SPCR

Hi everyone
First post, but have been scanning through both the site and the great forums.

Bear in mind I live in the UK, this is my idea for a quiet computer...

Antec SLK3700 - Cut out grills using nibbler, edge it with rubber trim
Intake: Evercool 120mm 4 pin 25mm @ 7V, using fan isolators
Exhaust: Evercool 120mm 4 pin 25mm @ 5V (as I thought I didn't need it at 7V considering my PSU aids in exhausting air too,) using fan isolators, using fan grill obviously, don't wanna cut me little piggys off!

Well there ya go, got a few q's of course.

This is only what I think so far, it is changeable..

What is the quietest 120mm fan of 25mm thickness, for the intake of the case, available in the UK, which still offers good enough airflow (don't mind 5V or 7V modding)? (must be 25mm as a 35mm will not fit in intake)

What is the queitest 120mm fan of 35mm thickness, for the exhaust of the case, available in the UK, which still offers good enough airflow (again don't mind 5 or 7V'ing.) Here I can use either 25mm or 35mm thickness, though I assume 35mm offers more airflow per decibels?

Also, on Mr Hutters review of the case, he mods it by removing the fan grills and drilling his own fan mount holes.. is it me or would the exhaust fan holes on the right side of the case (away from the motherboard) block the side panel from being put back on? (the pic is taken with the side off...)
Another thing, what sites did you order your SLK3700s from in the UK, someone trustworthy no ebay etc!...

Anything else I should do: aiming for a quiet/silent case, whilst still offering satisfactory cooling. Heatsink is Thermalright SK7, and chip is Thoroughbred DLT3C @ 1.5V, so shouldnt create too much heat.

Oh yes, also using only rounded OR sata cables.

WOW! cant believe I wrote all of that... if anyone bothered reading it all, thanks and i await your reply!

The quietest 120mm fan undervolted will probably be the Panaflo M1A. Undervolted that is supposedly as quiet as the L1A but with more CFM.

Just my two cents...

Can anyone find it in the UK ?

Also, what are its specs and at what voltage should I undervolt it to?

Regards

hitman47 wrote:Can anyone find it in the UK ?

http://www.eurotechnix.co.uk/a/displayP ... =EUR778142
http://www.dccs.co.uk/cases.htm
http://www.callacom.co.uk/cases.htm
http://www.kcbcomputers.com/cheap_computers_1427.html

Just a few I found

hitman47 wrote: Also, on Mr Hutters review of the case, he mods it by removing the fan grills and drilling his own fan mount holes.. is it me or would the exhaust fan holes on the right side of the case (away from the motherboard) block the side panel from being put back on? (the pic is taken with the side off...)

Yes, you're correct. Depending on your mounting setup you may have to grind a small notch to clear the two right side fan mounts.

See DanOnKeys post here and my reply to it. That should answer your question.

I'm been watching this thread with interest: as soon as I can, I'm replacing my CPU fan with one of the fans mentioned in this thread (not 100% decided yet). Little did I except to see myself quoted by the venerable Ralf! Ralf, I hope you're doing well, and thanks for inspiring me to get infected with the silent pc bug -- and especially for turning me on to the SLK3700!

Um... I guess I don't really have anything to actually contribute to this thread . . . except don't get a TT SFII -- and don't get a UC-8FAB, either.

It's my understanding that the thicker fans are not quieter per CFM, they are usually louder, BUT, they offer higher air pressure. That is, they can push air better when faced with resistance.

well, howz about this..

Antec SLK3700
Cut stock grills out use wire grill (i understand this cant be used with fan isolators ill sort that out, prob offset 45 degrees )

Intake Fan (must be 25mm:) Evercool 120mm 4pin 25mm @ 7V/5V (not too sure yet) using fan isolators

Exhaust Fan (can be 25 or 35mm:) Papst "4212 NGL" 120mm 4pin 38mm @ 7V using fan isolators

what do you guys think of this lot? (its some of the easiest for me to get hold of in UK too)

Regards

hitman47 wrote:well, howz about this..

Antec SLK3700
Cut stock grills out use wire grill (i understand this cant be used with fan isolators ill sort that out, prob offset 45 degrees )

Intake Fan (must be 25mm:) Evercool 120mm 4pin 25mm @ 7V/5V (not too sure yet) using fan isolators

Exhaust Fan (can be 25 or 35mm:) Papst "4212 NGL" 120mm 4pin 38mm @ 7V using fan isolators

what do you guys think of this lot? (its some of the easiest for me to get hold of in UK too)

Regards

Looks good to me except for the front fan. You may very well not even need one, it depends what you're trying to cool and what your temps are. My guess is that even if you did need one, running it at 5 volts would be more than sufficient. My only caveat about that Evercool fan is that I've never heard one so I don't know how quiet (or loud) they actually are. Remember, that front fan is the one closest to your ears and is the easiest to hear.

great, cheers Ralf

i just wanted a bit of cooling for the HDs, that is all, so 5V should suffice

thanks again

regards

just found out!
i can get this in the UK:

Panaflo 120mm FBA12G12M1A (38mm)

RPM: 2100
CFM: 86.5
Noise: 35.5dBa

Would this be better to replace my 7V Papst as the 35mm exhaust fan (@ 7V or 5V) ? You lot seem to praise Panaflo but not sure if this is the right one ?

Regards

hitman47 wrote:just found out!
i can get this in the UK:

Panaflo 120mm FBA12G12M1A (38mm)

RPM: 2100
CFM: 86.5
Noise: 35.5dBa

Would this be better to replace my 7V Papst as the 35mm exhaust fan (@ 7V or 5V) ? You lot seem to praise Panaflo but not sure if this is the right one ?

Regards

No, that's the medium speed version and it's not the one to get. You need to get the Model FBA-12G12L1A. It's the low-speed version. Specs:

1700 RPM,
68.9 CFM,
30 dBA.

cheers again Ralf

okay so heres the current situation...

The Evercool I found out is NOT sleeve bearing, so I definately do not want that. Thus, I have narrowed it down to 2 papst fans:

----------------------------------

Intake (must be 25mm):

Make: Papst
Size: 120mm
Connector: 4pin
Depth: 25mm
Model: 4412 FGL

This is the quietest 120mm Papst fan with a 25mm depth. Its spec is:

Airflow: 55 CFM
Noise: 26 dba
Bearing: Sleeve

--------------------------------

Okay, then the exhaust fan (can be any depth 120mm fan...)

Make: Papst
Size: 120mm
Connector: 4pin
Depth: 38mm
Model: 4212 NGL

This is the quietest 120mm Papst fan with a 38mm depth. Its spec is:

Airflow: 58.9 CFM
Noise: 28 dba
Bearing: Sleeve

------------------------

Specs as found at www.papst.de. I am ofcourse ( !!) going to 7V or 5V them depending on how I find them, although Im expecting they should be v v quiet at 7V, most likely silent at 5V?

Ofcourse, being Papst the 2 fans will set me back around £50 together Oh well im desperate!

So, what do you peeps think now?

Regards

Well, a lot of people say that Papst fans get a nasty "clicking" noise when they're undervolted. There's been a couple of threads about Quiet 120mm fans over the last 4-6 weeks that have discussed the 4412's . Do a search. Some people have had good luck with them, others have had poor luck.

darn

ill probably try my luck anyway

aren't there any 120mm fans known NOT to click when undervolted? available in uk ofcourse

still, ill prob stick with papst.. if i did, what do you lot think of the above combination?

regards


PS cheers ralf, hope your back is gettin better too

Still worth trying with no intake fan, I'd have thought. The air will be coming in through there and over your drives anyway, after all.
Also, once you have whatever fans you end up choosing, you might as well see what it does for your noise and temperatures if you have the rear fan blowing in rather than out. No harm in experimenting.

cheers bat

well, using the rear fan as intake goes againt the conventions of case cooling!? Cool air comes in below, gets warmed and thus rises, is exhausted by rear fan. If i had rear fan blowing in, well, i dont wanna know!

concerning the intake fan, it is true I may only have one exhaust fan and no intake fan, i intend to have a very spacious case (rounded ide cables, SATA cables, nylon cable wrapping here and there ) therefore that may work. But the thing is, intake air doesnt only come in front grill, it may also enter though gaps in the case, thus the hard drives may not get the amount of cool air they would get with a 120mm 7V/5V fan there.

regards

so that all seems okay yea...?

Case: Antec SLK3700
"Mods": Cut out front and rear fan grills, remove fan filter, drill real holes for 120mm fans, understand will need to cut a bit out of the edge of the side panel.
Fans: Copied from previous post:

Intake Fan (must be 25mm depth):

Make: Papst
Size: 120mm
Connector: 4pin
Depth: 25mm
Model: 4412 FGL

This is the quietest 120mm Papst fan with a 25mm depth. Its spec is:

Airflow: 55 CFM
Noise: 26 dba
Bearing: Sleeve

--------------------------------

Okay, then the exhaust fan (can be any depth 120mm fan...)

Make: Papst
Size: 120mm
Connector: 4pin
Depth: 38mm
Model: 4212 NGL

This is the quietest 120mm Papst fan with a 38mm depth. Its spec is:

Airflow: 58.9 CFM
Noise: 28 dba
Bearing: Sleeve

------------------------

Will be 5V/7V'd. Using fan mount isolators.

Sorted?? Order will be placed soon...
Regards

hitman47 wrote:so that all seems okay yea...?

Case: Antec SLK3700
"Mods": blahblah......., remove fan filter, ...blah,blah.....
Fans: Copied from previous post:

........blah, blah................................
Sorted?? Order will be placed soon...
Regards

remove fan filter???

Why? It actually works pretty good.

Just use one fan -- rear, exhaust. Check on "dorothy's" posts on 120mm fans. Her general PoV is that 120mm fans are good for moving air but NOT the best quiet fans.

There is a very good point made about how the Panaflo 80mm fan has the most aerodynamically shaped blade design (thin, sharp edges slicing through the air), which explains its great performance. But -- as Dorothy explained it -- Panasonic could not duplicate the blade design for its 120mm (and 92mm??) fans because of the need for greater strength for the larger size. Which is why she feels the Panaflo 120mm is not nearly as good as the 80mm, and also outperformed for noise by the best Papst (a 32mm depth unit she mentions)

I still tend to feel that 2 very quiet 80mms are better than 1 quiet 120mm fan. But this becomes very application-specific; IE, YMMV.

Ralf wrote,

No, that's the medium speed version and it's not the one to get. You need to get the Model FBA-12G12L1A. It's the low-speed version

Have you tried both the 120mm L1A and M1A at 5V? The reason I ask is because near the beginning of this post Athlon Powers wrote,

The quietest 120mm fan undervolted will probably be the Panaflo M1A. Undervolted that is supposedly as quiet as the L1A but with more CFM.

Thanks all

remove fan filter???

Its because the very same Dorothy informed that they reduce airflow about 30% i think it was, and increase noise. I dont mind just giving it a clean every month or so.

Just use one fan -- rear, exhaust.

I will indeed start off with just one rear fan (the 120mm Papst 38mm depth fan I spec'd below.) Then depending on case temps illl go from there. Thing is I want some air over my HDs (on the Antec SLK3700 they are positioned at the bottom of the case next to front intake fan) but without a fan there surely they will not get as much air as it would do, as the air can instead come in though the gaps in the case? Also, isnt the rule "one outake fan for every intake fan"? To do with pressure and/or stress on the fans.

she feels the Panaflo 120mm is not nearly as good as the 80mm, and also outperformed for noise by the best Papst (a 32mm depth unit she mentions)

A Papst 32mm depth 120mm fan? or 80mm fan? In any case, i reckon ill stick with the 120mm fans, going on general opinon they seem the way forward for more airflow/dba.

Have you tried both the 120mm L1A and M1A at 5V?

Yes I noticed that too; but the Papst fan I am getting (off KustomPC ) comes pre-7V'd and therefore I believed guranteed to not click when undervolting. Plus if it does, i'm sure KustomPCs great service can swap me a non-clicking one with no fuss (the Panaflo fan I found at another online store with some pretty bad comments on http://www.romulus2.com/feedback/chart.php?1)

Enjoy!
Regards

Have you tried both the 120mm L1A and M1A at 5V?

Sorry, I was directing that question more towards Ralf as I know he has a lot of experience with fans. If Ralf says the M1A is louder than the L1A at 5V due to him actually listening to both, then I could be quite certain about which of these conflicting statements are more accurate, as Athlon Power's comment was hearsay from what I gather.

So Ralf, what do you think? If it is louder, by how much, and how much extra CFM do you think you get for that extra noise? I know this is a very complex question. Any info, even if just from vague memory recollection, would be helpful.

lol! no problem mate

also, I just re-read that what makes the Panaflo 80mm fans so special has not carried on through to the 120mm version, so I'll settle for Papst 120mm in any case (erh no pun intended )

Regards

Actually I just browsed through some older threads and Katana Man said that Papst 120mm are the best as their fan blades go from thick near centre to thin near edge. So I think it'll be Papst 120mms @7V/5V

Regards


PS What is PWM?

marc999 wrote:

Have you tried both the 120mm L1A and M1A at 5V?

Sorry, I was directing that question more towards Ralf as I know he has a lot of experience with fans. If Ralf says the M1A is louder than the L1A at 5V due to him actually listening to both, then I could be quite certain about which of these conflicting statements are more accurate, as Athlon Power's comment was hearsay from what I gather.

So Ralf, what do you think? If it is louder, by how much, and how much extra CFM do you think you get for that extra noise? I know this is a very complex question. Any info, even if just from vague memory recollection, would be helpful.

120mm M1A at 5V is noisier than 120mm L1A at 5V. Yes, the M1A flows more air than the L1A at the same voltage. In my application, the airflow of the 5V L1A is more than enough so I've never played around with fans that have more airflow.

One more thing I PM'd katana man concerning this as well...

As you must have read many times, right now my setup is:

Case: Antec SLK3700

120mm Intake Fan (must be 25mm depth only): Papst 120mm 4pin 25mm "4412 FGL"

120mm Exhaust Fan (can be 25mm+ depth): Papst 120mm 4pin 38mm "4212 NGL"

These are both the quietest Papst fans for their depths (will be rubber fan isolator mounted, 7V/5V'd)

Question is, like Katana Man, should I instead use only the "Papst 120mm 4pin 25mm "4412 FGL"" for both intake and exhaust. As at the same voltage, the 38mm depth fan would louder than the 25mm depth fan? Or would the difference be negligble?

Regards

Last thing, I just came across the AcoutsiCase C6607A (beige) or B (black.)

This seems perfect as its the same as the SLK3700, only it comes pre-dampened. Ill be looking into this instead when its released mid-June.

How much do you reckon for it?

Regards

hitman,

the AcoustiCase C6XXX series do not have a front door. You can't damp the noise from optical drives easily.

Personally I feel that anybody who is serious about silencing would want a door

After I got my first case with a door, damped it and hear the results, there was no going back.

regards,
Halcyon

Another thing.
If the AcoustiCase C6XXX is like my D8000 from Coolcases, it doesn't have a removable MOBO tray. I believe the Antec SLK-3700 does (you should double check that though). Anyway, I must admit I'm not very mechanically inclined, I put together my system for the first time in my D8000 on Wednesday, and found the non-removable MOBO tray to be very frustrating to work with. Especially for clipping on the heat sink on to my Celeron. If you plan on using a screw based heatsink, it may not be as bad.