Howdi. I've been buying bits for me RAID I'm gearing up for, as y'all may have seen, and was talking about getting 4x120mm papst fans. Thing is, the only place that has these for a reasonalbe ammount of moolah, is out of stock, and not responding to ETA request emails. So, since I know you know pretty much everything one could want to know about fans cpemma, I was wondering if you could advise me on something decent, in the same sort of noise/flow as the Papst range. I'm probably gonna end up with about 4-6 of these things in my case in the long run, so a reasonable quiet is the aim. I'll quite possible 7V 'em though, since even just 4 120's should provide reasonable air flow. Also, suggestions for equally if not more quiet 80mm's would be much apreciated. Muchas gracias por adelantado.
I'd like to have fitted the 1000RPM Nexus Silent 120mm, but the only source I could find with stock at the time had high price and very high delivery charges from Yurop. Link has stock and a decent price; by all accounts (and SPCR rating) they're the top fan, Papst and Panaflo have a reputation for variable quality. I ended up buying the much cheaper Akasa Amber 120mm to try, 1200RPM @ 12V but very low noise when 7-volted, it's doing a good job cooling 2 HDDs down front along with the stock Antec Tri-cool 120mm on minimum speed in the back of the case. The Antec is the noisier of the two, but the hard drives make more noise. The Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fans (800 RPM, SFF21D or 1200RPM, SFF21E) have a good reputation at SPCR, be worth you checking user comments over there. With any good quality fan, noise level goes with RPM, so a 1000RPM will always beat a 1200RPM IMO.
I think Nexus is the way I shall go then, it'd be nice not to have to 7 or 5 volt a whole load of fans myself, and I dont wanna turn over a 5.25" bay to a controller, so a 1k RPM fan would be cool. People on SCPR seemed not to rate the S-FLEX series very highly. Any suggestions for a few 80's? I already have one that I'll keep to balance the exhaust, but I might get another two, since I'm gonna have 3 120 ins and only the PSU and a single 120 out. Thanks muchly cpemma
For the 120's go with either Sharkoon 1000, Zalman or Akasa Amber@5V For the 80s go for Panaflo from Dorothy Bradbury, 80mm Zalman or 80mm Akasa Amber
After trying several other brands, I ended up with a Panaflo L1 80mm on the back of the last case, undervolted by a wee home-made controller, and fitted another in the Antec PSU, supposed to be thermal control. Both from Ms Bradbury. With a Papst 80mm thermal fan on the drive cage. If you want low noise you really need some way of undervolting any fan, a couple of Fanmates would run four 120mm if you don't want to lose a bay, or fit a zener diode in the red fan wire for a cheap fix that leaves the speed wire working (unlike the 7-volt trick). One fan that may be OK at 12V is the Coolermaster Ultra Silent range, they're very low speed stock. Not heard one as yet.
Thanks for the advice Awoken, I'm looking into the sharkies. As for the 80's, cpemma do you mean the NMB-MAT RB-80-L, when you say the L1's? They look like at 7V they could do very nicely(15dB rating). Fanmates are something I'll check out, although I'm hoping the Nexus 120's will be silent enough without them. Are silicone fan mounts of those silent screw replacement things made of rubber worth getting? Ok, so for 80's, I get pana's and for 120's I get Nexus 17db fans. Nice and simple, much thanks guys
AFAIK only the label's changed, mine were Chinese Matsushita-Panaflos. They're easy to use, but maybe something to get as a final stage in silencing or if you can get some without postage being the major part of the cost. There are a few ghetto fan mount methods (eg, cable ties & rubber tubing washers) that may get the same results for a few pence. More info.
Perfect - Thanks for that wealth of information cpemma, I was hoping you'd be able to answer all my questions, and you've definately done it, much apreciated sah
This place is cheap - used to sell papst and panaflo fans, but not sure what make these ones are now: http://www.dorothybradbury.co.uk/ edit: sorry didn't see Awoken had already suggested this place.
"NMB-Mat - the new name for Panaflo" And talking of delivery charges making a set of rubber fan mounts expensive,
So when I buy the 80's from Ms. Bradbury I should get several packs of them. Gotcha. Are Novatech a good company btw? Havn't ordered the fans yet(need to check bank balance first) but, I like to order from companies with good customer service if possible.
That type of fastener probably won't take a wire grille if it matters. In fact they look a bit odd, others have a groove for the case metal, a spacing section, and a wider groove for the fan plastic. Hers seem more like a rubber rivet that clamps the fan against the case with no cushion in between, look a bit like Antec's. Novatech are a long-established firm (1987), not dealt with them for about 10 years now (got my first laser printer from them) but I'd use them again.
Just a quick note on those silencing grommet thingies - if you want a cheap way to do it, get some M4 bolts and some rubber washers (as cpemma suggested, I got my last set from Homebase). One on either side of the fan really makes a difference, and it costs virtually nothing if you have the M4's.
One of the best tbh My dad has been dealing with them since it was a single guy flogging stuff from his flat, never had a single problem, anything that breaks gets collected and replaced really quickly
Fear not friend! NCIX to the rescue! http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=12829&vpn=120MM&manufacture=Nexus Technology I remembered seeing those guys carry one.
Thanks SCQ, but we're UK not canada and I think the delivery/import would kill the advantage Usefull for any canadians though, NCIX rule.
NCIX is far from ruling for canadians. A store by the name of Premier about 15 minutes from me sells just a good deal of stuff for $10-15 cheaper than NCIX...
Ok, well, I know a guy in toronto who swears by NCIX, loves their service, and reports that the prices are generally near best if not best.
