Hello guys !

I'm looking for a good set os 120 mm fans for my coolermaster CM-690 but it's very hard to choose one.

I live in a very warm city (30 ºC fall/autumn, 20 ºC Winter, 35-40 ºC Summer), so my computer sometimer need a good airflow.

The problem are the noise and the price.

I have 2 fans with 30-33 dBA and definitelly they're too loud for my bedroom, despite their good airflow.

I was crazy to buy the Enermax Magma or the Noctua NF-P12-1300, but the first simply disapeared from Brazilian stores, and the seccond rised it's price to R$ 75 - 80. I'll buy at least 3 fans, so that's a lot of money.

I'm stucked between many models because I don't know if the specs are correct.

R4-L2R-20CK-GP
90 cfm, 19 dBA, R$ 19.
Good:cheap, good airflow, quiet
Bad: many guys said that it's not a 90 cfm fan.
Sleeve bearing is a bad thing because my town is very dusty

Enermax Marathon
44 cfm, 17 dBA, R$ ~ 35
Good: looks nice, excelente bearing, quieter than I need, easy to clean.
Bad:low airflow

Akasa Amber
44 cfm, 18 dBA, R$ ~ 35
Good: good bearing, very quiet too.
Bad: low airflow, I thinks that's ugly.

ThermalTake TurboFan A2492
50 cfm, 17 dBA, R$ 30.
Good: aiflow, low noise.
Bad: sleeve bearing, I don't believe 100% in this specs.

Evercool Spider SFF-12
80 cfm, <25 dBA, R$ 25-30.
Good: high airflow, looks nice, available here in town, excelent bearing.
Bad: some people say that's noisy, others quiet and others average. Hard to know..

Arctic Cooling AF12025
56 cfm, 24.5 dBA, R$ 27-30
Good: good aiflow, good bearing
Bad: I don't know it the noise will be loud or not.

R4-S2B-124K-GP
44 cfm, 19 dBA, R$ 55 (but that's for 4 fans)
Good: low noise, cheap, ball bearing
Bad: low airflow

This coolers I beleve that are te same that's the CM-690 brings.

So.. someone have one of this coolers, know about a review or can help-me to choose the better price/performance/noise ratio ?

I acept any sugestions, but, the diversity of good parts here is limited, and the price oftenly is prohibitive

Thanks for any help.

Cheers.

Most of the fans are decent when speed is reduced... Arctic Coolings are decently quiet, even they have skight bearing noise. And I would not believe any of the fans specs as they are.

Edit: the Enermax marathon did not do well in SPCR test:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article739-page4.html

I have used Thermaltake turbofan and Akasa Amber and both are not good until heavily undervolted.

I'd personally would go for Arctic Cooling with Zalman FanMate 2's on each fan. Albeit the coolermater quadpack doesn't seem too bad, the quality is big questionmark and the ball bearings are not usually that good for Quiet PC.

Oh yes, Welcome to the SPCR!!

Thanks for the answer

I don't believe in some of them too, that's "help a lot", but those with low rpm are more believable.

The arctic cooling seems to be one of the better performance/noise/price, but I don't know if this 24.5 dBA will be excessive for me.

The coolers probably will not run at full speed all time, I use a Vantex Nexus NXP301 to help me sleep.
When I'm gaming a good airflow is extremelly wellcome, bit this 30 dBA coolers are noisy even at the lowest speed they can run

I'm seriuously thinking about this CoolerMaster kit..

Hi & welcome to SPCR,

Can you find any Yate Loon, GlobalWin NCB, Scythe Slipstream or S-Flex fans? What brand are the first and last fans on your list?

If I had to pick from these only, I'd take the Enermax Marathon -- the specs on any fan are pretty much meaningless; especially the noise and the volume of air they move!

Hi Neil, thanks

Well, diversity is something expensive here

The Scythe coolers are more expensive than the noctua, almost R$ 100 (that means something around US$ 40 )

Yate Loon and GlobalWin NCB I never saw here.

Here a list of one of our best stores:

http://www.waz.com.br/_produtos/?ca=77496

Few brands, some models..

PS: (Cooler de Gabinete means Case Fan )

My list, honestely I don't know.
I have an Enermax PSU, that's absolutelly quiet, I had a good impression.
The CoolerMaster kit seems good (the coolers that came with the case are quiet) and very cheap.
The evercool seems to be nice, but the noise give me a lot of doubts.
The arctic Coolig were indicated by almost every one that answered me (at other forums too)
Thee sleeve ones are almost ou of the list.



Now I'm confuse, what should I look for ?

Thanks for the answers

Scythe Kaze Jyuni (Slip Stream) 1200rpm - R $ 52 from that site you linked to. This is one of the fans that Neil was recommending.

Undervolt it using either a Zalman Fanmate for fine control, or just go straight for 5V using this, which from memory has the white connectors as 5V (I could be wrong though).

Hope this helps!

Yes, helped a lot

I still can't believe that this fan is absolutelly quiet (I tried to hear something at the test hehe)

I have a vantec Nexus NXP 301 (fan and cathode controller)

Betheen this Scythe and the Enermax Cluster/Magma (same price) the Scythe is a better choice ?

Thanks guys !

Guys, I was searching your (excelent) site and I found this:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article69 ... html#sflex

The series number is similar to that AC I mentioned, they look like the same, they're also FDB.

Am I triping or this fans seems to be exactly the same, probaly made by a third party ?

Sycthe's naming schemes are getting more and more confusing.

I actually just ordered 2x 120mm Kama-FLEX fans last night. (1000RPM)

So...if we go by the naming logic....its a hyrbid of the Kama-Flow and S-FLEX.

I have tired the S-Flex and the SlipStreams. I'll post back on subjective results.

The S-Flex have been great fans for me though.

Guys, thaks for the help, I bought this:

R4-S2S-124K-GP
44 cfm, 19 dBA, R$ 55 (but that's for 4 fans)
Good: low noise, cheap, ball bearing
Bad: low airflow

Yes, a sleeve kit, so, before you kill me, I got them for free

I bought the R4-S2B-124K-GP but the store sent me the R4-S2S-124K-GP, I wrote back asking to change and they rebated me the money.

So, for R$ 4 pf the shipping I got the fans hehe

They're very quiet and average airflow. Note that, this fans are exactly the same that those wich equips the CM-690.

Thanks for the help

Cheers

Kama FLEX and S-FLEX are both labeled "FDB bearing" but the S-FLEX S-FDB bearing is better (i.e. more magnets)

I finally got the 1000RPM Kama-Flex installed.

They are quieter than the normal Slipstreams @1000RPM.

They are probably close to the S-Flex.

Sorry...nothing more scientific, just my subjective judgement.

I'm happy with them as intake/exuast @1000RPM as my PC is under the desk, its summer in Vegas, and the AC kicks-in often enough.

I would imagine they would be very good (quiet) @800RPM

Here we use to say "better late than never"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhq2Rx4KkRA

Thak's for your help.

The next steps are a fanless motherboard, a passive video card and who knos a huge heatspreader for the undervolted CPU.

That's for another toppic.

Can you find any Yate Loon, GlobalWin NCB, Scythe Slipstream or S-Flex fans? What brand are the first and last fans on your list?

If I had to pick from these only, I'd take the Enermax Marathon -- the specs on any fan are pretty much meaningless; especially the noise and the volume of air they move!

The arctic cooling seems to be one of the better performance/noise/price, but I don't know if this 24.5 dBA will be excessive for me.

The coolers probably will not run at full speed all time, I use a Vantex Nexus NXP301 to help me sleep.
When I'm gaming a good airflow is extremelly wellcome, bit this 30 dBA coolers are noisy even at the lowest speed they can run