Silent 92mm PWM fan

Cirkus · Post by **Cirkus** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:51 pm

I have a rather new Gigabyte motherboard and as with other new Gigabyte motherboards a 3-pin CPU fan will run at max speed all the time. Gigabyte has removed the voltage control "legacy" fan speed method that existed on their older motheroards and CPU fan speed can now only be controlled with a 4-pin PWM fan. This gives me a problem, since there are not very many PWM fans on the market. My CPU cooler, Noctua NH-U9B came with a good 92 mm fan (Noctua NF-B9), but with 3-pin connector only.

I have found a pretty decent 92 mm PWM fan (Xilence Red Wing PWM 92 mm) but it is not as good as the Noctua fan at the same RPM. The first PWM fan I tried (Nexus 92mm PWM) was horrible.

Is there any real silent 92mm PWM fan that is suitable to use as a CPU fan?

Cirkus

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 2:48 pm

I think the consensus is that none of the retail PWM fans are as good as the top voltage controlled fans. Personally, I am pretty happy with my Arctic-Cooling PWM fans. Then again, I found the Nexus 92mm PWM fan that came with a heatsink I used to use (maybe totally different than their retail fans, though, knowing Nexus) to be perfectly acceptable at low RPM . . .

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:03 pm

I'm using a Scythe 92mm PWM fan. Fairly happy with it.

Cirkus · Post by **Cirkus** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:01 am

Lawrence Lee wrote:I'm using a Scythe 92mm PWM fan. Fairly happy with it.

I have read good reviews on the Scythe fan, but I haven't found anyone selling this fan in Sweden. Do you know the part number on your fan?

Regarding the 92 mm Nexus fan I tried, it was good at low RPM if I changed the "PWMOUT" setting from 3M in SpeedFan. Without the PWMOUT change, it emits a high-pitched noise when it is not running at its lowest or fastest speed. But it was not very useful when controlled directly by the motherboard anyway since it would run way too fast for a CPU fan. If I remember correctly it idled at around 2000 RPM and would go even higher at load. My current Xilence fan is running at approx 1100 RPM at idle.

I wonder if the high-end brands like Noctua will start making PWM controlled fans now when motherboards like Gigabyte only work with PWM fans?

Cirkus

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:12 am

Cirkus wrote: I have read good reviews on the Scythe fan, but I haven't found anyone selling this fan in Sweden. Do you know the part number on your fan?
Cirkus

The model number is DFS922512M-PWM.

PWM fans are unfortunately still rare... locally there are only three/four I can get a hold of made by Nexus, AC, and Scythe.