4 fans evaluated - 120mm (the sequel)
Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2004 10:15 pm
Taking a queue from D.Bailey's threadand having just put together my new BQE, I too went through the fan eval and thought I'd post my fan lineup (without Douglas' nice tables -- I'm not that smart ):
Papst 4412F/2GL (after reading Douglas' glowing recommendation)
Acoustifan 120C-fixed speed version (after reading Edward Ng's prose)
Nexus 120mm (not sure why I tried this after my poor experience w/ their 80mm fans)
Stock BQE Antec fan (note: not the same fan as the Sonata)
First, some specs:
Papst 1600rpm 55.3cfm 26dba (assembly Hungary)
Acousti 2000rpm 66.7cfm 34dba
Nexus 1000rpm 36.9cfm 22.8dba
Antec 1200rpm 38.9cfm 24.9dba (Note: Sonata is a 2000rpm 791.cfm 29.8 dba fan)
All were hooked up to a fanmate and tested at 11v, 9v, 7v & 5v. The fans both sat on foam and I held them in my hand -- looking both straight at them and with ear pointed at them -- from about 6". Since these fans are all over the map WRT 12v RPM's and CFM's, I think it makes sense to group them by RPM and, presumably, cfm (is cfm linear to rpm?)
1800+ rpm:
Acoustifan @ 11v, 1825rpm (~61cfm) -- lots of wind with low/mid frequency "twirl" (to borrow one of Douglas's terms ) Too loud for me.
1500 rpm:
1. Papst @ 11v, 1490rpm (~52cfm) -- wind with slight tick. fan wobbles when on foam, likely out of balance. When mounted in case on fanmates, tick is inaudible.
2. Acoustifan @ 9v, 1550rpm (~52cfm) -- wind and more twirl -- kind of annoying.
1200 rpm:
1. Papst @ 9v, 1205rpm (~42cfm) -- ticking a little louder, wind diminished -- still wobbles.
2. Antec @ 11v, 1120rpm (~36cfm) -- rpm is calc'd based on voltage since there is no tach. quiet, low frequency twirl, slight ticking, very rapid -- had to be closer than 6" to hear. Should have taken it off the fanmate and run it as 12v
3. Acoustifan @ 7v, 1250rpm (~42cfm) -- twirling sound -- this fan is disappointing.
900 rpm:
1. Nexus @ 11v, 890rpm (~33cfm) -- if I put my ear less than 1" away, very, very slight ticking sound. Essentially, this is silent (at least, to me )
2. Antec @ 9v, 900rpm (~29cfm) -- ever so slight tick, very quiet
3. Papst @ 7v, 940rpm (~33cfm) -- soft, low frequency tick is getting louder as the voltage goes down. Still wobbles
4. Acoustifan @ 5v, 980rpm (~33cfm) -- soft twirl -- it's finally starting to get quiet -- about the same noise level as the Papst @ 9v. Did I mention this fan really disappointed me?
700rpm:
1. Nexus @ 9v, 730rpm (~27cfm) -- dead silent
1a. Antec @ 7v, 700rpm (~23cfm) -- dead silent, but moves less air
3. Papst @ 5v, 690rpm (~24cfm) -- very slow, low tick
All in all, I found the Nexus to be the quietest fan, albiet at very low flow. The Antec comes in a close second with the Papst at #3 (but I think I have a bad one ). I'm guessing that if it was balanced then it would be as mechanically quiet as the Nexus.
The Acoustifan? What can I say -- I was extremely disappointed in this one -- it cost the most and performed the least. While it pushes the most air, it was the twirling sound and not the wind that brought it down. This was only one sample, YMMV.
What's in my box? The Papst (at least for the summer). I'm going to try and send the Acoustifan back and get another Papst, just to see how bad the first one is. The Nexus and Antec just don't push enough air for the summer months, maybe I'll swap one of them in this fall.
I was really, really impressed with the Nexus (especially after my experience with the 80mm versions -- 2 out of 4 were horrible, the other 2 weren't that bad). Mechanically, it was the quietest by far.
Dave
EDIT missing word & extra word
EDIT Added Sonata fan info
EDIT Just to update -- I finally got around to swapping the original 4412 for a new one -- no clicking or mechanical noise at all. It's easily the equal of the Nexus from a mechanical standpoint.
The only noise is airflow at the higher voltages.
Papst 4412F/2GL (after reading Douglas' glowing recommendation)
Acoustifan 120C-fixed speed version (after reading Edward Ng's prose)
Nexus 120mm (not sure why I tried this after my poor experience w/ their 80mm fans)
Stock BQE Antec fan (note: not the same fan as the Sonata)
First, some specs:
Papst 1600rpm 55.3cfm 26dba (assembly Hungary)
Acousti 2000rpm 66.7cfm 34dba
Nexus 1000rpm 36.9cfm 22.8dba
Antec 1200rpm 38.9cfm 24.9dba (Note: Sonata is a 2000rpm 791.cfm 29.8 dba fan)
All were hooked up to a fanmate and tested at 11v, 9v, 7v & 5v. The fans both sat on foam and I held them in my hand -- looking both straight at them and with ear pointed at them -- from about 6". Since these fans are all over the map WRT 12v RPM's and CFM's, I think it makes sense to group them by RPM and, presumably, cfm (is cfm linear to rpm?)
1800+ rpm:
Acoustifan @ 11v, 1825rpm (~61cfm) -- lots of wind with low/mid frequency "twirl" (to borrow one of Douglas's terms ) Too loud for me.
1500 rpm:
1. Papst @ 11v, 1490rpm (~52cfm) -- wind with slight tick. fan wobbles when on foam, likely out of balance. When mounted in case on fanmates, tick is inaudible.
2. Acoustifan @ 9v, 1550rpm (~52cfm) -- wind and more twirl -- kind of annoying.
1200 rpm:
1. Papst @ 9v, 1205rpm (~42cfm) -- ticking a little louder, wind diminished -- still wobbles.
2. Antec @ 11v, 1120rpm (~36cfm) -- rpm is calc'd based on voltage since there is no tach. quiet, low frequency twirl, slight ticking, very rapid -- had to be closer than 6" to hear. Should have taken it off the fanmate and run it as 12v
3. Acoustifan @ 7v, 1250rpm (~42cfm) -- twirling sound -- this fan is disappointing.
900 rpm:
1. Nexus @ 11v, 890rpm (~33cfm) -- if I put my ear less than 1" away, very, very slight ticking sound. Essentially, this is silent (at least, to me )
2. Antec @ 9v, 900rpm (~29cfm) -- ever so slight tick, very quiet
3. Papst @ 7v, 940rpm (~33cfm) -- soft, low frequency tick is getting louder as the voltage goes down. Still wobbles
4. Acoustifan @ 5v, 980rpm (~33cfm) -- soft twirl -- it's finally starting to get quiet -- about the same noise level as the Papst @ 9v. Did I mention this fan really disappointed me?
700rpm:
1. Nexus @ 9v, 730rpm (~27cfm) -- dead silent
1a. Antec @ 7v, 700rpm (~23cfm) -- dead silent, but moves less air
3. Papst @ 5v, 690rpm (~24cfm) -- very slow, low tick
All in all, I found the Nexus to be the quietest fan, albiet at very low flow. The Antec comes in a close second with the Papst at #3 (but I think I have a bad one ). I'm guessing that if it was balanced then it would be as mechanically quiet as the Nexus.
The Acoustifan? What can I say -- I was extremely disappointed in this one -- it cost the most and performed the least. While it pushes the most air, it was the twirling sound and not the wind that brought it down. This was only one sample, YMMV.
What's in my box? The Papst (at least for the summer). I'm going to try and send the Acoustifan back and get another Papst, just to see how bad the first one is. The Nexus and Antec just don't push enough air for the summer months, maybe I'll swap one of them in this fall.
I was really, really impressed with the Nexus (especially after my experience with the 80mm versions -- 2 out of 4 were horrible, the other 2 weren't that bad). Mechanically, it was the quietest by far.
Dave
EDIT missing word & extra word
EDIT Added Sonata fan info
EDIT Just to update -- I finally got around to swapping the original 4412 for a new one -- no clicking or mechanical noise at all. It's easily the equal of the Nexus from a mechanical standpoint.
The only noise is airflow at the higher voltages.