet, but can be heard through the top exhaust opening, so I am going to cover that hole up if I can. I plan to leave the fan plugged into the motherboard's controller (in case I somehow screw up with other fans on the open-loop fan controller I have).

For the rear exhaust I currently have a Noctua 120mm (I forget the model # -- it's the straight-bladed one for cases, not the curved-bladed one for coolers). I can't hear it up to almost full speed (1200 RPM) in the rear exhaust position. A Scythe SFF21D or E would probably work just as well.

For the mid front intake I currently have a Scythe SFF21G (see my other thread in this forum about that

). It has propeller noise above about 1200 RPM that can be heard across the room, but below that with the front door closed, it is pretty much a quiet air whoosh. I hope to be able to run it turned down that much, but if not, oh well; at least the air capacity is there. I also took the mid drive bay out to free things up a bit since I am not using it.

The Radeon's stock heat sink seems meager for the heat that its GPU generates, and my testing bore that out. The card's fan controller lets the temp get up to aroung 65 degC before doing much with the fan, and that is too much for my comfort. When the fan is put on a controller and cranked up, I can hear it through the case's sound deadening. Enough of that; I bought an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 rev.2. It is not a perfect match for this card (some Dremeling was required), but I'm going to put a Silenx Ixtrema 120mm I had lying around on it (due mostly to the Silenx's light weight) and it should be much better. Will know later this week. I just hope the Silenx does not get premature bearing failure like every other Silenx I've used, but since it will not e spinning at max rpm, it may last.

Compddd · Post by **Compddd** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:48 am

Arrrrgh why all this talk of Slipstreams needing to be re-lubricated? I was going to buy some, but now I'm not so sure.

Do the slipstreams really push more air at a given RPM than any other case fan?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:53 am

Compddd wrote:Arrrrgh why all this talk of Slipstreams needing to be re-lubricated? I was going to buy some, but now I'm not so sure.

Do the slipstreams really push more air at a given RPM than any other case fan?

Yes, there's always sample variance is most fans... Besides many peoples in here use Slipstream's without problems or need of lubrication. Far more than those of us who actually had encountered problems. But that is since I got 9 slipstreams in my disposal. In 4 machines ( I got 6 installed) 3 atm at package or waiting installation but I've been using them.

Out of those 9 slipstream's I've needed to re-lubricate 1

Compddd · Post by **Compddd** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:39 pm

Has anyone ever needed to relubricate an S-FLEX? Or is that even possible because of the fluid motor?

Which fans to use for i7 920 build in a P183?

Which fans to use for i7 920 build in a P183?

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