Case Fan Sound

[vern]

I'm curious. What dbA is considered quiet? I'm looking at replacing my stock Antec case fans at something really quiet. I already have a 500 watt 140mm Quiet PSU, and the case fans just ruin it all.

Right now I'm looking at these from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...maxprice=&mfrcode=0&DEPA=0&page=1&listStyle=2

Notice each fan has a dBA.

Anyone?

 

[FishBoy]

ask your physics teacher 😀

 

[vern]

ask your physics teacher 😀

Great help.

 

[FishBoy]

Great help.

lol im sorry... well i did take that in physics but i forgot all about, sorry i didn't mean it to be mean or annoying... well it's still 2 am many members are still asleep

 

[American Zombie]

You need to look at the CFM's the fan puts out as well.

A fan can be real quiet cause it turns slow and has low CFM or a fan can be loud and still have low CFM.

If you want quiet and good CFM then look to the 90mm or even better the 120mm fans. That is if you have room or can mod your case.

My case had dual 80mm fans in front but now after some modding it has a single 120 mm fan and PC is almost dead silent now but the fan has great CFM.

If you really have to go 80mm then try to find panaflo fans as they are about the most quiet but have great CFM.

 

[FishBoy]

or you can go ghetto ways like i did on my computer back home it used to heat up all the time so i ened up opening the case and placing a normal room fan outside lol

 

[RickyC]

Anything below 21dbA would be considered quiet IMO. Antec do a range of 120mm fans at around this level as far as I can remember. Your also best to try and isolate the fans from the case with rubber fixings as alot of the noise comes from vibration against the case.

 

[Zedric]

It all really depends on what you would call quiet and at which distance the sound is measured.

Here's a list for reference (the values are probably arguable as mensioned above).
Normal Breathing 10dBA
Soft whisper (at 5m) 30dBA
Normal Conversation 60dBA
Busy Traffic 70dBA
Average Factory 80dBA
Niagra Falls 90dBA

So I'd call anything below 30 dBA pretty quiet, especially if you're stuffing it inside a closed enclosure (i.e. computer case).

 

[vern]

I wanted something less audible than a whisper ... but I can't hear normal breathing anyway, unless hard breathing. I'll be looking for around 20dBA then. Only arctic cooling fans seem to be consistently around 20dBA.

@America Zombie .... what exactly is CFM? The amount of air pushed through? Right now I'm looking to fill in 4 case fans. 2 in the back and 2 in front. Not really looking to mod anything right now although I am aware that bigger fans that push more air slower is usually quieter, 80mm is what I need.

Thanks for the responses everyone. 🙂

 

[emeritus]

Thats Cubic Feet per Minute.

 

[Kush]

for me, i dont care about the noise, i always wanna keep everything as cool as it can be, soon i might not have to even use fans in canada hehe!

 

[American Zombie]

I'll be looking for around 20dBA then. Only arctic cooling fans seem to be consistently around 20dBA.

There is another brand I first read about in this review that are really quiet and still perform well.

Their main site is here and I may pick up some of these for my server rig.

 

[LeeJend]

Try a fan speed controller on the fans you have now. I just reduce the fan speed until all I can hear is the sound of the air rushing through the grill. It's a lot cheaper than buying 3 ultra quiet fans.

And be warned if your case inlet grill is too restricted you can end up with no fan noise and still have a lot of air movement noise.

 

[dreamliner77]

22dBa is normally considered "silent".

 

[FishBoy]

for me, i dont care about the noise, i always wanna keep everything as cool as it can be, soon i might not have to even use fans in canada hehe!

already a step ahead, but it's getting too cold so i closed the windows. i used to turn all of my case fans off and my cpu fan off too and my cpu temp was like 30-35 amd64 😀, with all fans on it went down to 27. i kept milk inside to keep it cool 😀

edit: well today my cpu went down to 18 degrees 😀

 

[toretto]

my 120mm fans have low rpm's but cannont be heard, but when the case gets a lil warm sometimes, the computer speeds them up and cools itself off in a hury.

 

[Zedric]

You should look at Papst fans. They have a whole range of sound levels, starting at 12dBA (yes twelve).

 

[Mainframeguy]

go here for the definitive view

These guys know all there is to tell about getting your machine quiet - or even SILENT .... 😱

Anyways - Zedric was correct also, but at this forum you will learn panaflow is the only fan to consider if you desire silence and can live with moderate airflow....

 

[Electronic Punk]

I just bought a load of resistor-type things from lian-li.
Reduce the fan voltage from 12v to 7v... the difference is amazing.

My aquagate on it's lowest setting is now the loudest thing in my case and the second setting on it usally enough for most people.

All I hear is a little hum and air whoosing - quite soothing when I am trying to sleep 🙂

 

[vern]

I've pretty much decided on an Arctic Cooling now thanks to this list:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article63-page2.html

Thanks for the replies everyone. 😀