Hey all, this may in fact be my first post though I've been a long time reader (since around 2005 when I found many good rec's for quiet hardware including the antec sonata ii case, the zalman cnps 7000 alcu etc for my old p4 northwood system).
I haven't had to buy case fans for quite some time and was saddened when scythe fans all but fell off the face of the earth (ok, not quite). Some have reported problems with them, though I have two different 120mm scythe s-flex fans happily humming along in my case. After a couple of builds I'm looking to finally get a new case and was looking for fans. I already knew scythe would be hard to come by, but after searching I don't see any s-flex available anymore. Are they dead and gone? The scythe's I see available now are the slipstream (not a fan, no pun intended), kama flow, gentle typhoon and grand flex. Are the grand flex the successor to the old s-flex?
Aside from NB fans (which are out of my price range) and noctua's (price/aesthetics), what fans provide decent airflow and harmonics in a horizontal mount? If I'm not mistaken the better options are fdb fans for this mount orientation. They will just be used for airflow, not in conjunction with a radiator. I've listened to a few fan audio profiles and the corsair sp120 quiet edition don't sound too horrible but are there better options?
The reason being my current case is still the above mentioned antec sonata ii and while it's been a great case for quite some time my system is now outgrowing it in terms of cooling needs. Once I moved past the zalman top down air cooler through several upgrades the internal 'cpu air chimney' had to be removed and leaves me with only a single 120mm exhaust and 120mm 'intake' (I use that term loosely since the intake is actually mounted mid chassis). I'm considering the phanteks enthoo pro as a replacement case with better cooling options. Though it's not marketed as a 'silent' case I really like the features and aesthetics and I have a feeling with the right fans it could be kept fairly quiet. Aka, I don't want it to sound like a boeing filled with delta fans and I've heard reviews that say with the included phanteks 140mm exhaust and 200mm intake at full speed it sounds close so I'm looking for quieter alternatives.
Thanks in advance.
Scythe fan alternatives (out of the loop for awhile)
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: Scythe fan alternatives (out of the loop for awhile)
Welcome to SPCR!!!
It really comes down into what you going to have on the PC.
If you want more options stay on 120mm fans, there are very nice options for 3pin voltage controlled like Scythe Gentle Typhoons, Noctua Redux NF-S12B, Noiseblocker M12-S1/2, and on 4pin PWM, noctua NF-S12A PWM and Scythe Glidestream are pretty decent fans.
Now if you want to go with 140mm fans, for example for a case like Fractal Design Define R5, you should test the included fans first as it seems they are pretty good quiet fans, but as a replacement or for adding more Antec True Quiet 140 are a good option so are Noctua Redux NF-P14 (both PWM and 3pin).
The Entho pro is a value case that offers a lot, but imo not as good as Fractal in terms of quiet build, but still can be made a quiet setup as long as your components are quiet, i did a build for a friend on it, he didnt presue total silence but a relativly low noise setup with good temps, in case you want to check it Phanteks Enthoo Pro build, the only thing i would change is using an Asus motherboard with FanXpert2 for dropping the fans even lower, but they wont go as low as Antec True Quiet 140s, either way its a nice case, and can be built quiet, but not as quiet as you can build with others.
It really comes down into what you going to have on the PC.
If you want more options stay on 120mm fans, there are very nice options for 3pin voltage controlled like Scythe Gentle Typhoons, Noctua Redux NF-S12B, Noiseblocker M12-S1/2, and on 4pin PWM, noctua NF-S12A PWM and Scythe Glidestream are pretty decent fans.
Now if you want to go with 140mm fans, for example for a case like Fractal Design Define R5, you should test the included fans first as it seems they are pretty good quiet fans, but as a replacement or for adding more Antec True Quiet 140 are a good option so are Noctua Redux NF-P14 (both PWM and 3pin).
The Entho pro is a value case that offers a lot, but imo not as good as Fractal in terms of quiet build, but still can be made a quiet setup as long as your components are quiet, i did a build for a friend on it, he didnt presue total silence but a relativly low noise setup with good temps, in case you want to check it Phanteks Enthoo Pro build, the only thing i would change is using an Asus motherboard with FanXpert2 for dropping the fans even lower, but they wont go as low as Antec True Quiet 140s, either way its a nice case, and can be built quiet, but not as quiet as you can build with others.