Coolermaster Fans

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Viva

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Hi!

I have a 80mm Coolermaster Case Fan (link) installed in my side panel. The noise it makes is 20.9 db-A. It annoys me a little.

Now I saw a Coolermaster PWM Fan 80mm (link) in a store. It says on the website Min. noise is 12.84 dBA. Will it actually make less noise? And what is PWM?

EDIT: The one I have is a little different from the one linked. Mine's noise is 20.9 dBA while the one on the website is 26 dBA. Can't find the exact same fan. (It's StandardFan 80ST2)
 
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I've got three Coolermaster 120mm fans in my case and the noise doesn't really bother me. Yeah, it's there, but I find it reassuring in a way, so much so that I find myself unable to sleep without the gentle whirring of my PC lulling me into slumber...

Maybe I'm just weird.
 
Ah, thank you. So it basically means that the fan speed is controllable?
 
The 120mm fans are quite a bit more silent than the 80mm ones. Lol @ gdiza!
 
Note PWM fan needs PWM signal. Don't think there's any difference but some PWM fans have an issue with the voltage ramping up as the PWM signal modulates.

Also note that these ratings from fan manufacturers/rebranders tend to be just marketing. The rated noise is usually at the lowest flow rate and fan speed, while the flow rate is usually at the highest noise and fan speed.

What exactly about your 8cm fan is bothering you? You might find that to get the proper flow from a quieter-rated fan means to have to run it at a faster speed and it becomes noisey again.
 
You are probably right. My current 8cm side fan is just a little to noisy for my taste, but it's not a huge problem. I just thought that I'd check out quieter fans if available. I'll stick with my current fan for now.

Thank you for your help!
 
There could also be air turbulence caused by the fan sucking through the holes of the case where its mounted or the grill. That crontributes to like 90% of the noise, take it out and test it without being screwed on the side panel and you'll hear the difference.
 
If it is just a side intake and not feeding anything directly then you could buy a 8cm to 12cm or 14cm adapter and fit a much slower spinning 12cm or 14cm fan. You will get the same airflow at a much slower speed.

I hear you on the irritating part. I just fitted a tube fan to my chassis yesterday and I might rip it out this weekend and clad it in sound deadening material. But no matter what you try you can shut the fan up but you can't shut up air moving across things.
 
Kasyx said:
I've got three Coolermaster 120mm fans in my case and the noise doesn't really bother me. Yeah, it's there, but I find it reassuring in a way, so much so that I find myself unable to sleep without the gentle whirring of my PC lulling me into slumber...

Maybe I'm just weird.
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no bra, i feel the same. If it sounds too quite, something is wrong. I cant have a pc that does'nt make a noise or else i'll get up to check whats happening. it needs to make that slight purr. then i know she's allright. No sound, means its off, off is a bad thing.
 
@Tero - thanks I'll try that tomorrow. Makes sense.

@TheRift - That adapter sounds like a great idea. Know where I can find one in SA?

@///MoH - I read up on 7v Mod. Quite interesting. But I'll first try to find a quiet fan without slowing it down. Maybe as a last resort.

@wHiTe*LiGhTnInG - Damn it's so much effort typing your damn nick :). Anyway, I kind of understand where you guys are coming from. The geek club. But I'm member too so don't worry :D
 
I had one around here somewhere from one of my old machines. Probably long gone by now with the recent clear out.

If I recall correctly I got it from Frontosa ages ago, but looking through my price lists I don't see it anymore.

I guess you could just order one from performance-pcs.com or frozencpu.com. They're not too expensive. Only problem with buying from them is that you never ever purchase just one item. :)
 
wHiTe*LiGhTnInG said:
no bra, i feel the same. If it sounds too quite, something is wrong. I cant have a pc that does'nt make a noise or else i'll get up to check whats happening. it needs to make that slight purr. then i know she's allright. No sound, means its off, off is a bad thing.
Click to expand...

I have tinnitus. It's enough that I cannot experience an actual quiet moment so the added ringing of a fan motor is annoying. Nothing can be done about air flow noise, but that whiny noise must die. I have 2 fans whose noise needs to be killed off. It's just unfortunate that aluminium cases tend to be noisier than steel cases. Need to add some vibration dampening as well. The vibration on a case actually generates buzz.

I'll be happy when I can't hear my PC from the opposite side of my house. :)
 
Also be careful of 80mm fans that offer "super-silent" operation. They are normally silent because they run at low rpm's and are essentially quite useless as they don't move enough air. I have a case that only houses 80mm fans, recently bought myself a Zalman fan (http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-zalman-zm-f1-plus-case-fan-80mm-4189309.html) - it comes with a little add-on connector which you can connect to get lower rpm but more silent operation. Also comes with those silicon plugs instead of screws - don't really know if that helps much but I'm very happy with it and only cost my 80 bucks delivered to my door!
 
I took a look - both performance-pcs.com & frozencpu.com has the fan adapter. But it's to much trouble ordering from the US - will take long and paying shipping for a $5 piece of plastic is not fun. But thanks anyway - I had no idea fan size adapters existed!
 
@timvdwest - How silent is that fan when running without the low rpm add-on? Do you hear the motor as well or just the noise from the air?
 
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