Case Fan Sound

vern said:
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
 
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.
 
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
 

Attachments

  • Ghetto PC Cooling 3.jpg
    Ghetto PC Cooling 3.jpg
    200.9 KB · Views: 107
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.
 
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).
 
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. :)
 
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!
 
vern said:
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.
 
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.
 
themafia_69 said:
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 :D, with all fans on it went down to 27. i kept milk inside to keep it cool :D

edit: well today my cpu went down to 18 degrees :D
 
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.
 
You should look at Papst fans. They have a whole range of sound levels, starting at 12dBA (yes twelve).
 
go here for the definitive view

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

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....
 
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 :)
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest profile posts

Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

Forum statistics

Threads
62,015
Messages
673,494
Members
5,621
Latest member
naeemsafi
Back