Silent Cooling Fan

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Wynsam

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I have a non pc need for a cooling fan. Needs to be about 120mm or bigger and super quiet. I will run it off a 12V regulated supply. It need to be quiet. It needs to be really quiet.

Any recommendations.
 
Airflow is very minimal on that fan. I have one of the R65 versions(which runs at 1200RPM and reported 21DBA) and they do run very quiet. But what you consider quiet is another matter all together.
 
No, the airflow is pitiful on that fan, they obviously made it quiet by simply running it slowly

Vantec Stealth 120mm would be good I reckon. (maybe not totally silent)(try the 92mm version for near-silence)(my 60mm at full is totally silent)

There is a new-ish type of fan that blends positive aspects of sleeve with those of ball-bearing fans, can't remember its name at the mo.

You want a fan with above 50CFM and as near to 20dB as possible.

Some Enermax fans have a controller on the fan, pretty cool.
 
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I see that model and their seems to be alot more airflow for the penalty of a couple of dBs that I might be able to live with. Where did you get it for R65?
 
Wynsam said:
I see that model and their seems to be alot more airflow for the penalty of a couple of dBs that I might be able to live with. Where did you get it for R65?
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Hey Wynsam, i am referring to one of these. Normally the bigger the fan, the more silently they run. So smaller isn't better. Bigger fans can run at lower RPM while moving the same amount of air as a high RPM small fan.
I think it runs silently, but what will you be using it for if i may ask Wynsam?
 
I got myself the Gigabyte iSolo 210 Black case the other day.

Now, the beautiful thing about this case is the design.

It's so quiet that I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to check if the PC is on and still downloading because I'm used to a PC I can hear, even if I don't want too.

It comes with 2x 120mm fans that I can't hear at all.

I paid R800 for it.
There is my solution! haha.
 
I am using it for my AV centre. The space that the main amp and the PS3 occupy are not well ventilated at all. With use the amp get too warm for my liking and the PS3 internal fans start kicking into high gear. My idea has been to mount a fan/s on the rear of the AV stand/cupboard to draw air out the areas occupied by the components.

I don't want the a noisy fan there as their in nothing quite as distracting for me than to have a fan noisily pumping away during a quieter part of a movie.
 
I am thinking that two of these are the answer.

92 mm Vantec.

They are quieter than the 120mm, cheaper and then I can have one for each shelf in the AV unit.

Did not realise Sybaritic were closed already. Must be having a damn nice holiday.

Edit: Another reason I am favouring this one is that there are vibration dampener kits available for them.
 
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A suggestion - put in two fans and halve their speeds.

You should get the same air displacement, but less noise.
 
Vantec Stealth 92mm Case Fan
vantec 92mm stealth SF9225L , ultra quiet , 92x92x25mm , double ball bearing , 1750rpm , 28CFM , 20dBA - 1 year warranty

Cooler Master TLF-S12-EB 120mm Neon LED Case Fan - Blue
Speed (R.P.M.) 1220 R.P.M.±10%
Air Flow (CFM) 42.734 CFM
Air Pressure (mmH2O) 1.557 mmH2O
Noise (dB-A) 22 dB-A

The LED are definately bright :/ Ihave one of the coolermaster ones and they are dead quiet.(And im not deaf yet ;)
 
There is no way I want any LEDs on this fan. Dont want any additional light in a theatre room. Can the said LEDs be turned off?
 
Wynsam said:
There is no way I want any LEDs on this fan. Dont want any additional light in a theatre room. Can the said LEDs be turned off?
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I think they can be disabled quite easily. But i dont know how. Maybe just pulling them out. Ive read it somewhere before.
 
Dude, you WILL NOT hear even a 25dB fan at the back of your AV centre. I promise you.
Just buy one that stays below that and moves the most air.

Ye, you can just cut the little wires, simple.
 
I've tried various quiet fans, from Vantec Stealths, to Antec TriCools, to Yate Loon (imported). IMO, avoid 92mm fans and smaller - they're still noisy.

The Vantec vibration dampening didn't make a major change to my noise levels either (Antec SLK3000B case). Instead, I went for detaching the fans from the case using cable-ties and rubber grommets.

As far as fans are concerned, I like the 120mm Antec TriCools, although one failed on me after 18months (due to dust, I fear). They come with switches that allow you to manually choose between Lo/Med/Hi speeds.
 
flarkit said:
I've tried various quiet fans, from Vantec Stealths, to Antec TriCools, to Yate Loon (imported). IMO, avoid 92mm fans and smaller - they're still noisy.

The Vantec vibration dampening didn't make a major change to my noise levels either (Antec SLK3000B case). Instead, I went for detaching the fans from the case using cable-ties and rubber grommets.

As far as fans are concerned, I like the 120mm Antec TriCools, although one failed on me after 18months (due to dust, I fear). They come with switches that allow you to manually choose between Lo/Med/Hi speeds.
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Why do you say they are still noisy noisy. dBs are dBs. Am i missing something?

Picture of the decoupling would be great if you can.

I like the ability to switch manually.
 
The 60mm and 92 mm Stealths ARE super quiet, maybe he got a bad one.
But I will second either a Enermax with variable speed knob (more options), and I have two TriCools in my work pc, and the three speed options although limited, are nice.
80mm=lowest setting is virtually inaudible, but also doesn't push much air.
120mm=medium is pretty quiet, doubt you'd hear it at the back of your AV Cab.

I recommend the Enermax versions, as you can literally adjust it to the exact point where you don't hear it in your particular situation, while maintaining the max possible CFM.
 
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Wynsam said:
Why do you say they are still noisy noisy. dBs are dBs. Am i missing something?

Picture of the decoupling would be great if you can.

I like the ability to switch manually.
Click to expand...

I tried an 80mm and a 92mm Vantec Stealth and was not impressed by the sound levels. Remember that manufacturers use their own methods to measure noise and then claim lower dB's. That's why I avoid TT and Vantec fans. Do visit sites like SilentPCReview for real info on silent fans.

I'll put up pics of the decoupling this weekend. The basic idea is to join 2 ties so that the 'heads' pull the fan against the case (just not overly firmly). These are threaded through rubber grommets (comes with Antec and some other cases) to lower the vibration from the fan.
 
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